Kiwi Goes Global

Random Impressions of Italy

ITALY | Saturday, 25 June 2011 | Views [2501] | Comments [2]

Heels are very popular here. All the time. Even if it's just casual... wedge heels.
Italians are super-hospitable. This will not be good for my weight. It's always 'Libby, try this...' Below example: we have eaten starters, we have eaten pizza, we've had about 3 glasses of beer. But, before we leave, Enzo wants us to try some limoncello!
'Tutto a posto' (pretty much 'all good', I guess) and 'aspetta' (wait) are 2 phrases I learnt pretty quickly.
The great thing about Italian is that 'ciao' is hi and bye. This means that you don't have to think about which one to use. This also means that people often greet me with 'bye' and farewell me with 'hello.'
It is true; Italians use their hands a lot when they speak. I'm trying to start doing more gestures cos it's fun. And helps people understand.
The traffic here is mental. There's lots of honking. I don't even really know if there are lanes. Scooters... people have a death wish, I think. They weave in and out like crazy. Sometimes they don't even wear helmets, or have 3 on one scooter. The amazing thing is, if you walk out onto the road with confidence, they generally stop for you, even if you're not on a pedestrian crossing. Plus they make hundred-point turns in crazily narrow streets sometimes.
Italians use the word 'beautiful' the way that we would use 'nice.' This probably says something about their mentality. The title of La vita e bella suddenly makes a lot more sense.
There seem to be fashion parades all the time. I've been to 2 in 2 weeks. And men (even young men) go. It'd be a lot harder to convince a male back home to go, and I bet they'd make a big show of perving at the female models.
Within two days of arriving, I was wandering around and heard a honk... I looked around (due to aforementioned crazy traffic, I was afraid my time may be near) and see some dude blowing kisses from a car.
Everyone is obsessed with soccer. And they worship the SSC Napoli.
The country is pretty strongly Catholic. First Communion is really important. New cars get blessed.
People stay out so much later than we do. You'll still see people spilling out of bars at 11.30pm, even if it's only Wednesday. The other day, I saw a dude walking his dog around midnight.
People applaud a lot here. They applauded when the plane landed. It wasn't a difficult landing, so this reaction worried me a bit. They also applauded when our luggage finally appeared on the carousel.
There are fireworks pretty much every night. Apparently, you just let off fireworks for birthdays, weddings...

Comments

1

Brava, Libby. Non vedo l'ora di vedere l'Italia e godersi il meraviglioso popolo italiano.

E se anche puoi, per piacere andare un concerto degli Nomadi per me. È il mio gruppo preferito!

Dire "ciao" ai tuoi nuovi amici italiani per me (and be sure to tell them I am a beginner speaking Italian!) e uno speciale "ciao" alla mia nuova amica di facebook, Paola....baaaccccciiiiii~~~~

Dee Jun 25, 2011 7:59 AM

2

Dear Libby, nice and interesting post! As an Italian, reading how foreigners perceive our lifestyle and culture is always interesting. Unfortunately I don't agree with all your "points" as they don't apply to the whole country (such as worshipping Naples SSC ore being strong catholics), in Italy there are several cultural differences spanning from North to South and it's worth coming here once or twice more and visiting some different areas in order to get a clearer picture of the complexity of this country :) If I am allowed to suggest you somewhere to visit I'd go with Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Sicily and Sardinia :)
Andy

Andy Sep 7, 2012 2:41 AM