Introduction to Italian culture: Culture Shock

Italian culture is an amazing mix of history, passion, and poetry. It’s been said that French is the language of love, Spanish the language of God, and Italian the language of Poetry. The mixed artistic and cultural heritage created and passed down since the early Roman Empire is nearly unsurpassed in the European theater. Italians as a people in this modern age are a little different than most traveling Americans expect. I’d like to spend this blog doing a brief introduction to my revelations regarding those differences.

Italians are a strong, passionate cultural group with amazing food, great family connection and strong national pride. However, they’ve got a different concept on a few key interactions.

In my travels I’ve found that Italians are much more physically active in conversation and interaction. Hand gestures which are a fully integral part to the Italian language and communication structure are essential to Italian conversation. I often joke with my Italian friends that they couldn’t hold a conversation if they held their hands behind their backs. They’re also more willing to make physical contact and build friendships quickly. This said it is important to note that there is a major difference between northern and southern Italians. Southern Italians are often much easier to build a quick report with, if you’ve got the patience to deal with their passionate attitude of life. Now, by that comment I mean that in conversation and daily interaction even the smallest point of conversation or daily frustration is like the end of the world. It’s a huge disaster regardless of the scale and must to be dealt with immediately. Southern Italians in my experience are also much more touchy-feely. They will quickly accept you and I found that they were generally the group which invited me home for dinner or to meet their families within only a few hours/days of knowing me.

Northern Italians are much more reserved. Again I’ve only had experience with Italians from the larger cities of Northern Italy, and it’s only a generalized perception but, having taken a lesson from their industry they’ve got a more global perspective and have pushed themselves toward a more business class/materialistic/withdrawn attitude. This was especially expressed during my time in Milan. Northern Italians are often colder at first and it takes much more effort to get to know them and be on a friendly basis with them. They were also often more reserved than their southern counterparts. In my opinion, this is in part due to their heritage, influenced by being the major cross roads for Austrian, German, and Asian/Eastern European and French/Spanish markets over the last 3 thousand years and the fact that they are now the financial and business heart of Italy. They are now more exposed to the international market than their southern brethren.

On a note more for travelers, I have often had non-Italian female friends express their shock at Italian men. It is worth mentioning that Italian men are much more forward and thoroughly blunter when it comes to courting a woman. They will often make physical contact -especially if you’ve made eye contact – and can even create threatening situations if they get out of control. In addition given a camera you may find that you’re having your picture taken without your permission. I think that this is in part due to a Media and cultural influence. All their lives they’ve been fed a glorified media image of foreign women being easy, open and accessible, where as Italian women are more reserved and much harder to court. It is my opinion that they have not discovered how to balance the reality and the image. Often it can be overwhelming and can be quite frightening for female travelers to encounter this type of behavior. The key is to be strong and to maintain calm.

Male travelers will encounter a slightly different difficulty. Often times they encounter a much colder welcome from Italian women. Italian women deal with the stronger pursuit from Italian men all their lives. So it takes a lot more effort and a different approach to generate a friendship and or a relationship with a native Italian in Italy. I met my girlfriend through my Internship in Milan (she’s from the south) and luckily had four months of work and social events to get to know her and her friends and date her. This different environment gave me an advantage. However as a traveler in hostels and cities through northern Italy and across eastern and central Europe I discovered that as a male traveling, you need to be careful. Although clubbing culture is becoming more globalized it is still culturally different in each country and province/region, the way you dance and interact on a social level in Italian clubs is much different than here in the U.S. there is a greater emphasis on personal boundaries and space. In addition Italian men, especially family are extremely protective of their sisters/female friends. You can find yourself ostracized very quickly by interacting rudely or without finesse regarding your courtship.

Another bit of shock when encountering the Italian culture is its proclivity to lively argument and prolonged yelling/screaming verbal encounters. I’ve heard countless stories and even encountered it myself. After a long prolonged, loud, and aggravated verbal encounter a non-Italian would escalate the confrontation to a physical encounter. He would be immediately surrounded and prevented from fighting as the Italians, shocked at this behavior reacted in horror, with questions shooting from every side asking if something was wrong – The general response… “of course something is wrong we’ve been arguing for 30 minutes”. This is the best illustration of Italian social interaction I can describe. To them an argument, yelling and screaming is only a part of normal interaction. It’s not a fight, it’s an expression. Only if something truly upsetting occurs can physical confrontation begin. Even then it is still frowned upon.

Hello folks! I apologize for the delay in blogging. Since Alex and I set off into the Highlands of Scotland and then across into Northern Ireland and then I continued into Northern England and down to London to return home I’ve not been able to blog. I’ve got quite a bit of catching up to do. As part of that process I’m now posting some of my writings regarding travel and some fun stuff that I’ve been working on during my trip. You’ll find the first of these below with more to come.

I’ve posted a great video:

And built up a nice follow-up blog of that video in Text:

Train travel and general travel tips in Italy:

Train travel in Italy is a friendly experience and one that can be faced without fear. Traveling by train in Western and Central European countries is the preferred route of travel by most visitors. Buses are an option, and although often cheaper may leave you at the outskirts of a city or have very limited departure and travel times.

I’d like to outline my experiences and draw on my time in Milan and traveling through central and eastern Europe to give you some insight into Train travel. I arrived in Milan, Italy January 20th 2009 and stayed until May 1st before participating in a Travel Study program across Eastern, Central and North Western Europe (Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Bosna I Herzegovena, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Czech, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, British isles). During my Travels I used a mixture of Trains and Buses. I’d like to focus the first half of this post on Train travel in Western Europe.

Specifically I’d like to start with the Italian train system as an example. The system is open, straightforward and efficient. There are three major rules,

1. When you enter a train station, look for automated tellers (usually coded for 3-5 major languages). This has two benefits, the first is that the machines avoid speaking with a teller who may or may not speak more than one language. Second this will help you get written information and possibly provide information in English/German/Native language/ Chinese. Do be sure to check if there are student/youth/senior rates that are only available from a teller.

2. Find the departures board and the regular/regional train board. These provide information on the types of trains (as well as a description of what their symbols mean) and a regular daily time table so you can plan day trips on short notice.

3. VALIDATE YOUR TICKET! I can’t stress this enough. In every country I visited it was required that you validate your ticket. In Italy the fine for failing to do so can be 50-150 euro. It varies country by country but often the cost of forgetting or failing to Validate is 2-5 times that of the ticket. If you notice you’ve forgotten or the machines are out of order, Train conductors (in Italy at least) are required to validate your ticket if you come and find them. If they find you and it’s not validated some will validate it for a in pocket fee of 5 euro.

If you keep these three rules in mind, travel in any country via train is simple, stress free and can be significantly easier.

In Rule 2 I mentioned that there are different types of trains. In Italy there are fast trains, normal trains, and then there are the big commuters – called regional trains. Treno Regionale are the cheapest form of train transport in Italy. They are generally half the cost of normal trains and 1/3 that of the fast trains. They take a little while longer since they stop at almost every station but the difference in cost can make up for the delay. If your traveling across Italy, it may be worth the time to check different major cities along the path and check the Regionale connections. Instead of an express train you can catch a few Regionale commuters for a fraction of the cost. (Note this is not always the case, at times the number of changes can make the cost savings minimal).

The photo’s included here are representations of Italian (Trenitalia) equipment. However, the principles held true in Germany, Poland, Czech, Belgium, Holland, and the UK. Validation, and Train departure/automated systems are nearly universal in developed countries.

The second half of this Blog refers to Bus travel in Eastern Europe.

When I left the European Union and the fringe Shengen countries, I encountered an interesting phenomenon. Major train lines passed through capital cities and avoided smaller principalities. Leaving me with only one option – Buses. Eastern Europe, Greece, and Turkey especially were prone to major inconveniences when using the Train system. The trains were slower, less comfortable (minus sleeper cars) and had less flexibility and variety in travel destination, however to my surprise Bus travel in Eastern Europe is exceptional.

Eurolines is one company that does cross European transit – I’ll use their coaches as an example of the type of buses made available to travelers:

These large, 40+ seat buses generally have media – TV/VCR/DVD and in eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia) they also have in drive refreshments (soda/water/snack food for free) and Orangeways and now some of the other major companies like Eurolines even have WIFI built into the buses. It’s a sense of luxury travel for a fraction of train ticket prices. As an illustrative example, I traveled from Istanbul, Turkey to Plovdiv, Bulgaria for 1/3 the price of the train ticket and arrived in just under ¾ of the time. As I continued my travels through Eastern Europe I ran into a lot of travelers who had purchased Inter/Euro Rail passes and found them to be a bad investment for eastern European countries for two reasons.

The first is that Train transportation in Western Europe is Much more expensive than eastern Europe making a Inter/Euro Rail pass a great investment because it sets a standard cost for each journey. However, Given the lack of functionality on most train lines and the lower cost in E. European countries the pass was more expensive than buying tickets individually and didn’t allow use of bus travel.

Bergamo – 5-1-09

I awoke at 7 am, having taken a shower the night before and prepared for an early train to Bergamo. Bergamo is a beautiful city consisting of two parts. The old upper city a walled fortress built at the top of a steep hill and the languid lower city stretching off into the plains. Bergamo’s upper city is the real attraction, with its ancient wealth and preserved medieval walls and streets it is an Italian gem.
We arrived at the central station in Bergamo at San Giovanni. We exited and followed the main street up through the lower city. Tree lined and green the lower city is a beautiful example of Italian construction in the last 1-200 years.

After the quick twenty minute walk to the funicular we discovered that due to the may day holiday the funicular was closed and would open at a leisurely 1:45pm. Next came the daunting decision to hike to the upper city. No small feat. We started up the medieval pathway, small cobblestone switchbacks leading us ever higher. Beautiful views of the climb gave us a clear view of the Bergamo valley, the transition from foothills to plains. Low hills opening up to the open grassland beyond.
We arrived at the giant lion’s port, climbed through the portcullis and into the upper city. Walking through the tiny and confuse streets gave the city enormous presence. We stumbled out of the narrow streets onto a larger main street leading to Universitá Bergamo. Next to the university are two churches exhorting the wealth and corruption of men who deemed themselves the mouthpieces of God. One built of white marble and inlaid gold, and another of darker stone with frescos, tapestries, gold, silver, statues and bas relief. Shockingly beautiful and intricate. An amazing testament to art and construction in ages past.

We ate chicken and salami with a cool bottle of wine on a side street hanging off the side of the fortifications. Then hiked back into the city and around the last of the streets. We met the funicular and packed like sardines in a can we decended to the lower city. After exploring Bergamo we headed home and prepared for our departure Saturday morning to Lake Como and our experiences there.
I’ll let my foto’s do the rest of the talking – a beautiful city.

Final Week Milan:

A week without work, a week without some of the simple joys of routine, this week… enthusiastically preparing for my departure, a return to uncertainty, discovery, personal self discovery. A return to travel! Not knowing where or when I’ll be somewhere until the day before. Walking the city, speaking to locals searching for the perfect hostel or hotel, dropping your bags and heading out into the city. Exploring the main square, then the cathedral. There’s nothing that can compare to the simple beauty and experience of traveling on impulse, exploring based on whim and desire. What a joy.
Monday –
Monday: A sad day by all accounts. My final day at the consulate as an employee of the United States Government. I packed up my office, mailed the last of my clothes and awards and prepared for my departure. My Coworkers, Colleagues, and friends prepared a farewell party for me, with a toast, ice cream cake and champagne. We said our farewells and I finished my final assignment for the consulate. I packed up, finished my checkout papers, and headed to Post 1. Turning in my badge and leaving the American Bubble inside the consulate I headed back out into Milan to prepare myself both mentally and physically for the journey ahead.
Monday night I packed, wrote, and spent the evening with good friends and Gabri.

Tuesday. Woken up, 7 Am. Work may be done but no one told my alarm. Shut it off, stumble to the shower. There’s a nag at the back of my mind. Biting, screaming. I finally listen… No work today – why am I out of bed? I stumble back wet and half dried. Plop down in the bed and snuggle under my pillow. The first time I’ve slept-in in the last three weeks. Beautiful, joyous, triumphant.
I wake up again. Finish some of my final packing and work on my paper. Cook a quick lunch of salami (cubed) with spaghetti, funghi, and pomodori. Scarf it down and its time to head out to pick up my parents. Off I go to Linate, grab a café lungo while waiting and find a comfy spot against a pillar. Mom and Dad arrive and I rush to meet them and give them a warm welcome to a northern city. We hop on the bus, (the wrong bus I might add) at my direction and head to Milan. Realizing my mistake we jump off and grab the right bus, adding another half an hour to our journey and allowing time for us to catch up on the long ride into the heart of Milan.

We stop at San Babila and hop off, then take the metro to Centrale to find their hotel. Once checked in, bags down and heads rested we rush off to the Navigli for a Milanese Appertivo. Wonderful food, and some darn strong drinks and we’re back on track to return to the hotel. I drop mum and pa off and head back home.
Get home and finish up the final draft of the SGS 494 Independent internship. Then head to sleep.
Wednesday: its up again bright and early. We head to the Duomo, see the intricate use of faith to control humanity for the benefit for a select few of dessicated corrupt seeking monuments in their name. Epitomized by the mummified body of a “saint” preserved in silver clothes and a gold facemask in a silver, glass and marble sarcophagai as though his personal greed and utmost self service to ensure that he was seen and remembered by all was a merit to god. The unbelievable expenditure of money on the edifice was startling and beautiful, perhaps the only positive creation of that system of control.
After the tour we hiked to the roof and looked out over Milano. Hundreds of photo’s later we continued on toward Cattolica University. We stopped at San Ambrogio and met Gabri for lunch and a Café. Then we headed inside and saw the grounds of the University – beautiful in more ways then one!
After Cattolica we headed to the Museum of science and Technology – inside are exhibits from Leonardo Da vinci’s journals and models built from his drawings. Exhausted by a day of walking and exploring we retired to the hotel for a quick rest and then headed to my apartment. Mom and dad met the roomies and they cooked us a magnificent dinner. I took mom and dad to the Metro and headed home for the night.
Thursday: Woke up again bright and early, saw Castello Szforsesco and Parco Sempione. Then headed through the Triennale Deisgn Museum. The exhibits on industrial design and lasting production were amazing. The crowd wasn’t half bad either… remind me to take design classes *wink*.

We had a meeting then with Mr. M. Kidwell and he advised us on our travels and showed mum and pa the consulate. After we split up and I returned home to a farewell party thrown by my roommates.
Friday Morning: woke up and decided and ran off to Bergamo for the day.

Saturday
Saturday morning I awoke and decided to take advantage of a quiet day in a quiet apartment. My roommates have all abandoned Milan for the warmth and comfort of family and friends to celebrate the Easter holiday. The house quiet and clean, I settled into the couch and started on the second of C. Descry’s Triology: The Brothers Shikoku. The first book, The Daughters of Onoto, flew by and I couldn’t wait to get into the second. Descry’s got a great writing style, descriptive yet quick-witted and a corny sense of humor. I’d recommend the series. (You can find the books and more on the author at www.Cdescry.com).

As the day came to a close I showered, went for a quick walk and headed to the McDonalds in Piazza 24 di Maggio to meet up with Annamaria, Valeria and Fabrizia. After dinner we went our separate ways and I meandered home excited for Sunday and Monday. On Sunday I made my way to Monza and had Pasqua pranzo with Gabriella’s family. What a treat! We had fish inside deviled eggs, pasta with funghi (mushrooms) and peas and lamb. Excellent lunch and marvelous company. It was a real pleasure to be invited into her home and to meet her family and watch an Easter lunch Italian style.

We returned to Milan (she drove me home) and I made dinner…A mixture of breaded eggplant, steamed broccoli and cucumber, sautéed onions garlic and cucumber and finished with fresh slices of pineapple.
I gave a basic salsa lesson and then it was off to bed for me.

Monday I met up with Gabri again and we headed to Monza to meet her friends. We stopped at her house and Gabri picked up some salmon and grilled veggies. Then off we went into Monza. We arrived at the park a little after 12:50 and spent 40 minutes looking for parking. Every square inch of parkable space was taken and there was hardly any green visible in the stretch of bodies and grills choking the park. The mass of humanity was nearly unbelievable. We finally lucked out and grabbed a space ten minutes walk from Gabri’s friends. We grabbed the food and headed over. There were about 30 of Gabri’s Italian friends at the park. We enjoyed the afternoon (until 7) lazily eating in the sun. We had a mixture of steaks, pork chops, bacon, wine, beer, fresh salsa (tomatoes and basil) breads and hookah. A beautiful day with a beautiful girl. Piccola amore.

Piú Dopo!

With the passing of my uncle, comes the second affirmation that this lifestyle is viable. I miss him and I want to be a part of the ceremony that celebrates his life. However, at this juncture I do not see how that would be possible. I think that in the end he would rather that I continue on, follow my dream and press forward taking advantage, as he did, of every day. It’s a conflicted feeling. Return home, attend the funeral and celebrate his life with family…Or remain, celebrate his life alone, physically but mentally connected to my family and to him. A hard question.

Another question also arises. What is it that I must do now? I need to make decisions regarding my future and what I am planning to do as time passes. Looking at the decisions I’ve made, I realize I settle for something and grow to enjoy it without attaining a passionate burst of unstoppable will that would carry me toward a single end goal. Instead, I make do and work my way through the experience as though it were an exercise. Strange this connection to it and my experiences. International relations… a mixture of sociology, liberal arts, urban systems, planning, political science, public administration… what a trip. Throw into the mix a class on cultural awareness and dancing and you’ve got a real melting pot of ideas and disciplines. Not so much interdisciplinary as tutto disciplines. Ha.

Allora, che altro? Troppi, too much, always too much. There is a mixture of aggravation and motivation that keeps me constantly pushing forward seeking the next new experience, and because of this restless nomadic spirit I believe I need a constantly changing environment which is always demanding I develop new skills and relate to new experiences. Without it I get bogged down in a wrote pattern and my productivity and motivation falls.

Communque, there is a feeling in the air…change…a charge which is overwhelming. I’ve got a bit of work to do to finalize my current journey. Complete these videos, write summaries, cables, riassunti… sempre lavoro anche al mio paper on the future of Milano.

So much time is left yet it will fall away so quickly. And now is also a time of planning…a general outlook on the cities I must visit.

Journal entry March 29th 2009:

Ciao Ragazzi! Come state? Io sto bene, ma oggi é una brutta giornata. Il tempo é freddo, piove c’é anche la nebbia. Terribile. Ammalato un po’, mal di gola e anche mal di testa. Ho pensato che il tempo é il problema.

Allora, ieri mi sono divertito molto, particolarmente a casa di Frank e gli amici di Valeria.

Ma la cosa piú importante ieri e che sono andato a Monza con un donna molto bella. La piccola ragazza mi ha mostrato la città di Monza. Prima siamo andati al centro di Monza, al parco, al mercatino e anche alla chiesa nel centro di Monza. La chiesa é una piccola versione del Duomo. É molto bella, e indentro tutto sono senza voce. Il parco e un po lontano del centro di Monza. La regis ha usato il parco per i giardini personale. É grande con molti alberi. Dopo un pieno giorno con la bella donna, io sono andato ai navigli. A navigli ho mangiato apertivi e dopo sono andato a casa di frank, beve con miei amici e sono ritornato a Navigli a beve a una barca con amici e anche la bella donna. É più divertente.

Hello friends! I hope this note reaches out and finds you well. The weather today is disastrous. Rain, fog, and brutal cold, so much for spring. However despite the terrible weather I’m still having fun. Besides, it’s Sunday the day for relaxing and eating with friends. Tonight we’re having guests for dinner, Mimo, Leo, Nico, Kim, Pino, Michele, and another from Bari will all sit down and end up eating … not sure what will be cooked as of now but I’m excited it should turn out pretty well. I mean Italian cooks, from southern Italy, can a man ask for better food. I doubt it. In the south life is organized in the following pyramid. First and foremost, strongest and most important is food. Second is drinking and cheese, third is family and the sun, fourth and least important is work and being trapped by any idea of scheduling or plans. As such, I’m sure I’ll be fed well.

Primo importante di piú e la conversazione. Miei amici pensavo che io sono un po’ stranerò perché io mangia patate crudo, aglio crudo e anche é possibile per me a scrivere alle computer senza vedere.

It ends up being quite entertaining in the long run. I am finding it harder and harder to type everything in English as my mind is switching in commonly used Italian words for English words, especially since I’m holding a conversation and watching them cook while listening to Italian music and writing. I am literally multi-tasking, writing while listening and thinking in two separate processes at the same time. It’s very difficult and I find myself alternating between parallel processing and multi-tasking… rough for sure but at least spell checker is there to help me out. On the English side at least. I’ve yet to find the Microsoft office 2003 language proofing tools. Microsoft no longer sells them and I can’t find a legit download. What to do when pressed into such a corner.

On a more personal note, I had an absolutely lovely day on Saturday despite the rain and cold wind. A beautiful, intelligent young woman took me on a tour of her home town. I had a best. We went through the center of the city, visited the farmers market on Saturday and even got to visit a few of the churches. After we had lunch in a small ristorante vicino the statue commemorating the loss of Italian soldiers in WWII from the town. We left the center of the city and went on a drive through the park. The park itself was a part of the king’s former residence. With mansions built within it the preserve was open to the public with driving areas, pedestrian path’s and a course which holds the Italian grand prix! What a trip, to see so much green after spending so long in Milan was a welcome relief and with the rain the smells of the park were overwhelming. After leaving the park we went to the commercial center (mall) and saw Push. I was sorely disappointed as I felt that it dragged and that although parts of it were definitely cool… it did not live up to my American expectations of sex, violence, Minimal plot (there was only a very simple plot with bad background work) and destruction… I mean it was rated R after all.

In the end I think we should have seen Inkheart. Regardless seeing a film in Italian is a trip and I’d 100% suggest it. The mixture of imagery with a foreign language and how you can summarily understand the story is an interesting insight into how the human mind works.

On to the evening, she drove me back to a metro station within the urban limit and I headed off to find an apertivi with my colleagues. We decided to meet up at the McDonalds in Piazza 24 di maggio. I arrived a little late but off we went. Annamaria, Fabrizia, Paul and I went to a little bar on the Navigli and started the apertivi. We had some great food. French fries, house fries, grilled eggplant and red/yellow/green peppers, pasta, spaghetti, penne, sausage, pepperoni, multiple types of salamis, hot dog’s with sauerkraut, and a myriad of cheeses. To finish it off there were plates filled with bread slathered in nutella. All for the cost of 1 drink (8 Euro earns the right for all you can eat access). Finishing the appertivo we headed out, down the wet street to Porta Genoa. After Porta Genoa we took the metro to Cadorna, switched lines and headed to pagano. At Pagano we headed to Frank’s house, a friend of Valeria and an all around good guy. He’s very laid back and a wonderful host. We had a little party there and then headed out once again. We ended up back in the Navigli (Milan’s eastern pub district) and finished our night enjoying drinks on a barge parked in the canals (Navigli is Italian for canals). A beautiful young woman took me home and after some fun trying to get tom tom to give us the correct directions I arrived back at my doorstep.

Journal Summary 2009 – March 20th Equinox
In the last two weeks I’ve had a bit of time to really get into work and settle into it. Specifically three things have distracted me from this bent – the departure of my friends for the U.S., Africa, and Greece…my own travel planning for May…and my continued foray into the darker areas of Milan seeking the full picture of a metropolitan area in Italy.

In my opinion the concept of violent crime is one that is shocking to Italians. It is only recently that Italians have had to deal with increased small crime, rising murder/rape rates and they have avoided the idea that it is Italians themselves who are perpetrating the majority. The amount of fear in the populace has skyrocketed due to political and media manipulation of the facts. Every day the media runs stories about the Rom – the Romanian/gypsy population that live in communes around cities and towns throughout Italy. This media attention is driving increased hatred and fear of immigrant populations within Italy and furthering support for their removal.

As is happening in the U.S., immigration is becoming a major issue. However, unlike the U.S. which has a sustainable birthrate (2.1 babies per woman) Italy is not breeding fast enough to maintain its population. In addition, the population that is present is aging quickly placing a heavy burden on the extensive social welfare system here. Thus immigration is a necessary factor in the Italian economy especially the labor sectors. With the economic slowdown and the increased layoffs many Italians, like nationals of countries through the world, are feeling cheated out of jobs that they had happily abandoned to immigrants in their quest for a higher quality of life. This rift is boiling under the seams of Italy’s britches. I can only imagine what its next step will be. The news seems to foster support for total expulsion which would destroy Italy’s labor sector and remove cheaper labor sources forcing price increases… it does not bode well for the country.

I am constantly surprised by facets of Italian culture. Again and again the differences between the north and south stand out like a flame in a darkened wine cellar. Southern Italians in general appear to be louder, more opinionated and less politically concerned. Additionally they eat later. I was classified as southern the other day because my roommates and I eat dinner around 9-10pm instead of before 8. Italians are also very good at picking out where another Italian is from. In part this is due to the fragmented remainders of different dialects. The Italian language wasn’t unified until relatively recently and as such dialects and pronunciation differences are still quite pronounced. I’ve begun to recognize subtle differences – folks from Napoli for instance just leave off the last few letters on their words, leading to forchett (fork) Amic (friends) Aspett (wait) and other variations.

Paul approached me to assist in the creation of an intern resource page and faq’s for incoming interns for mission Italy – I’m pretty excited at the prospect.

T- 4 days to bro’s B-day – T- 3.5 months to UK w/ him!
This weekend I plan to venture out into Milan suburbs considered to be less than wonderful (slums). I don’t feel my personal safety will be called into question but I’ll also be wandering during around midday to avoid any question. It’s part of my desire to catalog the different sectors here for my independent study paper on Milan’s changing physical form.

I’m feeling better and the week long cold/sinus issue I’ve had is on its last leg. It’s a battle I’m steadily winning. Tonight we go out to celebrate Paul’s birthday. More later.

Ciao tutti!

Journal entry 2009-03-15

Today is the Ides of March. March 15th 2009 – a moment in time which reaches back across ages and cultures. In Roman times, the Ides of March was a day dedicated to the Greek and Roman god and military parades were held in his honor. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated. I think that perhaps this day serves as a reminder of the risks of standing out against the accepted trend of politics, as it should. Ignorance seems to inevitably yield hatred for the unknown. Strikingly unfortunate.

Our world is a combination of all history written or otherwise. There is no action that can be taken in this world that is not reliant on past cultural influences. Each day, every moment we live, each word we speak, every building and edifice constructed has its history rooted across time, cultures and imagination.

Unfortunately for me this is the first time during my trip I am ill. I’ve got a nasty little head cold. Stuffy nose, roughed up throat, and some sinus pressure. Wonderful. Spent the weekend trying to recover as I don’t want to prolong being ill. Watched the marines try to re-felt their pool table – they had a pretty rough time, awfully sad but downright funny – everything that could go wrong did. The lining was too short, the old lining shrunk and wouldn’t re attach. We couldn’t find a store with replacement felt, and the marines have an inspection this week.

Parents have booked and are coming in late April – I can’t wait, it’s pretty exciting to know they’ll be here so soon. Time is flying by faster than I can imagine. I can only believe it will accelerate even more when I start on my walkabout.

I’m not sure what this week will hold regarding workload but I think it will be a wonderful chance for me to film one of the three introductory video’s and get it finalized. I’m hoping to use my Italian friends as real live Italian actors in these scenarios. We’ll see what I can pull together.

I had a lovely conversation with an Italian girl the other night. We discussed Italian cultural perceptions and the unbridled truth that northern Italians are far more materialistic than southern Italians. A harsh stereotype and it only applies to a set percentage, however it has proven accurate in my experience so far. Girls and guys from the south are much warmer and open minded to just hanging out, they give less importance to your appearance and more emphasis on the quality of time spent. Girls especially but also guys from the north are more concerned with what they are wearing, if your jeans cost over 300 euro and how you’re accessorizing… don’t get me confused here, this is both men and women. If you’re not dressed properly and don’t look like you make the right salary it’s quite a bit less likely that you will be approached. Disappointing.

Materialism reaches around the entire world. People put so much value on hard, cold cash. Some even willing to sacrifice their lives at the perceived loss of it. The stories of stock brokers and others who commit suicide after losing only a fraction of their fortunes is a sad indicator of our society’s emphasis on monetary success. I believe there are other considerations – a man or woman’s life is the sum of all its parts, not their bank account. Their experiences, growth, and what they contribute at the end of the day for example.

Enough discouraging thoughts. Italian television is just downright strange. They do however have their own version of America’s funniest home videos… most of the video’s are American, with Italian dubbing.

I’m hoping to find a time next week or the week after to run down to Rome and switch out with one of their interns, get an idea of the difference between a consulate and an embassy.

Ciao.

March 01, 2009 personal journal entry for David Nathaniel Berger.

Ladies and gentlemen today I’m excited to announce to you that I am trying the new voice dictation system through Microsoft Office Word. I believe that you will notice a difference in my writing style as I am directly dictating and not thinking through each sentence before I write. I think that this writing style should provide an interesting experiment and introspection into the way I think while organizing my thoughts for my journal.

Let’s start Friday February 27, 2009 the second to last day of February and five days over a month since I arrived in Italy. Friday was a wonderful day. I had a great time at work and after invited the marines and the other interns to my house for dinner and a social event. We had a very relaxed evening with a two course dinner and the company of my Italian friends and roommates. After we ventured forth from the house and tried to catch the last metro back towards the Collegio di Milano. Unfortunately we missed the last metro and instead had to take a taxi. After the taxi ride we arrived at my friend’s apartment at the college. There was a young woman’s birthday party in the lobby and we went down and danced. All in all it was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to socialize with other Americans here in Milano.

On Saturday I wandered back to the consulate and then took a walk to the Duomo. At the Duomo I bought a few gifts for my friends at home.

A couple hundred years ago the Pope gave Milan an extension on carnival. So while the rest of the world began lent on Ash Wednesday this week, Milano continued to party until today Sunday, March 01, 2009. Because of this extension the square in front of the Duomo was packed with children and families celebrating the last few days of carnival. Wading through the masses I returned back to my apartment, took a nap and prepared for the evening’s festivities.

At nine I wandered over to the marine house and went out dancing with the marines to celebrate the girl’s birthdays. We ended up going to club Alcatraz. Which was amazing. I got pulled into a mash pit, danced, had a blast, and got photos with the marines dancing with the go go girls. I had a wonderful time. We left the club by around 4:00 AM I walked back to the consulate and then from the consulate I walked home to my apartment. I got home by 5:40 AM and slept in Sunday morning.

This concludes my blogging using Microsoft office word’s voice recognition software.

Ciao tutti