{"id":2895,"date":"2014-05-01T11:44:08","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T09:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=2895"},"modified":"2022-01-02T16:26:34","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T15:26:34","slug":"italian-habits-i-used-to-think-were-strange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/italian-habits-i-used-to-think-were-strange\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Habits I Used to Think Were Strange"},"content":{"rendered":"

A while back, I was invited by a fellow blogger to participate in a sort of \u201cexpat roundtable,\u201d where we\u2019d share our thoughts on the challenges of being a straniero<\/em> in Italy.\u00a0 I\u2019ve written on various nuances of this topic in the past, but I thought it would be fun to be part of this group to \u201ccompare notes,\u201d as it were, and uncover some of the subtle joys and aggravations that vex nearly every expat, regardless of age, sex, marital status, or city of residence. \u00a0This week we chat about \u201cItalian Habits I Used to Think Were Strange.<\/p>\n

Becoming Italian<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s my opinion that we should all make an effort to adapt to our host country\u2019s customs to the best of our abilities.\u00a0 It\u2019s just good manners.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing more unbearable than an expat who is constantly complaining about the way they do things, \u201cback home.\u201d\u00a0 If you\u2019ve decided that you\u2019re going to live in Italy for a while, then you\u2019d better start viewing it as your new home, and do your best to assimilate.\u00a0 Sometimes, this change in perspective can even become a permanent part of you.<\/p>\n

That said, don\u2019t worry, your national identity is ultimately not threatened.\u00a0 Unless you move to Italy before the age of five or six, the transformation will never be 100% complete.\u00a0 You\u2019re doomed to linger in a sort of cultural limbo that finds no ease in either world.\u00a0 A shrink might even assign to you a sub-category of schizophrenia.\u00a0 Once you realize and accept this, the best thing you can do is to have a good laugh at your own expense.<\/p>\n

To wit, I submit the following examples as evidence of my own affliction, the Italian habits that I used to think were strange.\u00a0 Some of these I have mentioned in previous posts, but for the sake of being precise, I have defined them here in order to add my two cents to the group discussion:<\/p>\n

Italian Habits I Used to Think Were Strange<\/h2>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have caught myself wearing scarves at biologically inappropriate moments.\u00a0 Like at the beach in June.\u00a0 OK, it was at night and there was slight breeze. But I grew up in Florida and never even owned a scarf, much less consider wearing one in the summer. What on Earth convinced me that I might get a sore throat if my neck wasn\u2019t properly protected against the colpo d\u2019aria<\/em>? The subliminal indoctrination is obviously having its way with me.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Italy, it\u2019s considered bad form to drink on an empty stomach.\u00a0 Only British expats and American college students on their semester abroad program engage in such boorish behavior in public. So when someone offers you a random glass of Italian wine<\/a>, the polite response is: \u201cNo thank you, I haven\u2019t eaten yet.\u201d\u00a0 As if.<\/p>\n

I can usually find a way around this.\u00a0 (\u201cI was just chewing a piece of gum twenty minutes ago, does that count?\u201d)\u00a0 In any case, most of the time there are peanuts or chips sitting around, so I stuff a handful in my mouth, and then graciously accept the offer of a cocktail.\u00a0 Problem solved.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 However, speaking of drinks, one Italian practice that I think makes a lot of sense is going easy on the ice.\u00a0 Or eliminating it completely.\u00a0 American tourists often believe that Italians are being stingy by only putting two or three ice cubes in their Coke.\u00a0 The truth is, your waiter is doing you a great favor.\u00a0 Ice only dilutes your beverage and numbs your taste buds.\u00a0 Next time, just say \u201cgrazie\u201d and don\u2019t break balls about wanting more ice.<\/p>\n

\"300+<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps the one thing that I never thought I\u2019d embrace is that awkward enigma (I almost wrote enema) of plumbing found in every Italian bathroom.\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019m referring to the bidet.\u00a0 \u00a0But I assure you, if you live here long enough, you\u2019ll eventually warm up to its merits.\u00a0 I will spare you any graphic details, but suffice to say that there\u2019s nothing quite so reassuring as knowing that your nether regions are squeaky clean.\u00a0 After several years, I\u2019ve finally seen the light.\u00a0 Enough said.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As you learn to speak Italian<\/a> and begin incorporating it more and more into your daily conversations, language mix ups become inevitable.\u00a0 It\u2019s a known fact that during this phase you\u2019ll often completely forget a word in your mother tongue, causing you to ponder what life will be like in a long-term care facility with the other dementia patients.\u00a0 But no, this is a normal part of the language acquisition process.\u00a0 How you deal with these embarrassing moments, however, is up to you.<\/p>\n

The wrong thing to do is to sit there and stutter while trying to force your brain to upload the correct dictionary.\u00a0 Instead, just work with the Italian word that refuses to relinquish its position.\u00a0 For example, I was once having a conversation with a colleague regarding our plans for the following day. Strangely, the word \u201csleep\u201d just couldn\u2019t find its way to my tongue, being obstructed by the Italian word, \u201cdormire.\u201d So I simply told my friend, \u201cDon’t call me before 9:00 tomorrow, I’ll still be dorm-ing.\u201d He was a fellow English teacher, so he was sympathetic to my plight, and he knew exactly what I was trying to say. The conversation didn\u2019t miss a beat.<\/p>\n

Obviously this list of Italian habits I used to think were strangeis not exhaustive. (Don’t even get me started on Italian dating rules<\/a>.) I invite you to check out the opinions of my fellow bloggers on these topics to gain a more complete picture.\u00a0 As for myself, I could go on about my anomalous use of sunglasses while indoors, my pants which fit a little tighter with every new pair that I buy, and an inexplicable obsession over the efficiency of my digestive system.\u00a0 Such is the life on an expat in Italy.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a crazy, wonderful, thing for anyone with a sense of humor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A while back, I was invited by a fellow blogger to participate in a sort of \u201cexpat roundtable,\u201d where we\u2019d share our thoughts on the challenges of being a straniero in Italy.\u00a0 I\u2019ve written on various nuances of this topic in the past, but I thought it would be fun to be part of this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5,4],"tags":[49,52,48,15],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}