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I am Bulgarian and I have met many Italians while living in Slovakia. Loads of them work there. Northern Italians strike me as totally different, very reserved when meeting new people, kinda stand-offish. Southern Italians were rather very friendly and open, completely different. Very pleasant to be around and I felt them as brothers. Those from the middle parts like Rome were something in the middle. They say Northern Italians are German-like, but in social situations I find the Germans friendlier and warmer. Northern Italians in my experience act more reserved than the Slovaks and on par with Czechs. Is this from being close to Austria (the Austrian freeze)? No offense, maybe we rub each other off, but I've never met a likeable Northern Italian. They give me cold vibes. On the other hand I've met many warm and friendly Germans.
Northern & Southern Italians are totally different
This horse has been beaten to death many times over, and it's still dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by healthy_
Northern Italians strike me as totally different, very reserved when meeting new people, kinda stand-offish. Southern Italians were rather very friendly and open, completely different. Very pleasant to be around and I felt them as brothers.
But, just for the heck of it, one more time ...
... northern Italians ... until they get to know you and you understand this expression: patti chiari, amicizia lunga ...
... southern Italians ... until they perceive that you have insulted them and they stab you in the back ...
I am an empath meaning I sense the vibes of people and all the Italians that have given me creepy vibes have been Northerners. I am not imlying ALL North Italians are creeps, just the ones I've met. YMMV. A girl from Pescara was very very friendly but Pescara is in the middle I think? I get warm, pleasant vibes from the Southern italians. It's the same with Spanish people - very nice to be around Andalucians, but Madrilenos and Catalans putting me off.
DH was born in Sicily but is, for all intents and purposes, an Aussie. We both speak not very good Italian but have enjoyed quite a number of trips to Italy and now have travelled in every province.
We do not find any major differences between the people we come across. The only one I can think of is that the northerners are somewhat more inclined to switch to English when they hear my husband's southern accent.
We have found warm and friendly people in all parts of the country. Last year we were in the northwest, in Piedimont, for over three weeks and the people were charming. I particularly found the people in Turin like that.
You can encounter rude service people in all parts of the country at times, as in most other countries (even occasionally in the US where they really need your tips) but it is certainly not confined to one region.
We prefer to take people as we find them rather than try to analyse their behaviour based on their regional identity.
Genetically, north italians are iberian like and south italians are greek like
I don't think that genetics have anything to do with this, but yes, as a Greek I have been to all nearby countries and only south Italy felt familiar to me
I studied in Bologna. It's "Northern Italy" but doesn't really feel as strongly northern, especially considering that it attracts students from all over Italy and Europe. Northern Italians are not as loud and outgoing as Southern Italians, but they're still not creepy or standoffish, especially as someone coming from Los Angeles where basically nobody is friendly and everyone is fake. All Italians have a very genuine and positive vibe to them in my experience, with the Southerners slightly more outgoing and louder.
While living there, I did learn about Lega Nord as I studied politics. I'm not sure of the trajectory and values held in 2019 by Italian political parties, since here in the US we have seen the Republican Party basically embrace authoritarianism and borderline fascism. But back when I was in Bologna, the politics of Lega Nord seemed to sorta explain the Northern Italians a bit more. As in, they're the Italian version of the US Republican Party which is not friendly to outsiders, and its wealthy elites are the type to clutch their pearls at the sight of a poor minority person. They wouldn't be the Republicans of like rural Ohio or something. They'd be the Republicans of the Upper East Side, deep Long Island, Beverly Hills, plantation-style areas outside of major Southern cities like Birmingham and Atlanta, flashy suburbs outside of Miami, etc.
That's at least the vibe I got from learning about Lega Nord and its popularity in the North. I could be 100% wrong because it's not like I've ever voted in an Italian election and I did not live there during an election. So if I'm wrong, don't hesitate to correct me.
Lega Nord has evolved into "Lega" so that southern italians can join northern italians in the hate towards the "south" i.e. immigrants, mostly africans, thus forgetting they used to be the target of this hate.
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