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Most people with a shred of Italian background here will never let you forget it.
Interesting that you point out this supposed dichotomy though. Sometimes I think about how people in Italy view it compared to the people I live around that have Italian grandparents or parents.
Most people with a shred of Italian background here will never let you forget it.
Interesting that you point out this supposed dichotomy though. Sometimes I think about how people in Italy view it compared to the people I live around that have Italian grandparents or parents.
Yes there were some Italian Americans in the tour group and culturally speaking, most were as much foreigners as the rest of us.
As a french living in Italy I have always noticed how often Italians complain about Italy besides their own region / city and lack any sense of patriotism except for one thing: Food.
It seems Italians start to become a bit more patriotic when they go abroad but in general they think it sucks and talk about the marvels of Germany and France.
Even if France's patriotism is not as bold as some obvious others (I'm looking at the other side of the ocean), You can be pretty sure that most french people are pretty sure they'd never want to live anywhere else. That's not the case with Italy as many people always talk about going away from here.
What struck me is that when I got here, there wasn't a single week for me without being asked why I had moved here, as if I had made a strange and big mistake to quit France for Italy.
Usually I reply that France is great destination to work while Italy is a great place to live.
less than French or british people , Italy hasn't been united all that long , patriotism appears regional in Italy , Sicilians almost view themselves as a people separate for example
As a french living in Italy I have always noticed how often Italians complain about Italy besides their own region / city and lack any sense of patriotism except for one thing: Food.
It seems Italians start to become a bit more patriotic when they go abroad but in general they think it sucks and talk about the marvels of Germany and France.
Even if France's patriotism is not as bold as some obvious others (I'm looking at the other side of the ocean), You can be pretty sure that most french people are pretty sure they'd never want to live anywhere else. That's not the case with Italy as many people always talk about going away from here.
What struck me is that when I got here, there wasn't a single week for me without being asked why I had moved here, as if I had made a strange and big mistake to quit France for Italy.
Usually I reply that France is great destination to work while Italy is a great place to live.
Well I'm not Italian but I think there is a lot of regionalism and that they are more patriotic about the region they live rather than the whole country.
As a french living in Italy I have always noticed how often Italians complain about Italy besides their own region / city and lack any sense of patriotism except for one thing: Food.
It seems Italians start to become a bit more patriotic when they go abroad but in general they think it sucks and talk about the marvels of Germany and France.
Even if France's patriotism is not as bold as some obvious others (I'm looking at the other side of the ocean), You can be pretty sure that most french people are pretty sure they'd never want to live anywhere else. That's not the case with Italy as many people always talk about going away from here.
What struck me is that when I got here, there wasn't a single week for me without being asked why I had moved here, as if I had made a strange and big mistake to quit France for Italy.
Usually I reply that France is great destination to work while Italy is a great place to live.
Is France not a great place to live? How you managed to escape France, I live in the ****hole Belgium.
Northern italians have almost no patriotism, they keep it for the future Padania
Apparently foreigners know about Italy better than Italian themselves. Anyway North Italian separatist parties rarely get more than 10% of votes in their home regions. They are completely free to get their Padania but apparently over 90% of them still prefer Italy over it.
As a french living in Italy I have always noticed how often Italians complain about Italy besides their own region / city and lack any sense of patriotism except for one thing: Food.
It seems Italians start to become a bit more patriotic when they go abroad but in general they think it sucks and talk about the marvels of Germany and France.
Even if France's patriotism is not as bold as some obvious others (I'm looking at the other side of the ocean), You can be pretty sure that most french people are pretty sure they'd never want to live anywhere else. That's not the case with Italy as many people always talk about going away from here.
What struck me is that when I got here, there wasn't a single week for me without being asked why I had moved here, as if I had made a strange and big mistake to quit France for Italy.
Usually I reply that France is great destination to work while Italy is a great place to live.
Well in fact a Frenchman who makes a decision to live in Italy is quite an odd case
Jokes apart, I agree with everything you say.
Us Italians are almost "fascist" about our food, and are very nationalist about our city. For Italy as a country, though, we mostly feel ashamed.
And yes, there is the biggest-ever divide between northern Italy, which is fully European, and southern Italy which is Mediterranean. As a northerner myself, though I recognize the richness of the southern Italian people and cultures, it is totally impossible to view myself as "alike" to a Neapolitan or Sicilian guy, just for example.
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