Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Tell me about it. This is something Italy and Finland has very much in common. The national pride and identity is rather bipolar. On the other hand we both are proud of our countries (Italy with culture and history, Finland with the 'rags to riches' success story and unique culture), but on the same time we always feel our neighbors are a little bit richer, a bit more successful and a bit more beautiful.
Never! Italians think that Italia is God's own country.
Tell me about it. This is something Italy and Finland has very much in common. The national pride and identity is rather bipolar. On the other hand we both are proud of our countries (Italy with culture and history, Finland with the 'rags to riches' success story and unique culture), but on the same time we always feel our neighbors are a little bit richer, a bit more successful and a bit more beautiful.
Funnily Finland is regarded as an heaven (and Finnish is curiously popular among language learning lovers) compared to Italy.
The situation is like you said: Italians are proud of their history, art, of the immense contribute Italy gave to the world.
On the hand there's much like a spread "esterofilia" barely translated as "Abroad-philia" or maybe "Xenophilia".
Other European countries, especially France, German and the whole Northern Europe are regarded as an heaven where everything works and nobody is poor.
It's a complex situation: Italians hate their politicians (though they have been voted) and often dream of real, efficient and true statesmen, it's the "Sindrome dell'uomo forte" (Strong Man syndrome), often cited as the reason of the wide support for Mussolini.
Italians despise their bureaucracy (quite fairly honestly), the corruption, Mafia, the laziness and inefficiency of our "leaders", the utter ridiculousness in which our country has fallen (exemplar is the controversy over the two Marines held in India), the sheer amount of crysis our country is dying in etc.
Italians, overall, are a very a strange people, maybe unique in the world: so genial, so incredible and full of history, creativity, capacities and skills, so talented and extraordinary.
At the same time the same people who voted Berlusconi, who coexist with Mafia and other criminal organisations, the same who sustained an idiot like Mussolini, the same people who don't pay taxes, the same people who see such a corruption and don't do anything.
And many other problems.
Strange country I was born in.
Funnily Finland is regarded as an heaven (and Finnish is curiously popular among language learning lovers) compared to Italy.
The situation is like you said: Italians are proud of their history, art, of the immense contribute Italy gave to the world.
On the hand there's much like a spread "esterofilia" barely translated as "Abroad-philia" or maybe "Xenophilia".
Other European countries, especially France, German and the whole Northern Europe are regarded as an heaven where everything works and nobody is poor.
It's a complex situation: Italians hate their politicians (though they have been voted) and often dream of real, efficient and true statesmen, it's the "Sindrome dell'uomo forte" (Strong Man syndrome), often cited as the reason of the wide support for Mussolini.
Italians despise their bureaucracy (quite fairly honestly), the corruption, Mafia, the laziness and inefficiency of our "leaders", the utter ridiculousness in which our country has fallen (exemplar is the controversy over the two Marines held in India), the sheer amount of crysis our country is dying in etc.
Italians, overall, are a very a strange people, maybe unique in the world: so genial, so incredible and full of history, creativity, capacities and skills, so talented and extraordinary.
At the same time the same people who voted Berlusconi, who coexist with Mafia and other criminal organisations, the same who sustained an idiot like Mussolini, the same people who don't pay taxes, the same people who see such a corruption and don't do anything.
And many other problems.
Strange country I was born in.
Have you read 'The Italians' by Barzini? He elucidates something similar, talking about how Italians both love and hate their country, how they can be so brilliant but so foolish, always wanting something more yet, at heart, not willing to change. They do seem to have a love/hate relationship with the rest of the world. A complex and fascinating place and people, one that will always be inscrutable, to some degree even to the Italians!
Have you read 'The Italians' by Barzini? He elucidates something similar, talking about how Italians both love and hate their country, how they can be so brilliant but so foolish, always wanting something more yet, at heart, not willing to change. They do seem to have a love/hate relationship with the rest of the world. A complex and fascinating place and people, one that will always be inscrutable, to some degree even to the Italians!
Nope, never read (though his name doesn't completely unfamiliar to me,don't know).
Yes, to summarize it well, we have a complex love/hate relationship with our country and our "nature" of Italians.
The 2 countries have long ties,thanks to Marco Polo and the chinese pasta.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.