Italy and Italians

Breaking Down the Stereotypes

~ Is it true that Italians have such a bad temper? Is it just a stereotyped representation by American media (raise your hand who didn't watch "The Godfather")?

One thing is for sure, that Italians will 'argue' loudly about anything: sport, women, politics, I mean ANYTHING! Surely you can call that an argument, 'cause two people are disagreeing about something, but you can't call that an “American argument”. This is just the way we are, we like talking so much that we have to argue in order to get a real good talk, but there's nothing personal, we can animatedly start yelling at each other and then smile and go on with no malice intended. Here stands the difference between passion and aggressiveness. Bad temper could mean a tendency in getting into trouble, but there isn't any evidence that Italians are more aggressive than any other people on Earth. Surely we can get excessive but it's just a matter of getting used to it and understand Italian life. We just see things differently, like many Italian artists did in the past.

~ And what about the gestural language? We know Italians like gesturing a lot and that a large percentage of their communication relies on body language, but why do they have to behave so vulgarly and loudly? How am I supposed to decipher this kind of communication?

Well, communication is all about information sharing. As we want to make anyone able to understand what are we trying to share, I can't see a single reason not to use an extra communication source to express ourselves. Gesturing is really an extension of what we want to say. It's another fascinating aspect of Italian life.
If you want to decipher gestural language, there are plenty of tutorials on how to get these information, but are you really unable to get their meaning? It's so easy!

~ OK, but we know that Italians are not well-known for their reliability, that they're not much committed in terms of business, and may often be late for an appointment.

Is it really a sure thing? I mean, do we have “scientific” evidence that Italians aren't reliable at all? I haven't found any yet, but what I've found is a huge amount of hard-working Italian people, or Italian immigrants who helped, literally, building up new countries.

So, the main point is, do we really need unfair stereotypes? Do we really need predetermined standards in order to categorize anything? Is this rationalist behavior gonna make our life better or somehow meaningful?

Stereotype is surely based on direct experience and observation; however there's no way you can avoid a misinterpretation leading to a false stereotype. You can't just hear “Italian” and start imagining a “Dago, wop, guinea, garlic-breath, pizza-slingin', spaghetti-bendin', Vic Damone, Perry Cuomo, Luciano Pavarotti, Sole Mio, nonsingin' motherf*****” If you rely on predetermined mental schemes you won't be able to truly understand Italian life.

It's all about opening your mind up to new things.
If we manage to understand cultural diversity and historical roots, our current problems will be much easier to sort out.

~ Alberto Avattaneo

Why I Love Italy

I am by birth an American, but Europe has been flowing through my veins since I was very young. Before I ever visited the continent France was my country of choice. After visiting Europe France was swiftly kicked to the curb and a new country found its' way into my heart. For thirteen years now Italy has been my favorite European country and even though there was a bit of a struggle after a visit to Switzerland, Italy and the Italian life still remain number 1!

What is it about Italy you ask? Well it's everything ... the people, the food, the cities, the countryside, the mountains, the lakes, wine and let's not forget coffee. it's the little hidden treasures you can find around every corner. The feeling of peace and tranquility found strolling down an Italian street or just lazing about in a park. The slow easiness of enjoying the Italian life as it comes and never pushing too hard or too far.

So without further ado I Welcome you to Italian Charm and hope that through these pages you will find the same admiration and passion that I have for the beautiful country of Italy and the many different aspects of Italian life. Enjoy!

Ten Italian Inventions
Which Of These Did You Know?

1. Eyeglasses were invented in Italy

2. The Piano is an Italian invention

3. Opera was born in Italy

4. Cologne came from Italy and not from the German city of the same name

5. Vespas were invented in Italy and remain popular to this day

6. The typewriter

7. The espresso machine was an accidental invention from Italy

8. The thermometer

9. The ice-cream cone was an Italian invention

~ and last, but definitely not least - after much debate between Spain and Italy

10. The pizza was invented in Naples, Italy around the year 1860