Last week I went to Italy once more to Visit my girlfriend Viola. It was really nice to see her again and now that I am back I miss her a lot again. This long distance relationship thing is really hard but we manage it pretty well over all. Thank the goddess for the internet and especially Skype!

I have now spent quite a bit of time in Italy and I have learned a lot about Italian culture and so I thought I would take a little bit of time to share with you what I have picked up on that is unusual.

One thing I noticed is that the Italians really are very generous and try to take good care of the people that they are associated with. This manifests in many ways. On Saturday, for instance, we went to a BBQ at a friend's house. It seemed that there were very few people who weren't doing something to help out with the event in some way, either helping to prepare food, or set the table, or cleanup. This is not to say that people weren't relaxing and having a good time, more that the work was not isolated to just the hosts. This is a small part of the Italian tendency to take care of each other but I have seen it manifest in other ways on other occasions. It is one of the things I really like about Viola. She always works hard to take good care of me and even tries to anticipate my needs and address them before they come up.

This is contrasted heavily to me with the Italian penchant for taking advantage of situations for their own benefit. I notice this a lot when we are driving. Italian driving is insane to me and it is a wonder they don't all crash with the reckless way they drive. I am told it is even worse in the south of Italy but I have not experienced it first hand. I have seen enough crazy driving and done a bit myself to know that driving in Italy is considerably more dangerous than in the US. They are always trying to get ahead and take advantage of the smallest opening.

In Itlay the concept of lanes is only loosely defined except where it is enforced by concrete. On some parts of a street cars will drive two abreast, and in other parts of the same street they will squeeze together into three abreast. This is quite often done in order to try to get a little bit ahead at an intersection and is even more prevalent with the scooter and motorcycles, of which there are many. The scooters and motorcycles don't just split lanes like they do in the US they weave in and out in ways that simply amaze and sometimes split the lane with the opposing traffic to go faster. I have never seen that done in the US. This is largely done to try to get ahead. The Italians also LOVE to use the horn on their cars and it makes for a much noisier city than US cities. The sound of honking is almost non stop. I have seen a car use the oncoming traffic lane at a stop as their turn lane and I have seen more red lights run in Italy in a week than I have in all the rest of my life.

But I have also noticed the penchant for taking advantage in the airport lines. It occurs most often when there is a large group of Italians together. They are perfectly happy to push ahead or cut in line when they are in large groups in particular but it happens in small groups as well. I think this is related to the Italian cultures acceptance of cheating to some degree.

One of the things I really like about Viola is that she is very ethical in spite of coming from Italy. Many things she has described about getting her degree though make me shocked at how corrupt and cheating oriented the Italian system is. She tells me that students collaborate on examinations while the professor is in the room and the professor does nothing about it. This to me is completely unbelievable but she, and other Italian friends, assure me that this is in fact quite common.

Still, there are some wonderful things about Italy. I have learned what good coffee really is and American ice cream can not hold a candle to Italian gellato. In general the food in Italy is fantastic in comparison to American food. I think I could get quite fat in Italy quite easily. Italians are more social than American's too spending a longer time eating dinner then American's almost ever spend.

Overall I have really enjoyed my time in Italy and I of course especially enjoy my time with Viola and her family. They are very generous and nice and I miss them.