separately, and after the meat has been served in a lonely fashion on it’s own. Announcing you are vegetarian receives the same reaction as it does in France – it’s nothing short of a tragedy.
Personal health is the second biggest topic. Your neighbour will usually know THE eminent medical expert in Italy for your personal ailment. Should they have one, they will tend to share quite personal details of it with you, very often on a first encounter – and expect you to do the same.
The Italians are very switched on to seasonality, and each season has its’ proper attire. So, the 1st September heralds the Autumn, and the jumpers and scarves make their first appearance, even when to us, it’s still roasting outside. You can tell every northern European
at a glance in late summer; we’re the ones still decked out in shorts and T shirts when the locals are covered up and looking at us as if we’re mad. I’ve tried to explain that our quota of sunshine is much smaller, and that it’s in our psyche to take advantage of every last ray.
Full length fur coats come out as soon as the air gets chilly, particularly for the early evening passeggiata – as we’re still slurping icecream! Covering up is considered essential to ward off illness, especially for small children. And yet come the summer, the flesh is revealed in all it’s glory, and the budgie smugglers are a sight to behold. Or not.
So, lots to absorb, delight in and puzzle over. I could write a book. Luckily for us, and I’m not sure why, the Italians seem to adore the Brits. The Union Jack adorns an array of merchandise, and they revere our eccentricity and particularly our strong sense of fair play; they just don’t
want to emulate it. We are all so delightfully different, the separation made more stark by my pathetic skill with the language. Chuck in the 40,000 verb conjugations to add to my bewilderment, and I hope I’ve explained what it is to be truly foreign. Who exactly uses the remote past tense anyway?
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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