thisweekinitaly.com

I spent much of the week in Germany visiting my son Chris for Christmas.
This week’s letter reflects this fact.

Profiling on the Train

At I crossed into Italy on way back from Germany, the Italian police came
through to check passports. Mine was in my suitcase. I started to get up to
get it, but the policeman indicated that this was not necessary. They only
checked documents from persons who looked like they came from countries that
send illegal immigrants to Italy. Italians and clean cut Americans like me
are automatically o.k.

Christmas Concert of Local Choral Group

I went to a concert of a community chorus of the type in which I have sung
many times in USA. It was in an old, unheated church. It was not over 55°
in the church. The audience all kept on their coats. I tried to be more
casual and took my coat off; soon I put it back on. The conductor and
accompanist (who used an electric keyboard, not the old non-functioning
organ of the church which may be a church that does hold services)were
introduced and applauded before each song. “White Christmas” was listed on
the program as a spiritual, but the oral introduction did correctly
attribute it to Irving Berlin. They don’t stand up in Italy when the chorus
sings “The Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah. In Italy the audiences
applaud enthusiastically at end of a concert. An encore is almost always
provided by the group.

Germany vs. USA vs. Italy

On a scale of 1-10 both for efficiency and for public cleanliness, Germany
gets an 8, USA gets a 6, and Italy gets a 4. For example, at the parking
garage at Nuremberg airport there is a light system which tells you whether
or not the floor you are entering has any open spaces. Above each space in
garage is a small light that is red if space is occupied and green if it is
empty. It is much easier to find a space than in USA; such refined details
are typical in Germany.

You may recall that a few years ago the new Denver Airport imported the
advanced baggage system of the Munich airport. For a year or so it was a
disaster in Denver. In my opinion this was not because the system was
defective (it worked fine in Munich) but because the system in USA was run
by American workers, not German workers.

Food In Germany

As I mentioned before, it is ample, tasty, and inexpensive. But a typical
German restaurant makes no attempt to present the food in a visually
attractive manner. In Italy, the food not only tastes great, it is very
often presented with flair. Just another example of how “style”s more
important in Italy.

Bad Taste Knows No Boundaries

Although style is important in Italy, there is no species of bad taste in
The USA that is not matched by a similar example in Italy. You can buy
every type of ugly, tasteless items here as you can in USA. Although
culture is very important in Italy, the evening news recently highlighted
the rapid growth in the popularity of Bingo Parlors. I rest my case.

Soap at Pisa Airport

In a shop at Pisa airport I saw some soap that had a figure of Cupid
flinging his arrow at a heart embedded in the soap. I thought right away
“what a cute Valentine’s Day gift.” Valentine’s Day, not Christmas, is when
my budget takes the biggest hit. I thought this item would be a great
example of a unique Italian gift. Unfortunately on the soap was a label
“made in the USA.” I did not have the heart to buy it. Besides is was
outrageously overpriced.

Christmas Eve Service

I went to service in Arnstadt Germany at a church where the young J.S. Bach
was the organist until he was fired for being too “far out” in his music.
The austerity of a German Lutheran church is even more notable after one has
visited numerous Italian churches. I had my son Chris there to translate,
although the readings of the traditional Christmas sections of the Bible
were known to me.

Christmas in Tuscany

What is surprising to me is how much it is like Christmas in USA. The
decorations are similar. Because there is no Holiday such as Thanksgiving
at end of November,The Christmas decorations in the stores are up every bit
as early, if not sooner, than in USA. The other day I was in the
Supermarket shopping and listening to American Christmas Carols over the
loudspeakers. It felt exactly as if I were in the USA. The bottom line is
that Christmas is a money machine for merchants, wherever there is a
developed commercial society, the pressures are strong for Christmas to take
the same form.

Sex and Selling on Italian TV

One hears a lot about the sex and nudity on European TV in general. I think
it must be mostly late at night. I don’t see a whole lot of it. One night I
was up late and saw ads for one of the talk dirty to me call in services. I
ad was fairly explicit, but not quite X rated. I have a feeling that the
babe at the other end of the phone line does not look exactly like the lady
on the TV screen.

I did watch one show where a man was interviewing a female guest and then
held up a magazine with her naked on the cover. As he was holding up the
magazine (not before) he said in Italian “Children, don’t look.” Probably
the least effective warning given on TV this year.

Believe it or not there are more Home Shopping Network type stations in
Italy than in USA. Another example of how we seem to be most successful in
USA at exporting the less attractive features of American culture.

Age is Very Important

In the news in Italy the age of persons involved in the stories is included
much more often than in USA. In the USA one might see a headline “82 year
old dies of heart attack in house of prostitution,” because the age of the
person adds spice to the story. But if the deceased were 42 years old, his
age would not be a part of the headline in USA. In Italy age would be
included in both stories. Also people are not shy about asking someone his
or her age. It obviously is not considered an impolite question here.

Foreign Priests

I have met some non Italian priests who serve Catholic churches in Italy.
In Italy as in USA the supply of domestic priests is insufficient to meet
the demand. Here foreign priests tend to be from Third World countries or
Poland.

Getting a Package in the Mail

The Italian post office subcontracts at least part (perhaps all, I don’t
know) package delivery services to private companies. They require a
signature when package is delivered. Unlike the USA, they don’t leave a form
that you can sign and leave at mailbox so that next day when the package is
delivered the delivery person can take this signed form with him or her.
Either you have to be there to sign or someone else must sign for you. They
aren’t fussy about who signs. You could come down in a Mickey Mouse outfit
and sign the name “Donald Duck” and the signature would be perfectly
satisfactory.

Important Strike

Last week the doctors were on strike for a day, the TV newscasters were on
strike for a day, but most importantly the local garbage men struck for two
days. Here you take your garbage to dumpsters that are on every street.
When these are not emptied daily, the garbage begins to pile up. You
suddenly realize that garbage men are far more important to you than doctors
or newscasters.

Taverna Lupulula

I went to this place for dinner. Their brochure says The place was inspired
by the film “Young Frankenstein.” I am assuming that Lupulula must have
been the name of the tavern in that film where the monster did his famous
rendition of “Putting on the Ritz.” Or maybe there was another scene in
film with a tavern that I don’t recall. Anyway, it was soon clear to me
that the bar section of the tavern was a singles bar. It was also clear to
me that the “singles bar” scene is probably quite similar the world around.
The food was quite good.

Mount Etna

As you may have seen on TV in USA, Mount Aetna has been erupting. As far as
I can tell the persons who have been injured recently have been either
firefighters or others on the front lines during the eruptions and others
who are simply foolish and don’t regard the warnings to stay away.

The Arts in Italy

In the USA we have an argument at times as to whether the government should
support the Arts. This usually arises when it is time to reauthorize funds
for the National Endowment for the Arts. There is no similar argument in
Italy. Almost every event I attend of an artistic nature has both public and
private support. In Italy the argument is solely over how much money for
the arts. There is probably a “down side” to the high prestige of the arts.
I went to an art show recently that I thought had pretty weak works in it
(Admittedly I am not an art critic.). In Italy people who pursue the arts
but have little talent may continue that pursuit longer because of the high
prestige of the artist.

An Event of the Artisans

I get the monthly calendar of events for Pistoia and the surrounding area.
This month there was a page dedicated to “Confartigiliano in Tour.”
“Artigliano” is the word for artisan. So I noted the event of the tour that
would take place in Pistoia. I figured there would be some works of the
artisans on display.

Well “Confartigliano” is the artisan’s union. I ended up at a union meeting.
One of the women running the meeting came over and asked me what my name
was. The people there all knew each other. It is clear that more than one
was thinking “Who the hell is that guy?” After the meeting I introduced
myself to several people; they were all gracious and the refreshments were
fine. I met a woman who owns a candy business (Yes candy makers too in
Italy can be artisans.). She invited me to visit their shop and workshop.
So it all worked out fine.

Italians and Public Speaking

After I wrote last week about the higher level of public speaking skills in
Italy, a friend who went to school in Italy wrote to remind me that in
Italian schools the examinations are oral. The student must expound in
front of the class. The grading is rigorous. Italian schools are not into
“building self-esteem.”

Just What is That Smell?

I noted early on that in my apartment in in-bowl deodorizer is necessary in
the toilet. I did not think much about why this might be true.

Last week my landlord told me that some men were coming to do some work in
the courtyard, and I needed to close all my windows. I thought they were
going to wash down the walls. No they came to empty the septic tank. I
knew what that smell was. It seems that we don’t really have a municipal
sewer system in Pistoia. It would have been too expensive to install. Each
building has its own system.

Well at least the truck in Pistoia did not have on it the sign used by one
of these businesses in Gettysburg, ” Your S**t is my Bread and Butter.”

Getting My Permesso Form

It took me six visits to apply at police station for my Permesso di
Sorgiorno. On the window they put a list of the numbers of the Permesso’s
that are available to pick up. I’ve never seen my number listed, but my
temporary Permesso has already expired. So I went Friday either to get my
new one or to find out if there is a problem.

Amazingly on my first trip I got admitted to the station and went to window
to inquire. I felt like I had won the lottery. I gave the lady my temporary
slip. She looked at it for a nanosecond and said I had to come back Monday;
it would be ready then. She did not look at any list. It was near closing
time; my guess is that she did not want to go look for it.

Don’t bet the family fortune that it will be ready Monday.

Two Things One Can’t Get in Pistoia

Hard rubber tips for front of soles of shoes to limit wear on them.

Bookends

The shoemaker however, for a very reasonable price, built up the front of
the soles of loafers so they are thicker. For some reason with loafers I
tend to walk in such a way that I wear a hole in the front of the shoe
itself.

Christmas Card Problem

I had a clever plan for my Christmas cards. I’d send them through the
American mail system at Chris’ army base in Germany. Only one flaw in plan.
I had to mail them in bulk to Chris to then be deposited at post office at
the base. I had to use Italian mail system for this step. Twelve days later
they still haven’t arrived in Germany. Those who receive cards from me may
be getting a Fourth of July card instead.

An Interesting Event

Come to Pistoia (actually nearby Montecatini)Jan 17-19 for the 2003 show of
Home Linen and Underwear Collection sponsored by the provincial office of
Commerce, Industry, Handicrafts, and Agriculture. Sort of Martha Steward
meets Victoria’s Secret partially sponsored by the Dept. of Agriculture.
They have a web site www.affreschitoscana.com, but it does not tell you
anything more as yet.

A Surprising Item on TV

Gianni Morandi is a popular singer on Italian TV. He has a variety show on
Saturday nights that also is a promotional show for the National Lottery. He
is sort of clean cut guy. Last night he had as a guest another singer
Adriano Celentano. Adriano dresses like a working man. I think his songs
are of a darker nature. The show is live because of the feature of drawing
lottery numbers.

Well last night Adriano delivered a diatribe against the institution of TV
and its pernicious effect upon the personal and political life of Italy.
This is on a variety show, not a discussion show. I have no idea whether
Gianni, the host, knew that it was coming. Adriano even criticized the show
on which he was appearing, although not as strongly.

In Italy it appears that movie stars and TV stars are more involved in
politics as part of their professional life so that their ideas appear in
the movies and TV shows themselves rather than (as in the USA) at political
events where these stars are present.

Germany vs. Italy (contd.)

As I think I mentioned last week, I found the food in Germany to be hearty,
ample, and reasonably priced. I’ve always enjoyed German food. When I
returned to Italy I went to the osteria two doors away for dinner. I had
risotto with pear and gorgonzola cheese. It was immediately clear why the
cuisine in Italy has a higher reputation than that in Germany.

Buying Shoes

I finally broke down and went to the big sale at the high fashion shoe
store in town. I have to admit that in the area of shoes my Italian
heritage comes through. I discarded about 7 pairs of shoes before I left
for Italy, and still brought over 20 pairs with me. It took only an hour to
get into the store to be waited upon. Meanwhile one is outside looking in
at the customers being served and hoping that they will make a quick
decision and leave.

I saw a guy try on about 9 pairs of shoes before buying one pair. In the
USA if a guy tried on 9 pairs of shoes, he would be referred for genetic
testing to see if there is an inherited problem of ambiguous gender
orientation. I did tell the clerk (in Italian of course) that I was an
American and consequently it would not take long for me to buy a pair. I
think it took 5 minutes.

Men Talking

My good friend Steve Wiley (renowned motivational speaker) has a talk in
which he attributes part of the male/female communication problem to the
fact that each day the average woman says about twice as many words as the
average man. The gap is less in Italy. Men gather in groups on the street
to talk to each other in what could conservatively be called an animated
manner.

I think that speaking well is more valued in Italy than in USA. If you
grabbed 5 Italians off the street, put them in front of an audience, and
asked them to talk on some common topic, they would do so far better than 5
Americans chosen at random. I’m not saying that the substance of what the
Italians would say would be extraordinary, but the style would be good.

The Mercato

The twice weekly Mercato leads to what I call the Flea Market or Yard Sale
syndrome. One buys things because they are a bargain, not because they are
needed. I’ve never seen a yard sale in Italy. My guess is that Italians
would not take kindly to a lot of strangers traipsing over their property.

My Favorite Store
It is a Hardware Store PLUS (a lot of other things) in the center of town.
So far I have purchased there: knife, orange juice squeezer, scissors,
hooks, glue, salt shaker, dish drainer, soap dish, pepper mill, soap, cups,
and hangers. It is incredibly packed with stuff in no apparent order. When
someone other than the owner waits on you, the clerk usually has to ask the
owner two questions: where is ___, and if it is found, how much does it
cost? The store has a storage place across the street that is similarly
packed in no apparent order.

Wednesday I went to buy some cups for a party. The clerk found a few in the
store itself. Then we adjourned to the storage space across the street to
find a few more. Then we returned to the store where it was decided that
there were probably more or these on the back part of shelves in the store
itself. But how to get to the shelves? Stuff on the floor had to be moved
into the street to get the ladder close enough to the shelves to look to
see what was on them. He found some more. The exact same item in three
different places.

A fringe benefit of shopping at this store: the owner and his wife have
mock battles all day. She will lean over to get something below the counter
and in pantomime he will bop her over the head. As she stands up again, he
is all smiles like an angel.

At the Tennis Championships

I saw a couple of matches in the European National Tennis Squad
championship in nearby Montecatini Terme. It was at an indoor site. When I
arrived, I was not allowed to seek a seat until the game in progress was
over. I don’t go to tennis matches often. So I don’t know if this is a
standard seating protocol at such matches (It was not a situation where
seeking your seat would be a noisy event.) or if this reflects the general
Italian emphasis on politeness.

The Nearby Watch Repair Shop

I stopped there in September to get a battery for my watch. The owner was
listening to a Nat King Cole record. He has jazz record album covers on
display on the walls. So now I make him tapes of some of my CDs of artists
I discovered he likes. He gave me a bottle of wine once. Last time he gave
me (orally, with a lot of gestures) his favorite recipe for beans, tuna,
and onion.

Spas in Italy

Montecatini Terme, where the tennis match took place, is a famous spa. I
got the booklet for the Spa. As in USA, it emphasized a lot services to
make you more beautiful, more relaxed, or to pamper you with luxury. But
there is still a tradition of taking (drinking) the waters because they are
good for what ails you. I was at a similar place once in Tuscany where one
of the Italian medical schools had a branch office. I don’t know if
Arkansas has a state medical school, but if it does, I bet that it does not
have a branch office at the spa at Hot Springs.

Thanksgiving

I had a delightful Thanksgiving with my son Chris in Germany where he
works. We visited Nuremberg where I saw the museum on the site of the
massive complex the Nazis had for their rallies in Nuremberg and we went to
the annual Christmas Market in Nuremberg. All the major German cities have
such a market at start of December.

I got the train to Germany in Florence and my first stop in Germany was
Munich. Comparing the stations in the two cities, the one in Munich is
twice as modern, twice and clean, and 1/2 as noisy. The trains are more
expensive in Germany. Maybe the Italians have settled for less service at a
lower price. But I was surprised how inexpensive it was to eat at a
restaurant in Bavaria. Dinners were from 6 Euros to 14 Euros.

Translating for My Language Partner

My language partner Mirella and I have been watching videotapes of American
movies that are special ones with English dialog and English subtitles.
They are for people learning English. Mirella stops the tape whenever there
is something she doesn’t understand and asks me for clarification.

The last one we watched was “Step Mom” with Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon,
and Ed Harris. In this film Julia Roberts is about to marry Ed Harris and
become stepmother to his children. The 12 year old daughter has a problem
with boys taunting her in the schoolyard. Julia Roberts gives her a script
of insults to hurl back at them among which is “limp dick.” Mirella stopped
the tape and asked what this meant. Of course, I first had to emphasize
that this was a concept with which I had no personal experience. Then
through a clever combination of my limited Italian vocabulary and hand
gestures, I got the idea across.

Music on Radio and TV

I’ve mentioned that there is a preponderance of English language music. At
first I thought this music was all imported from USA and Great Britain, but
now I’m pretty sure that Italian artists in fact record records in English.
From what I know of the ability of Italians to speak English, most of the
people who hear the songs, do not know what they are saying.

You may recall, by the way, the comment of the Swedes I met a while back
that the problem with learning English in Italy is that TV and films are
dubbed into Italian rather than being projected in English with subtitles
as they are in Sweden and other small European countries. In Germany too
everything is dubbed into German, but the level of speaking English in
Germany is noticeably better than in Italy. For some reason, the Italians
are not adept at learning foreign languages.

Eye Candy

This is a phrase that has entered the English language to refer to women
who are present for one to admire their looks and nothing else. I don’t
know if the Italians have a similar phrase, but I think they invented the
idea. You will be watching a TV show in which two professors are discussing
a scholarly topic. The front row of the audience is filled with gorgeous
babes. The camera manages to focus on these babes only a little less than
on the professors.

The Expert on TV

On one TV network there is an economic commentator with the name Howard (?)
Friedman. Not an Italian name. It turns out he is an American, but I should
have known this the first time that I heard him. Why? Because I understood
him almost perfectly when he talked. In general foreigners who speak
Italian are easier to understand because they speak slowly and without a
heavy Italian accent.

In my Italian class one student noted that I speak Italian with an American
accent. I don’t aspire to be mistaken for an Italian. My goal is to be able
to communicate so that I am understood even if it is in an American accent.

Weather

We had 12 straight days with appreciable rain each day. Then I fled to
Germany where there were four more days of rain. I understand it rained in
Pistoia too while I was in Germany. As I passed through Northern Italy on
my way to Germany I saw some flooded fields and the streams and rivers were
running high and fast. Today was sunshine.

The Train Detour

On my way back from Germany today, the train stopped at Balzano and we had
to get out and take a bus waiting for us to a station further down the line
where we reboarded the train. The Italian train personnel never gave a
reason for this detour, but when the train was still in Germany, the
conductor told me that a bomb from World War II had been discovered along
the tracks in that section of the trip. I guess this is better than a bomb
from El Kaida.