THIS WEEK I AM IN GERMANY

Italian Restaurants in Germany

There are many of them, often pizza places.  What is more interesting is the number of restaurants than have complete or partial Italian names that are not Italian restaurants. It is as if a word or two of Italian gives some cachet to any place serving traditional German fare.

Reading an Article in an Italian Newspaper

You can buy Italian papers in Germany, although not as easily as you can buy German papers in Italy.  I was reading in Corriere Della Sera an article about current American political events.  At some, almost conscious level, I was noticing that the article was unusually easy for me to follow, being written in a direct style without a lot of flowery language.  When  got to the end, I discovered it was a translation of an article from Newsweek.

An Italian Watching the Obama Victory Rally on TV

An Italian friend was most taken in watching this rally by the little American flags that so many people were waiving.  This would never happen in Italy, even when Italy does the one thing that raises patriotism to its zenith –winning the World Cup. Just one of the many examples of how the sense of nation is much stronger in the USA than here.
 
Studying Italian
 
I was reading one of the endless number of books by Americans telling about living in Italy (Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert). The author describes a common occurrence in Italy — people who come to learn Italian who have no practical reason for doing so.  They come simply because they think it is a beautiful language that they want to know.  Perhaps some people learn French for the same reason; I don’t know.  I do know that outside of Italy the Italian language has little practical use.
 
German Taste
 
Germany is a modern efficient nation with many touches of elegance.  Still when you look at humorous postcards or greeting cards in Germany or peruse the covers of some of the magazines, you can’t help think that if wars could be won by bad taste rather than guns, tanks, and planes, the Third Reich might have succeeded.
 
 

That Wild and Crazy Silvio Berlusconi

It made the news in the USA when Silvio noted that the USA had made a good choice for President — a guy who was handsome, slim, with a nice tan.  His next humorous outburst was in meeting Chancellor Merkel of Germany:

——-

“Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi hid behind a lamp post to surprise German Chancellor Angela Merkel when she arrived for an Italo-German summit in Trieste Tuesday. The fun-loving Italian premier spotted Merkel coming and sneaked behind a guard of honor to lay in wait before stepping out to say ‘Peekaboo’.

The chancellor spread her arms wide in amusement, saying ”Oh, Silvio,” before the pair embraced warmly.

Berlusconi is known for injecting a jocular spirit into formal gatherings – like the time he was caught making the horned good luck or ‘cuckold’ sign during a European Union photo shoot.”
—–

Berlusconi opponents are outraged by what they call his embarrassing bad taste.  His supporters just shrug. My view is that if he does a good job for Italy, who cares about these excesses. If he does a bad job as leader, these foolish moments are only a minor problem compared to the real problem of his leadership.

European vs. American Sensibility — Crime and Punishment

Here is a story from Germany, but similar stories have occurred in Italy.  A German terrorist from the 1960s-1970s was convicted long ago of nine murders and 11 attempted killings. He was given nine life sentences.  After 26 years in prison, he was released this week. He has never repented, but apparently is not seen as dangerous.  In Europe the idea of prison as rehabilitation (as opposed to punishment) is taken more seriously. In Italy very few, if any, persons serve a full life sentence.  I can not imagine this guy being released in the USA.

European vs. American Sensibility — Private Property

At church in Germany two women were talking about their jobs serving AIDS patients in their homes. One said that they often have to intervene when landlords want to evict some of these  people who are very dirty or crazy. As an American, I am thinking “why should they not evict them.  This is their property and they have the right to protect it.” I sure many Germans feel the same way, but in Europe there is likely to be more sympathy for these folks in unfortunate circumstances even when their problems are largely self-inflicted.  This is viewed as a conflict between social responsibility (or however you might choose to phrase it) and private property rights and the former is given more weight.
 
Italian Response to Economic Crisis
 
Italians below a certain level of income will be given a credit card (the Social Card) with which to make up to 200 Euro of purchases over a few months. A similar things was done in USA for some victims of Katrina.

A Personal Story

This week I am visiting my son and his family. My young grandson has been just about to start crawling on this hands and knees, but not quite there yet.  One night my daughter-in-law suggested that I sing to him one of his favorite songs from a Sesame Street song book.  I did.  He looked at me, began to cry loudly, and crawled (for the first time) toward the other room.  He just needed the right motivation.

Medical Costs in Italy (Actually Sicily)

The national health system in Italy is administered on a regional level.  Sicily has the same population as Finland, but medical costs in Sicily are 30% higher than in Finland. Here is one reason.  In Italy doctors are paid a per capita for every patient assigned to them.  In Sicily many dead persons remain on their doctor’s roll (51,000 in a recent survey).  How?  It is the job of the vital statistics office on the region to report to the national health service the name of each person for whom a death certificate has been issued. Then the person is removed from the health service system, but in Sicily the vital statistics office often doesn’t get around to doing its job. I have a feeling (I’m not sure) that the doctor is not obligated by law to report deaths of patients to the national health system.  Of course a patient could die and his or her doctor not know this.

Italian Medical Costs (Part Two)

I have a friend who is having a major operation. He has private health insurance so he can choose a doctor to do the operation and have it reimbursed by the insurance company.  He chose a doctor. This surgeon’s fee for the operation was 30,000 euro; the insurance company, however, would only reimburse 17,000 Euro for this procedure. My friend did not want to pay the extra 13,000 Euro out of pocket.  When the doctor discovered this impasse, he said that he could do the operation through the national health system (for which I assume he is paid some standard fee) at no cost to my friend.  For the surgeon better  the health service standard fee than nothing.

Correcting the Record

After pointing out some minor problems (and they were minor) I encountered when I returned to my apartment after a summer away in which it was rented, I should point out that one of my tenants (a dear friend): rearranged my large hall closet which was a disaster, put my extensive tie collection in order, and contributed a new white tablecloth for the kitchen.  So there were some definite plusses.

Public Internet Access

In Italy, or at least in Tuscany, the public shops where you can use a computer for a fee (These also all have booths for low cost international phone calls.) are almost all owned by immigrants. The one I use in Pistoia was an exception, owned by an Italian.  It was always full of customers.  Still the owner said it did not earn enough and sold it. He charged 2.50 Euro per hour for the computer use. The Moroccan who now owns it charges 1.50 Euro per hour.  If the shop was not profitable at 2.50 Euro per hour (when it was crowded with customers), how can one make money charging 1.50 Euro per hour?  The difference may lie in how “profitable” is defined for an Italian and a Moroccan.

Missing Packages

Ordinarily packages from the USA arrive here in 5-7 days, but recently three packages mailed from USA have not arrived within three weeks.  What could be the problem?  Well the local main post office is closed for renovations; postal clerks are working out of a trailer in front of the building. Could it be that the little task of delivering packages has migrated to the back burner during renovations?

Friendly Neighbors

I’ve mentioned before that the yearly condominium meeting for a building in Italy is considered tantamount to a trip to Hell. In the newspaper there was a report that 6% of Italians are involved in a formal legal proceeding against one or more of their neighbors. Of course many more Italians than American live in apartments very close to neighbors.  Still fighting with the neighbors is more of a national pastime here than in the USA.

Italian Number One News Story

As everywhere the falling economy is the most important issue in Italy too.  Still the front page of newspapers are filled with a dispute over the appointment of someone to fill a post on the group that oversees the nation’s public TV and radio networks.  This dispute is filled with the Byzantine negotiations that Italians love. One night on the news the anchor man said “Although Italy faces much bigger problems, the news tonight is dominated by  (the story of the appointment)….” Even the anchor man had to acknowledge the foolishness of the politicians and media in Italy.

This Week in Italy 295

Assessing the Condition on My Apartment

When you rent out apartment for the summer, a few things will be different upon your return. My microwave had to be replaced, the computer needed to be repaired, and my luxurious white bath robe was missing. Luxury hotels often give the bath robe to the customer as a complement; maybe my apartment is like such a hotel.

Translation Follies

Many words in Italian are similar to English but not always with the same meaning or connotation. When President-Elect  Obama talked about getting a dog for his daughters he joked that the dogs at the Pound were all mutts (mixed breed) as he is.  In Italian this translated that the dogs were all “bastardini come io.”  It looks a little more harsh in Italian.

Explaining the Election to a Sever Year Old

A friend’s daughter was explaining the election to her son. She told him that for the first time a brown man would be living in the White House as President. He wanted to know if now the White House would have to be painted brown.

University Reform

The government has proposed a wide-spread education reform from elementary level to universities.  At university level the idea, among others,  is to make universities foundations so they can more easily raise outside funds and also work more closely with the  sector of employment.  There are demonstrations in the street and occupation of buildings by university students in opposition. I don’t know if these reforms are wise ones or not. I do know that the Italian university system is in need of reform.  I also know that any reform, wise or not, would be strongly opposed by those in the university system.

US Election as Seen by Italians (continued)

Most Italians believed that America would not elect a Black President.  When race relations are in the news here it usually is some ugly incident. Day to day improvements in race relations in the USA do not get reported here.  One leading Italian politician said about eight months ago that he believed the USA was not ready to elect a Black.

Corporate Bail Out –Italian Style

The soap opera of  “Saving Alitalia” continues.  Originally Air France offered to take both the assets and liabilities of Alitalia at a rather low price because the liabilities were quite large. Now another group is offering to buy Alitalia for a much higher price, but only the assets, not assuming the liabilities. Who takes the liabilities –the Italian government (taxpayers) with no plan of ever being reimbursed.  What about the employees who will be laid off by the new owner (The work force must be reduced or the airline cannot make money.)? These folks will get 80% of their salary paid by the government for up to eight years. Still some employees are engaging in wildcat strikes or in work slowdowns that are snarling air traffic.

 Surviving Hard Times –Lessons from Italy

Italy, like the USA and other European nations, is now officially in a recession.  More Italians report personal financial difficulties. These difficulties can affect relationships within the family and outside the home. Still Italians report a high level of satisfaction with their family and friends.  In hard times they don’t lose sight of the more important things in life.

Divorce Italian Style

Valeggio sul Mincio – October 31, 2008 – Divorcing couples in Italy are flocking to a photographer who’s offering to shoot a wedding-style album of their split.
Gianni Fasolini, from Valeggio sul Mincio, had the brainwave after reading that the divorce rate was going through the roof.
“People celebrate a marriage as a milestone in their lives, but a divorce is an important event too,” he explained.
The 45-year-old added: “I have been doing photos of weddings and marriage ceremonies for years, day in and day out, and people told me they like having a photo marking important events in their lives.
“Then I got to thinking that maybe there would be some demand for people marking their divorces and so I started to offer photo sessions for freshly divorced couples them smiling or shaking hands or in some cases even kissing.
“I advertised the offer and as soon as people found out about it they were lining up at my shop for sessions”

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This Week in Italy 294

Getting Back to Italy

My flight to Italy was uneventful. I again encountered one of life’s great mysteries. The airplane from Washington to Zurich had very little leg room between the seats, an eight hour flight. The plane for the one hour trip from Zurich to Florence had much more comfortable seats in terms of leg room. What is wrong with this picture?

On my first trip to my favorite local pizzeria (run in part by an American), I was treated to a free meal as welcome home gift. Similarly when I went to my favorite bar (also run by an American) my first coffee and sweet were “on the house.” Maybe it is a good idea to go away for a long time.

Shipping Items Back to Italy

I was in the USA fir a week in April and then returned on June 1 for a five month stay. Both in April and June I took on the airplane the maximum amount of luggage. So I had more things with me during the summer than I could take back on the airplane. Unfortunately I added to this dilemma by buying things in the USA, primarily clothes. I shipped back three boxes through the post office. There no longer is any surface rate shipping to Europe. It all goes by air. It was expensive, and I can only hope that I won’t have to pay custom’s duty on these boxes even though I labeled them as containing my own used clothes. My luggage was overweight at the airport and I had to pay additional fees.

My good friend Bob who drove me to the airport is, of course, telling the clerk at the check in desk what a “clothes horse” I am (comparing his own frugal wardrobe to mine), and generally having a good time making fun of me. Immediately after he left to drive back to Gettysburg, I called his wife and said “if Bob tells you anything about my luggage problems at the airport, it is a dirty, filthy lie.”

You Know You are Back in Italy, When …

…you go to the local public office that has free internet service, and it is locked because public employees are all on strike for a day. Of course this was a Monday, such strikes always stretch the weekend.

…you go to get the train to Florence for a short event that starts at 10 am. The train is 20 minutes late and you miss the event.

…it’s November but you still are awakened three times at night by a mosquitoes buzzing in your ear. You have to get up and kill them. (One advantage – they are easy to find on the all white walls).

The High Level of Mutual Distrust

I’ve mentioned this before but it is the perfect example of how Italian’s think about the honesty of their fellow citizens. I went to buy some light bulbs at a small electrical store. The clerk takes each bulb out of its box and checks it on a machine to see that it works. I tell her that I am not worried that a new bulb won’t work; she doesn’t have to check them. She tells me that this is done so that the customer cannot take the new bulb home, put the burned out bulb in the box, and return to the store with the box saying that the bulb just purchased was defective and thus get another new bulb for free.

Election Expert

The local newspaper reported called me on November 3 and asked me who was the favorite candidate of the local American community in Florence. I know about 8-10 Americans who live in Pistoia. I’m sure there are more, but not a whole lot. I told him that the Americans whom I knew all favored Obama. He asked a few more questions about the election and I gave my opinions in a fairly measured way. The article the next day presented my thoughts in certainly more florid language. I don’t recall saying that Obama was “charismatic and energetic.” I didn’t label Palin as “too young and inexperienced.” Just a couple of examples. In newspaper reporting in Italy, making the story interesting always is much more important than sticking to the facts.

Understanding Obamania in Italy (and Europe)

A small town named California in Italy held a mock USA election about a week before the real one. Obama got 92% of the vote. This is a typical reaction throughout Italy and as far as I can tell Europe. Why?

You have to start with George W. Bush, not Barack Obama. On September 12, 2001 there was a great outpouring of sympathy and good will toward the USA in Europe in response to the attack on 9/11. If, on September 13, 2001, President Bush had called together his advisors and said “I don’t like this pro-USA sentiment, let’s do all we can to lower the opinion of the USA and of me throughout Europe,” he could not have done a more complete job of reaching this goal.

What did Europe disliked about Bush policies? They seemed arrogant, militaristic, and simplistic. Others can argue whether these policies served the best interests of the USA, but their effect upon public opinion in Europe was clear.

Now what to Europeans are the positive points of the USA? They are that America is a land of opportunity, a place where change can readily take place, and a place that successfully made a nation out of immigrants from all over the world. Now Barack Obama enters the scene. Whereas Bush seems to epitomize all the bad things of a Superpower, Obama seems to embody all that is best in the American tradition. Thus we have Obamania. I am not arguing that these perceptions are correct. I am reporting the perceptions that exist.

Of course it is not simply a European phenomenon. I was talking to a Black Brazilians who has lived in Italy for a year. Brazil is a very racially mixed nation but has never had a Black president. Of course I understand why he might feel good about Obama’s election in the same way that Austrians felt pride when Arnold became Governor of California or the Irish people were very happy when JFK was elected President. Still, beyond this pride that someone from “my group” has won, how does this election change anything for the typical Black in Brazil? He told me that if a Black man can reach the most powerful position in the World, this legitimizes Blacks as people with the same potential and abilities as Whites.