Most Challenging (Aug. 7th blog part II)

Living here in Italy there are many differences compared to the US – some which are a major challenge, some which will take some time to get use to & some that I really enjoy. So I figured I’d just go through & list some of those.
Before I do so, I also wanted to share a video that one of the secretaries in the PwC office sent me that is a great example of how Italy is different from other countries in the EU. It’s quite entertaining & I must say based on my experiences thus far, it’s pretty accurate!
From the point of view of an Italian - Bruno Bozzetto: http://www.infonegocio.com/xeron/bruno/italy.html

Most challenging
Language
The most challenging thing so far has to be not knowing the language well. (okay barely any!) Most of the other obstacles stem from not knowing Italian. Imagine going into the store & being completely illiterate – not being able to read the labels of what you are buying and on top of it not knowing how to ask people for what you need since you don’t know how to say it. I ended up with parchment paper thinking it was aluminum foil (the picture was in black & white so it looked the same to me) and got what I thought was fabric softener only to get home & realize it was just liquid detergent. Now thank goodness they do have some of the same brands as the US and most things do have pictures & even some have writing in English, but it is still difficult.
Most days only understanding maybe 75% of what is being said around me – talk about being in a state of confusion! Sometimes I answer people ‘si’ or ‘no’ even when I don’t understand what they are saying just because if I say I don’t understand & they repeat it won’t do any good. I know I will get myself in trouble doing this, but sometimes ‘Si’ comes out before I even realize I said it. A colleague was making fun of me for doing this the other day when one of the guys at PwC was saying he had to fix my timesheet (and I actually thought he was talking about something else…only word I understood was ‘paper’). After we walked away my colleague asked ‘Do you know what he said?’. I said no…and he said but you kept saying yes. He proceeded to tell me what he said…thank goodness!
Also because of the language barrier, I find myself either sticking to the places/things that I know since I feel comfortable or in the case of eating just have learned to eat whatever I get. I have had so many different things here that I would NEVER try back home. The only reason I try then is because I thought I was getting one thing, but instead it was something else. Like this weekend I had a sandwich that had green peppers & grilled onions on it. Back home I would have taken those off in a heartbeat, but here I just ate them - mostly because I was super hungry but also because they tasted different and I didn’t even realize what it was at first. I’ve also had various dishes that if I knew what it really was, I wouldn’t have tried it, but surprisingly it wasn’t bad. Sometimes even after I try it I still have no idea what it is! I have had some I haven’t like so not all are great, but for the most part it’s helped me expand my tastes.
People also probably think I am just a rude person, because I just don’t say much. Or if they ask me a question I just reply ‘No lo so’ (means ‘I don’t know’). Sometimes I feel bad because I say that, but then I realize I really did know what they wanted. I’m usually the type of person that will greet and talk to everyone I would see on my way to work from the security guard, to the receptionist, to anyone I meet in the hall – that’s just the type of person I am. Plus I like get to know people & answer their questions if I know the answer. But because I don’t speak Italian well, I just can’t do that and it’s actually a bit tough on me because in my head I’m thinking ‘oh I want to tell them this’, but I just can’t get it out in Italian. I do of course do the everyday greetings of ‘buongiorno’ (Hi/good day), ‘ciao’ (hi/bye – more informal), ‘buona sera’ (good evening) and will say ‘grazie’ (thank you) & ‘prego’ – but want to say more I just am not comfortable or know how to yet.
Now you think that would make me study more, but somehow I haven’t been able to make myself study that much. I want to think it’s because of all the other stuff I’ve had going on, but I don’t know. Last week I finally go my Italian classes set up & went for an hour & a half Wednesday & Friday. They are closed the rest of August so I won’t have any more until September, and since I’ll be visiting with mostly Americans the last half of August, I probably won’t be picking up too much Italian before September.
Now in my class I do okay. Since I’ve had some Italian back in Houston, I can read the basic stuff fairly well and know a fair amount of words and how to conjugate some words. And when I’m only focusing on one thing (numbers, or time, or how to describe something, or directions, etc.) I do okay – problem is I haven’t been able to take that & apply it when I hear people talking…maybe because I can’t anticipate what they are saying whereas in class I know what I’m suppose to be focusing on so I pay attention to that. Even when my teacher starts asking me questions in Italian, half the time I’m not sure what she was saying.
And I should just start trying to speak it more, but when I start either 1) they can’t understand me or 2) they start rattling off in Italian and in both cases I get flustered & revert back to English. I just am not confident at all! I’m hoping with some more Italian classes I will be able to improve a lot.
I hate having what I’m sure is a very confused look on my face most of the time!
Thank goodness for Google translator though – that has been a lifesaver to me already on many occasions. I know it’s not perfect Italian and sometimes I know enough to make some changes to what it says, but when the person I’m sending a message to doesn’t know enough Italian then Google translator does the trick.
I also have found myself doing some odd things that I’m not sure why I do. For instance, there is a daily evening paper that is free & is left out at most bus stops. I will go & pick it up and flip through it & act like I’m reading it. I do look at the pictures and sometimes I can even read a few words and pretty much tell what it is saying. Most of the time when I do this people won’t ask me questions (which is maybe why I subconsciously started doing it), but sometimes they will ask me something & are probably like what’s wrong with her…because she must know Italian if I’m reading the paper! My hope is that one day I’ll pick it up & WILL actually be able to read it! Oh when that day comes I might be jumping up & down at the bus stop!

Metric & size differences
Okay so let’s forget the fact that I don’t know Italian…even beyond that I have the whole metric vs. English difference in measurements! I still don’t understand why the US never changed to the metric system like the rest of the world, but it sure would be a whole hell of a lot easier for me right now if they would have! I was even confused about this when I was in Canada & they speak English there!
I see the temperature…30F and I really have no idea how hot/cold that is! The AC in my house…not sure what to set it at. The oven…what should I put it on? No clue! And then I look at directions and it say 600 meters or 10 kilometers – I have NO idea how long that will take to get there. I haven’t bought meat yet unless it’s prepackaged because I have no idea how much I should get.
And then sizes…of course the sizes are different! I am so happy when it’s just S, M, or L or they have the US sizes too, because I hate trying on various sizes just to figure out what is the right one (especially when they limit how many you can bring in the fitting room). I have a couple books that have the conversion, but even some of them are a bit different. And of course I don’t have them with me and/or don’t intend to buy something so don’t look beforehand. If I was smart I suppose I would put them as a note in my blackberry so I always have them!
And this isn’t really metric vs. English, but even the things like the fact that they use military time in most places or that they use periods where we use commas & visa versa…or the fact that you have to remember to put the date before the month – all those things I have to get use to and they have nothing to do with the language difference!