you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]begonia_skies 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Haha, yes my German friends hate the "how are you?" greeting in America that is expected to be met with a "good" or a "fine". In their eyes, "how are you?" is a question for putting on a pot of tea and listing health and life problems for 45 mins. I've tried to explain, it's really just a greeting and not meant to be taken literally, but I can see how that may come across as fake or insincere.

[–]florasis 5 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

How are you is a normal saying in Italy too. It's just a way to greet someone and you aren't supposed to really tell your problems. Seem like italian and american culture are ways more similar. Did you find USA more funny to live in?

[–]begonia_skies 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I don't think I find the US more funny, I guess. I haven't been back in awhile, so it is always a little disorienting the first few days back. Americans will just start talking to you, like in a line, or anywhere and that never happens in Germany unless they are telling you that you did something wrong, lol! I have been to Italy several times and in my personal opinion Italians seem more laid back and more focused on their families. I think Italians are louder in conversations than Americans, but I don't think passion is a bad thing. Italians seem to be really proud to be Italian and proud of their culture. Driving in Italy is a nightmare though!

[–]blackrainbow 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Well, i think it also depends on the region, veneto is not that laid back and more similar to Germany than the US