the thing about italy and italian….
being in italy for about 2 weeks gave me some new perspective of how life can be led in various ways…
what i can say is after being on russia for about 3 years… is that italians are totally opposite that of russians…in terms of way of life and view of life all together…
everywhere in italy, the cars appear to be more of a "gentlemen". when you are crossing the road, the car will slow down for you…even if u are crossing the red light…whereas here in russia…they know you are still crossing the road, but they will move faster so that u know u will get banged if ur feet do not move faster…
the thing about italian during the first meeting with strangers is that they have the mindset that you come with good intention…they will smile at you and give you warmth..although it might not be sincere…they will try their best to give you direction in a language you would understand although they are not good in that particular language…. whereas in the first meeting with a russian, they will think you are here to give them trouble. nothing you do matters, as they know they would not gain anything from you asking direction from them…they would not even try to answer you in english. unless you know your russian well, don’t speak to them. ( o course there are many exception to this statement)
in the shops, italian shopkeeper apologize for not having small change for you. in russia, you have to apologize for not having small change for them…..and sometimes you don’t get to buy your stuff if you have a big note…
lifestyle in russia are somewhat hectic….everyone on the street are always rushing to go somewhere…doing somethings…..whereas in italy….life are slower, more relax, ppl enjoy what they do. you can go round the cities with no particular direction or destination without having to feel guilty about it… they can sit by the bridge and enjoy the view while tasting the delicious pizza they ust bought from the shop nearby…some could sit by the river and draw the scenery as hobby…..some are creative enough to draw some famous potrait on the road….there are ppl sitting in the park feeding the pigeons with leftover bread…
all these i’ve seen within 2 weeks while i was in italy and i’ve not seen any in russia altho ive been there about 3 years….well, i don’t really blame them…you can’t enjoy the scene here if everything is white and freezing cold….nor could u feed the pigeons…
i came back from italy last tuesday…i was still in my holiday mood…untill i was at the bus stop waiting for a free bus to IKEA….then it suddenly hit me that i must come back to this reality…to this competitive society….or i’ll be late for classes for not being able to get a bus, i must realise that i will not get my food if i always follow the line and not struggle my way to the counter through all the ppl that are cutting queues…
it took me sometime after coming back from my vacation to again get used to the ppl here fighting to get on the bus when there’s obviously enough space for everyone…..(there were no squeezing ourselves into a fully packed bus in italy)…and everyone talking to each other as if they are quarreling….
well, it’s cultural difference….and as they say, masuk kandang kambang must mengembek….so i might as well get used to it….
p/s:1 not everyone will agree with me on this. 2. i have nothing against russian.3.there are many exceptions to my above statemtn. 4 i am not angry..it’s just the way i compose my sentences.. get over it..
