The way that Italians view leisure in my opinion is much
different than that of the way Americans view leisure. I think that overall,
Italians are much more active than Americans are and they tend to be out and
about much more as well. Americans like to spend time in their homes with
family and friends where as Italians spend time with family and friends at the
piazzas around the large cities, or simply at one of the cities main landmarks
like the Santa Maria del Fiore or the Coliseum for example. He two countries
also (for the most part) enjoy different things to spend their time with.
Italians watch soccer, whereas Americans watch football. However, Italians get
crazy for soccer. The way Americans enjoy football doesn’t even come close. In
America people paint up their bodies to support their team and get a little
loud and that is the extent of it. Italians however will light smoke bombs,
blow up real bombs, jump the gates to get in fights over which team is better
and so on. The soccer game we went to was a completely different world to us.
In the
book, The Italians, Barzini states in
chapter 10 that, “They know a man should not be kicked if he is old, if he is
strong and can immediately kick back, if he can later avenge himself, if he has
powerful friends or relatives, if he could be useful someday in any way, or if
a policeman is watching. But why not
when he is down?” (Barzini, pg. 183). In America, it is a general rule to never
kick a man when he is down, but in Italy, according to Barzini, this is the
best time. Just like their way of life is different, their overall behavior is
different. In Italy, there is so much history that you could spend a lifetime
here and still not see it all. In America, we have a couple hundred years of
it. The Italians have different views on leisure because of this. They enjoy
totally different things than Americans do. They enjoy art, we enjoy movies.
They enjoy spending their days out and about with family and friends and we
prefer to do this in the comfort of our own homes. They enjoy soccer while
Americans enjoy football, basketball and baseball. Finally, Americans like to
get drunk (much more so than Italians). Danilo told some of us that Italians
simply do not get drunk. They enjoy alcohol (like wine) but not like Americans
enjoy beer.
Overall,
the way in which Americans and Italians view leisure is completely different. I
think this is because the overall way of life is completely different too. In
the book titled The Smiles of Rome, Muriel
Spark states, “If you live in central Rome, you have only to walk down the
street and you come to a fountain by Bernini in which children are playing or a
Michelangelo embassy or some fine fifteenth-century building with today’s
washing hanging out.” (Spark, pg. 231). The life of Italians is very different
from the life of Americans. In America if you walk down the street you would be
lucky to see almost anything with as much history as anything in Rome.
I like you blog. I like how you incorporated the quote about how Italian see it ok to kick someone when they are down because they are showing weakness, but in America it is not ok. You're right, leisure is different in Italy than back home and I've noticed it too.
ReplyDeleteCiao Mark,
ReplyDeleteNice blog. I like how you incorporated readings from Barzini and Smiles. I think this was a good opportunity to incorporate Wharton's article on gardens. Maybe speak about your own experience with class or bike riding in the gardens. Also be conscious of using all your experiences. I like how you incorporated the soccer game. I think there were other experiences, like the Baths of Caracalla which speak to the history of leisure. Always be conscious of reflecting about all your experiences when writing the blog.
professor