One aspect of Italian culture that I had to adjust to was how they view time. In Italy, things tend to move at a slower pace in all aspects of life. For example, the bus system is not the most reliable. Many of the buses tended to show up later than the scheduled time, or they just didn’t show up at all. On days when it was rainy, the buses and traffic in general moved so slow that you were better off walking with an umbrella if you had somewhere to be, otherwise you’d be very late. Also, even doing mundane tasks like laundry took time because most people in Italy don’t have drying machines. Therefore, you have to hang your clothes on drying racks which could take a couple days to dry. Also, anytime I went out to dinner at a restaurant, it would last anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. It took some time for food to come out, and after we were finished eating, we’d usually have to ask the waiter for the check when we were ready to leave because otherwise they didn’t expect that we were done.
I found all of this a little frustrating at first. While having access to public transportation was great, it was annoying when you never knew when the bus was actually going to show up. However, I adapted to this issue by giving myself extra time if I needed to be somewhere or by simply choosing to walk. Not having a dryer was also a challenge because you’d have to wait 2-3 days, and even longer once it got cold out, for your clothes to dry. You could not do your laundry in a matter of hours like we can here in the US. So I had to plan out the days I’d do laundry to make sure I had enough clothes to last me until my other clothes had dried. One thing I didn’t mind much was how long meals took. Italians see meals as social occasions, as a way to spend quality time with friends and family. I enjoyed having this allotted time in my day to just relax and talk with my friends without having to worry about anything else.
Someone from the US would have a hard time adjusting to the slow-paced life of Italy. In the US, people like to get things done efficiently. They’re used to instant-gratification, and having to wait days for laundry to dry or having a bus show up 20 minutes behind schedule would probably be difficult and frustrating for them. Life in the US moves much quicker and efficiently, so it would definitely be a big culture shock to see these differences in Italy.
My time in Italy taught me to be adaptable and open-minded. My experiences showed me that what is normal for one culture might not be normal for another culture, and that is completely okay. The important thing is to be able to recognize these differences and make an attempt to adapt to the new culture.