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Any Irish ever lived in Italy and began to hate Italians?

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  • 26-09-2009 5:06pm
    #1
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭


    U know when I tell people I live in Italy (originally from Dublin) they say , "Wow you are so lucky, Pizza pasta casanova art blah"..Yes all those things are nice, but once you LIVE here and you are dealing with self absorbed Italians everyday it becomes a little different. :mad:

    What is with the staring?!? Everyone stares here and its normal!?
    And everything being closed all the time?
    Do Italians ever work??

    Anyone have these experiences? I'm starting to really look forward to leaving here!


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    #2
    Jarren
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,692 ✭✭✭Jarren


    ladyinwaiting wrote: »
    U know when I tell people I live in Italy (originally from Dublin) they say , "Wow you are so lucky, Pizza pasta casanova art blah"..Yes all those things are nice, but once you LIVE here and you are dealing with self absorbed Italians everyday it becomes a little different. :mad:

    What is with the staring?!? Everyone stares here and its normal!?
    And everything being closed all the time?
    Do Italians ever work??

    Anyone have these experiences? I'm starting to really look forward to leaving here!

    Well... when in rome do as the romans do;)


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    #3
    Dannyboi3k
    Registered Users Posts: 637 ✭✭✭Dannyboi3k


    Not a truer word spoken :)


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    #4
    helimachoptor
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 21,640 Mod ✭✭✭✭helimachoptor


    I found the same when I worked in Spain, pretty much everywhere closed on Sundays and for siesta.
    I was in La Coruna which wasn't a toursity place but it had 3 Irish bars but only 1 run by an Irish guy but even that closed for siesta!


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    #5
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭ladyinwaiting


    jarecki1976 wrote: »
    Well... when in rome do as the romans do;)


    Trouble is I am not in Rome. And to be honest I feel uncomfortable just staring people out of it for no reason.

    Eugh Italians are dirrrty.


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    #6
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    You sound a bit mad.


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    #7
    mikemac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,986 ✭✭✭✭mikemac


    Is it true that all Italians put a massive effort into dressing stylishly and wearing the latest fashions?

    I've seen it from a few different sources, mainly books of sports people who move to Italy.


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    #8
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭ladyinwaiting


    mike65 wrote: »
    You sound a bit mad.


    I do? I probably am yeah.


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    #9
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭ladyinwaiting


    mikemac wrote: »
    Is it true that all Italians put a massive effort into dressing stylishly and wearing the latest fashions?

    It's all cultural. The men go around in pink trousers, sparkley belts and belly tops, my boyfriend thinks it's the gayest thing ever. And I agree, they look like homosexuals. If this is fashion then yes they are fashionable. Also if you don't adhere to what they call style you are stared out of it...!


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    #10
    Love2love
    Registered Users Posts: 1,257 ✭✭✭Love2love


    I thought the same and I was only there on holidays! I found the people to be extremely rude and they tried to give me the wrong change 3 times when buying something.
    Thing that really bothers me about Italy though is the traffic and congestion! We had to circle the block around the hotel for 45 mins before we could get a spot as the hotel car park was full.


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    #11
    seachto7
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    I lived in Italy for 2 years (Rome) and worked for an Italian company here, and was over and back a lot. I find the Italians fine, though I speak the lingo fairly well I'd like to think. I find the whole conformity to what you wear a bit of a nightmare but what can you do...

    Any Irish women I knew there were always giving out about Italian men, but secretly they loved the attention. I could go on a rant about the differences between continental women and Irish, but I won't!!!

    Italian women were high maintenance in general, and wrecked my head, even though they are nice to look at..

    If I got attention from Italian women, I'd be happy out. Better than no attention.

    Even people who dressed down over there did so in style...

    I enjoyed my time there, but don't think I would live there permantly. Not in Rome anyway. France was way more appealing to me...


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    #12
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    ladyinwaiting wrote: »
    What is with the staring?!?

    They've probably never seen the beauty of an Irish girl covered head to toe in about 100 layers of glowing orange fake tan.


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    #13
    Certi Layla!!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 28 ✭Certi Layla!!


    the minute i seen your post my friend came straight to mind. she lived in italy, thought it was a beautiful country but like yourself wasnt found of the italians. She said they were very outspoken and she noticed the staring too!


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    #14
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    I only found out today they don't have the dole in Italy. Isn't that mad?!


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    #15
    Ponster
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,911 Mod ✭✭✭✭Ponster


    AARRRGH wrote: »
    I only found out today they don't have the dole in Italy. Isn't that mad?!

    It's not the same system as in ireland but it's not true to say that if you lose your job that the state doesn't help you out. As in France you can get 80% of your previous wages for a limited time which runs out should you not manage to find another job.


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    #16
    oisindoyle
    Closed Accounts Posts: 899 ✭✭✭oisindoyle


    ladyinwaiting wrote: »
    It's all cultural. The men go around in pink trousers, sparkley belts and belly tops, my boyfriend thinks it's the gayest thing ever. And I agree, they look like homosexuals. If this is fashion then yes they are fashionable. Also if you don't adhere to what they call style you are stared out of it...!

    "They look like homosexuals"???Whats that suppose to mean.
    What does a homosexual look like by the way ?Or are you just making a huge generalisation and stereotypical comment?


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    #17
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭ladyinwaiting


    AARRRGH wrote: »
    They've probably never seen the beauty of an Irish girl covered head to toe in about 100 layers of glowing orange fake tan.


    U must be referring to someone like your mother/ wife/ girlfriend.
    I don't wear fake tan.


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    #18
    Lanaier
    Registered Users Posts: 604 ✭✭✭Lanaier


    Haha, love the comments.

    What does a homosexual look like?
    Well pink pants would be a good start :P lets not disappear up our own asses for the sake of being politically correct.
    If someone asked me what an Irish person looked like I'd draw them a leprechaun for gods sake.

    Anyway, back to staring and hating.


    I think you'll find that your attitude is actually fairly normal for people adjusting to culture shock and a new country.
    Just don't let it get out of hand.

    As for staring, I used to live in the sticks in western China.
    You think staring is bad in Italy?
    Crowds of people used to follow me around when I went outside.
    Want to have a quite bowl of noodles? Prepare for the whole room to be staring at you like a deer caught in a headlight.


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    #19
    fmess
    Registered Users Posts: 18 ✭fmess


    ladyinwaiting, I guess you had a bad experience and I'm sorry to hear that, but generalizing by saying that ALL Italians are dirty and don't work is just not fair and not true . You shouldn't jump to conclusions after ONE bad experience. There are many other Irish living there with other ideas(most of my friends for instance)
    I'm Italian and living in Ireland since the 90's, My wife's Irish and she lived 5 years in Italy having no trouble at all (she spoke well the local lingo or dialect thought)
    Obviously our cultures are different so you cannot expect to live in Italy at the Irish standards, but that's only common sense. Same for me when I moved here I thought that despite what they say about Irish (been friendly) it has actually been hard to be accepted (still is at times!) and very often been pointed as "foreigner". Reality is that Italy, as the U.K., is a big country with about 60 million people and the difference between a region and another is massive. I come from a busy working area in the north east and I used to work 10 hours a day 6 days a week back there and since i came here i can tell something about workload (40 hours a week is heaven!). In relation to fashion, what's wrong to dress well and try to appear nice to others? Isn't it better rather then see someone with dirty muddy wellies at the counter in a shop or in a pub? especially given if one works with public and when the stereotype spread by the media is way different from the one in Ireland.
    (I guarantee I do not wear ping clothing!!! ;-) ).
    I hope things work out for you.
    best of luck


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    #20
    seachto7
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    Ciao fmess! ha bosogna di qualquno vicino di Clare per lavoro che parla italiano ;);)


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    #21
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭ladyinwaiting


    well im home now and bloody delighted!

    Arrvederci


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    #22
    Priapus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 114 ✭✭Priapus


    ladyinwaiting wrote: »
    dealing with self absorbed Italians everyday it becomes a little different. :mad:


    And everything being closed all the time?
    Do Italians ever work??

    Very funny title to this post btw.

    Have to agree with your frustrations. Very self-absorbed people in my experience! Everything is a big drama too.

    Welcome back!


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    #23
    Blackpitts
    Registered Users Posts: 780 ✭✭✭Blackpitts


    ladyinwaiting wrote: »
    well im home now and bloody delighted!

    Arrvederci

    I'm sure they are also delighted to see you go.

    Regarding the dirty and lazy people, please take a ride on a dublinbus and you will see all the variety of bad smells coming from irish people/ About lazyness, I can see many wasters around the city centre and the quays too spending all their money from the government in alcohol and cigarettes.

    I hate this kind of generalizations, you can meet this kind of persons all around the world.


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    #24
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭ladyinwaiting


    Blackpitts wrote: »
    I'm sure they are also delighted to see you go.

    Regarding the dirty and lazy people, please take a ride on a dublinbus and you will see all the variety of bad smells coming from irish people/ About lazyness, I can see many wasters around the city centre and the quays too spending all their money from the government in alcohol and cigarettes.

    I hate this kind of generalizations, you can meet this kind of persons all around the world.

    What are u on about? Citizenship??? I can assure u the people I am referring to are 100% Italian..Thats the problem. EVIDENTLY.


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    #25
    seachto7
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    ladyinwaiting wrote: »
    well im home now and bloody delighted!

    Arrvederci

    I think maybe you are the problem, and not Italy. Did some bloke dump you over there or something?


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    #26
    ladyinwaiting
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35 ✭ladyinwaiting


    seachto7 wrote: »
    I think maybe you are the problem, and not Italy. Did some bloke dump you over there or something?


    No. You wouldn't catch me going out with an Italian so that was definitely not the issue.

    Anyway, whatever you think yourself Seachto. Spoke to alot of people since about it who have been to Italy and the general concencus is in and around the same as what I think.

    Ciao.


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    #27
    Blackpitts
    Registered Users Posts: 780 ✭✭✭Blackpitts


    ladyinwaiting wrote: »
    What are u on about? Citizenship??? I can assure u the people I am referring to are 100% Italian..Thats the problem. EVIDENTLY.

    I'm sure they were 100% italian, but are you talking about people with hygiene problem and no will to work?
    then I know some people here 100% irish who have the same issues.

    You are doing some generalization that I really don't like and I'm sure people over there is glad to see you went away.
    I'm also curious to know who are these people here that you have spoken to alot and have built this "general concencus", how long they have been there and if they really look around them when they go from home to work or when they are on a night out...
    The problem was not "italy" but you and your attitude.


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    #28
    gdbjoe
    Registered Users Posts: 39 ✭gdbjoe


    lmao :D:D:D:D:D:D:D
    Ya made my day!!!

    Ciao, statemi bene, e grazie a chi mi ha segnalato questo thread. :)


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    #29
    seachto7
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    Blackpitts wrote: »
    The problem was not "italy" but you and your attitude.

    c'hai ragione!


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    #30
    Fratton Fred
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,567 ✭✭✭✭Fratton Fred


    Lanaier wrote: »
    I think you'll find that your attitude is actually fairly normal for people adjusting to culture shock and a new country.
    Just don't let it get out of hand.

    As for staring, I used to live in the sticks in western China.
    You think staring is bad in Italy?
    Crowds of people used to follow me around when I went outside.
    Want to have a quite bowl of noodles? Prepare for the whole room to be staring at you like a deer caught in a headlight.

    After a few months of living in Ireland i started to hate Irish people. As you say, it has a lot to do with different cultures and coming out of your comfort zone. You can put up with it at first, then it starts to annoy you, then you start hating, then you get used to it and everything's grand...I mean fine.:D

    I had a similar experience in North East Thailand we stayed in a village near Sa Kaw up towards the Cambodian border) by the way. We would walk along the street and people would be waving out of bus windows at us, or staring at us. We even used to get people point and shout Farang!!

    In that part of Thailand, the only weterners a lot of them had seen were on TV so to see a European in the flesh was something new. they meant no malice, they were just genuinely curious.


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    #31
    Auslander
    Closed Accounts Posts: 92 ✭✭Auslander


    If you want everything to stay the same, stay at home.
    Sorry you hear you feel the way you do about your experience in Italy, but Europe is a big place and not limited to Italy.
    It sounds like you are back where you belong.

    Remember that if at first you don't succeed, try again.

    btw. I agree with your sentiments on living in Italy, it's all furry coats and no knickers!

    I'm resident in the Alps in Austria, but regularly travel to Aachen working.
    Great spot up here on the German/Belgian/Dutch border, highly recommend it.

    Ladyinwaiting, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get your ass back over here. It's yours for the taking.


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