Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Anymore questions?
So, I have attended many social gatherings since I have been in Italy and realized one thing, I have and continue to be asked the same set of questions. The most common question is "what did you eat in Canada?" my response "the same thing you eat in Italy" of course minus the pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner....lol. Next question, "when are you having children?" what the bleep, since when is that question asked to someone you barely know. My BF answers this question because he knows that I will not. And for the second most commonly asked question "who does the cooking at home?", now really why is it so important for anyone to know the answer to this. So what if my BF cooks every night? what's the big deal, really? I realize that they are just trying to know me but I find the series of questions to be a little too much. I would be more comfortable if they asked other questions like "how is life in Italy" etc...etc.
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3 comments:
HA! That's funny. In the U.S. the most common question that I'm asked is "What do you do for a living?" or "Are you from here?" The baby question would kind of catch me off guard as well as the question about who cooks at home. Why is that important as long as the two of you are eating? Sometimes when someone asks me a question that I really don't want to answer, I smile and say "Why do you want to know?" This usually catches the person off guard and they move on to the next topic. Try it and tell me if it works. I am really enjoying your blog and thanks for helping me with my rental info question.
Yes it would be uncomfortable to face these types of questions. In my experience, Italians do like to know what others are doing - especially if the person comes from abroad. Just ride it out with a smile and try not to let it affect you.
If not just ask the same questions back! :-)
Re the eating/cooking questions - I think Italian small talk tends to be about food whereas in other countries it's about the weather or sports. When I used to work for an Italian company I can't tell you the number of times I was bored solid as my workmates discussed in minute detail what they eat for breakfast everyday and how it affects their digestive system or whether or not bucatini all'amatriciana should contain half on onion. Soooo booring! (and I'm a person who loves to cook but I really don't care what my workmates eat for breakfast or if they get indigestion from eating bananas).
I also think that Italians have a stereotype that North Americans eat McDonalds every day so they probably want you to confirm the stereotype and tell them how superior Italian food is. (eyeroll!)
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