Welcome to "Ask our resident Italian"

I’ve had the pleasure to meet Cristina and her family while they were on vacation in Romagna and while talking over a dish of paella she came up with this idea of creating a subsection of the forum where people could ask a real Italian (“real” as in born and bred: anyone with an Italian passport is a real Italian to me) some of the things that most puzzled them, or were most of a curiosity to them. I am not the only Italian who’s member of this forum but I probably am the one who’s been here the longest – I think this idea of hers was along the lines of “if we can’t get rid of him, let’s at least try to get some good out of him”.

I agreed on her proposal and gave my availability and that’s basically it. More than a section on technical and bureaucratic things as “how do I get an ADSL connection?” or anything similar, I imagine this as a place where people can exchange ideas on the cultural and social aspects of living in Italy.

It won’t surprise anyone here to say that there’s no such thing as “Italians”: we haven’t been made with a mould and we come in all different shapes, colours and forms like any other nation, and in spite of having being born here and of having lived here all of my life, I’m not entirely sure how much of a “typical Italian” I am; on top of that, Italy is so varied a country that what is standard practice in one area can be completely alien in another. All this to say that what I’ll write will reflect my personal point of view more than anything else – but still the point of view of somebody who’s lived in Italy probably longer than anyone else here.

Another important point. Hanging out on this forum for years, and having an American-born partner, have unequivocally taught to me that my definition of “offensive” is substantially different from that of a number of people on here, and this has led – and will lead – to incomprehension and grudges that were never meant. Between saying what people expect me to say, and the truth (better: what I honestly and to the best of my knowledge and sensitivity believe to be the truth) I’ll always go for the latter, but never with the intention of being mean, or gratuitously snide (I purposely added “gratuitously” because I can be snide when that is necessary), so if you happen to take some of my comments as too harsh, please follow Cristina’s advice and ask if I really meant to be rude: more often than not the answer will be “no”.

I won’t be online all day and every day, but I will try to answer all questions as soon as possible, or even engage in all debates, because it doesn’t necessarily have to be questions. What I imagine this to be is a place where to exchange ideas and opinions trying, if possible, not to take ourselves too seriously and always remembering that life is outside of internet forums, not in them, and this is after all just a pastime.