Cultural Difference

So for that cultural class, here's my first assignment which I realized would actually be a neat thing to blog about. I didn't realize how many subtle things would be different here, including this part. Enjoy.

I have had many unique cultural experiences already in just the short amount of time that I have been in Rome. None have been more unique, nor more surprising, than grocery shopping. Shopping for food is a necessity and after I tried to go as long as I could by constantly eating out at restaurants, it became evident that my roommates and I would have to go grocery shopping and start cooking for ourselves. Going grocery shopping was a culturally unique experience for many reasons mainly because it is hard to find similarities between doing so in America compared to in Italy.

Shopping in America is normally done at an English speaking superstore where one can purchase everything at the same store that is open from 6am to midnight, if it is not a twenty-four hour store. I came to realize that this was not the case in Italy. I did not expect to be able to walk down the street to a Wal-Mart, but I did not anticipate the cultural shopping experience here to be so different. In the residential area of Rome that my apartment is in, the main street is lined with many small specialty shops. These shops tend to open early in the morning, shut down in the afternoon, then open back up for the early evening and then close down by seven or eight o’clock. This schedule, to me, seems to be reflective of Italian cultural values. Americans emphasize working hard, around the clock, to make the most profits. Italian life is more family based and less “workaholic” in nature. They break for lunch during the afternoon so that their workers are not forced to work without having appropriate amount of time for a meal. The same reason is for their early closing at night; it enables them to get home to their families instead of working the night shift.

The small specialty shops are another example of Italian culture values. Americans want to be able to do their shopping as quickly and efficiently as possible. Italian lifestyle again seems to emphasize the personal aspect to shopping. I wanted a sandwich today for lunch and this experience was a microcosm of what living in Rome is like for me. First, I went down the street to the bakery where I bought fresh bread. I then had to go to the butcher shop to buy prosciutto. I then went to another store to buy mozzarella and finally I went to the fruit vendor to buy tomatoes. After four stops, I finally had all the ingredients for my lunch. Walking back to my apartment I realized that I remembered each person from each shop because of how personal they were with me and interested in finding out who I am. Despite that my Italian is still at a basic level and their English was not much better, we were able to carry on an enjoyable introductory level conversation. I bet if I go back tomorrow they would all remember something unique about me. Although it was time consuming, I did enjoy this experience as a customer because it truly made me feel as if they valued my business; a feeling I have never gotten when leaving Wal-Mart. Also, because of their emphasis on fresh products, I will most likely be making several trips per week to these various shops because it is not customary here to load up on groceries that will last for a week or two.