Last edited by Sammy Ambrose (2013-11-28 05:22:04)

Last edited by Sammy Ambrose (2013-11-29 05:44:05)

Every country has certain cultural patterns making it unique. Of course, habits and customs between cultures and countries tend to overlap: the popularity of social media, for instance, ignores borders and breaks down cultural differences. Technology has made the world a much smaller and culturally homogenous place however, when looking at a foreign country, we will always find differences between our traditions and theirs.

Young Italians and young Americans, for example, albeit similar in many respects, have also some pronounced differences, especially when it comes to work, meeting places and sports.


Most American teens have part time jobs through high school and college. Youths in Italy tend not to. The reasons behind this are multifaceted. It is, to begin with, rather hard in Italy to find the type of part time jobs students usually take up. Moreover, there is also a different cultural attitude to take into consideration, especially when thinking of certain parts of Italy: young Italians like to enjoy life to the full and feel there will be time to work once they become adults, hence the lack of interest in finding odd jobs while still in school. Like the old saying goes, some Italians work to live, while some Americans often live to work.

The work situation in Italy and the United States becomes tragically similar in the years after University. Both  countries have been struggling with high unemployment rates, as well as with a general shift in the job's market, which makes young workers nervous and unhappy.

Used to a system of extreme stability and gilded benefits, young Italians are now entering into a workforce that more closely resembles the American's: many  employers, for instance, require employees to be able to move, but Italians find  these trasferimenti (transfers) from one city to another hard to accept. Waiting for a job with great benefits, security and prospects for advancement means that many of the young in Italy can't find employment at all.


- See more at: http://www.lifeinitaly.com/culture/italian-and-american-youths#sthash.ZKj7V5yQ.dpuf


Interesting difference I think?