Greek & Italian Stereotypes

[kalemiye]

renata, and how comes you understand English spoken with a lowered voice but not Spanish? Can't be a problem with your ears.

At first I can't, and it takes me a while to get used to it. Spanish just can't be spoken as low as English.

There's no poster but it's an unwritten rule. There's no poster around that says "wear clothes" either Wink

It is actually forbidden and you can be charged if you are caught.

[kalemiye]

There's a bunch of spanish people living across the street. They sound like 45 people, at least, but if I look out of the window at them 80% of them turns invisible.

Magic people

[kalemiye]

To use the internet more than 1 hour/day makes you a loser in Greece too. The only excuses to use the web is if it has to do with your work, your studies or if you download songs and films. Anything else makes you a loser. I kind of like this mentality although it classifies me as a loser too . At least it enforces socialization

Same here, spending too much time in the internet makes you look like a social pariah.

[Steisi]

It is actually forbidden and you can be charged if you are caught.

The point is, the rule is unwritten. It's common sense that you'll disturb an otherwise quiet environment if you're the only ones shouting. I wonder - do you guys shout in graveyards? And people will tell you to be quiet if you disturb them so if people don't like being told off for being loud, they could just be a bit quieter

[Johanna]

Spanish just can't be spoken as low as English.

It can, there are lots of Spanish-speaking people living here and they can.

[j0nas]

There's a bunch of spanish people living across the street. They sound like 45 people, at least, but if I look out of the window at them 80% of them turns invisible.

Magic people

I seriously consider learning basque so I can yell ETA slogans at them bastards making noise when I try to sleep.

[kalemiye]

There's a bunch of spanish people living across the street. They sound like 45 people, at least, but if I look out of the window at them 80% of them turns invisible.

Magic people

I seriously consider learning basque so I can yell ETA slogans at them bastards making noise when I try to sleep.

I'm teaching you one right now: Gora ETA militarra

It is actually forbidden and you can be charged if you are caught.

The point is, the rule is unwritten. It's common sense that you'll disturb an otherwise quiet environment if you're the only ones shouting. I wonder - do you guys shout in graveyards? And people will tell you to be quiet if you disturb them so if people don't like being told off for being loud, they could just be a bit quieter

It isn't done on purpose, we started talking and after a while we noticed the dirty looks. It is a different conception on what is loud and what isn't. Same as for what is the convenient distance between speakers, depending on the region you are, it changes.

[loqu]

Well of course I must support renata. Maybe Spanish can be spoken lower, but people in other countries don't seem to understand it's very difficult for us to get used to that. It's like asking German tourists not to wear socks with sandals or something

that about Internet around here it's like the two sides of the coin. If you spend too much time in internet you're a nerd, but if you don't have internet connection or don't chat on MSN it's like you're stuck in the 90s -- or at least, for today's teenagers. It's like the new fashion of opening a fotolog account and uploading pics like look how drunk we were last Saturday night and so on.

and what Stacy says about Italians in chatrooms is also true for Spaniards, Greeks, Turks and Israelis, at least in a couple of chatrooms I go into.

[kalemiye]

Well of course I must support renata. Maybe Spanish can be spoken lower, but people in other countries don't seem to understand it's very difficult for us to get used to that. It's like asking German tourists not to wear socks with sandals or something

YES! My point exactly!

that about Internet around here it's like the two sides of the coin. If you spend too much time in internet you're a nerd, but if you don't have internet connection or don't chat on MSN it's like you're stuck in the 90s -- or at least, for today's teenagers. It's like the new fashion of opening a fotolog account and uploading pics like look how drunk we were last Saturday night and so on.

Yes, and msn spaces arevery widespread. Some people come online just to check who has uploaded the pictures taken in the last party they've gone.

and what Stacy says about Italians in chatrooms is also true for Spaniards, Greeks, Turks and Israelis, at least in a couple of chatrooms I go into.

I think that statement is valid for most 14-years-old that visit IRC chatrooms.

[Steisi]

It's like asking German tourists not to wear socks with sandals or something

Whoa I totally understand.

and what Stacy says about Italians in chatrooms is also true for Spaniards, Greeks, Turks and Israelis, at least in a couple of chatrooms I go into.

Usually spanish and portuguese speaking people from South America are bad, too. They come in and only use caps and then start saying things like ERES CHICA???????
Italians say "any girls" and Turks just go straight for the webcam request.

[Travis B.]

It is actually forbidden and you can be charged if you are caught.

The point is, the rule is unwritten. It's common sense that you'll disturb an otherwise quiet environment if you're the only ones shouting. I wonder - do you guys shout in graveyards? And people will tell you to be quiet if you disturb them so if people don't like being told off for being loud, they could just be a bit quieter

At least here, that is a bit an understatement. Here, in public, you are not supposed to be heard by anyone other than those in the group one is immediately with unless one personally knows the person in question, one has some other reason for directly interacting with them (such as holding the door for them, which is basically socially required here, or having the door held for one, where it is usual to thank the other person), or one has a very good reason (which is rare). Hell, I've had my girlfriend yell at me for speaking a bit loudly in the (empty) hallways in my apartment building, lest anyone in any apartment even knew that we were there...

Well, at least that applies to European Americans and people assimilated with them here... Apparently black people here have other ideas on the subject (which tends to result in friction)...

(Honestly, I don't know where people get the "Loud Americans" thing from, as here, most people are anything but loud, and speaking loudly is very much looked down upon. Unless the rest of the US happens to be different and I just haven't noticed it...)

[Belin]

- You all have names ending in opopoupoulous. Or Zeus.

Haha, when I read this I cracked up. This was hilarious, and what makes it better is that my Greek friend's last name is 12 letters long (only one shorter that Opopoupoulous). I'm definelty useing this one directly. Hee hee

Anyway, thank you all for your imput, I have plenty of stereotypes to work with now. I'm sure the book will turn out great!

[sa wulfs]

In Spain, we only consider someone is being too loud in the bus/metro when they're practically shouting, probably under the influence of alcohol. Normal conversation is quite loud, as renata and loqu said. I wish it were different, because I have a weak voice and I get lots of "What did you say?" that could be avoided if I lived anywhere else, where people are more fond of sane volume levels.

[kalemiye]

In Spain, we only consider someone is being too loud in the bus/metro when they're practically shouting, probably under the influence of alcohol. Normal conversation is quite loud, as renata and loqu said. I wish it were different, because I have a weak voice and I get lots of "What did you say?" that could be avoided if I lived anywhere else, where people are more fond of sane volume levels.

What did you say? .

Wait, don't you guys feel uncomfortable when you are in a bar or a restaurant and there is no back noise?

[Travis B.]

In Spain, we only consider someone is being too loud in the bus/metro when they're practically shouting, probably under the influence of alcohol. Normal conversation is quite loud, as renata and loqu said. I wish it were different, because I have a weak voice and I get lots of "What did you say?" that could be avoided if I lived anywhere else, where people are more fond of sane volume levels.

What did you say? .

Wait, don't you guys feel uncomfortable when you are in a bar or a restaurant and there is no back noise?

No; I much prefer near-silence in restaurants and like, and while bars here are often noisy, I really do not care much for such. In the case of restaurants, if someone who is not at your table other than your waiter is talking loudly enough that you can actually make out what they are saying without listening carefully, they're talking too loudly IMHO.

[darkina]

- eat pasta and ice cream all day every day

This is envy

Well, ice cream yes. Pasta - no.

Had you been at my house for dinner this evening, you wouldn't say this

Italians are one of THE most irritating groups of people on the internet. Just yesterday a load of them came onto a finnish channel on a server and started shouting finlande e merde or something and vive italia and vaffanculo etc etc. There was even a long running joke about it with pictures, but I can't seem to find them now.

I'd agree with what others said, that it's a common teenage behaviours... I never had the pleasure to come across teenage Italians online and I've never been into Italian chatrooms so I don't really know, but the only chatroom I've frequented for a while was infested by kids from a school in Birmingham who couldn't spell proper English and had that irritating kids behaviour...

Folkestone has La casa di Gelata and it's GORGEOUS

(it's GELATO "casa del gelato", I would assume). Well if it's like the ones in Germany made by real Italians, then it might be quite close to authenticity

Edit: Here is an excerpt but not the pic I had in mind:

If you think that IRC is your personal entertainment system, you might be an Italian.

If you expect us to know where your home village is located, you might be an Italian.

If you assume that your capslock is your way of expressing your feelings, you might be an Italian.

If you think … that colours make a totally text based network look ‘groovy’, you might be an Italian.
If you think “any girl?” is charming, you might be Italian.

If you private message every female nick on the channel list, you might be Italian.

If you private message every single nick on the channel list, and then say “well f*ck you” when MuscleyMikeMan says “I’m a guy dude”, you might be a very desparate Italian.

If you believe that hot girls are sitting around bored in their lingerie waiting for you to say “girl with cam?”, you might just be Italian.

Wow, this is weird. Hooray for Italian hypocrisy, where no one would admit using the internet for more than 2 minutes a day... then where do all these weirdos come from...

Yes I remember when me and my friends were in a bus in Ireland speaking (in English: yelling) and everybody there was looking at us annoyed.

We didn't care, if they decided not to speak it was up to them, we had payed our ticket as everybody else did.

Ever heard about the famous "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"?

Unfortunately, the Spanish people I've met in my real life were more of the "let's import Spanish habits anywhere and let's not give a damn about the local culture/habits" party...

It's not like "Oh, we're in Ireland, LET'S SHOUT!", we just cannot hear each other as I stated before. When we speak English we lower our voice, but once we are speaking Spanish it goes higher. It has to do with the language.

From a logical point of view, this makes no sense at all. However, my mum visited me in England last week and I felt like I was speaking louder when I was speaking Italian Although maybe it had to do with being stressed and making grumpy comments , but maybe it's true, being from a loud place makes people louder... (and I'm very far from being a typical Italian, so I don't think I'm that loud. Oh last time I came back from Italy, on the bus back to Manchester from the airport there were Italian people sitting at the back of the bus, and since it was late at night and everyone was silent or alone, I could hear them perfectly from the middle of the bus. I would have killed them, I quite dislike unnecessary loudness myself).

Wait, don't you guys feel uncomfortable when you are in a bar or a restaurant and there is no back noise?

Loud noise is a good criterion not to ever visit a place again... I'm so un-Mediterranean in this... I mean, if there are people there must obviously be some noise, but it has to be an indistinct buzz, not people screaming their business at you...

[kalemiye]

Guys, do you actually eavesdrop other people's chat? I mean, people here speak loudly, but it is rare that we actually pay attention to conversations that are not ours.

[kalemiye]

Yes I remember when me and my friends were in a bus in Ireland speaking (in English: yelling) and everybody there was looking at us annoyed.

We didn't care, if they decided not to speak it was up to them, we had payed our ticket as everybody else did.

Ever heard about the famous "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"?

Unfortunately, the Spanish people I've met in my real life were more of the "let's import Spanish habits anywhere and let's not give a damn about the local culture/habits" party... [/quote]

It usually depends on how much they are staying, and what they are staying for. There are many Spanish habits very difficult to get rid of, for example, we have lunch at 3 and dinner around 9 or 10.

It's not like "Oh, we're in Ireland, LET'S SHOUT!", we just cannot hear each other as I stated before. When we speak English we lower our voice, but once we are speaking Spanish it goes higher. It has to do with the language.

From a logical point of view, this makes no sense at all. However, my mum visited me in England last week and I felt like I was speaking louder when I was speaking Italian Although maybe it had to do with being stressed and making grumpy comments , but maybe it's true, being from a loud place makes people louder... (and I'm very far from being a typical Italian, so I don't think I'm that loud. Oh last time I came back from Italy, on the bus back to Manchester from the airport there were Italian people sitting at the back of the bus, and since it was late at night and everyone was silent or alone, I could hear them perfectly from the middle of the bus. I would have killed them, I quite dislike unnecessary loudness myself).

So yeah, you noticed it as well, when you spoke Italian your tone rose higher without even noticing.

About the story of italians speaking in the bus. I think I wouldn't care, but I cannot speak for the whole of Spain's population.

[darkina]

Yes I remember when me and my friends were in a bus in Ireland speaking (in English: yelling) and everybody there was looking at us annoyed.

We didn't care, if they decided not to speak it was up to them, we had payed our ticket as everybody else did.

Ever heard about the famous "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"?

Unfortunately, the Spanish people I've met in my real life were more of the "let's import Spanish habits anywhere and let's not give a damn about the local culture/habits" party...

It usually depends on how much they are staying, and what they are staying for. There are many Spanish habits very difficult to get rid of, for example, we have lunch at 3 and dinner around 9 or 10.
[/quote]

I know, and I do it too lately, but as I am in the UK I know that people will expect me to go out much earlier and only keep my habits when I'm on my own... My Spanish friends actually wanted to go for dinner at 10 when restaurants were almost closing... and if you stay 6 months (or more) in a country, I think it's a bit rude not to try and adapt...at least when going out, of course at home you do what you want. No point in travelling if you just keep the same lifestyle (which is what Italians and Spanish tend to do and that's why I've been kind of avoiding Italians, I am in the UK to live in the UK, not to live like in Italy).

[Car]

It's like asking German tourists not to wear socks with sandals or something

You absolutely can't compare it. First of all, not all tourists do that, AFAIK, not even most. It is seen as a no-no here and those people are laughed about and mocked.
Apart from that, they're tourists whereas foreigners speaking loudly are mostly immigrants living in the country for a long time or even mostly immigrant children. They had more than enough time to adapt. Actually, it's usually not German which is spoken loudly here and if it is German, then it's quite often immigrant children. They really should be used to speaking with a lower voice.

Guys, do you actually eavesdrop other people's chat? I mean, people here speak loudly, but it is rare that we actually pay attention to conversations that are not ours.

No, but some people are so loud that it's actually impossible not to hear what they say. You're not supposed to be loud in a restaurant and when others clearly can hear what you say, that makes people annoyed and they will comment on it. Just like people often speak too loudly on their mobiles in public transports. Just a week ago or so, a woman said to a man sitting next to her "Why do people always have to shout and talk about such private things? Does the whole train have to hear about their personal life?". Noisy places make many people stay away.
You are used to people speaking loudly, we aren't, so it sticks out more.

@darkina: So the ice cream here is good? What about pizza, pasta etc.? Usually, they like to stress that their 1000% Italian, that everything comes straight from Italy and I always wondered how an Italian sees it.