As the heading says, I am a Norwegian in Italy and even if I have lived here for almost 4 years, I can tell you that sometimes we are really different!
I love the Italians (I married one), don't get me wrong, but sometimes I don't understand them.(I speak Italian) And I guess it is even more so now after I became a mother. Italians and especially Romans are very loud and very enthusiastic. Should it be a market, restaurant or sports arena and of course you have all the gestures that followes it. Some are good, some less so. I can now proudly say that I now know almost all of them and I use them as much as I can. Another thing is as on the contrary of Norwegians, Italians are not afraid of telling you how they feel right to you face, complain on food in restaurants or to give whatever opinion they might have. Norwegians don't like to confront people and I really have to work on that, but I'm getting better at it.
I hope in me writing this nobody will feel hurt or offended, it is only the way I see it. I mention this because I have noticed that the the Italians complain about Italy all
the time, how things don't work, how corrupt, how there is no work etc., but if a foreigner pinpoint anything that is not working, they would defend it to the day they die.
Ok, but back to the differences, Italian mothers all have a phobia about bacterias. They disinfect everything, have wipes for any part of your body, kids playing in sandboxes are a no go. Kids are not allowed to be very dirty here, instead in Norway how dirty you are measures how much fun you been having. Said that, there is something that doesn't ad up. If the Italian mothers are so scared and concerned about their kids, why do they let the kids loos in a car with no car seat? They are in front, in the back, standing up, sitting on the lap, all over. Even on the way home from the hospital after giving birth, the mom sits in the back, holding her baby in her arms. I know I was not allowed to leave the hospital in Germany until the saw the car seat and I think it is like this in other countries as well. If someone crashes or breaks really hard here, you can not hold the baby and when they get older they will just the same fly out of the front windshield like a rugby ball!
It is hard being a Norwegian mother in Italy. You have grown up with a set of "rules" and now you are confronted with a hole other set. And you want to adapt, but only to some extent. Like they change Milo's clothes after every little spill, they are much more strict to small kids than I are used to and one thing that for me will never be ok, they still use physical punishment. Instead of talking and explaining to them, they spank...but then ticks the Norwegian confrontation fear in again, should I say something or not? Very difficult this.
On a lighter note, Italian food is some of the best in the world and they only use the produce when it is in season, which I really like. Today I think I will make a pasta dish for dinner:
Spaghetti allo scoglio (Seafood pasta).
I choose long pasta for this dish, because they soak up more of the great juice. I start by cutting the one onion, the finer the better, put it in a pan together with a good slug of olive oil, and a clove of garlic, that you squeeze with a knife. Add some dried chili's and let the onions be soft and shiny. Cut some parsley and add that to the pan, stir and add a good amount of white wine. Stir and leave it to simmer on low heat. Add the pasta to the boiling water,REMEMBER to not salt the water until it boils, Italian rule, when it is about 6 min left until the pasta is al dente, you add the seafood mix to the pan. Here in Italy you get these frozen which are great, but whatever you get you hands on are fine. Stir and when pasta is done, don't trust the timer on when the pasta is done, TASTE!, you put the pasta in to the pan and stir quickly, plate it, ad extra parsley and serve. Buon appetito!
