Last week I missed the Skype exchange because I had to take an exam, so this time I was eager to talk with Leah again! My friend Marta joined us as well: she is in the group that has been doing an exchange with Polish students from Poznan, but since many of my classmates were absent last Wednesday she offered to help us.
At the beginning we had some problems with the programme: Marta seemed not to be able to join the conversation and
when she finally did I couldn’t hear her and Leah any longer! What a mess!!! Thanks to Sarah’s help, at last we managed to start our chat, which was even more pleasant than the first one: Marta and Leah introduced themselves to each other and then we talked about our Easter holidays and Leah’s spring break. We found out that Marta travelled to America a couple of weeks ago and visited New York and Philadelphia. This was a useful springboard to begin a discussion on national stereotypes that basically confirmed what had already emerged from the Cultura questionnaire: we said that when we think about the United States images of endless, wide roads, huge skyscrapers and beautiful top models immediately come to our minds; Leah, on the other hand, usually associates our country with breathtaking landscapes, Milan fashion shows and food! We ended up by comparing our alimentary habits: what we eat for breakfast; if we usually eat out or at home; whether in the USA people who are allergic to gluten can count on the State paying for the gluten-free products they need (like in Italy); if the general assumption that Americans only eat junk food while Italians stuff them with tons of pizza and spaghetti everyday is well-founded or not…
We would have gone on for hours if Leah hadn’t remembered us that the topic of our conversation was supposed to be politics! She completely wrongfooted us with a very simple question: “Girls, could you please explain me the political situation of your country?” Oh, my
gosh!!! Mart and I look at each other, speechless: where could we start from? First of all, we tried to explain that Romano Prodi’s government collapsed because it failed to obtain the trust by both the Camera and the Senato and this opened the way to a new electoral campaign. Leah asked us what we knew about Berlusconi (Sarah was right, he is famous all over the world!) and we gave a very neutral answer in order not to influence her opinion: we said that he is a clever self-made man, who managed to become a very successful executive and then to enter politics; many people appreciate this qualities of his, but others think that he hasn’t always been completely honest and that he must have many skeletons in his cupboard. We also added, however, that this time making up our minds and decide who to vote for will be very hard: left wing and right wing governments continue to succeed each other, but none of them seems to be able to effect important changes in the situation of our country and therefore people is very disillusioned by politics.
Leah is going to vote as well (and for the first time in her life!). She was very critical about the usefulness of the media struggle between Hillary and Obhama: she explained us that while at the beginning the two leaders’ supporters respected each other recognizing that they were all on the same side, now each faction overtly hates the other and it is entirely possible that in November the supporters of the loser will prefer to vote for Mc Cain rather than giving their vote to the winner. America has its own problems as well, therefore!
As I said, the chat was really amusing and involving: in three it was easier to keep the conversation going and to confront our different points of view, so I hope to have another Italian “Skype-mate” the next time as well!
At the beginning we had some problems with the programme: Marta seemed not to be able to join the conversation and
when she finally did I couldn’t hear her and Leah any longer! What a mess!!! Thanks to Sarah’s help, at last we managed to start our chat, which was even more pleasant than the first one: Marta and Leah introduced themselves to each other and then we talked about our Easter holidays and Leah’s spring break. We found out that Marta travelled to America a couple of weeks ago and visited New York and Philadelphia. This was a useful springboard to begin a discussion on national stereotypes that basically confirmed what had already emerged from the Cultura questionnaire: we said that when we think about the United States images of endless, wide roads, huge skyscrapers and beautiful top models immediately come to our minds; Leah, on the other hand, usually associates our country with breathtaking landscapes, Milan fashion shows and food! We ended up by comparing our alimentary habits: what we eat for breakfast; if we usually eat out or at home; whether in the USA people who are allergic to gluten can count on the State paying for the gluten-free products they need (like in Italy); if the general assumption that Americans only eat junk food while Italians stuff them with tons of pizza and spaghetti everyday is well-founded or not…We would have gone on for hours if Leah hadn’t remembered us that the topic of our conversation was supposed to be politics! She completely wrongfooted us with a very simple question: “Girls, could you please explain me the political situation of your country?” Oh, my
gosh!!! Mart and I look at each other, speechless: where could we start from? First of all, we tried to explain that Romano Prodi’s government collapsed because it failed to obtain the trust by both the Camera and the Senato and this opened the way to a new electoral campaign. Leah asked us what we knew about Berlusconi (Sarah was right, he is famous all over the world!) and we gave a very neutral answer in order not to influence her opinion: we said that he is a clever self-made man, who managed to become a very successful executive and then to enter politics; many people appreciate this qualities of his, but others think that he hasn’t always been completely honest and that he must have many skeletons in his cupboard. We also added, however, that this time making up our minds and decide who to vote for will be very hard: left wing and right wing governments continue to succeed each other, but none of them seems to be able to effect important changes in the situation of our country and therefore people is very disillusioned by politics.Leah is going to vote as well (and for the first time in her life!). She was very critical about the usefulness of the media struggle between Hillary and Obhama: she explained us that while at the beginning the two leaders’ supporters respected each other recognizing that they were all on the same side, now each faction overtly hates the other and it is entirely possible that in November the supporters of the loser will prefer to vote for Mc Cain rather than giving their vote to the winner. America has its own problems as well, therefore!
As I said, the chat was really amusing and involving: in three it was easier to keep the conversation going and to confront our different points of view, so I hope to have another Italian “Skype-mate” the next time as well!
photos from flickr
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