Blog 3, Jan 5
Identify and discuss a cultural trait you have observed in Rome that differs from "American" culture. Include specific examples
One prominent cultural trait I’ve noticed, being in Rome, is the prominence of smoking cigarettes. Aside from seeing and being around people smoking, the placement of ashtrays, the presence of cigarette butts on streets, sidewalks, and tables has been a noticeable different. This is interesting to me because I see it as a very European, cultural thing to do, even though there are a lot of smokers in the US. However, when in the presence of smokers in the United States, I find myself much more disgusted and more likely to avoid being around secondhand smoke, because I feel it has more of a negative connotation at home than here. In the states, the majority of smokers that I personally know limit themselves to social smoking, often when they’re drinking. In Rome, it was obvious it was done more casually and frequently, as I often saw more people smoking during the day than at night. Additionally, while seeing cigarette butts on a street in the US would prompt me to feel that the place is dirty, it didn’t appear that Romans had the same feeling or connotation towards the smoke or trash left over from their cultural habit. I’m not really sure what an explanation for this would be, but perhaps because Rome is in the midst of a trash crisis, it doesn’t appear to be a major problem or contributor to the health or cleanliness of their city in their eyes.
