Back home I enjoy playing sports, hanging out with friends, and playing cards in my free time. Not to mention watching TV and movies. Most of the things I do for fun keep me pretty active and I am usually doing some type of physical activity rather than just relaxing.
That is where I see a difference in the Italian culture. They take leisure as a time to relax and enjoy themselves. Whereas Americans are usually running around, rushing to some type of practice, working out, or playing some type of sport for enjoyment.
From what I have noticed, time is not as much of a concern for Italians and they seem more laid back and relaxed here. In their free time, the only sport I have seen being played for fun is soccer. Besides that, most people I see are either hanging out with friends, eating, shopping, or just quietly reading a book. I mean, they have an entire 3 hours everyday (siesta usually 1-4 p.m.) dedicated to just napping or enjoying lunch. I also have not seen as many TV's here, something you see everywhere in the U.S. from bars and restaurants, stores, and nearly every room in the average American home.
I could never imagine having a siesta in the U.S. I must say that I would enjoy having the time everyday to nap, but too many people are caught up in the rat race that America has become and many people would complain about businesses not being open and the fact that they would have to pay extra on gas to travel home or wherever they were headed during siesta.
Siesta definitely needs to be integrated to the U.S. I read online that a lot of business’s are encouraging power naps during breaks, and are even dedicating specific rooms for this to take place. Hopefully this spreads like a epidemic and we will all be sleeping from 1-4 pm everyday! Realistically, American is too competitive for this to take place. How could you sleep knowing there is someone skipping their siesta so they can gain ground on you and eventually surpass you. Capitalistic values are simply too great in America opposed to Italy where everyone has family businesses and stable environments.
ReplyDeleteI dont think I could ever imagine having a siesta in the U.S. either. It seems like Americans have too many different schedules to work around to have something like that. Your right their definetly a lot more hectic than what Italians are.
ReplyDeleteHi Nick!
ReplyDeleteI agree about the sports part of your blog; we Americans are always doing something. Yes there are some of us that are lazy and watch TV a lot, but the majority is running around like maniacs! I am not sure if I would like to have a siesta either in the US. Yes, it would be nice to have a few hours to relax but it seems like most of us are running all day everyday and there is not time to just sit around. I guess if you think about it this way, it is how this culture has been brought up and I am sure that if America had been brought up like that with that custom, we would be enjoying our 3 hours of relaxation as well! Good blog!