Culture Shock from Living in Italy? (Florence)

We interview foreigners on the streets of Florence, Italy to find out what are the biggest culture shocks they've experienced since moving to Italy when it comes to the mentality, the food and lifestyle itself. How are Italian people different from people in their country, why it's complicated to make friends in Florence and how living in Italy has changed them.

Dating Beyond Borders is a Youtube channel that focuses on highlighting the cultural differences that come into play while dating people from other countries.
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0:00 Intro
0:42 Meet the Foreigners
1:27 Expectations vs Reality of Living in Italy
2:35 Culture Shocks of Living in Italy
4:34 Italy vs Your Country
6:48 Food and Drinking in Italy
8:37 Making Friends in Florence
10:11 Best & Worst About Living in Florence
12:18 What can't you get used to?
13:06 How Has Italy changed you?
15:09 Advice for Foreigners

Crew:

CAST:

Filmed in:
Florence, Italy

[mattopas]

I'm Italian born and raised, I get culture shock everytime I leave my Province

[danieledallolio]

Unfortunately foreigners tend to always go to the same places when they come to Italy. In reality we must consider that in Italy there are 20 regions, all different from each other. There are different lifestyles, different dialects, different food, different climate etc. For each region. My suggestion is to go beyond the usual destinations, choose an area, a region and visit it calmly away from the most crowded areas, you will not be disappointed.

[aurora]

I’m an Italian girl from a city near Venice. Something that always surprise me is this concept of the “dolce far niente” that foreigners see in us. Honestly where? I think they want to see it in us. We are stressed everywhere. We would love to give time to our families but with this economy people work many hours and with a very low stipend. I’ve never seen an Italian walking slowly to admire the landscape and be cool with it. Maybe this is the north of Italy, but this is the reality I’ve lived (a stressing environment 😂).

[RudyEsposito-wq]

No my friend the main Italian industry its not the turism business, its the manufacturer industry that in Europe its second only to Germany, so before you state samething so important just read it, italian manufacturer industry its one of the biggest in the world and we do not make only pasta or gucci bags, we make boeing 787 fusalage till microchip for the automotive industry

[merlionsin]

For Americans, it's always gonna be culture shock EVERYWHERE

[giovannikarahoxha]

Germans complaining about the bus service in Italy and Italians doing the same about the Deutsche Bahn in Germany.
Bound by the love for lament, how beautiful the world is <3

[wowohree_]

3:40
I wanted to inform the man that we also have them here in Italy, they are called shopping centers, just go there

[pppp]

Italy is LAST in Europe for alcohol consumption. This is because Italians drink to savor fine wines and spirits in pleasant company, elsewhere instead they guzzle liters of alcohol with the precise purpose of getting drunk until they drop.
In particular, in Italy people drink MUCH less than in Germany (third in Europe tied with Latvia). Just to restore a little truth...

[NvardQueen]

everyone: im from columbia, i'm from serbia, etc. Americans: im from Florida

[xenani]

The guy from the US and the German girl saying in Italy we drink more than they do 👀
I live in Sicily, and people almost don't drink, they can stay the entire evening just with a little bottle of beer or a glass of wine.
Even in a familiar gathering, people just drink a little bit of wine during meals and that's it

[giorgiodifrancesco]

Tourism %GDP in Italy 9% (our is a real country, not an amusement park).
In US is 9.1%

[maurobernasconi]

No, tourism is at the second side. First place is for industry...we are the second manufacting country after Germany in Europe.

[Earth.Crafts.World.Seven.]

Italy is a G7 country and Italy is the second biggest manufacturing economy after Germany. Also, what is with the mandolin music? This video is all about false information.

[yonidevi]

The girl that has been here for 13 years, really has no Italian friends, I can tell, because otherwise she wouldn't have said that Italians eat pasta every day, maybe my grandparents used to do that! This is a legend, and an old one

[kandondooley]

Finally someone mentions Americans dressing in PJs. As an American myself, it's crazy to me how people can follow influencers all day and not pick up any dress tips. Wal-Mart is a nightmare 😫

[dema]

As an Italian it was a little bit weird there no was mandolin at the beginning in the intro. Then . . . there it is. It's magic.

[xopzfdj]

I just want to comment on one of the countless stereotypes in this video: "Italy Is the fastest shrinking country of the world, the main industries are tourism etc." I report just a couple of quotes that anyone can find with Google "Italy is the ninth largest economy in the world and the third largest in the Euro Zone. The country has a diversified industrial base driven in large part by manufacturing of high-quality consumer goods ." or "Do not adjust your set: Italy is growing faster than Germany". Always the same old story, people speaking without a minimum of information, just stereotypes. So I'll write a couple of them: "The thing that distinguishes Americans is ignorance" or maybe "in the USA they can shoot you in the street". The usual stereotypes. Don't come to Italy, thanks.

[Keyrose-myxr]

That American guy saying Italians are loud when him, hemself is so loud i had to turn my volume down🙄.
Americans are way louder in my opinion. The on going joke in my country is... you hear an American before you see them.

[giovanniderosa]

Cari turisti noi italiani tutti i giorni dobbiamo pensare a come fare arrivare alla fine del mese.
la maggiore parte degl'italiani lavora tutto il giorno, e quando torna a casa mangia veloce per andare a dormire .
solo nei film e nei libri ci sono le storielle che noi italiani amiamo fare la bella vita.

[MariahLaine]

Wonderful, thank you! It's so refreshing to hear perspectives from people from different countries and backgrounds. I feel like most of the "culture shock" videos I come across are of Americans who have never left the US and are "shocked" when they experience normal things that happen everywhere else in the world.