GUEST BLOGGER: Giorgio Tomassetti

I first met Giorgio on his blog, Un Anno a Stelle e Strisce (a year of stars and stripes) when he was an exchange student in West Virginia. I enjoyed his reactions to American culture and his views as an Italian teen on adapting to life there. At the same time he was reading our blogs about foreigners living in his hometown of Ascoli Piceno. Upon his return we became friends with him and his family; in fact it was his parents who recently invited us to the fun snow outing in Vena Piccola.
Giorgio is a bright, fun, talented, good kid. I know you'll enjoy his views.
Valerie

Hi everybody!

My name is Giorgio and today I'll be writing an article on this blog.

First of all I would like to thank Valerie for giving me the opportunity to write on her blog.

As you can read in the introduction, I first met Valerie and Brian on the internet while I was spending an year in the United States of America. Their blogs were very interestesting to me because they talked about my country and, in particular, about my hometown of Ascoli Piceno, where they now live. It may sound weird to say but, every time I read an article on their blogs, I understand more about the American culture, even know they talk about Italians and Italy.

The year that I spent in the United States was great for me, not only because I learned English, but because it was a very good life experience. I can't list how many things I understood about people, life, cultures, and so on while I was there. Here in Italy you hear a lot about America, especially on TV, and everybody knows what the so called American dream is! Many movies and songs are from America and that's how many people learn about this country. But here in Italy things don't usually work in the same way; people think differently, act differently and have different priorities in life. If you are a reader of this blog you probably already know that. But I'm also pretty sure that Valerie and Brian's articles made you want to come here the same.

I have to say that travel is great but living in a foreign country for awhile is even better because you can learn so much and have opportunities that can change your life. Going outside my country for an year changed my life and I can't wait to have a similar experience again.

Now I want to show you a video that explains how Italians are different from Europeans in general so that you can have a better understanding of my country. This is a funny video and I hope you will enjoy it. But remeber, we're not always like this... Italy is a beautiful country and you should come here to visit.




Giorgio Tomassetti