My time in Italy comes to a close - five weeks of being a foreigner and student. It was those two concepts, student and foreigner, that during my stay I combined. The study of behaviorism provided an ample time to apply those concepts in the field and examine cultural differences and why they might arise.
My initial expectation was that drastic differences between Italians and Americans didn't exist. They're just humans after all. However, my Midwest brain almost popped when the truth began to be exposed. They shopped different, ran business different, drank different, and lived a different lifestyle.
The frames Italians attached to drinking are much softer than Americans. They don't seem to value being drunk as much and instead are introduced at an earlier age. The expectation that instead of being taboo it's just another beverage could more than likely be the reason binge drinking and rowdy behavior did not appear to be as prominent. No rebellious link might lessen antisocial behavior, which is repeated as generations go on.
The small subtle differences such as no espesso after a certain time, and eating pizza a certain way, are interestingly enforced. There are no hard enforcement, however many will consider you foreigner or foreigner like if they see this behavior. This alienation into an out-group really hits for Italian which have strong familial ties. Italians stay home much later than Americans, often inherit family businesses, follow family trades, and have a more collective attitude. These environments can strengthen cultural reinforcement much more than say the individualist culture. I believe that is what leads to the "peculiar" business practices in Italy such as opening later than expected, closing for random hours, etc.
My highlight, personally, was visiting Austria and Germany and seeing the extreme change in culture. Austrians remind me a lot of Americans, and I loved their friendly, but reserved attitudy. A feeling that Germans and Italians would not like doing business with each other came to mind during my visit. Punctuation is key might say a German. All I can say as an American, seeing it all opened up the world.