Welcome to your favorite segment Global Village. 欢迎回来《小酒馆·大世界》。In the previous episode, we talked to Carlotta and Miky about the similarities between China and Italy. In today’s episode, let’s continue with that topic.

Let me maybe make it more specific. In a company, if you're like the youngest person and then, does that mean automatically you have to agree with whatever your senior have to say.

Yes!

Even if you know they're wrong or you think they're wrong?

Yes, especially the beginning.

Yeah. We have a saying that means Fare la gavetta. So when you start a new job is just commonly accepted that you have to take in whatever people want you to do, and you have to listen to everyone even if you don't agree. Because that's part of your experience at the beginning.

You have to learn. You have no experience, so..

Perhaps you have a different idea, but first you listen and you learn, and then once you gained enough experience, and once people see you as someone that can bring more value, then you could give your opinion, but it's definitely not encouraged at the beginning.

We have this whole thing called论资排辈as in based on seniority and then you will get let's just say I'm older than you and then I’ve been with this company longer. Even though I am a horrible worker, I don't have a lot of productivity, and you are a star performer, but you're just younger and with fewer years with the company. Does that mean that I still will get more of an opportunity to get promoted compared to you? Just because I have so called seniority?

Perhaps. I wouldn't generalize, but it generally yes. Yeah.

I love that I wouldn't generalize, but generally that is the situation.

I'd like to think it wasn't like that, but I feel like it is.

Yeah, just because you've been with the company for longer and maybe you know things that either you shouldn't know or that can be useful, and then you can still manage the person that is brilliant and take advantage of that person's qualities, but you will still be his or her superior, just to show…

I think that thing is that experience is more valuable than knowledge.

So in experience obviously comes from years of accumulation.

Yes exactly. Like you can learn and study from books. But once you practice it for years, then you have more experience.

Yes, first-hand experience.

And this is the most valuable thing.

I see. And any other similarities you have observed?

Yes, we observe that, for example, we can be a bit superstitious.

Yes.

Superstitions, ok, but we have different superstitions.

They're linked maybe to numbers or actions.

Especially in the south of Italy. They are very superstitious, very very..like a lot.

There would be some objects that people would carry or like they would wear like horns, like little chilies.

What's that about?

It's about good luck, and like to take away the bad things and remove them.

Yeah, so if you have this chilly on you or…

Chili like the food?

Yeah or like hanging in your house, then they would sweep away the bad luck.

Like fend off evil.

Yes, exactly. So that's a big thing.

Or like other kinds of stones or numbers. For example, number 17 is very bad luck.

17, not 13?

No, no.

Sometimes 13, but usually it's 17.

Yeah.

Why 17?

That's a good question. I don't know.

I don't know either.

It's just common, yeah.

Or like wearing certain colors in certain occasions, like purple. You cannot wear purple on stage when you perform on the theater it’s like…

Again, why? It's just an old tradition?

Yeah it's an old tradition. Or like in weddings unless you're the bride you cannot wear white, but now is changing now people don't care as much, but generally you don't wear white or black. There's a lot …

Or black cats.

Black cats are bad.

But like for black cats, a black cat crosses the road while you're driving, it means that you should not go to that place. And for real like I really think that in the south they stop, and they don't just go, for real.

So they really take it very seriously.

I think for some parts of China we also do take our superstition really seriously. But you know that in China many buildings you notice don't have 4 or 14, is that the same like you don't have 17th floor?

No, it's okay, we still have it.

It's just people don't like it.

Exactly.

Or maybe some actions that I'm thinking about, for example, if someone is wiping the floor and he wipes your feet by mistake then they would say “You're not gonna get married.”

Wow, step away from people when they’re sweeping.

Yes.

Is there any way to rectify it if they actually did accidently do it?

Yeah, you can take some chili.

Balance it out.

We touch wood or like we touch iron things, normally metal things.

So, instead of touch wood, you touch iron, touch metal.

We say “Tocca ferro”, we touch iron or something else like if you drop salt on the floor and…

Even on the table, you have to take it and throw it over your shoulder.

I’ve seen that.

But these are old traditions that I don't really know where they come from.

If you break the mirror. Yeah, this is also really serious one, like I would feel I would be like a little bit scary for that situation. If you break a mirror, then you have 7 years of bad luck.

So just stop using mirrors.

Exactly, be careful.

I mean mirror also has a lot of superstitions attached to mirrors in China as well.

Or like even when you set the table how you place cutlery, it can be bad luck. Like if you put the knife like if you stop some food or if you put the fork and the knife in across, then it's bad luck.

Whoa, it's like in China we say, you don't like stab your chopsticks into the rice because that's supposed to be, supposed to mean that this is for dead people. Yes we have a lot of those and then if you ask me, I probably don't know a lot of those where like they come from.

Talking about superstition and traditions, one last question that I would like to ask is, see this always puzzles me, Italy, it's sometimes to me, it feels like a blend of open mindedness and traditions. So as Italians, would you think Italians are generally more conventional, traditional, more conservative, or more liberal minded, open?

I think it depends, it's really hard to answer. I think it depends where you are. It depends on your background. It depends on where’re you from like which part of Italy, because there are very big regional differences from north and south, for example.

South is more conservative.

Definitely. So my dad was born in the south for example, and my mom is from Turin, so from the north. While he moved to the North when he was very young, so I can't really see the difference in my house. But when I go to see my dad's family in the south, I can see there are different just ways of living and different rules and for example, how people and how guys date at a young age or how you celebrate things, how religious you are. All these ways of living is just more traditional, or people speak a lot of dialect. They're more attached to the roots while in the north, they're more open minded, more international I would say.

Yeah. Even though your family has roots in the south, but you're both from the north.

Yeah, 100%.

So I guess it's also like when you guys are thinking about people from the south, you will have a let's not say stereotype, but you will have certain perception of them.

Definitely.

It's like when they think of you guys, they will have perceptions as well, these people are too liberal minded.

yes.

Okay, we'll definitely will do another topic in the future just to talk about the regional differences.

Yeah, that would be very interesting.

OK. And on that note, I think we're gonna wrap up here. Thank you again for coming to the studio. Certainly there's a lot of similarities that we have seen in our two cultures.

Yeah, thank you for having us.

And for our listeners. If you ever travel to Italy or you have Italian friends, or you actually lived in Italy, share with us what kind of similarities you have observed, and also differences as well. Leave us a comment in the comment section. I will see you next time. Bye.

“Ciao”