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https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Italian-Americans.html

https://online.culturegrams.com/world/world_country_sections.php?contid=&wmn=&cid=80&cn=Italy&sname=Government&snid=18

http://www.iitaly.org/magazine/dining-in-out/articles-reviews/article/italian-and-italian-american-cooking-harmony-vs

North Carolina Museum of Art

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-religious-demographics-of-italy.html

https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Italian-Americans.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/06/08/countries-most-vacation-days/2400193/

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197431/
https://www.livescience.com/44376-italian-culture.html

http://mgtundoedu.altervista.org/legal%20system%20comparison.htm

https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=160963&picture=law-and-justice-concept

https://www.giambronelaw.com/site/library/articles/how-to-become-an-italian-citizen

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/files/M-1051.pdf

https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/things-to-know-before-high-school-study-abroad-italy

https://www.google.com/search?q=percentage+of+teenagers+with+iphones+in+chapel+hill&ie=&oe=

https://www.statista.com/statistics/257053/smartphone-user-penetration-in-italy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Italian_citizens

https://www.thoughtco.com/italian-heritage-month-celebrations-4088878

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While some other cultures prefer to show their individual personalities through what they wear and how they dress, people at both East and Italy often prefer to go with more modest hairstyles. This similarity is more visual than mental because the majority of the school days, teenagers won't be seen walking around with colored and expressly gelled-up hair.

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At East Chapel Hill High School, the school performs a plethora of on-stage productions throughout the year. In Italy, plays are very common, ranging from about 3 to 4 per school year. Having such an intricate history with playwriters and famous artistic influencers, it makes sense why schools would go to such lengths to intricate it into their school system. Because of this, Italian plays are widely celebrated.

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During the month of October, Italian heritage is celebrated. For example, people acknowledge the work of Italian immigrants in the 19th century, due to the fact they were often given undesirable and difficult jobs such as sewing in factories and heavy construction jobs. The contributions to American culture made by Italians and those of Italian descent are also celebrated. Imports from Milan are used in Italian restaurants in Chapel Hill. This month also gives Italian-Americans the inspiration to learn about their heritage. Various towns and cities host Italian cultural celebrations to help educate people in the area and for Italian Americans to celebrate their ancestors.

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In Italy, about 55% of households contain a pet, while in Chapel Hill, around 78% have a pet. These companions include foster dogs and special service dogs. The majority of people in both cultures form connections with animals, mostly including dogs that need walking and often times bring people together. Dog walking is a popular way to make money within Chapel Hill and Italy both.

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In both Italy and the United States, the majority of teenagers have an electronic device available, whether that be a cell phone or an I-pad or television. In Chapel Hill, 82% of teenagers have an I-Phone, while in Italy, 70% of teenagers own an I-Phone. These astounding numbers show that the majority of kids between the ages of 13 and 18 in both countries own nearly identical objects in both countries. Having such a strong connection in culture between both countries supports the connection between teens.

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The majority of the kids at East are teenagers, and are therefore very accustomed to American slang. Many words are common in hour-to-hour conversation that are not globally recognized, such as 'buck' (for an American dollar), 'for real' (being honest), and 'hype' (a state of high excitement. For an Italian to fully assimilate to American culture, they'd need to understand many new phrases that aren't direct translations from their native language. Even if you ignore this, the transition from Italian to English is not an easy one. Learning the English language can be a huge problem, especially with how complex and confusing it is at times as a result of it being an amalgamation of many other languages. Many subcultures within the United States have developed slurred usage of words or created entirely new words that are commonly used, yet not developed into being considered professional dialect. These terms are referred to as slang terms, and while a student in Italy may learn how to speak the basic phrases, in order to complete assimilate, they would need to adapt to the common accentuations of the students.

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Italian typically enjoy strong family ties, and when they being together or help each other is possible, they honor their family obligation. The average northern family has one or two children, and most live as nuclear units. Southern families are traditionally larger, and multiple generations often live in the same house or town. Extended families throughout the country gather often and frequently live near each other. Italian parents are usually very supportive of their children, and in turn, children are dedicated to their parents. Grandparents frequently help with child care. Children usually live at home until they get married or find a job. Traditionally, children grew up to work in family businesses. Today, young Italians seek financial independence, though high unemployment rates in the south hamper the attainment of this goal. Many parents help their children buy a home or pay for an apartment—even if it means significant financial sacrifice. In America, we live most of the time only connected (if even that,) to our direct family. It is normal and even encouraged for children to branch out and leave the family after a certain age, unlike in Italy which encourages the return and spending of time with family a lot more.

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The Italian Legal System is inquisitorial, meaning that their main intention and purpose is to uncover facts. However, in Chapel Hill, they use a very different method, which involves the right to remain silent and allows clouded judgement and bias within the court. This is known as an adversarial system, where pitting two parties against each other is considered appropriate and in many cases, normal. Italians assimilating in America would have to learn their rights in court to withhold information that they may not have had before.

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When Italians immigrated to America near the end of the 19th century, part of their culture helped influence aspects of life in America. More specifically, music was one of the ways Italians integrated their culture in America. This change transitioned smoothly due to Italian opera singers being popular in years prior. One example of Italian's influencing American music, is Frank Sinatra. He incorporated Italian operatic singing with his Neapolitan folk music. American opera houses were also greatly influenced by styles in Italy. Currently, Americans celebrate Italian music by attending Italian-American festivals. Many of which, people attend in North Carolina, such as the Charlotte Italian Festival and activities organized by the Triangle Italian American Heritage Association.

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Italian architecture has been widely looked at since ancient times. Whether we're talking about Italy's gorgeous cathedrals, or the Colosseum, Italy's history in architecture is something impossible to ignore. It's something that every architecture major studies, and most high-schoolers study in history (Romanesque and Gothic style architecture, etc.) Even from just how many tourists visit Italy (from Rome, to Venice, really there's too many great spots,) to see the ancient sights, its clear that Italian Architecture is widely celebrated from its ancient roots to its modern transformations.

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Italy is a major fashion center of the world. As such, it's pretty unsurprising that clothing is a very important aspect of Italian life and culture. In fact, its common to dress in what we would consider formal wear, or "dress up" for casual occasions, outings, and even walks. In contrast, Chapel Hill is a very casual and has some pretty unique fashion trends. We consider shorts and leggings paired with a sweatshirt or t-shirt to be very fashionable (which frankly in other places like Italy, is a funny joke.) Imagine coming from a place where you look nice and proper every day, with a completely different view of fashion, to one where the fashion is essentially a low effort look.

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In Italy, as required by the EU, workers are entitled 4 weeks of paid vacation time, or 20 days (doesn't include weekends). In addition to this, there are 10 national holidays that require paid leave. On the other hand, in both the US and NC, it is not required for employers to give ANY vacation time let alone PAID vacation time, besides for special circumstances such as health reasons. Coming from a place with these great vacation times, to one where frankly it isn't even required, is a huge lifestyle change!

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Italy's government runs as a parliamentary republic. This means that the powers of the legislative and executive branches work together. This in contrast to America where the Constitution demands that powers work separately. The head of the government is also chosen by the legislative branch in Italy while in America the people are given power to choose. Another difference is that the top government official's cabinet is not chosen by the voters in Italy, but it is in America. Overall, Italians assimilating in America would have to learn to be accepting of how the government in America is run.

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The school pathing in America is quite straightforward, all kids move from Elementary, Middle, to High school. In comparison though, this is quite different from Italy. In Italy, there is first (we're disregarding preschool and infant school,) Primary (elementary) school, and Secondary (Middle School). Combined, this lasts 5 years (6-13) and is free. After this comes the second stage of schooling, which is Upper Secondary school. From here, schooling is customized based on a students interests. For example. there are Classics schools (literature, history, etc), Fine Art Schools/institutions (art, music, etc), Science Schools, and Technical Institutes (specific job types such as agriculture & business.) These all cost money, and have the goal of providing a direct path to a future career. This is obviously drastically different from American schooling, which is for the most part doesn't allow for students to directly learn the things that interest them that may be their future career. Even disregarding this, the standard school week in Italy is 6 days, and consists of lectures from 8 am to 1 pm in a classroom where teachers rotate to you (unlike our moving around.) Because students don't move, theirs also no lockers needed either. It also builds a very strong group of friendship between students who are in a class, since they see each other all year (in this way, its much more difficult to make other friends outside of your class.) At East, those who are in your class may not necessarily be those who you spend time with, because we have many different classes and a shared lunch. One of the biggest differences, especially in regards to East, is that Italy has no school sports. The idea in Italy is that school is strictly for learning, and as such sports should be saved for outside that and private clubs.

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In Chapel Hill, the majority of people have cars and drive. In fact, its pretty inconvenient to walk anywhere, especially if you don't live around Franklin Street. Everything is just too far away from each other. On the other hand, we do have buses for public transit, but it isn't used by the majority of people, and only goes to certain places. In Italy, instead of school buses, they take the public transit buses to school everyday. In big cities like Rome and Milan, the metro is also available. Coming from a place that relies so much on public transit, to a place that doesn't, is definitely a change in lifestyle that needs getting used to.

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There is a much lower bar of respect between teachers and students at East than there is in Italy. If the students enter the class before the teacher, then once the teacher walks in everyone stands up. In class the only thing you do is listen to the teacher talk and take notes, and from the moment you enter class, the teacher starts talking and doesn’t stop until the bell. Students coming to America would need to assimilate to a much more social and discussion-friendly environment where the teachers are open to developing friendly relationships with their students.

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In America, it’s quite standard to introduce yourself with a handshake or a hug. However, a lot of times that may not occur, especially in casual settings. However in Italy, when you say hello or goodbye to someone, you offer a handshake. Often times, it’s polite to follow up with a kiss on each cheek, or an air kiss by touching cheeks. It would be very strange to greet someone in this way in America, so it would definitely be something to get used to as an immigrant.

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America and Italy have different systems for currency. Italy’s currency is the euro which is about $1.17 in USD. This major difference often times makes it difficult for many people who visit this foreign country because they need to exchange their dollars for euros before they are able to support themselves financially in the unfamiliar land. As such, as an Italian Immigrant coming to the US, it may be very strange to adopt to an entirely new currency system with different values.

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Italy uses the metric system as opposed to the imperial system in America. Another difference is that Italy uses Celsius to measure temperature instead of Fahrenheit.  Italians assimilating in America would involve them learning how to use units such as feet, inches, miles, knowing the arbitrary conversions between them, and comprehending Fahrenheit.

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Religion is a large part of culture in Italy. The dominant religion in Italy is Christianity with 71.4% of the population following the belief. In the 1850's, Roman Catholicism was one of America's primary religions because of immigration from various European countries, Italy included. Immigrants came to America in pursuit of religious freedom, and that contributed to the spread of Christianity. They kept their strong Roman Catholic beliefs, which are in large part due to Italy's long catholic history and the Vatican City being located in the center of Rome. Much of their unique religious traditions differ from America's irish based Catholciism, but they continued to follow their own traditions and celebrate their own beliefs.

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Italian literature has been celebrated across the world and the US. From The Prince by Machiavelli, to The Decameron by Boccaccio, they are all books that are often mentioned, celebrated, and taught both in History classes and English. The same applies for East. Italian literature during the Renaissance is bound to be taught, and we read many different novels from around the world every year. The prime example this year being The Tempest, despite its non-Italian origin, is set around Italy during the Renaissance era.

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During the 1900's, art from European publications and old master paintings were highly encouraged, another example of multiculturalism. From the American perspective, Italian paintings were considered different due to different art styles in Italy during medieval times and the Renaissance. Religious portrayals of art, greatly contrasted between modern art (of that time) and Italian art.
Currently, the North Carolina Museum of Art's permanent collection of 14th century Italian paintings is one of the top five collections in the country. Some of the pieces in the collection include The Adoration of the Child by Tiziano Vecellio, and many variations of Madonna and Child depicting Mary and Jesus.

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Little Italy's were created following the waves of Italian Immigrants from the 1800's and on who came to America in search of a better life. Their purpose was that of a safe haven from the largely racist populace across the nation who treated the immigrants as inferior peoples. Despite this dark and hateful origin, Little Italy's helped to preserve the culture of Italians, for they produced a variety of Italian based institutions, organizations, shops, and entertainment. This allowed for the flourishing and celebrating of Italian (and eventually Italian-American) culture and arts.

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In the late 19th century when Italian immigrants came to America, they held on to a few parts of their cultural identity. Food was one of these parts. Many common foods and drinks in America originated from Italy, including broccoli, coffee, numerous meats, pastas, and more. Italian restaurants in America were created for Italian soldiers who went to America (after World War II) and had a desire for their culture's foods. During the 1950's-1960's, Italian food officially became a part of the American diet. Italian food has many staples. Wine, cheese, and pasta being the main ones. These essentials to their cuisine and their love for them are maintained by many Italian immigrants. Below is a picture of an Italian restaurant in New York in 1913.