Recapturing My Time in Roma

How do I start my last blog post from Rome? How did I get here and where did the past seven weeks go? I would love to know. They have been packed full of travel experiences, churches, schoolwork, and learning about Roman culture. Thank you for completing the journey with me.

If you are just stumbling upon my page, enjoy reading about three important aspects of Rome. Learn about how an American feels in Rome and the U.S. products available here. Learn about one piazza, the Campo de'Fiori. Learn about wine and then other Roman traditions. Watch me embrace my time in Rome and watch my appreciation for the new culture grow.

If you are wondering where I am now, I am working on finishing my undergraduate degree in Communication Arts and Sciences. I am spending time with my family and friends. Most importantly, I am taking my dog Marley on adventures and giving him a life any dog or human alike would be jealous of. If only he could have come to Italy. He may not be well trained like the dogs here, but he would have loved coming into stores and restaurants with me.

Here's to you, Rome. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for allowing me to grow as a person. And most importantly, thank you for letting me feel at home in your piazzas, side streets, and gelaterias. I will not soon forget my time here.

America in Rome

As I sit here on my last night and reflect over the past seven weeks, I wonder how I made it through my time in Rome. I was put in a situation with 22 people I did not know, in an apartment with three bathrooms and thirteen girls, and a totally foreign language. How did manage?

As much as I critiqued the American products that I found here in Rome, I think they really helped me out. I do not eat at McDonalds as home, but it was comforting to see the familiar arches. I do drive a Ford, so seeing cars of a similar brand made me think of home. I often wonder how I would have done in a place like Gimmelwald.

Over the past weekend, a few of my friends and I traveled to the small village of Gimmelwald on the side of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. With its stunning population of 150 people, American products were the last things I saw sold in the small store. We joked about running into a McDonalds on our three hour hike through the woods.

Was the joke me yearning for something familiar? How is it going to feel for me to be submersed in American culture and society tomorrow? I have gotten used to pizza cut with scissors, bars that sell coffee, and gelato stores every few meters. As happy as I am to see my family and friends, I am going to miss Rome and the small things that make it function. Will I be more critical of American chains and superstores on my arrival back in the states?

I know one thing is for sure. I will miss walking from our classroom in the Sede under the Doria Pamphilj museum to walk to Remo's pizza shop. I will miss the decision between cheese or tomato. I will miss the owner of the store cutting the pizza he cooked with pride and I will miss his small smile as I tell him thank you. I will miss the pride Italians take in their work that has somehow been lost in American culture.

American Cars

When walking around Rome, expect to see nice cars. Even the taxis here are Mercedes-Benz. I can't help but think it must be nice to have access to these cars which are considered foreign in America.

But every now and again, I will come across a Ford or Chevrolet. Even in the land of the Smart Car, I have seen a stretch Escalade Limo. These cars seem out of place to me and I wonder why Italians would want to purchase our American-made cars. Perhaps Americans moved to Italy and brought their cars with them too, but in an environmentally conscious society, these cars seem out of place.

I had a hard time finding statistics about what kind of cars Italians choose to drive or bought the most, but I did find an interesting clip on YouTube. You might be surprised to know that in Venice each year there is an American car club meeting. Check out the cars for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zf4wTboEIY.

Food for Thought

Well, I finally did it. I skipped the pizza and panini today and tried McDonalds. It was nice to taste some US food, but in the end it made me feel just as sick as it does at home. I felt obligated to try it for this blog topic, but I'm going to leave the American fast food in America from now on.

I have done a lot of traveling recently and seen a lot of American goods not only in Italy, but also now in Spain and France. I have done a lot of thinking about how I feel about seeing these products here and I realized that I have been to extremely touristy areas.

I do not know that I have been necessarily fair about judging American restaurants for their presence in these cities. Americans often travel abroad and are comforted, as sad as it may be, by the sight of McDonalds. Before I can truly judge how much of an emphasis is put on American goods, it will be important to visit a city that is not a tourist hot spot. I have plans to stay in a hostel in the Alps in Switzerland next weekend and I will be interested to see what American products are there, so far off the beaten path.

America in Barcelona

In my trip to Barcelona this past weekend, I was not surprised to see a number of American products. Eva Longoria once again was advertising ice cream. In Spain, George Clooney even has his own product endorsements.

If you are looking for American fast food, you will quickly find McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC. I would choose paella any day over these fast food palaces.

And if you are worried about not liking Spanish music, don't let it last for too long because just like in Italy, Madonna is in the top twenty songs and this time, so is Rhianna. You even have the opportunity to go to an Avril Lavigne concert in Barcelona instead of spending time do anything to learn about the culture of Spain.

American in Paris

To incorporate my trip this past weekend to Paris, I wanted to compare the American products I saw in Paris to those I have seen in Rome. I considered how I thought the French felt about us and guessed that products would be less prevalent. It is funny what I did learn instead.

In Rome, I have not had conversations with Italians to find out their thoughts on Americans, but right away in Paris, I had the opportunity to talk with Frenchmen. The first thing he discussed was how nice and friendly they were to us as Americans. One man, Arthur, asked why I said this. I replied that I had heard Americans were not liked in Paris. Arthur's initial reaction was to say, well you are not rude. He went on to explain that this was the stereotype he had of Americans. He said he felt this way based on the movies he had seen and MTV.

I went right into explaining this blog to him and how I am writing about just that idea. While I had feared the image we were creating for ourselves globally through movies, this conversation confirmed it. It is no wonder people don't like us in other countries if a majority of our movies we send out are shallow and with morals. While we may think they are funny, they are taken as truths on a global level.

Music

From my first day in Italy, I have noticed a common trend, Italians listen to a lot of American music. I have heard American songs in stores, commercials, and bars. The funny thing about the bars is that even the Italians get excited when Journey blares over the speakers. They know all the words and are just as happy as the Penn Staters.

To understand this better, I looked at Italy's top music as of right now. Check out the list for yourself, http://top40-charts.com/chart.php?cid=18. While I have not heard of the number one song, Madonna and Justin Timberlake are number two, followed closely by artists like Kanye, OneRepublic, and Sara Barielles. How come Italians prefer our music over their own?

I had not necessarily considered what kind of music I expected to hear here. I only gave it casual thought and considered Frank Sinatra, which in and of itself is amusing because he too was American. As an American, why do I have the right to assume that my music is better? And why are Italians buying it also?

As a comparison, I checked out some of their original top music. If you would like to do so, click on any of these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbM72JEqfJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZBCBDlGE0Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORDWGRlVLJE

Italy's top music is a mix of songs in many languages, a number in English. Could you imagine teens listening to music in Italian in America? Why are Italians picking up our music and we are not doing the same? I try to think about music as being universal, but for an Italian to gain popularity in America, he would have to translate his songs. Why are American artists above this?

Advertising in Roma

Not only are there a number of American products sold in Rome, but there is also a huge amount of advertisement for these goods. I was blown away when I was walking around the Coliseum and saw French students with their Burger King crowns on. While these girls appeared to be middle school age and just looking for some extra attention, they in turn made themselves walking advertisements. In all my journeys around Rome, I have not seen any Italian goods being advertised in this fashion.

If you really keep your eyes open while walking around, you will almost feel like you are at home in the States. Advertisements on buses seem to have an overly American theme to them. The picture below advertises the US film Indiana Jones. One of my nexts steps is to go see an American movie at a local theater. If you would like to do so also, there is a small cinema right over the bridge on the main road in Trastevere. Here they are also advertising for other US movies like Sex and the City. Why are our movies dominating their cinemas, while their films that are sent to the US are dubbed as foreign films and receive one category in awards shows?

The fact that Italians advertise our movies so much scares me a little. These movies contain US actors and are widely known to have come from the States. Since they are American made, it is no wonder Italian men fall over US women for their attention. What movie have you seen recently that does not have a silly, easy American girl getting into some kind of trouble? What movies are we making that are worthwhile or focus on the talent of the actors involved? We are creating movies with hopefully poor depictions of ourselves and then sending them all over the world. With these kinds of messages continually coming from the US, I can only imagine the stereotypes we are creating for ourselves around the world.

I also want to know why this ice cream has to be advertised by Eva Longoria? This ad is for Algida, an ice cream brand under the company Unilever. This is the same comapny that runs Good Humor in the US. Why is it that this company choose a US star to represent its goods in Italy? Unilever is not even a company that started in the US. When companies create a message saying US stars sell more goods, how can anti-American feelings not arise? And how can US citizens come to Rome and not expect people to speak our language? While Eva is pretty, there are a number of pretty Italian women that could have just as easily been used to endorse this solely Italian product.

Barilla Anyone?

Well, I got to look like a crazy American today. To see what American products Rome has to offer, I decided to walk around a small grocery store and take some pictures. A majority of the products were Italian made or at least European, but mixed in were American goods. Unlike in the Wegman’s I go to at home, these products did not have their own international section. Instead they were next to similar Italian made products.

Cereal proved to be the most dominated goods made by Americans. Unlike in our grocery stores at home, there were not many sugary cereals; instead corn flakes seemed to be the most popular.

These goods were different than what you would find at home. Sizes were different, names varied, and even some products were made by US companies but aren’t offered in US stores. The only product that seemed to be exactly the same were Ritz crackers. My next step will be to try some of these US goods that aren’t offered in America.

I got extremely excited in the store when I saw Barilla pasta. I patted myself on the back for picking good pasta at home because clearly whatever they sell in Italy is worthwhile pasta.

But then I did a little research on Barilla and found out the reason it is such a good pasta and the reason that it is sold here is because it is an Italian company and did not come to the US until 1996. Before I make any other assumptions about which products are American, I will definitely have to do a little research.

Don't You Wanta Fanta

While American products are everywhere, I wanted to focus on one specific company today and their movement to become a global organization. In 1988, a study was done and found the Coca-Cola Company to be the best known name and trademark in the world. In 1919, the first European bottling plant opened and by 1928, Coke was at the Amsterdam Olympics. I was hoping the company's website would have more information on its globalization, but this was not the case. The history of globalization provided by the company was one success story after another and reinforced the idea of the company's heroes as well as how well their product sales are. To read this for yourself, check out http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/chronicle_global_business.html or http://heritage.coca-cola.com/.

But how did Coke become popular here? What techniques did the company use to enter a European market and what obstacles did they encounter? Did they have to change their social influence appeals for Europeans? It is interesting to look at the social influences used in this water commercial, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g9ffBjL1MQ. This commercial could easily be shown in the US, even the background song was made in America.

For just a second, I want to look at Pepsi instead of Coke. Check out these commercials at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxEkGbyNM_Q&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEc5foJ9plE&feature=related. While Youtube does not say where these commercials were played, they are in English so they were most likely shown in America. It is interesting to see how Pepsi shows Europeans drinking their product to make Americans also want to do it. While the boys in the togas were most likely American, it still depicts a Roman style toga party. I reviewed these commercials also but Pepsi had to break into the same market as Coke and create an international name for themselves.

Over the next few days, I am going to try to find the questions that today’s blog formed for me.

Would you like to supersize that?

One of the first things I noticed about la bella citta di Roma was the American products. As soon as I arrived in the city, I was disappointed to drive on the right side of the road and to only see signs for American products. But upon closer examination, I noticed that while these products are from US companies, they are not the same. Packaging varies, portions are smaller, and even the products themselves are different.

How do US companies determine how to change their products enough to make them international?

I am also very interested in some anti-American feelings shared among Romans. Does this decrease sales of US goods? Are Italians willing to walk around advertising US products? Do other Italians give them a hard time about it? From the prevalence of US goods I have seen in my first week, I feel like this is not the case. But perhaps we'll have an Italian replica of "freedom fries" on our hands?

And what kind of message are we really sending by making a Disney version of SPQR? But don't worry too much, at least you'll be able to find the golden arches anywhere you go. Including next to the Pantheon.