It has been a busy week in school. Not only have we had full classrooms to deal with, but there have been lots of important football matches and birthdays to manage as well!
It was my own birthday last week (my best present? Ryan Giggs' 80th-minute goal for United!) Cultural differences are a recurring theme in an ex-pat's life - my birthday highlighted another cultural difference between Britain and Italy. In the UK, being the birthday boy is special - people send you cards and buy you presents and when you go out for dinner, well, everyone volunteers to pay for your food and drink! Birthdays, in Britain, are a great thing. I realised on Sunday that birthdays in Italy are different. When did this fact dawn on me? When the restaurant bill arrived.
As I started to calculate the individual costs of all my guests, my mathematics was met with the confused frowns of my Italian friends. "Well that's €20 each," I declared, reaching for my wallet. A few seconds later I realised I was the only one reaching for their wallet.
Apparently, in Italy, the birthday boy pays for the meal - for everybody's meal! I felt my birthday cheer disappear as I handed over all my cash to the waiter, much to the joy of my friends.
I think that next year I will celebrate my birthday back home in Manchester.
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