I miss the social aspects of living in Italy. It just felt easier to connect with people there. People are kind of weird and standoffish here in the US, and in some cases feel a bit fake. If you ask if someone wants to grab a beer (or spritz/wine/whatever) in Italy, and they respond enthusiastically, it seems there's a good chance they'll try and make it happen.
Lived in Austria for a couple years... it was hard to say though. I didn't speak the language there, so people were friendly, but obviously it kind of limited my interactions to anglophones or locals with the desire to have English speaking friends.
Americans are non-confrontational to a fault, sometimes they'll feign excitement about future plans to avoid "being negative" while you're asking. all the while having no intention to go through (and the defensive body language that goes with). It takes a bit to get used to
Used to have an Italian neighbor and we talked about exactly this - about how in Italy you'd just invite folks you encounter in for dinner regardless of whatever one-dish thing your family was having at that time, whereas here in America you'd never dream of inviting people in for dinner without some souped-up lavish planned meal
> People are kind of weird and standoffish here in the US, and in some cases feel a bit fake.
Supposition: It's because of all the marketing. Most of the time someone trying to talk to you is trying to sell you something, and you build up a defensive behavior to combat it.
