The food, transportation, language and the overall lifestyle in Italy is much different than of the United States. As a college student, one of the more noticeable differences I saw was how Europeans and Americans consume alcohol.

It is rare to find an Italian being carried out by friends. An exception might involve a major victory in a sporting event or a birthday celebration. In Lawrence people are carried out of bars all week long. It isn’t necessarily a victory, such as KU winning a national basketball championship, but the feeling that getting wasted is a social obligation. Chris Holman, junior at Oregon State, said: “I don’t think I have seen one drunken Italian guy yet. I talked to an Italian woman the other day and she said that Americans are disgusting when they drink.” Italians respect alcohol and drinking more than Americans. Perhaps that is because the legal drinking age in Italy is 16. The bars in Paderno Del Grappa, Italy, are not filled with 16-year-olds who have a dire need to fulfill their legal right to drink but rather young adults who want to meet Americans.

I have come to admire the control and respect that Italians have toward alcohol. It is interesting to imagine what Italians think of Americans and their drinking habits. Leaving a college where binge drinking is the lifestyle and coming to Italy has been a major culture shock.

Alyssa Bates, Minneapolis

Kansas University junior, journalism major