Italians love to talk about the weather. For the moment, we have here an exceptional heath-way that could last also 10 days. Due to these extreme weather conditions all the newspapers and news broadcasts all full of advises how to survive. Every year the same recommendations i.e. drink enough water, eat vegetables and fruits, stay inside during the hottest hours, and take special care of children, elderly persons and sick ones.
Then arrives autumn and experts give again advises how to survive autumn. Then Italians have this weird belief “cambio stagione” (the change of the season) that causes health problems. If I catch a cold in the September, the cause is always “cambio stagione”. Again, experts explain how to dress and what to eat to survive autumn and this terrifying “cambio stagione”.
The Italians always claim that they are not used to winter conditions – even though here in Northern Italy we have winter every year. If the weather forecasts predict snow, a big theater begins. If it snows more than 3 cm snow, I stay home with kids. Anyway, it would take three times longer to get to school than normally. Once they closed the schools because the night temperature dropped to -12 degrees.
Considering the possibility that I survive the awful winter and see the spring coming, again I have to be careful. Even if the temperature is +20 in March you are not supposed to wear spring cloths, the Italians still wear they winter jackets and kids look like sweating small Michelin dolls.
Because the Italians look the calendar and not until the calendar says that it is spring they change to spring cloths. This applies to all seasons.
I have learned that for the Italians the whole life is a big drama and therefore weather is a part of this drama and therefore you have to take seriously the seasons and especially these scary moments of “cambio stagione”.
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