Andrea Ratti
[Ed. note— The following piece, written by Signal Tribune intern Andrea Ratti, was only lightly edited in an effort to preserve his “voice” and writing style, as he makes his transition into learning English. Ratti is a native of Piacenza, Italy.]
Every year, the 25th of April is the most important day for Italians to celebrate. In 1945, during the Second World War, on this date, the Nazi Fascist troops left my country. This event put an end to the conflict for us, so it became a national holiday, and it is called Liberation Day. In Rome, our capital city, there’s a big parade on the street all day long. The military forces and the police go by on horseback, in cars or simply walking, and the Romans usually go down the streets to see them. In the rest of the country, this is a good opportunity to spend the day together with the family, having a break from work. In the U.S., this day would be a match with your July 4th, the Independence Day that commemorates the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.
One week later, there’s another important holiday in Italy on May 1 called Workers Day. On this date we celebrate all the workers from the past and present. Even on this day there are a lot of parades in every town in my country. Usually the unions’ workers are walking in the main squares of every city. In the U.S., this holiday is known as Labor Day and is celebrated the first Monday of September across all the country. The main goal is always the same— to remember all the battles that happened in the past to get better human conditions for workers in their jobs.
After these important days, on Aug. 15, the Italians celebrate a Catholic event, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, better known by the name of Madonna. This is a very important figure in the Catholic religion. On this day there are no parades, people have just a day off from their work and they go to the sea, to the mountains or to the countryside. Usually a lot of companies and activities are closed in August, so most of the workers are already on vacation.
Another important religious day is the 8th of December, which celebrates the birth of the Madonna just before the Christmas holidays. Even in this case, it’s just a day off from work with no parades, but a lot of believers go to the church during the morning to commemorate the event.
The last two celebration days that Italy and the U.S. have in common are Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. The first one is on 19th of March in Italy, and usually the children give a gift to their fathers. I guess it’s the same in the U.S. except for the date, which falls on the third Sunday of June. Mother’s Day is also celebrated on a different day than in Italy, where it falls on the second Sunday of May, so it’s always a holiday, and the children can spend time with their mothers and give presents to them.
The other holidays in the year that we have that are the same as the U.S. are Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Easter, which are on the same dates. What I truly realize being here is that Americans never really have a long-time break from their jobs. They have less religious days compared to Italians because in the U.S. there are different religions and not only the Christian one like in Italy. If they would be on holiday for every religious day, they would probably have three months of vacation each year. In addition, the work culture is very deep-seated in them, so they can’t be away from their jobs for more than a couple of weeks. I guess this is the main reason for the U.S.’s efficiency in society. They’re never really satisfied, so they ‘re always looking for improving themselves and doing the best that they can do.
