This is often preceded by an appetizer known as antipasto, which would include cold meats and vegetables. Like Spain, Italian food also differs by region. The north for example features flat, ribbon-shaped pasta, while southern citizens favor macaroni with tomato sauces.
Recreation and religion are both unifying factors in family life. Italy favors soccer as the most popular sport in the country. A popular family activity is to play soccer in parks. Other family recreation includes a traditional Sunday passeggiata (family stroll), driving to the shore or mountains, or watching television. Although Roman Catholicism is the most prominent religion in the country, there are also many small groups of Protestants, Muslims, and Jews in the country.
Family Life
From the above, it is clear that family life in the four countries considered take many different aspects. Italy, as the most modern country of the four, tends to place less emphasis on traditional family values, while Tibet is the most traditional of the countries.
Nevertheless, all four countries do consider the family unit to be primarily important in terms of support. For Russians this...
They go as far as using the family unit as a model for other social and friendship relationships as well. In Tibet, family values reflect the traditions and myths of the country, while Spanish and Italian families are the closest to the Western world of the countries considered. In these two countries, family values are reflected by means of activities in which the family takes part as a group. All four countries in their own respective ways consider the family as important in terms of providing and obtaining a sense of both emotional and material support.
Sources
Advameg, Inc. (2010). Tibetans. Retrieved from http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Brazil-to-Congo-Republic-of/Tibetans.html
BBC News. (2010, Jan 12) Country Profile: Russia. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1102275.stm
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2010). Life in Spain. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/557573/Spain/258824/Daily-life-and-social-customs
Novi Meadows Elementary School (2001) "Italy's Way of Life." Retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112187/italy_way_of_life.htm
