Please tell me about your country and town/city

[Tetiel]

For the record, I really enjoyed my experience in Germany when I visited. I was in Munich and a small town in the Bavarian alps. Absolutely gorgeous <3

Also, downtown Toronto is one of the safest places to be. I would feel comfortable walking around there at two in the morning. The only places I have ever felt unsafe in the GTA was the Jane and Finch area and the area around Humber College in Etobicoke (Rexdale to Humberline). Honest, if you aren't involved with a gang and you're not doing something stupid like showing off your $600 phone, you will be safe. Guns and murders are pretty rare. Things like the Eaton Centre shooting are 1 in a million. I love Toronto to death and I'm saving up to move back one day.

Now Windsor, Ontario, Canada (where I live currently) is a different story. Unemployment is in the double digits and we aren't recovering well. Windsor is the border crossing next to Detroit, so the majority of the economy is reliant on manufacturing trades with the States. Chrystler, Ford, and GM have all moved the majority of their business out in favour of cheaper, lower quality production in Asia. It wouldn't be a problem if Windsor would get its head out of its ass and diversify their economy so it's not just stamping plants. Ten years from now, this town will be as bad as Detroit currently is if they continue down this road. It's both depressing and dangerous. The crime rate has risen signifigantly and people do jackass things like steal a shovel off your porch when you're going inside for 15 minutes for a hot chocolate or break into all the cars on a residential street (I'm not exaggerating. This happened to people I know well in my neighbourhood and I'm even in one of the nicer ones with relatively low crime). There's no reason for it. Canada takes care of their own pretty well, especially if you have kids. I swear, people just do it to be jerks.

Windsor is a penninsula, surrounded on 3 sides by water: Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, and the Detroit River. As a result, it's extremely humid similar to Florida. In the summer it's regularly 40C (104F) and can have a humidex level of 50C (122 F). During the winter, it doesn't get too cold, however the humidity has a bone-chilling effect because of the high winds and humidity. Windsor regularly gets smog and other nasty things from its close proximity from Detroit. The rate of lung cancer is signifigantly higher than the rest of Canada. It's been dubbed the "smog capital of Canada."

I know it's terrible, but I can't say much good about the area. I guess they have a good university here? It has the lowest cost of living in Canada, but... uhh... depending on how you look at it, that can say very bad things. I've been miserable ever since I've moved here, I know that :\

[DeeKay]

The crime rate has risen signifigantly and people do jackass things like steal a shovel off your porch when you're going inside for 15 minutes for a hot chocolate or break into all the cars on a residential street

You know what this means, this is a job for Robocop !

I've been miserable ever since I've moved here, I know that :\

Hmm... I guess a simple hug won't help much..

[Cidz]

I live in the central coast in california. I live in a small town called Lompoc. That no ones heard of (although it's been mentioned a few times in movies/tv series such as fast and the furious, gilligan's island, and fresh prince of belair). My town is a piece of crap rest stop area basically. We have a walmart where most people do their shopping, cuz its the only place. Mom and pop stores that get shut down all the time. You can see one end of the town from the other.

However, we are close to other cities so it's kind of ideal in that way. We're only 50 miles away from Santa Barbra, 30 miles away from Solvang (a danish tourist town.), and Santa Maria (where i go to school and has a few more cities) We're also really close to the beaches. (we have a beach here about 10 mins. away but its always closed.)
I forgot to mention we also have an air force base, Vandenburg. Which kind of sucks in a way because they like to close off a lot of areas >_< (the beach included)

California however is a really pretty place! I live near one of the largest national forests in california, and have been up into the mountains and such. During the summer its hot and dry and not very pretty. But during spring or winter when we get some rain it's gets really green and pretty. I love driving along the coast of california because it seems to change so much from beaches, to mountains, to vineards, etc...

California is VERY expensive to live in. Lompoc is one of the cheapest places to live where the cheapest house is 300,000$ for a one-story 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom place. Other places like Santa Barbra it's AT LEAST 1 million to own a normal house. To rent an apartment is like 1000$ for just a 2 bedroom place. Most people have to work 2-3 jobs. If people share a house with other adults, those adults also work jobs.

We also have more fires then earthquakes. In fact, i think we're having a couple big fires going around the southern area of California at the moment.

[TrickWithAKnife]

Thanks again to everyone who submitted info. I thought you might like to see how it will work in the game, so here is a small sample using Buenos Aires and Argentina.

Code: Select all

label check_if_the_mcs_country_is_recognised:
    $ is_the_mcs_country_recognised = "no"
    $ is_the_mcs_city_recognised = "no"

    
    if mcs_country == "Argentina":
        if mcs_city == "Buenos Aires":
            $ is_the_mcs_city_recognised == "yes"
            $ random_number = renpy.random.choice([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])
        if is_the_mcs_city_recognised == "no":
            $ random_number = renpy.random.choice([4, 5, 6])
            
        if random_number == 1:
            mc "Well, I'm from Buenos Aires, which is an amazing place in several aspects. Unfortunately, amazing doesn't necessarily means good."
            mc "The architecture varies depending on where you are, and the layout of the streets might sometimes seem as if they were picked randomly."
            return
            
        if random_number == 2:
            mc "I'm originally from Buenos Aires. In Buenos Aires there's always something to do, even if you don't have any money on you. Plaza Francia’s fair is a great example. It's quite hard for me to describe everything that takes place there as on weekends it's so full of cultural events."
            mc "Right near it is the Recoleta cemetery. A very interestic place architecturally, but most importantly, it's where Evita's tomb is located."
            return
            
        if random_number == 3:
            mc "I come from the city of Buenos Aires. People there are always moving. It's so fast paced I sometimes find myself overwhelmed by it."
            mc "One of the nicest areas to visit is the neighborhood of Palermo, which is full of parks with a wood style."
            mc "It is so weird to go from urban to a full green area in just a few streets. I can't help but love it."
            return  
            
        if random_number == 4:
            mc "Argentinians are usually overly friendly, especially with outsiders from non Latin American countries."
            mc "I don't know if you know this, but the usual greeting is a kiss on the cheeks. Also, physical contact and general affection like hugs are quite common. "
            mc "Because of this, most foreign cultures seem a little cold to us."
            return
            
        if random_number == 5:
            mc "One thing I really love about Argentina is \"mate\", which is probably our most traditional beverage. I've heard is quite hard to find in other countries."
            mc "I love mate by the way, although it's quite addictive."
            return
            
        if random_number == 6:
            mc "Football is most likely the greatest passion in Argentina. Football broadcasts are a public service there, so you have the whole weekend full of games to watch on TV."
            mc "Of course, the whole passion can be felt when you go to a bar during a game, and naturally, at the stadium. The whole \"taunting\" folklore between rival teams is so epic, I can't help but to enjoy it."
            return

So, when the main character is asked about where they are from, if it happens to be Buenos Aires, one of 6 responses will be chosen at random. If they are from somewhere else in Argentina, there will be 3 random choices.

It's likely they will be asked about where they come from a number of times, so some may show up more than once, but I don't think that's a problem.

EDIT: I think it's fantastic that people say the good and bad, but I've decided to give the player the option to choose if they want to tell the pleasant truth or harsh reality. At least that way I can avoid offending anyone.

Still looking for more info, especially about different countries. Don't worry if someone has already talked about your country - if you say something different, it means I can add more variety for the players from your country.

[Awedacious]

If you're looking for some more info, here's my two cents on Malaysia.

Malaysia:

Hot, humid, loud and noisy. There's no such thing as seasons; we live in Hot, and then Rainy. We're an eclectic mix of Indians, Malay and Chinese, all of whom act friendly in each others' company (One Malaysia, yeah~! -_-), then pull out the insults as soon as we're behind closed doors. Everyone speaks Bahasa Malaysia; most people speak English, then the various languages that exist in the sub-groups, like Cantonese, Mandarin, etc.

You want someone to do something for you, ask them twice, once in English, then in Bahasa, check them every few minutes, then be prepared to do it yourself. It's like the heat addles our brains; no one will do anything the second you take your eyes off of them. I've heard a lot of the Westerners complain about this when they think we don't hear them (me sitting tearfully in the corner and agreeing silently).

Local things are cheap; real cheap. Want lunch? Tiga Ringgit. That's one Greenback. Teh Tarik? 70 Sen. Less than a nickel. Weekly groceries cost about 70 RM for a family--about 25 Greenbacks. Anything made overseas? Not affordable by the average Malaysian. The ex-pats come here and live in wealth--it's as if their currency suddenly tripled in value.

English is a rare and valuable commodity. Most people never learn past what's taught in school (which isn't much)--speaking skills are learnt through the bastardised mix of Bahasa and English; reading skills--aren't. The internet and American soap operas are the best guides to learning good English; the internet for the wealth of knowledge that exists there, the American soap operas to learn what native speakers of English sound like.



Seremban 2:

The second most boring name for a town in the world (Seremban 3 takes the cake), it's a good example of a new Malaysia town. Small pockets of semi-suburban areas, surrounded by jungle and plantations. No one lives here by choice; everyone who ended up here either didn't have enough money to take the forty odd kilometres to Kuala Lumpur, or has a family to raise.

Every kid dreams of getting out of here; heading into KL or Signapore. Too bad the cost of living in KL and Signapore are closer to Western standards than the rest of Malaysia--making that dream pretty much impossible without help.

[ZinniaAuRevoir]

Well, well, Awedacious. Unless the living cost does not makes your money gone more than you get, that's cheap. I don't think majority Malaysian agree wtit the term of 'cheap' you mention about. Sorry, but that's the truth. I don't want to admit it but that's the reality.

The kids here are so bright and a bit fussy. Sometimes they do or say unexpected things. They are fast learners. You might teach them something but in return the results are even higher than the quality we made in return. Once, I taught my sister; "If you wash your shoes on friday after school, let them lay under the sun on tomorrow morning it will dry in the evening." But one weekend, it's raining on the morning and evening, so she didn't have enough time to let her shoes dried under the sun. Do you know what alternative she made? She used an oil lamp and 'rub' her damp shoes with its fire. It won't burnt out because it's wet and put her shoes under a fan after the outer parts are almost dry for the rest of the weekend. When the school starts on Monday she had clean, dry shoes to wear.
And the fussy part; They won't interested in you unless you can show them you are smarter and stronger then them. If they like to play fighting video games, you have to score more then them and give them a hard time to surpass your score. If you can do that, they will admire you.

Well, I have to go for now. I'll post more after I finish my work.

[izukwon]

There's this place called Tana Toraja in my country, and I think it has the most unique culture out of all cities I've known. Basically you can find everything about it in Wikipedia, but if you really want a brief description, I'll try to describe it from my knowledge (I might be wrong, thus, you really should go with wikipedia xD). So, Tana Toraja is a regency in one of Indonesia's province where the people (the Toraja) have this custom where dead people are not buried, cremated or anything else, instead they are 'given home' in a super big wall with holes. The wall is basically just wall with holes with many stories, and the topmost level would be the 'home' for the tribe's elder corpses. They believe that they are preserving the spirit of the dead people and that they don't stop living, instead, living as guardians to the tribe
Interesting, isn't it?

[Awedacious]

Well, well, Awedacious. Unless the living cost does not makes your money gone more than you get, that's cheap. I don't think majority Malaysian agree wtit the term of 'cheap' you mention about. Sorry, but that's the truth. I don't want to admit it but that's the reality.

The kids here are so bright and a bit fussy. Sometimes they do or say unexpected things. They are fast learners. You might teach them something but in return the results are even higher than the quality we made in return. Once, I taught my sister; "If you wash your shoes on friday after school, let them lay under the sun on tomorrow morning it will dry in the evening." But one weekend, it's raining on the morning and evening, so she didn't have enough time to let her shoes dried under the sun. Do you know what alternative she made? She used an oil lamp and 'rub' her damp shoes with its fire. It won't burnt out because it's wet and put her shoes under a fan after the outer parts are almost dry for the rest of the weekend. When the school starts on Monday she had clean, dry shoes to wear.
And the fussy part; They won't interested in you unless you can show them you are smarter and stronger then them. If they like to play fighting video games, you have to score more then them and give them a hard time to surpass your score. If you can do that, they will admire you.

Well, I have to go for now. I'll post more after I finish my work.

You're absolutely right about things not being cheap for us locals (I can empathise all too well D:)--I was talking from a foreign point of view. For example, most Westerners would look at our MacDonalds and drop their jaw at the price. (Gotta be considerate of the others on the forum, right? :3)

[Nimuell]

I don't know how much of interest it would be or how useful for your purposes, but there are not many fellow forumers from Russia here, so I thought I could tell about it a bit.
I can't speak for country that large, because life is really different in different regions. I traveled a lot, but it was mostly camping trips so I can say for sure that our nature is true beauty: forests and fields and lakes, there's this feeling of freedom and wonder and just sense of something really big about this world in general.
I live in Moscow, hence I don't even know real life outside it.
It's very cold in winter here, just cold in early spring and late autumn and very hot in summer. The city is busy, crowded, noisy and polluted, but it got better in recent years. Less garbage on the streets, more flowers, and life is pretty nice in general. There are lots of parks, living areas that are far from center are pretty quiet and green.
Our Metro is really great, I never stop to appreciate its beauty. This is a true work of art. Of course crowds are horrible.
People don't smile on the streets at you. Or in the Metro. If some stranger looks at me and smiles I usually feel creeped out, thinking that maybe something is wrong with my appearance, something on my face or in my hair, or just something. Everyone's deep in their thoughts, cold and dejected. In reality we are not like this and smile a lot and are really friendly and generous. Russians are in general very warm and good natured people (maybe not in the big city like Moscow, but in smaller ones they are), they will try to help you with directions, even if they don't know English at all. They will wave their hands and gesture and stuff. Many people know at least few English words. From the early childhood they learn to automatically reply to the question -Do you speak English? - Yes I do!
Even if they don't.
Russians love theater and love to read, really, a lot. You can see reading people everywhere. (even homeless people with books, I don't joke)
Lots of drunk people at evenings, sadly. Really loud and annoying and stupid beings, who waste their lives like this, because they have nothing better to do. There is crime, like in every big city. Especially at evenings, so it's not so safe going home alone.

St.Petersburg is much more beautiful and poetic. Compared to it Moscow is a bit dull. This is city of artists and writers and poets, and people are different, more open, more friendly, helping and understanding, since the shadow of the war still lingers there. Those are old and painful scars and people remember.

Education is good, especially if you are good kid and want to know more. I've hand no trouble earning scholarship for medical students, I just had good teachers and studied diligently.
I've never seen any kind of bullying in my two schools, but I'm sure it exists somewhere. But our country is big and multicultural, so people are more accepting of each other differences. My best friend, for example, has this coffee-and-milk dark skin tone, which is pretty unusual, but never ever ever got teased about it. As I grew up I was this really weird introverted kid with anger management issues and nobody ever bullied me.

We really love foreigners and tourists, very much.
We also are the worst tourists ourselves, I believe. Loud, crazy, drunk, tactless, rude.

Oh also some of my insta-photos of the city in the summer, since I feel like advertising:
Sorry for spamming.

[ZinniaAuRevoir]

Of course it is, Awedacious. Sorry about that. Well, there are something about the people in our country. The climate is a bit different between the north and south (in West Malaysia) The north region is nearly tropical climate (Kedah and Perlis especially) while the south region not as hot as the north (half of Pahang, Selangor, Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan especially). I'm not sure about the others, since I'm not familiar and hard to travel there.

http://www.mymalaysiabooks.com/images/m ... states.jpg

Finally the food! Oh! Almost every state has its own specialty!

Perlis is famous with 'kuih karas'
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MGlWi4mpMQM/S ... _karas.jpg

Kedah is famous with its 'Laksa'
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IkrTuqlyEUc/S ... +KEDAH.jpg

Perak with 'Rendang Tok' never eat it and don't know the difference between this rendang and others.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-uMD6 ... endang.jpg

Terengganu with its 'Keropok Lekor', 'Nasi Dagang' and 'Keropok Losong'
These are the deep fried ones, fried after boiledhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gG-_Fn5cI7I/T ... ngganu.jpg
and these are the boiled ones http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8kAeZyeV2Qw/T ... Blekor.jpg
You can eat both, but the fried ones are more tasty than the boiled ones!

This is 'Nasi Dagang'
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RaGmmL03mZU/T ... 725727.jpg

And 'Keropok Losong'. It similar with 'Keropok Lekor', the difference is the size. This 'keropok' is smaller, but the boiled ones are more tasty than the fried ones.
http://www.esempoi.com/wp-[url]content/ ... losong.jpg
http://images03.olx.com.my/ui/1/14/10/41831410_1.jpg

Kelantan with Nasi Kerabu. Oh, the color makes me drool!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nlAH8RTrKi0/S ... erabu1.jpg

Pulau Pinang with Nasi Kandar...
http://www.foodstreet.com.my/userImg/pr ... 001467.jpg

Pahang with 'Ikan Patin Masak Tempoyak'
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qgqQ9avPFes/T ... patin1.jpg

There are some more, but it's time for a good sleep. Sorry.

[darlo]

I live in the village of Takibe, within the town of Hohoku, which is a part of the city of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi prefecture in Japan. Just saying this was the countryside wouldn't quite do it justice, but yeah I'm in the sticks. The most famous things in my area of the island of Tsunoshima, and the movie Yokkakan no Kiseki (which was mostly filmed here). I have a photo blog where I'm trying to take a thousand pics in a year, but I'm a bit behind. http://hohoku1000.wordpress.com/

[junna]

Current country: New Zealand (lol)
It's a fairly 'young' country geographically and it shows from the recent quakes and volcano eruptions. Yet the natural scenery here is so...rugged, mysterious and at times...ancient. The people are friendly and lovely though you do get the odd person or two who are not...like in any country. The great outdoors is relatively fun since there's no snakes (YAY) in the wild and the most you'll get in trouble from would be icky lizards or bugs or the odd wild ferret or two. Oh, and if you're camping down south near alpine country...make sure not to feed the keas. They're just so cheeky.

Rugby...rugby...rugby. I've never liked sports but since coming to NZ, I LOVE rugby. I blame these Kiwis entirely. I play touch now. lol
I've never been an active person...but since coming to NZ, hills...hills everywhere. In time, I fell in love with the native bush and walking/tramping/hiking is what I love to do now. One day, I'll walk the Milford track. One day.

City: Auckland.
It's filled with Asians. LOL. I find it just hilarious that I expect to meet Kiwis but I see lots and lots of Asians in Uni. And most of them are Koreans. But since there's a lot of Asians...I don't miss my home as much since I can just cook my favourite dishes and skype my family if I miss anything. It's a city that's not as busy as people might think a city is. Sure, it's fast paced, not too much...but certain places in Auckland do NOT go out during dark.
I live on the city-fringe and I can hear crickets and other night-time animals at night that I can't believe that I live so near a large city.


Original country: Malaysia
I'm both proud and not so proud of my country.
Proud because it's a place where I was born and bred. It's a country where culture is prized. The dances, art, performances, and musical instruments (among others) are shared between Malaysia and Indonesia. To be PC, both of our countries have a lot of the same traditions no matter how many seas, languages and diversity divide us because...we are the same race no matter what anyone says.
(so no Indon vs M'sia bashing here, okay... because 1) there's a lot of Javanese descendants in Malaysia, 2)even strictly speaking, the Malay language does not even originate in the Malay archipelago, it's from Taiwan of all places...AND even the Maori language has traces of Malay language like a LOT of other languages in the Pacific which means...no one can really know who the heck originated anything. Sorry for rant, I just hate bashing)

There's, to name a few the angklung, gamelan, caklempong, gambus, rebab, serunai and kompang. Dances and performances like makyong, zapin (I can dance this one! hohoo), ghazal, dikir barat, and kuda kepang are still taught, and performed to this day. The beautiful kite called wau is...wow lols...a pretty large kite which has - made properly - a swooping sound unique to it...hmm.. can't think much of stuff from the top of my head... oh, oh...and I LOVE the various folk tales that we have. It really shows how much Malacca was the port of call between China and the rest of the world...(meaning the folk tales sometimes are also found in other countries, China especially, revised and edited.)

Not so proud because there's just soo much prejudice, bashing, jealousy and general 'I-don't-like-seeing-other-people-better-than-me' feelings. WHICH....while I can live with it...it's not something I endorse. Ah, and blaming stuff on people for not having enough 'religion' in their lives. Which for me...it's like blaming a mum/dad for letting his/her child getting hurt while their back was turned for just a second. *shakes head*

City: Johor Bahru
An Auckland-like city minus the immense number of East Asians, less efficient public transport and quietness. A city like any other but instead of high rises, there's just a mix of old shophouses and low-rise (?) buildings. Again I live on the city fringe so I can say...Johor is DOMINATED by roads. seriously, if you're a road engineer or something, move here. You'll see even the craziest death defying corners here (by that I mean there's this corner where ONE wrong move, you'll end up in the ocean...)
I love the fact that Johor still teaches traditional stuff to ALL their younguns' at school (me included, not sure about nowadays though)...at least I can safely say I know my traditional roots...as much as it is. It's where my heart is and no matter what happens to JB...not not Bieber, it's a city at end of the Asian continent (it even near 'southernmost tip of Asia').

[TsukiShima]

^ Oh wow, you're from Malaysia, now that's a surprise.

I guess there's already a lot of information about that country given out by them. I guess it's just whenever you're talking about SouthEast Asia countries, be prepare for the heat (but my teacher once said the foreign actually enjoy the heat (?), and they like spending their time burning the skin as a proof they've been there, I'm not sure though) and the quick change of weather. It's common here.

Though frankly speaking, I'm one of those who dream to travel out of my country. I hope it would be possible one day.

If you're looking for some more info, here's my two cents on Malaysia.

Malaysia:

Seremban 2:

Oh my you're actually close by! xD But I'm now studying in Perlis, a peaceful state that is developing than most states, and it has more of the country-side nature, most spaces are occupied with paddy fields!

And the hot and rainy seasons, it called the tropical climate; the wet and dry climate. And oh, also we experience two monsoon seasons, the Northeast Monsoon and the Southwest Monsoon.

...

You forgot one thing that Malaysia is known for:

Durian.
(and I think they have it in Indonesia too, maybe?)

[dott.Piergiorgio]

well, I'm from Italy, and Italy is first and foremost his Capital, where I have the privilege of being born there; of course I must start from Her:

Rome.
that is, the very core of the Western Civilization itself; Two millennia, seven centuries and sixty-five years (at least) of not history, but shaping history, the place where Democracy was perfected, leaving the confined walls of Greek city-states to became widespread, forging the Empire whose is at the basis of the identity of the Western civilization. works of art and monuments are innumerable, and one can't walk into the night in Central Rome (that is, the Seven Hills) without feeling the immense Ideals and Power (in the highest sense) deeply permeating those roads, statues, monument and stones, I can't easily describe the phenomena, outside of "temporal singularity".

Italy.
Of course, Italy is the crossroads of History and People, the boot-shaped Country in the middle of the Mediterrannean sea (that is, in the middle of the middle sea) where cultures and people meets and confront; the true melting pot, in my opinion. and from this melting pot, emerges unique Arts, Ideas and innovations in the liberal arts, mediated and refined thru millennia-old traditions. isn't easy to translate in english, but Italy is the lone "Iperpotenza storica" that is, the lone hyperpower in heritage & history.
Currently Italy is amidst a transition, whose results will be rather interesting because of the above-mentioned trait of Italy.

I'm not proud or patriotic, but conscious of the peculiar role my country has, being the seat of Rome....

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

mhm... having read now more carefully the previous debate esp. on Germany, I try to point some not-so-obvious things:

when a German wrote so:

Funny is that those people get very angry when called Nazi from other countries (like some greek people when Germany cut off the money for a while

should start to think again, because here (Italy) the german attitude on foreign State budgets is definitively not well tolerated; and the utter failure of the attempt of doing the same against Italy has ended in a spectacular defeat.

I'm rather interested in the current Italian PM, because I feel the echoes of the prophetic words of Cornelius Sulla: "in his eyes I see many a Marius" (note that Mario is actually the latin Marius) and indeed he's the best Italian PM since the unification; I see clearly the same shrewdness of Camillo di Cavour.
Also the political and social climate here is interesting & eerily similiar to that of 1st Century BCE; and Italians differ from Germans on a crucial, perhaps decisive, point, whose I hinted in my previous post: Italian aren't ashamed of their past.
also an European Union centered on Rome and Mediterranean is destined to became an Euromediterranean Union; and Italians know well that the true strenght of an Empire isn't in military or economical power or racial/etnical superiority, but in the respect and enhancing the best traits of the diverse cultures and society. the core disagreement in the EU is in the model: Germany are inclined towards the model of the Second Empire of Roman (aka the holy Roman Empire) and Italy is inclined toward the model of the First Empire.

The grand scheme for the European Unification must take accout of the mere fact that an unified political body spanning from the Herculean Columns to the Finnish lakes and from the scottish Highlands to the olive groves of Greece is too obviously the Third Empire of Romans.

and there's also a little overlooked detail: the "certifying authority" on the Imperial status still exist (the Supreme Pontiff) still exists, and isn't written on stone that an Empire is also a Monarchy; so, the key of reinstating of the Roman State lies in moving the EU parliament in his natural seat (Rome) and the Pontiff formally recognising the European Parliament as the Senate of the Roman People. and I suspect that is really bad news for the other superpowers (US, Russia, China &c) because copies simply can't compete with the Original.

No wonders of the divergences between Italy and Germany on the future of the EU. Germany has the handicap of a questionable recent past, and Italy the handicap of not always adequate leadership. but both countries push, with solid reasons, for their model for the framework of European Unification and integration.

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.