Ultimate Travelers Guide to Italian Customs and Etiquette 30 Things You Need to Know

Ultimate Traveler’s Guide to Italian Customs and Etiquette 30 Things You Need to Know Brooke Neuman Are you planning a trip to Italy? Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, it’s important to be well prepared. And were not just talking about making sure you have your passport and an extra pair of comfy shoes. Besides learning how to speak Italian, it’s important that you familiarize yourself with Italian customs and etiquette. After all, you don’t want to unknowingly offend anyone or get yourself into a sticky situation. Every country, including Italy, has its fair share of unique customs. Below are 30 Italian customs and etiquette tips you need to know before packing your bags and heading abroad. When you’re first introduced to an Italian native, it’s best to say “buongiorno” rather than “ciao,” as the latter is used only amongst close friends and the younger generation. After lunch around 1:00 p.m., it’s customary to say “buonasera” or “good evening”. When meeting a new person, you should shake his or her hand. Only greet someone with a kiss on either side of the cheek if you’re friends. Be sure to maintain eye contact while speaking, or else Italians may think that you’re trying to hide something. When starting a conversation with someone in Italy, abandon the idea of getting right to the point, whether you’re speaking in Italian or English. Italians don’t like this way of conversing, and in fact are a bit put off by a person who forgets to say “good day” or “how are you?” before launching into his or her series of questions and demands, says Rick Zullo, creator of Italian travel blog, Rick’s Rome. Italians tend to communicate with gestures and facial expressions, so don’t be alarmed when you see someone waving their hands or speaking effusively. Fashion is important in the Italian culture, so be sure to dress appropriately at all times. Torn or worn clothing are a big no-no. When in doubt, go more formal. Men should wear jackets and ties, and ditch the shorts. Women should opt for a dress or a more formal, feminine outfit. “If you are planning on visiting a church or religious site, your shoulders and knees need to be covered. Secondly, flip flops are only worn at the beach (if at all)…leave them at home. And if you’re headed to the  theater, making an effort to  fare la bella figura  (roughly translated as “to make a good impression”) will be appreciated,” suggests Select Italy, a full-service Italian travel company. Keep both of your hands above the table at all timesâ€"never on your lap. In Italy, the person who does the inviting pays for the meal. Don’t ask for salad dressing or other condiments. Olive oil is the only acceptable “condiment” that you’ll need during a meal. Bread is not meant to be an appetizer. Rather, it should be used to wipe the remaining sauce off your plate. If you don’t want more wine, leave your glass half full. Drinking excessively is highly frowned upon. “The  early bird special does not exist  in Italy. Show up at the restaurant at  5:00 p.m., and you’re marking yourself as an old American. Show up at  6:30, and  you’re  marking yourself as American. Show up at  7:30, and  you’re  marketing yourself as an old Italian. After 8:00 p.m. youre  one with the Italian culture and a non-tourist. The later the better, for most Italians, especially the farther south you go,” say the folks at Select Italy. While Italians are known for being late, they take punctuality for business meetings very seriouslyâ€"so be on time! Dress to impress. Formal attire is expected for business meetings. Men should opt for a tailored, dark colored suit, while women should wear a feminine, but modest pant or skirt suit. Gift giving is not common in Italy. Only after you’ve established a trusted relationship is it appropriate to give a small gift. Try not to schedule any business meetings during the month of August, as many companies are closed and/or employees are on vacation. Italians prefer doing business with people they trust, so spend some time developing a personal relationship with your constituents. Always stand when an elder person enters the room. Unlike in America where the host sits at the head of the table, in Italy the host will sit in the middle of the table. Try to be aware of who you’re talking to and what strata of society that they belong to. Overdosing on courtesy forms and titles can still be very flattering to many Italians, whether it’s your boss or a beautiful woman (or her mother, if you get that far), says Zullo. Men should always remove their hats when entering an establishment. When invited to someone’s home, always bring a small gift for the hostâ€"chocolates, flowers, and pastries are all acceptable. If invited to a party or dinner, arrive between 15 to 30 minutes late to ensure the host has enough time to prepare. Family is extremely important to Italians. In the south, extended families often live in one house; however, this has become less common over the years. It’s not uncommon for young adults to live with their parents until their late 20s. When children leave the home, they are expected to live close to their families and visit them weekly. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins play an important role in the everyday life of Italians. Most Italians have been brought up by their grandparents in addition to their parents. Most Italians will forgive you if you make an honest mistake. However, its always a good idea to review Italian customs and etiquette before traveling  abroad. Do you have any helpful tips for fellow travelers? Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. 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The Ins and Outs of Recording a Demo

The Ins and Outs of Recording a Demo Suzy S. In a big boom for the music industry, Adele has surpassed the 5 million sales mark this week, the first artist to hit that record in one year since 2004.   The feat is great for the industry, which as a whole has been struggling the past few years.   According to Reuters, album sales have been decreasing an average of 8 percent each year since 2000, with a jump to 13 percent between 2009 and 2010.   As more fans turn to digital music, it will be interesting to see how this affects album sales in the future. If recording an album is on your bucket list or if youre hoping to make it big in the industry its time to stop making excuses!   If you dont have the funds for a studio session, there are tons of recording programs available to help you become a pro in your own home.   And once you have that demo, the skys the limit.   Send it out to record labels, sell it at any open mics or gigs you go to, and dont underestimate the power of word of mouth. Heres a great list we found to keep your to-do list in check as you prepare for recording a demo: 1. Pick your recording venue. Are you going to book a studio? Are you going to record at home using your computer? Make sure whichever venue you choose is equipped with everything you need, and if youre recording at home, make sure you understand the acoustical quirks of the room. 2. Choose your recording method. There are two basic choices available to you:   Recording live that is, all instruments and vocals being recorded in one take produces a raw, rough sound.   Or multi-track recording each instrument being recorded independently on its own track- gives cleaner and more polished sound.   The right one for you depends on the music you are making. Hardcore punk? Go live. Radio friendly pop? Go multi-track. 3. Set up. For the drums, each individual drum should be miked, and the cymbals should each have two mics. The bass and guitar should each go through a DI. If you have a double guitar part, or to get a really clean sound, the guitarist can have a mic plus be hooked up to an amp in separate room, to prevent bleed of the amp sound into the mic. 4. Record. Time to do the actual recording. Dont get caught up in the details and dont record for hours on end. A demo should be short, sweet, and to the point. 5. Mix your recording. Remember that labels dont expect a demo to be perfect.   If youre recording at home on a computer, and mixing is easy enough, dont feel pressured to execute a perfect mix. A rough mix is fine.   If youre recording in a studio, the engineer or producer can mix your recording for you. 6. Master your recording. (This step is completely optional.) Mastering involves a final EQ process and also adds a bit of compression. Keep in mind that people who master recordings have styles all their own; no two people will master the same recording in the same way. If you decide to get your recording mastered, make sure you get an unmastered copy as well, in case you dont like the finished product. Looking for music recording lessons?   Search for a teacher nearby here! Like these posts?   Sign up to receive daily updates right to your inbox!   Click here to subscribe. You might also like Avoiding 5 Common Rehearsal Mistakes In a Band?   Take a Lesson from Bob Dylan 7 Tips for Working as a Freelance Musician Image courtesy of bestbuiltartists.com

Ideas That Make You A Great Statistics Solver

Ideas That Make You A Great Statistics Solver 0SHARESShare Staying in sync with the classroom teaching is necessary Statistics help is fundamental in case you are experiencing issues with numbers. When you are going to school and you require support with measurements, you unquestionably need to go about when you can. In school, things are quick-paced, which imply that if you cannot stay aware of whatever is going on in the class, there are strong possibilities youll get left behind, and may end up fizzling the course. Opting for an online statistics tutor is an idea that works You surely dont want to face this type of situation. When you have statistics homework in pending state, you undoubtedly need to get appropriate homework help. Should you get yourself a tutor? Should you enlist yourself in an extra class? In the event that you have no idea about how to continue, then you certainly opt for support from an online statistics tutor who can manage you wonderfully on your statistics help. It’s time-flexibility that makes online tutoring peculiar One of the most remarkable peculiarities of online tutoring is that you face no hassles in terms of scheduling. You don’t have to disturb your daily routine to have sessions with an online tutor. You can have sessions as and when you like and prefer. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the moments of dawn in the early hours, or the time of pin-drop silence in the late hours at night. The time flexibility that you enjoy with an online statistics tutor is not possible in any other tutoring method. Individualized attention makes you learn and perform better Needless to say, you need better concentration to comprehend any subject. It becomes more necessary when it comes to grabbing the gist of statistics. In association with an online tutor, you get fully individualized attention that enables you to concentrate better, and as a result, your capability to understand a particular topic enhances drastically. This, in the long run, leads you to perform and score better. [starbox id=admin]

Online Work Formula Tutors

Online Work Formula Tutors Work in math involves math questions based on work done by certain number of people in a given amount of time period. In general when we observe, we know that work is dependent on the amount of time taken because to complete any task, a certain period of time is required. While solving questions related to work in math, we use this relation between work and time and calculate the total time taken to complete the given work accordingly. Example 1: Matt takes 20minutes time to mow a lawn and Jake takes 30 minutes to mow the same lawn. How much time will it take if both Matt and Jake mow the lawn together? Let time taken by Matt be, t1= 20mins Let time taken by Jake be, t2= 30mins Now time taken by both Matt and Jake to mow the lawn together be= t Then the work formula==1/t1+ 1/t2 = 1/t Using the above formula, we get: 1/20+ 1/30= 1/t == (30+ 20)/ 600= 1/t==50/600= 1/t Hence we get: time, t= 600/50= 12minutes. Example 2: Brett takes 3 hours to paint a house and Carl takes 5 hours to paint the same house. How much time will it take if both Brett and Carl paint the house together? Let time taken by Brett be, t1= 3hours Let time taken by Jake be, t2= 5hours Time taken by both Brett and Carl to paint the house together be= t Then the work formula==1/t1+ 1/t2 = 1/t Using the above formula, we get: 1/3+ 1/5= 1/t == (3+ 5)/15= 1/t==8/15= 1/t Hence we get: time, t= 15/8= 1.875hrs

3 Workplace Health Promotion Ideas to Increase Productivity - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 3 Workplace Health Promotion Ideas to Increase Productivity - Introvert Whisperer 3 Workplace Health Promotion Ideas to Increase Productivity Keeping employees healthy is crucial for ensuring they show up to work each day able to put their best foot forward. But as employers, it’s hard for us to recognize that health and wellness are actually a crucial part of being a great company to work for. While we may worry about our productivity levels or what should actually be included in work requirements, an appropriate wellness plan can actually help improve business and encourage employees to get more done. Including a corporate wellness plan for your employees doesn’t need to be expensive or extremely detailed. Instead, it can focus on simple changes such as keeping an office clean or encouraging healthy behaviors in fighting off colds and flus. These little changes around the office can help your employees stay healthy, ensuring they come into work each day prepared to tackle their projects and meet deadlines. Here are a few ideas on understanding what is work health and safety and how to prevent cold and flu in the workplace. 1. Keep a Clean Office If you want to prevent your employees from catching a cold or coming down with the flu, you need to understand what causes a cold. While cold-like symptoms can come just from the weather changing or things like allergies, of which you probably can’t avoid, a clean office or workspace prevents the spreading of contagious germs that can lead to sickness. Professional office cleaning services are usually worth the investment, even if you can only bring them in once a week. While you and your team can wipe down door knobs, keyboards, and other shared items during the week, professional cleaners get all the cracks you forget about. 2. Get Moving It may seem counterproductive to encourage your employees to get away from their desks as a method of how to increase productivity at work, but it is crucial for keeping them healthy and happy. There are many ways to promote movement at work, including pushing for walking breaks or allowing employees to take extended time away during the day to go for runs or head to the gym. When your employees focus on maintaining their health through exercising regularly, they can boost their immune system and fight off colds or the flu more easily. Additionally, getting up and away from the computer screen or desk can be refreshing on the mind, allowing employees to come back to work feeling ready to tackle the projects at hand. 3. Encourage Healthy Eating A major part of ensuring our employees don’t get sick during cold and flu season comes from eating healthy and getting the nutrients and vitamins that we need. If we see our employees grabbing fast food like cheeseburgers or pizza for lunch, they’re putting themselves at risk for getting sick â€" which decreases your productivity and can hurt business. But if there aren’t healthy options available, it can be difficult for your employees to get nutritious meals. Try to keep healthy snacks around the office that your employees can grab if they need it. Things like oranges or apples come relatively cheap at the grocery store and can provide a burst of vitamins to hungry employees, giving them energy and keeping them focused. If you have the budget, catered meals once in awhile can be a great way to ensure your employees are eating properly while also showing your care and dedication to their well-being. Our employees spend most of their weeks with us, meaning that while some employers may think health or wellness at work is something they don’t need to worry about, investing in a corporate wellness program is actually a great investment in our companies. As we train our employees to do a particular job each day, we need them to show up for work each day. Calling in sick can put the entire project behind schedule, causes other individuals to miss important due dates or deadlines, and decrease productivity. Keeping a clean office, encouraging movement and exercise throughout the day, and promoting healthy eating habits are just a few of the ways that you can encourage health and wellness in the workplace. To create a plan that fits your needs and the needs of your employees, pay attention to their habits, ask what they would find beneficial, and do whatever is in your power as their employer to help them meet those needs. As you focus on wellness, youll be surprised at the increase in productivity.

Why You Should Learn Acoustic Guitar First

Why You Should Learn Acoustic Guitar First Suzy S. Not sure whether to buy an acoustic or electric guitar for your first try at the instrument? Read on as Corona, CA teacher  Milton J.  shares his expert advice Deciding on which guitar to start with is a big step. Not only do you want to feel comfortable with playing guitar for the first time, but you also want to suit your musical tastes, style, and aptitude. So should you learn to play acoustic guitar first? Or go straight to the electric, if your style leans more toward Hendrix? There is, in fact, a best choice and that is the acoustic. Acoustic Guitars Help With Initial Technique The thicker strings and neck on the acoustic guitar will promote the building of finger strength. This will come into play as you continue to learn proper fingering technique, chords, and strum patterns. Moreover, learning rhythm, and the aforementioned strum pattern â€" the up-and-down motion of striking the strings that creates the main sound of the guitar â€" is easier and more conducive to successful repetition on the acoustic guitar. As you move to the intermediate stage after learning fingering technique, chords, and basic songs, understanding how to utilize the strum pattern as a percussive technique transforms the acoustic guitar into a drum and melody instrument. This opens up the stylistic interpretations of various songs you may learn along the way tremendously! One common misconception prospective guitar players make when choosing which acoustic guitar to purchase start with the question, “Which guitar will be the easiest to play?” I feel this is the wrong question to ask. Try starting with the questions, “Which guitar feels most comfortable for me?” and “Which guitar fits into my budget?” Once you understand those parameters, you’ll find the best acoustic guitar for you to start with. Acoustic Guitars Offer Portability Lastly, the acoustic guitar’s portability will promote more playing, possibly in places away from home. The more possibilities you have early on for playing your new guitar in addition to your lessons, the better. I encourage you to take your guitar to a nice area at your local park, in your backyard or apartment balcony, or with you on that camping trip in order to receive a new perspective instead of just your teacher’s studio or your bedroom. This will help you appreciate your new instrument even more. Now, it’s time to rock out! Find your nearest guitar teacher, garner advice from him or her on where to purchase or rent your first guitar, and use this as a guide as you learn to play acoustic guitar! Have fun! Milton K. teaches guitar, piano, singing, music recording, music theory, opera voice, songwriting, speaking voice, and acting lessons in  Corona, CA. He specializes in classical, RB, soul, pop, rock, jazz, and opera styles. Learn more about Milton here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by  simon_music

Sources of Stress - Private Tutoring

Sources of Stress BobbiM Apr 3, 2014 Are you extra stressed out? Why? What is the source? Find out below: Although at times it may feel as if there are infinite sources of stress, generally college stress can be broken down into six categories: prior academic record, social influences, family, finances, career direction, and situational problems (such as illness or drug problems). Most students think that stress is caused by outside factors. They might say that a test, a professor, or a paper is stressing them out. But stress is really an internal process. Therefore, its important to have some strategies for dealing with stress in order to put your reactions to it in perspective. As you read about the six categories of stress, remember that stress is natural, it is internal, it is often an overreaction to a specific situation, and IT CAN BE CONTROLLED. 1. Prior academic record. Students who have a shaky academic past may feel that they cant succeed in college. On the other hand, students who have a 4.0 average may feel stress to keep their stellar grade point average. Either way, your past history as a learner affects your stress level. 2. Social influences. You probably have realized that dealing with your friends can often be stressful. A fight with your roommate, breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, meeting new people-all of these situations can be stressful. In fact, even situations we would consider to be positive social factors, such as falling in love or socializing with really good friends, can cause a stressful reaction. Overall, however, having good friends and social support will actually reduce your stress levels because you have someone to confide in. 3. Family. You may feel pressure to so well in college in order to make your family proud, you may feel stress because you have moved away from your family, or because of family crises that arise. But like social influences, your family can also be a source of support to help you when you experience a lot of stress. 4. Finances. Financial stress usually begins in college (and never ends!) because students take out a loan to attend college, get jobs to help pay for college, or have to maintain a certain grade point average to keep their scholarships. Many college students are also responsible for paying bills and are gaining responsibility for their financial security. In addition, college students get their own credit cards, which can lead to great financial stress if used inappropriately. We know numerous college students who graduate not only with a diploma, but also with student loans and a stack of credit card debt. All of these things can cause stress, especially for students who are handling their own finances for the first time. 5. Career direction. So whats your major? What the heck are you going to do with that? You may have heard similar comments from friends and relatives. Everyone (perhaps yourself included) wants to know what you will do with your life after college. The less sure you are about your career direction, the more stress you might feel about it. You may even be concerned that youll never find your direction. On the other hand, students who have already decide on a career might also feel stress because they are concerned about achieving their goals. 6. Situational problems. Certain stresses are unexpected and sometimes devastating. You may become ill during the term, experience the death of someone close to you, among many other things. As will all the categories of stress you feel overwhelmed by situational problems, seek help from a counselor on campus or someone you can talk to about these concerns. Whats the cause for your stress? Excerpt from  College Success Strategies  by Sherrie L. Nist and Jodi Patrick Holschuh.

A New Force in GRE Prep

A New Force in GRE Prep GRE/MAT Graduate School Blog At MyGuru, we are generally adamant that the best way to prepare for the GRE is to use official practice materials. But, until recently, the Educational Testing Service made this a bit more difficult than it needed to be. For many years GRE students have waited for this… a fully online version of the POWERPREP software that works for both PC and Mac operating systems! As of July 30, 2017, ETS will no longer require students to download or use a CD-ROM to install the buggy and computer-freezing official POWERPREP II practice exam software. In fact, you can go to the official GRE website at www.ets.org/gre to experience the brand new, and cosmetically updated, POWERPREP interface right now. Access POWERPREP PLUS Online To access the new and improved free ETS official GRE practice tests you must first create an account with ETS at www.ets.org/gre. Once you have created your account, go to My GRE Home and proceed with the following steps: In the Test Preparation section of the page click Shop for Test Preparation Click the Add to Cart checkbox on the right side of the page to select both POWERPREP Online â€" Practice Test 1 and Practice Test 2 Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Next In the Your Shopping Cart page confirm a subtotal of $0 and click Submit Return to My GRE Home In the Test Preparation section of the page click My Test Preparation and Services Click Go To Practice Test for the exam you wish to begin Enter your name and click Launch Test to begin the practice exam Use Chrome or Safari for the best experience using this new tool and be thankful that you will never again see a MS-DOS pop-up window when preparing for a standardized test! For more detailed browser and operating system parameters, visit the ETS system requirements website. More Official Practice Resources In addition to the new online interface, the folks at ETS are also finally providing more than just the same two computerized practice tests that have existed for more than a decade. With POWERPREP PLUS GRE candidates can now purchase two additional practice exams for $39.95 each, and not only that… they come with answer explanations! To purchase a POWERPREP PLUS test, follow the same instructions for the free practice exams, but select to add to your cart the POWERPREP PLUS exam(s) you wish to purchase. While this may seem a bit expensive for a single online exam, let alone one that is only accessible for 90 days after first being opened, these tests represent the gold standard in adaptable online GRE preparation. Also, these exams come with never before seen questions that will be new to even the most veteran GRE prepper. In all, this new online interface will be a great new resource for every GRE student. Looking for more online self-paced GRE practice? In our focus on 1-1 in-person GRE tutoring and our growing experience with online GRE tutoring, we generally encourage students to stick with official practice materials, like the ETS resources references above. However, if you’re looking for additional online, self-paced GRE practice, we’ve found Magoosh GRE and Prep Scholar GRE to offer high quality, relatively affordable solutions with unique features such as thousands of practice problems, full length practice tests, good video explanations, and adaptive practice. About the Author Stefan Maisnier is the Director of Online Tutoring at MyGuru.He has been tutoring graduate school candidates for more than a decade in the testing techniques he used to overcome an average undergraduate GPA to gain acceptance to Northwestern University Master's in Journalism program. He is also a published writer whose name can be found on some of the best-known print and onlinetest prep resources.