Thirst for happiness...

Hello everyone! This week (and the next one as well) is quite tough for me, we have new students' arrivals at school so there's plenty of work. Therefore I'm sorry for lack of posts in this period. Finally real Sicilian spring has come, we've got sunny hot long days and short warm nights. I hope to go to the beach the next weekend! : )

Anyway, apart from that, look what I spotted on the Italian tv this week. The new Coca- Cola commercial. Intriguing. First watch, and then I'll translate it for you.

"My name is Giulia and I live in Pisa. Everyone has been speaking about the crisis lately; I am optimist, maybe because all I need are simple things: I prefer riding my bike to going by a super car, I prefer going on holiday to my Granny to staying in a holiday resort, I prefer pizza to sushi, and a sandwich with salami to the caviar. More than going to a gala dinner, I prefer staying at home and eating ragù (typical Italian meat sauce) prepared by Mum. And then all to play the cards!"

And the caption: "The happiness at the table doesn't come to crisis".

So I like this ad for two reasons. The first one is its beauty in its simplicity. In times when the more sth costs the better it is, the more elaborated sth is, the more quality it obtains, it's nice to see sth so incomplex, transparent and uncomplicated. Not many colours used, images which don't "jump" and change on the screen every split second, and most of all, the beautiful meaning and description of happiness in life. I must confess, I'm not like Giulia. I often forget about things she mentioned. Dinner is a normal thing, after all. I like going to holiday resorts, I enjoy dressing up for some important events... Wrong, wrong WRONG. Everything is fleeting and impernanent (look: crisis). I should be happy with things I have and not crave for more and more everyday...

The second thing I like about this ad is that in just a brief 30sec spot it shows us so many features/characteristics we associate with the Italians. Giulia mentioned: Pisa (and you can see the famous leaning Tower in the background) pizza, "panino con salame" (sandwich with salami), ragù and playing cards (this popular Italian hobby I haven't discovered until when I came to Italy actually). That's incredible. So I just wonder if you have seen this ad in your countries and how it is different from this one. What for example would a Spanish girl say? I prefer paella? And an English girl: I prefer fish and chips? What about the pastimes? In Sri Lanka: "..and then all to play cricket!", in Japan: "...and then all to do Ikebana!"?

Or maybe you've seen some other spots describing the nature/habits of a particular nation?

Please let me know, I'm awfully curious! : )