So I have a Bulgarian coworker (two actually, but this story only pertains to one of them). One Thursday, at our weekly inter-office lunch, I shared with him my plans of attaining Italian citizenship through my Sicilian ancestry. He laughed a little and from then on, whenever he see me in the hallways, he say, "Buongiorno!" And I say it back.
Today, when I went into the kitchen to make my cappuccino, I ran into him again. "Buongiorno!" "Buongiorno!" And then he said, "It's funny...You know how most Americans know a little bit of Spanish and a few things about Latin American culture because of Mexico? Well, it's not like that in Europe. In Europe, everybody knows a thing or two to say in Italian. It's the most exotic. French is the most popular, but Italian is the most exotic."
