Conferences organized by Germans and by Italians are so different as to constitute experiences of an entirely different order. Germans create a community at their conferences, a mini Volk that is bound together by commonality and emotional investment. By the end of the conference, everybody is best friends forever and ever.
Nobody else is good at this but Italians are even less so than everybody else. Wonderful people but Volksgeist is not their thing. I’m loving it in Spain but I miss my German conference organizers like crazy.
Clarissa's Blog 
You’re so right!
The Italians’ motto seems to be: Everyone for Himself and God for All. I believe there is no other people for whom the adjective “glib” is more appropriate.
Germans are the exact opposite: “overearnest” comes to mind.
I cannot stand either.
Give me Brits, French, Spaniards and Yankees any time. But Brits and Yankees over and above everyone else: articulate, wide-ranging, thought-provoking and profound, with a dash of light irony and dry humour.
LikeLike
I usually dislike earnestness but Germans channel it into community-building, and I like that.
The quality of research among the Anglos is absolutely light-years ahead of anybody else. Scholars from other countries sound like children in comparison.
Of course, I only mean in the Humanities. I have no idea about other fields.
I so hope that Anglos don’t squander our advantage.
LikeLike
“Italians are even less so …… I’m loving it in Spain”
I confuse…. are you in Spain or Italy? If the former, then why are Italians organizing a conference there?
LikeLike
This is an Italian association that is organizing conferences all over Europe. Next Fall, they will meet in Wrocław. I’m planning to go because I’ve never been, and my Ukrainian friends will be there.
LikeLike
“Next Fall, they will meet in Wrocław”
Easy train trip from where I am…. are you thinking what I’m thinking?
LikeLike
Dude, let’s totally hang out. This will be the absolute bomb.
LikeLike
I’ll also bug you with questions as to where to go and what to eat.
LikeLike