Surprising things about Italians.

1. Due to excessive wine drinking, many have hearing problems, and so they need to speak very loudly.
2. Again, due to the wine, their eyes are quite sensitive, and so they often need to wear sunglasses indoors.
3. Modern and contemporary art is generally anything completed in the eighteenth century.
4. Words in the language can often be compressed to just the first and last letter. Long words need a middle letter, e.g. BonJournO is BJO. In addition to the letters, hand signals are often used to convey meaning.
5. Staple diet: gelato, pizza and vino.
6. Italians don't hate George Bush as much as the rest of the world does.