Tardiness, an art that Italians seem to have perfected, was demonstrated in the fullest fashion, in the two important rallies that I attended. The first was a gathering of the European Christian Democrats, at Via del Pozzetto 158, Thursday 29th March at 4.00pm. The second was a press conference of sorts, at the American University of Rome; on the 11th of April at 6.00pm the guest speaker was Giovanna Melandri, the Minister of Culture for the Ulivo.

A brief comparison of all would lead me to conclude that in some aspects, traditions just cannot be broken, and in others, that the Italians as political actors are full of surprises to someone who is only just beginning to live an Italian lifestyle. In each case, my presence at these assemblies gave me chance to learn a lit

The second question came from Mister David Willy from the BBC, and in my opinion I believe that this was the first time in the half an hour that had gone by when the man actually decided to pay attention. In fact he came across as just plain rude. Staring into space, talking on is cell phone and just generally looking very displeased to be there, his presence made the conference seem that little less informal; until he spoke. When he finally did, he managed to create an air of superiority around himself, it was almost as if others could see this and respected him all the more for it. Yet his question was not one aimed to antagonise Melandri, but nor was it one that was particularly well thought out. He wanted to know how the money that Italy received through tourism was going to be spent on culture.

Although the meeting was set to begin at 4.00pm true to Italian form it began at almost 5.00pm once every one had been seated. The abundance of Camera Crews and news officials was almost overwhelming as the all gathered around the edges of the room, cell phones were ringing constantly and people chatted among themselves until Mr Tajani spoke.

Mr Lamer of Germany was a forceful figure and seemed to dominate the room much more than any of the other speakers had done. He stated that the US needed to accept that the EU must be seen as competitive. As a role model they could look at how successful the Roman Empire was there is a need to eliminate that problem of immigration and that Germany is the centre of this union and that the way forward is not something that should be feared.

The Interior Minister has responded to crime, as a result minor crimes are in constant decrease. Rome is now one of the safest cities in Europe. However it is recognised that crime is linked to immigration and the integration of these peoples into society. The Ulivo has a different approach to the CDL, which is to combine integration of these peoples and to combat crime at a local level. The reason for this is that the expulsion rate of immigrants has reached levels not yet met, for this reason the Ulivo is very firm on repressing illegal immigration the exploitation can no longer go on. Their main concern is that they do not put up barriers, as they want to be seen as a multi ethnic society. Immigration is seen as richness for society, however it needs to be integrated properly with the emphasis being place on providing jobs of these peoples.

The next part of the conference was where each of the journalists took turns in asking a question; which actually involved much more than just one question and was usually followed by an opinion. After each journalist had voiced his question, Melandri answered each man in turn with a very good response. The first question was posed by Mister, James Blitz of the Financial Times, who actually took it upon himself to ask prehapse three or four questions rolled into one, and then proceeded to answer his questions with factual knowledge, that was presented in the form of a very pompous opinion. Mr Blitz questioned the fact that he thought it would be very difficult for the Ulivo to win because of what the CDL and the OEDC had done for Italy financially over the last five years, mentioning in this that they had successfully be taken into the Euro and that much privatisation had gone ahead despite the things that she had already mentioned.

Some common words found in the essay are:
University Rome, Lamer Germany, Melandri English, Interior Minister, Minister Culture, David Willy's, LA Times, Democrats EU, Willy BBC, Ulivo CDL, james blitz, minister melandri, cell phones, media empire, italian politics, forza italia, melandri minister culture, via del, minister culture, integration peoples, owning media empire, illegal immigration, american university rome, blitz financial times, david willy bbc,
Approximate Word count = 3317
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)