Obsession with vests, socks, any kind of cool air, air conditioning

Italians are just like this! It's really funny and hard to adjust. But they really do believe that the cold is something to be feared and will make you sick... even he doctors believe this. They also have different ideas to what is cold. 25 degrees outside is still big coat and scarf weather and they reeeeealy wrap kids up warm to the point I wonder how they don't overheat and get dehydrated. You can just do as you please tho, you don't have to go along with it!

This sounds about right 😂

In SA it was 23 yesterday and I had on a vest, light jumper and a down puffer. Granted I took the puffer of when in the car. When the sun goes down in winter the temp does drop dramatically in Jhb.

I had an Italian neighbour was horrified at the advice to open the windows in this flat everyday (even in winter) to deal with condensation. He was convinced we were all trying to make him sick.

Recently I was shocked in rural Africa, temps 22-28 C, to see people in quilted jackets & wooly hats (yes really). But that was their winter & they are used to 30-38 for summer. This is a place where in living memory people that punished for wearing "native" dress and native dress was actually very skimpy, but now the belief is that a proper adult must wear entirely too many clothes. Seeing a grown native-raised man in shorts was almost unheard of. The kids were rather more minimally dressed, thank goodness, but still had cardigans for school, etc. Not AC schools, mind.

Culture is a screwed up thing !!

It can, but generally it doesn’t. Otherwise those of us in hot countries would be more sick, and we’re not.

Yes of course germs cause sickness not cold air, nobody is disputing that ... BUT aircon recycles the germs everyone in the building has just breathed out, and so many aircon systems aren't maintained properly and harbour mould spores.

The element of truth in the link between cold and succumbing to viruses, bacteria and other pathogens is that the human immune system functions less efficiently when cold and perceives a sudden drop in temperature (say the difference between 35°c outside and 22°c inside) as cold enough to preserve essential functions at the expense of the immune system functioning optimally. The elderly and those with immature immune systems (small children) are the ones impacted.

Cold doesn't "make you ill" but aircon can.

The air con on the trains (uk) Last week was baltic, it was a rare hot (24°) day and I had to put my jacket on, in the train because I was so cold!

We were told that you get piles from sitting on cold surfaces (Scotland).

I'm Scottish.
I tend wear a vest, regardless of temperature, because it's more comfortable - I often don't tuck my actual top in and I don't like the feeling of waistbands directly against my skin. I wear thermal vests in winter. I'm also quite particular about socks.
Maybe I'm odd too.

When I had my eldest DD in Germany, not only was the maternity ward quite sweltering warm, they used to put duvets on the babies. Except the British babies... they were used to our foibles of only having the baby sleeping bag, instead of the sleeping bag plus duvet (and hat and cardigan... and it was a heatwave!!)

People in warmer countries get uses to the higher temperatures so they feel it more when they drop a bit. The Spanish are the same with babies/kids wearing socks etc.

Air con shouldn't be too low, it should just make the environment comfortably cool, not cold. Ideally you don't want to go from 22 to 35 degrees in a few moments.

That's just what they're like, I bet they also talk about digestion a lot and are horrified by the idea of going out without drying their hair.

Aircon doesn’t make you sick (unless it isn’t working properly) otherwise all of us in Australia would be permanently sick all summer. Germs cause sickness, not cold air.

We’re in Sydney and in summer I keep th house at a pleasant 22 as well, going down to 19 at night. 25 or 27 isn’t worth it, you’d be boiling!

And we never wear shoes! Yet our population seems to be doing ok 😁

Everywhere has these myths. Not too long ago we used to warn about going outside with wet hair. Some older Germans believe people get sick from sitting on cold surfaces.

The undermining is the real issue and would drive me bonkers. I would remind them they are my children, I know them best, I make decisions. Don't entertain a debate.

You dress your children as you see fit (just smile and say they're English children used to the cold (and constant rain and smog 😜 - I live abroad and some people have watched a lot of Dickensian TV adaptations)...

Where I live many locals were aghast at children without wooly hats and winter coats when it was 20°C - they accepted the (illogical as my kids never lived in England) explanation that they were English and therefore hardy 😊 It is just cultural and here partly generational.

They're right about the aircon though - Aircon generally is really unhealthy - badly maintained spreads all sorts of pathogens but even well maintained aircon isn't healthy. It's also expensive, and more expensive the colder it's set.

Having aircon on 22°c will create a huge difference between inside and outside which is a challenge for less robust people who's immune systems will work less well in what their body experiences as cold in contrast to the outside temperature from a moment previously.

It's the aircon making everyone ill. We used to go to Italy most summers until a few years ago and I don't even remember encountering aircon, although we didn't go to shopping malls...

I struggled with the aircon last time we were in Florida. It was set to 78f which is 25.5c and couldn't be adjusted, it was uncomfortably hot in the bedrooms.

It is just what you're used to. We took DS to the south of Spain one Easter when he was about 15 months, it was around 20c and for us (from Scotland) a very pleasant early summer day, we were in jeans and t-shirts, DS was wearing little soft jersey trousers and a sweater. All the locals were in coats and hats, similarly aged children in snowsuits. They must have been really shocked at the poor frozen Scottish child.

socks on tiled floors is a recipe for cracked heads in my experience!

Different places have different traditions on all this - I have one friend who won't have a fan in their bedroom, another place I lived they were obsessed with my baby having to have socks on at all time (lot more relaxed about sunhats though!), another every soft-play had a bank of hair dryers, because going outside with a sweaty head was apparently a death sentence (no, it really wasn't that cold)

Totally agree. Part of me hates visiting them; they live in Milan and everyone without exception is dressed so well and expensively. Nothing looks obviously used. The kids clambering over the playgrounds and running around and even then all their clothes are immaculate. We’re a fairly scruffy family, hand me downs etc. I feel so downtrodden there!

I really want to know what they do with their lightly used clothes. my SIL says everyone in Milan will buy a whole new wardrobe every season pretty much, but there are no secondhand shops anywhere that she’s found. I can’t imagine the clothes waste! Anyway off topic!

Crikey last week in Greece we had our hotel room air on set at 19 degrees! Temperature outside was 40 though.

I guess the locals are acclimatised to the higher temperatures. I remember being in Johannesburg one day when it was 25 degrees, I was in t shirt and shorts, the locals were in thick jumpers and jeans. Our friends we were staying with had their patio heater on!

My brother and SIL moved to Italy a few years ago with their kids then 2 and 6 and it drives her nuts being constantly told by all the Nonnas that her kids will get sick. They dress like kids would here in the uk, T-shirts and shorts when it’s 21/22 or higher while Italian kids would be in long sleeves, vests, jumpers, coats til 30C it seems.

In Japan post the tsunami everywhere was asked to set air-conditioning at no lower than 26 degrees due to the fact all the nuclear power stations were off.
It was fine, people got used to it and actually it did cool you down. The issue you've got is that you've suddenly moved up 10 degrees from UK. When the temp goes gradually up from spring to summer you get used to it. You also become obsessed with shade and not getting too hot, moving slow, standing out of sun. So you feel a bit cooler then if there's a breeze or whatever