I am french and I am currently in Italy, and for the past 3 days, I had 3 different interactions were I was really proud of my country

I am sorry if the following is too long (it is a story, not advice), and if it is not clear enough.<br><br>(Originally posted in r/relationships but nobody was interested, so I have migrated it here)<br><br>I am a 26yo french guy. I am currently in Bologna, Italy, for 2 years because of a work contract. I love the city, the culture, the people, etc. I will be sad when I will have to move back to France.<br><br>In the french culture, we don’t proudly say that we are french. Doing this is often seen as a bad thing. The reason is that if you say that you are proud of being french, people can be offended and the argument can become xenophobic.<br><br>This week, however, I had 3 different interactions with italians, and they all ended by “Your country is a really great country” after I told my nationality.<br><br>**N.1 : The neighbor**<br>I had a problem with my washing machine. My clothes were blocked inside the machine and I could not get them out. I thus asked my neighbor to help me. He accepted to help and he eventually managed to get the clothes out. During the operation, he discovered that I was french. During the lockdown, my neighbor used to call me to translate the words related to Covid19 in english and french. He paid me 20 euros each time and asked me when I was available. So I was not expecting to ask for help from him. Anyway, during the operation, he discovered that I was french and he was happy. After he helped me, we started to talk about his holidays in France. He told me that he had visited Paris 3 times. Paris is a very beautiful city, the Eiffel tower is a really beautiful monument. He ended his speech by “Your country is a really great country”. Earlier this year, I bought the book Sapiens from Yuval Noah Harari. According to Yuval, we all have a long and short identity. The long identity is the country, region, area, continent, religion, etc. The short identity is the family and the friends. When my neighbor said “your country”, he was referring to my long identity. Yuval advice to be more focused on the short identity. After he said “your country”, I was slightly sad because I don’t have any short identity in Bologna because I am just passing by.<br><br>**N.2 : The dentist**<br>I have inherited the teeth of my father. They are very sensitive and the cold warms are really painful. A week ago, I had a problem with a tooth. I was crying of pain when I was in contact with the cold. I thus went to a dentist, but I was afraid that he was going to touch my teeth. He was really nice, and when the pain was too much, he waited for 2 minutes to make the pain stop and then he continued. I have an horrible fear to go to the dentist, but the dentist was so nice that I almost enjoyed the experience. I told him that I was french, then he started to talk about his weekends in Paris. I was really glad to let him talk because he was able to continue his job and I could chat with a nice person.<br><br>**N.3 : The neighbor**<br>I felt really proud of my country after these 2 experiences. On Sunday, I went to the grocery store. The store is in a mall near my apartment. There, a lot of people are retired. I was eating a cookie while I was shopping, then a cookie crumb fell on the ground. I didn’t see it, but an old man saw it and he tried to alert me, saying “excuse me! Excuse me!”. I didn’t see him at first, but when I saw him, I said “Sorry, but I don’t speak italian” (which is a lie as I am fluent). He then told me in french “vous avez laissé tomber un petit morceau de cookie”. My reaction was “You speak french?”. He told me that he spoke a lot of languages, and that he went to Paris in the 80’s. He told me that I looked young and he asked me how old I was. I told him that I was 26yo. He told me “I am your grand father”. He ended by “Your country is a really great country”. Then he went back to his shop, and I went to pay my groceries.<br><br>**Resume**<br>I was really glad to have been in these 3 situations. It is not common to meet people that love my country, and for 3 days, I had people telling me that France was a great country.<br><br>Also, I am sad because I don’t have any short identity here. The 3 men that I met this week don’t know me, but they helped me because they were nice, and they told me that they loved my country. Even if I don’t know the long and short identity notions and even if I don’t know Yuval, he is right. The 3 men that I met this week have more value than any notion. Even if they don’t know me, they helped me because they are nice. The dentist took the time to let the pain stop, the cookie man helped me and the neighbor helped me because he loved my country.<br><br>Even if I am sad that I don’t have any short identity in Bologna because I am a stranger, I am really glad to have met these 3 men. <br><br>When I will be back in France, I will be even more proud to say that I am french in front of strangers.