A joy that not nearly enough people get to have during high school is hosting an international student who comes to visit for either one semester or perhaps even an entire year to experience the world and the educational system from another country.
Tiktoker Rhonda, who goes by @italiangirl1130 on the platform, currently has the pleasure of hosting Alessandro, and her family has already filmed a variety of antics on the platform, trying to give the teen the best American experience they can.
One of the most hilarious experiences came in the form of Rhonda taking Alessandro out to dinner, for which she chose, of course, Olive Garden.
The teen was not prepared and said that he wasn't "mentally ready," and even recommended going to a nearby McDonald's instead. But the three-part video series did not go at all how Alessandro expected.
In the first video, TikToker Rhonda, Alessandro's host mom, had to convince the Italian teen to even get out of the car, let alone walk into the restaurant. Along the way, he pointed out that he was certain that no Italians were working at the restaurant, and that the most Italian thing about it was the fact that it was called an "Italian Kitchen."
Maybe the welcome sign, which read "Benvenuto!" helped a little bit!
You can watch the first video here:
In the second video, the family was seated at a table in the restaurant, and Rhonda observed as Alessandro perused the menu.
The jokes just kept coming as Alessandro pointed out the inauthenticity of the menu, especially with items present like mozzarella sticks, marinara dipping sauce, and fettuccine alfredo, which is not even an Italian dish.
You can watch the second video here:
But Alessandro soon had to hilariously apologize to his heritage and all of Italy when he took his first bite of an Olive Garden breadstick dipped in alfredo sauce.
He continued to try items, including mozzarella sticks, fried ravioli bites, fried calamari, and even finished off the entire plate of alfredo sauce.
As much as he clearly hated doing so, he obviously loved the experience.
With his mouth full, he said:
"I'm sorry, Italy. I'm sorry."
Then at the end of the meal, he said:
"Can I tell you this? I'll be honest with you, it is very good..."
Rhonda cut him off and asked:
"What is good?"
Alessandra mumbled:
"Olive Garden."
You can watch the third video here:
Fellow TikTokers were tickled by the revelation.
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Olive Garden obviously is not authentic Italian food, but to be fair, it's never really claimed to be. Despite being called an Italian Kitchen, Italy more so serves as a point of inspiration rather than an exact collection of recipes handed down from someone's great-grandmother.
Just like Taco Bell, neither of these locations are truly authentic, but many of us love them and maybe even hate that we do.
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