From my limited experience in a handful of congregations, I agree with you Peppermint. The Italian congregation I grew up in was made up of people who were not as anal and restrictive as those I've come to know in several of the english congregations. A wide variety of cultural traditions and fun activities were enjoyed and young people were having all sorts of parties and fun trips. You just had to be part of the incrowd but what else is new?
As to religious matters, my father was even an MS for over a decade, despite having us go to a catholic school all that time (my mom was not a dub back then). But when a new elder from Toronto was moved into the congregation and made PO (to set maters straight according to the CO), he quickly brought the rest in line with WT rules. He got on my Dad's case big time and cracked down on a lot of the "questionable" traditions. I ended up switching school systems in my crucial final year so they wouldn't remove my father as an MS. Alot of the teens and young adults figured they'd switch to the english and enjoy the party scenes there. They were looked upon as more materialistic and worldy by the dubs in those congregations.