Comments on: how i ended up in italy, what i miss and when i’ll be leaving

By: michelle

michelle — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:16:04 +0000

Hi Alex, thanks for coming by and for your kind words I did know about the flooding at Knoebel’s, indeed, although they rebounded pretty quickly as they were open after that; the Bloomsburg Fair grounds, though, were a horrible mess, and they cancelled the fair for the first time in its history. All my immediate and most of my extended family still live in the area, so I’m pretty much always up with the news

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:10:50 +0000

Michelle,
Stumbled over your site and started reading. Quite addicting. I will be moving to the Puglia Area in 2012, so many of your reasons in moving there are very similar to mine. But this is the best part. As I was reading your post on “How you ended up there” I caught the part about coal country PA. Being from PA, it kept me reading. Then when I saw Shamokin and Knoebels listed, my jaw bounced off the desk. I lived in Winfield, the othe rside of the river, had a company in the Reed Industrial Park in Elysburg, been in Shamokin too many times and Knoebels is my all time favorite “family park”. Small world. What you may or may not be aware of is Knoebels had one of its worst flooding events in its history. Much distruction. I now live in Florida, but your post brought me back. Love your site.

By: Thotlady

Thotlady — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:13:41 +0000

It must be so nice to know where you belong at anything given time. I won’t say “I envy you”, since I don’t like that emotion–envy…it’s a wasted emotion if you ask me.

I have lived so many places in my life and never felt like “this is it, this is where I belong”. Hopefully that is yet to come. Although I told my husband when we moved into our last house…”We are never moving again!”. As time goes by I am not sure that has the finality it once did.

I have found in my life, that curve balls often get tossed my way and my choice tends to be overshadowed by those curve balls. I guess James Bond got it right…”never say never”.

Good post, thanks for answering my question.

Thotlady’s last blog post..8.08.08

Thanks for sharing your experience Thotlady; we all have different paths to follow, and that’s what makes life (and reading about others’ lives) so interesting

By: Chel

Chel — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:04:28 +0000

Thank you for your answers! I think that’s amazing. I’ve always thought that if something ever happened to my family (HEAVEN FORBID!!), I’d pack up and move to Italy, knowing nothing of the culture or the language. Isn’t that odd? Given that I’ve been blessed to keep them, I’ll keep hanging out here in Florida.

I’m quite proud of you for following your heart. One of the things I’d wish for my daughter is for her to have the confidence and independence to do what she believes is best for her, regardless of what her daddy and I might think. (You know, once she’s old and stuff.)

Chel’s last blog post..Menu Plan Monday

Thanks Chel, and I wish the same for your daughter as well

By: laradunston

laradunston — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:42:21 +0000

You miss fastfood in the US?! You can’t be serious?! You must tell me what kind! Surely Italy does the best fast food in the world, anyway? Panini! Aperitivi snacks! Pizza!

Otherwise… … loved the post. People have been asking me the same thing for over 10 years now… don’t I miss Australia? Wouldn’t I rather live in Australia? Of course I adore Australia and think it’s one of the most beautiful countries on earth, but I have loved living in the UAE and love travelling the world. The more I travel the more I want to travel and experience other places, and I know Australia will always be there if I ever want to return. The USA will be for you, too, but somehow I don’t think you’ll return…

laradunston’s last blog post..A Tale of Three Tastings in Rome

Oh Lara, nothing can replace Chick-Fil-A in my heart…and pizza and panini do get rather tiring after a while; another thing is that they certainly aren’t as readily available (in smaller towns) as American fast food, which is absolutely everywhere and available pretty much around the clock

Thank you for sharing your experiences with this; it’s always nice to hear others’ perspectives and answers to the same questions

By: Ashira

Ashira — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:10:05 +0000

I found your blog a little while ago, and I enjoy reading your posts!

In February or March next year I’ll be doing just what you did – packing up everything here in the US and moving to Vienna. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but it just feels right to pursue my future there! I spent 2 months last summer living in various parts of Austria, and 1 month in Moscow – and after being in Europe I knew I couldn’t spend the rest of my life in the States! It was quite refreshing to read this post, and the one about your reasoning to move to Italy – I can honestly relate to everything you said! I’m not scared, or nervous, just excited to move!

Great blog! Keep up the great posts, and I think I’m going to be jealous of you for the next 6 months until I leave the US too!

Ashira’s last blog post..Salzburg

How exciting Ashira! Looking forward to following your travels So happy you’ve found me!

By: Karina

Karina — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:07:58 +0000

I loved these answers! And I’ve read your older posts, about how you came to be where you are, and I really do think that you are right…you were just “meant” to be there!

By the way, I thought about you today, when I read in the local paper that they are opening a farmer’s market in my town on Saturdays, starting this week, till the end of summer. Something about the option to go buy fresh veggies for that evening’s meal made me think of your life in Italy. Funny, no?

Karina’s last blog post..All The Boys – The Soulmate

Hah! Very funny…now go get some veggies

By: collette~all over the map

collette~all over the map — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:00:01 +0000

I connected to so much of what you expressed. You do have a really positive attitude and it’s obvious you are aware of it which is so important because I think awareness and recognising what we need to put forward really makes a difference.

Not unusual because you always get me thinking but this post really made me think about my own feelings and thoughts about living abroad and adapting a new country as your own.

Life is certainly what you make of it, agreed. I love that you own the fact that you WANTED to come to Italy.

I never really thought of “missing the states”, in a general sense, as separate from missing specific rituals or specific things. I sort of see the two as dependent on the other because those things that you miss, or reminisce about wouldn’t be the same, as you said, if you tried to recreate them. It’s just not the same. I think that’s what makes them so special. They are a part of the US in a way. I think of them more as a part of our culture. Doesn’t mean we don’t make new memories, find new things we love and adapt to different ways of life than what we were used to but when we miss those specifics I associate them with “missing the states” because they are exclusive, in their own way, to life in the states. Does that make sense? It’s the same for things that I experience here. It’s sometimes hard to pinpoint but there’s something that makes them truly “Australian” because I’m experiencing them here and they are rooted here in this culture.

I guess I would still say I “miss the states” because I’m missing the specifics I associate with life in the US. What I miss most is family and friends of course and missing those family milestones and moments.

I do still compare because I think it takes time to get away from being used to certain things being done a certain way. Not that I’m negative, I’m still processing things which is normal. There are also so many other areas which I’ve easily adapted and taken on and don’t do any comparisons but I think time and experience helps ease those ways of thinking.

In the end, being in a positive place and being truly happy with yourself is really the key because no matter where we are geographically I believe that is the most useful tool we have.

I could say so much more. It’s interesting how we can share our thoughts and experiences. It’s opened my eyes.

Funny you mentioned Germany. I felt so a part of that culture when I lived there. A different time in my life. It all felt so right.
I’m a huge *reminiscer* – if that’s even a word. Memories are a place I draw on for comfort.

collette~all over the map’s last blog post..Me in a mosaic

Collette, this is just lovely. I’m a reminiscer too…I used to even love hearing my grandparents reminisce, so I think I was hooked from the start….

I agree with you that it’s not necessarily negative to compare things between places; it depends on the spirit with which it’s done, I’d say. Now, after being here five years, I can intellectually say to P, “Huh, that’s interesting b/c in America it works like this…” without getting upset or annoyed that it doesn’t work like this here. MOST of the time. Sometimes though it’s inevitable b/c frustration is frustration, and I do think it’s best expressed…although for me, I try to vent to my mom or others *not* here to keep the peace

I hope you’ll continue to process with us and let us in your thoughts….

By: Wanderlust Scarlett

Wanderlust Scarlett — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:59:21 +0000

I just smiled when I read the questions about missing the states. Anyone who has spent any time here would know that you are home. Your soul is home, where it should be, when it should be and there is no leaving. Why would you leave the place you truly belong to and in?

I love the photo bella mia, you look like a sister to me (on the outside, of course you know we were separated at birth on the inside… hee hee…)

XO
Scarlett & Viaggiatore

Wanderlust Scarlett’s last blog post..Cardinal Rules II

Thank you dear Scarlett; your words are appreciated more than you know. And I’m glad you see the family resemblance

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:18:24 +0000

Mai dire mai, but it is certainly hard to imagine, isn’t it. At some point, the colors of that life fade, and the reality in which we life here becomes not only the present, but the past and the future as well. I left in 1994. We spent the last two years in Philly, having returned from the west coast, and I had the pleasure of introducing my niece and nephew to the Italian market at the time (my niece adopted her vegetarian ways that day after seeing lambs, skinned, heads intact, hanging from a butcher’s window), and spent a good amount of time in New York as well where I had a microscopic apartment, courtesy of my employer. Then that all changed and we moved to Germany. It took years for me to feel the most remote bit comfortable there, but then, one day, it became my life, and my life moved on, and then we came to Italy. Now after almost five years here, this is home, and my thinking has changed in oh so many ways that I only really notice when someone who has the same passport as me says, yeah, but you miss the states, right? Well, well, I miss Saran Wrap baking soda the view of Manhattan from Route 80 being at graduations and other family events helping people I love when they are sick but miss the States? No, I really don’t, my life is full, my life is simple and I am here and that is where I should be.

Your posts are wonderful, they often make me think, and I don’t comment enough.

What you (perhaps) lack in quantity Diana, you more than make up for in quality. What a lovely comment and perfect expression of what I was trying to say. And I miss Saran Wrap too! And good aluminum foil….