Comments on: Adjusting to Expat Life in Italy

By: Franca

Franca — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:57:41 +0000

Hi Michelle! Thanks for answering my questions! Sorry I’ve been out of touch. Hasn’t been easy adjusting. Miss home a lot. And now I’m expecting my 2nd child and am thinking of going back home to give birth there. Do you have any tips about for me? Haha. It would definitely be tricky since I’m unemployed and uninsured. Anyway, thanks for your wonderful blog. I wish I could muster enough courage to create my own blog. I would love to get free books like you do!!! But I feel like my life is so boring. Take care now.

Yes, the unemployed and uninsured in America thing stops many of us from going back for various health care, I’m afraid. Anyway, I can’t imagine life as a new mom expecting #2 can be *boring*! Try dipping your toes in the blogging water for a bit over at Blogspot or a free WordPress…you might just find you like it

By: saretta

saretta — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:58:25 +0000

I think to happily survive life in a different country from your own you need to be curious, open to other ways of thinking, willing to risk making a fool of yourself on a regular basis, and you must accept the fact that you are different from the locals and will always be a foreigner, no matter how well you acculturate. If you can embrace all those types of “difference” it helps!

p.s. we do have a Feltrinelli in Bari (Puglia) with a good selection of books in English! And many local books stores will order English-language books for you, if you prefer not to order on-line.

Oh thanks so much for sharing that, Saretta! Good for Bari! I hope they’ll move into Catanzaro soon. And I completely agree on your tips as well
.-= saretta´s last blog ..Summer Tips #2 =-.

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:06:26 +0000

I was actually thinking about writing a post like this. I will link to you.

Looking forward to reading it, Sara!

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:04:18 +0000

Hey, first things first. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’ve done a few posts like this and I enjoyed reading yours.

My tips are:

1. Get a support system of people in your new country, locals or other expats.
2. chat regularly with people back home´.
3. Regularly browse websites or news sites from your country so you dont feel out of the loop.
4. Webcams!
5. Care packages help!
6. Planning trips back home helps too. It’s expensive especially now. But, it gives you something to look forward to if you are really missing home.

Excellent advice, Sara; thanks for coming over and sharing

By: joe@italyville

joe@italyville — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:46:06 +0000

the grass is green on all sides… especially here with all the rain we’ve been having! Calabria is beautiful… can you imagine Calabria with a low unemployment rate and an organized government? It would be the perfect place! Then again, I guess many of the beautiful things that exist now are probably products of other not so great things.. which makes it what it is. STILL BEAUTIFUL. By the way Michelle, would love to get your opinion on Centro Commerciale Due Mari if you’ve been. Hope you’re well!

*LOVE* that mall, Joe. Really. I only wish I lived closer so I could go more often. Or actually that wouldn’t be such a good thing, so perhaps I should just count myself lucky to be far enough away that it can’t be a daily thing

By: Esme

Esme — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:35:13 +0000

Good post-I actually wondered how you got your books. Glad you enjoyed; I couldn't live without books! .-= Esme´s last blog ..The Night Gardner Giveaway =-.

By: adf

adf — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:05:08 +0000

Does anyone remember when the phones used to “click” so you knew how much time you were using? I love how technology changes.

Whenever I’m away from my family (in the States) I use VOIP to call. Try the program VOIPstunt; it’s good. I used to call Italy on it, but I have to buy more credits. U.S. to U.S. calls are, of course, free.

Also, a great website for cheap airfare is http://www.vayama.com.

Thanks for the tips, adf!
.-= adf´s last blog ..E ho chiuso… =-.

By: Jacques

Jacques — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:44:09 +0000

P.S. when my folks were young (I was still only 4 way back in the 60s) they decided to move from Cleveland to Chicagoland for a job opportunity for my Dad.
It seemed a tragedy (I can still sort of remember Serious Family Arguments [capitalized on purpose, they seemed that serious] about it).
Every visit to my grandparents was considered a special trip (7 hours by car) back then.
Now the same thing is happening between my daughters and their grandparents/aunts/uncles in he States from Italy. Except my daughters talk to their grandparents a lot more (and at much lesser costs) than I ever did.
Seems a lot simpler now than then, I think to the benefit of many. I hope.

I think you really nailed it, Jacques, when you say things are much simpler now…I couldn’t agree more. I’m not sure I could’ve made it here as an expat 20 or 30 years ago….

By: Jacques

Jacques — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:37:41 +0000

@Michelle,
not very homogeonous is that state, Italy it is not, as a sager one than i might say it.
I realize further south there are more difficulties in availability, and did cite resources for people further north.
In some even remote areas down south though (Stromboli last Summer, a relatively isolated Sicilian vulcanic island) I found a book store with a relatively sophisticated selection of English books, I must admit, and not many English speaking tourists around…

As to communications, it has come a (very) long way from my hard plastic “gettoni” holder in the 80s that held enough “slotted” SIP coins to call home for a few minutes.
With the Skype flatrate packages for €7-8 per month to be able to call US land and cell lines unlimited, I call lots more relatives at home in the States than I ever have before. And the quality of the phone calls has improved tremendously, from the “echo echo echo” of even 10-15 years ago (bad satellite reverb) to most normal, or even skype calls now, recently sometimes better than “normal” calls. Go figure.

Yes there are great differences throughout the country…too funny about the gettoni! And I agree: sometimes Skype quality is actually better than normal ones….

By: carrie

carrie — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:48:22 +0000

Sounds like a wonderful life! A few years back we moved from California to North Carolina, I guess it’s not exactly the same – we still work with the same language (mostly) and the laws & taxes are the same – but we’re still away from family & friends we left behind. Email, IM and Vonage help keep contact with loved ones and the cost is minimal.

Oh I think your move is pretty equivalent in terms of moving from one culture to another Thanks for the tips!

.-= carrie´s last blog ..Happy Father’s Day =-.