Comments on: Adjusting to Expat Life in Italy

By: michelle

michelle — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:18:03 +0000

Thank you Kathleen! Glad you had such a wonderful experience as well

By: Calabrian Kathleen

Calabrian Kathleen — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:34:34 +0000

Thanks Michelle for sharing!!! It brought tears to my eyes – your adventure! My father’s family left Marina Adore in the early 1900′s and I was one of the first to revisit it nearly 100 years later. Finding the village was a very intense experience for me and I am forever changed by visiting there. My heart was cracked open!!

There is something so compelling about Calabria. I am thrilled to find your blog.

Thank you and ciao!!

By: michelle

michelle — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:22:20 +0000

Thx for the tip!

By: Ilene

Ilene — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:25:05 +0000

For discounted books in English, try Daedalus Books in Maryland (google for website). An ex-pat friend in Genoa gets books from them for a low shipping fee.

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 =-.