Often, women who want to move to Italy get so swept up in the romance of it all...riding on the back of a Vespa over cobblestone streets...drinking an Aperol Spritz at sunset...being a part of raucous Italian family meals...
And while these experiences aren't fantasy (I've experienced them all), they don't paint the whole picture of what it is to live in Italy as an expat.
Italy's Got Its Own Way of Doing Things
I've written before about letting go of American expectations once you move. I cannot reiterate enough that everything you're used to about how a country is run will no longer apply once you get your passport stamped.
You will wonder at the inefficiency of things. You will mutter to yourself that there's a much easier way to do [insert thing] and complain that Italians have it all backward.
You're not wrong, but know that Italy has been doing things its own way for eons. It's not going to change any time soon just because an American with big ideas arrived. Talk to an Italian about what you think is wrong with the way things are run in Italy and they'll red herring you by talking about how Cristoforo Colombo discovered America, thankyouverymuch.
Lines at the post office/grocery store/anywhere a line can be will be long. Italians will park with their cars inconveniently blocking anyone who wants to pass without taking paint off their vehicle. Projects (road construction, house remodels, etc.) will take five times longer than promised.
None of this will change.
The real question is...will YOU?
This is Your Opportunity to Embrace a New You
This lesson took me a while to really get, but now I fully embrace it. Living in Italy when you've spent decades doing things a different way is a bit like a marriage.
You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...(couldn't resist). If you want to move to Italy for la dolce vita, you have to accept la brutta vita. Okay, it's rarely ugly or terrible, but you have to accept that sometimes Italy (like a spouse) will do things you don't like. You'll want to fix it because obvs, you know best.
Let that go, cara.
This is your opportunity to completely let go. Be The Fool from the tarot deck, as I wrote before. Open yourself to different ways of being, of doing. Because Italians have gotten along just fine without you for ages.
You'll get the most out of living abroad if you allow Italy to change YOU, not futilely try to change IT!
Comments