Introduce yourself!!!

[tonygearuk]

Hi, I am English and have just started work full time in Ovada Italy. I am currently in my own apartment here and hopefully if things work out right I will be joined by my wife after Christmas

if anyone wants to know anything else about please please ask

Tony

[tonygearuk]

Hi Amanda

I have just been reading through the threat on introducing yourself and you appear to be the closest person to me. Currently alone and waiting for my wife to come towards the end of the year I was wondering what to get up to after work. It's fine going to great restaurants every night but after 50 the waistline begins to expand and does not go down so easily. I am a keen golfer but in Italy this is ridiculously expensive. Do you know of any expat meet ups or other get together's where I could get to learn a little English way of Italian life?

Cannot PM yet as I am a newbie?

Tony

[elisabethc]

Hi all! Great to be here.

My name is Elisabeth, I'm a 19 year old Personal Assistant from Australia.
I'm moving to Italy within the next 2 years (it isn't set in stone until I hop on the plane!)

I'm going to need a lot of help from you all, can't wait to start meeting people!

Elisabeth x.

[sLsM]

Hi Everyone

My name is Leah, going as sLsM on the forum, (initials). I"m 53, have two teenage boys 19 and 17 and my husband is Italian. (He wanted to return home which is why we're here!( I've been living in Italy for a little over a year and a half and I couldn't join or write in any expat forums because I've been so angry, depressed and culture shocked that I've had nothing positive to say, and I'm a firm believer of "if you have nothing nice to say....," old school.
Anyway, I'm finally feeling better about living here also I'm appreciating just how incredibly cool Italy is, so thought I'd join to chat with you guys if you'll have me, that's it for now!

Thanks!

[tonygearuk]

Originally Posted by sLsM

Hi Everyone

My name is Leah, going as sLsM on the forum, (initials). I"m 53, have two teenage boys 19 and 17 and my husband is Italian. (He wanted to return home which is why we're here!( I've been living in Italy for a little over a year and a half and I couldn't join or write in any expat forums because I've been so angry, depressed and culture shocked that I've had nothing positive to say, and I'm a firm believer of "if you have nothing nice to say....," old school.
Anyway, I'm finally feeling better about living here also I'm appreciating just how incredibly cool Italy is, so thought I'd join to chat with you guys if you'll have me, that's it for now!

Thanks!

Hi Leah

I've only been here for 3 months and think Italy is incredibly cool. I live in Ovada which is as far south of Piermont as you can get. People are really friendly, food and wine unbelievable the only thing is missing my wife. I f things work out well with work shel'll move out after Christmas.

Drop me a line anytime you want to chat

Tony

[sLsM]

Originally Posted by tonygearuk

Hi Leah

I've only been here for 3 months and think Italy is incredibly cool. I live in Ovada which is as far south of Piermont as you can get. People are really friendly, food and wine unbelievable the only thing is missing my wife. I f things work out well with work shel'll move out after Christmas.

Drop me a line anytime you want to chat

Tony

Hi Tony!

Thanks for the invite to chat, I'll definitely take you up on it! I'm sure it is difficult waiting for your wife, but December isn't that far away! I totally agree, food/wine are incredibly here and I somehow feel healthier since I came! I think up here in the North people are friendly but a bit more reserved? How's your Italian? Were you fluent when you arrived?

[fiminona]

Hello,
My name is Fiona and I am moving to Northern Italy at the end of August to start work in an English International School.
I have relatives in the South, speak a little Italian but I am learning and have always been fascinated by the country.
I am excited about the move but have lots of questions which I hope some kind people on here can help answer!
Things like what should I bring with me from the U.K, I will be moving into an appartment with other english speaking teachers, advice on mobile phone contracts etc.

Look forward to hearing from you all

[eccoci]

Hi My name is Rina. I have lived in a VERY little town near La Spezia for nearly 4 years now and No one here speaks English. Some may think that’s a good thing in order to improve on Italian language skills, but it’s not been good thing for my mind and my English language skills – often I feel like my mind and my mouth have been disconnected. My mind thinks one thing but what comes out of my mouth is my own garbled language of twisted Italian & English – maybe some of you speak it too.
I’m looking to meet others, nearby or far, to share stories and insights of the fun & folly of living in this beautiful country. Because in spite of all of my previous trips here, and research that I did prior to coming, it’s been incredibly different than anticipated.
Hope to hear from you.
p.s. 10:30am - 100F in the shade & no relief in sight. Time to go make some ice & keep cool.

[sLsM]

Originally Posted by eccoci

Hi My name is Rina. I have lived in a VERY little town near La Spezia for nearly 4 years now and No one here speaks English. Some may think that’s a good thing in order to improve on Italian language skills, but it’s not been good thing for my mind and my English language skills – often I feel like my mind and my mouth have been disconnected. My mind thinks one thing but what comes out of my mouth is my own garbled language of twisted Italian & English – maybe some of you speak it too.
I’m looking to meet others, nearby or far, to share stories and insights of the fun & folly of living in this beautiful country. Because in spite of all of my previous trips here, and research that I did prior to coming, it’s been incredibly different than anticipated.
Hope to hear from you.
p.s. 10:30am - 100F in the shade & no relief in sight. Time to go make some ice & keep cool.

Hi Rina, wow 4 years! You an old hand at living in Italy now! Love to hear your story. How did you end up here, and in La Spezia? I too am having a hard time with the whole language thing. Seems like I'm always speaking English! My Italian husband is more comfortable using English with us at home, and everyone outside of my home is learning English and they are more than happy to practice on me, on top of that my husband, all his friends, family, and it seems like, the entire town, speak Piemontese, or Bovesano, the dialect, so I hear Italian on the TV a couple of hours a night! Nevertheless, I STILL forget my native language and mix the two er, 3, when I do get to speak Italian! After almost 2 years I still sound like a child of 4. What is my brain doing?! Anyway nice to meet you, I'm happy to chat anytime. I'm sure this experience is not like what ANY of us expected!

[eccoci]

Thanks for writing to me Leah. It’s nice to meet you too! I see you’re living in Boves. We were near there about 4 months ago to visit my boyfriend’s friend from the military. They hadn’t seen or been in contact with each other since they left the military in Cuneo, but they managed to find each other on fb. It’s a beautiful area, very picturesque with the mountains all around.
My long story, short version – my father was born in Abruzzo. He left when he was 16-17 and never came back, I’m not exactly sure why. Anyway, 10 years ago I came to Italy with family on a vacation and just fell in-love with Italy. I would come at least 2 times/year. I knew I wanted to try living here one day. The day came when I was very unexpectedly laid off from my wonderful job of more than 10+ years. I had an online friend (now boyfriend) that I had been chatting with for months, and we already had planned to meet on my next trip. I asked if he knew of anyone renting an apartment & things just fell in place for me to make my move.
How fortunate you are to have so many people around you that want to learn & practice English. I’d go insane if I didn’t have fb, pinterest, and NBC Nightly News (I record it & then watch it in the mornings)
Do you know if it’s possible to chat on this site? I see some people have a Skype icon, but not sure how they added it to their profile. . . maybe it’s a feature that is added after trial period is achieved? I’ve never joined a forum, so I’m a little confused how this works, but it would be nice to be able to chat.