Many people travel to a new country to immerse themselves into the culture and imagine-if only for a few weeks-what it would be like to live there. If they rent an apartment or a B&B, they can get into the routine of going to the local market, choosing what to prepare for meals and seeing the same people at the local bars and pizzerias.

But breaking out of that tourist-or “traveler,” if you subscribe to the notion that there is a difference-mentality and settling in as an expat are completely different.

Here are three of the biggest myths of being an expat in southern Italy that I’ve come across.

1. Weekend Travel is Easy
One of my favorite things about living in southern Italy is the obvious lack of international tourists. Southern Italy, particularly south of Campania before you reach Sicily, doesn’t cater to tourism and because of that, the infrastructure has suffered.

It isn’t easy to travel around southern Italy by train and getting from Calabria to Puglia by car is downright tough, thus, weekend trips are hard to come by. It’s also expensive. When you’re on vacation, you can justify the expenses. That’s not always the case when you live here.

2. We Don’t Get Bored
While there is something comforting about getting into a routine, mundane tasks like going to work, paying the bills and yes-even shopping at the market and cooking delicious Italian dishes-can get old.

Just because we live in southern Italy, doesn’t entitle us to all-access pass to the fun house. Routine is routine is routine … we are just in the Mediterranean with ours.

3. We “Shouldn’t” Miss Home
I know this may sound crazy to some of you, but I have seriously-seriously!- upset people when I talk about missing things from home. All of southern Italy’s glamor and grandeur could be wrapped and handed to us with a big shiny red bow, but when you are out of your home country for any length of time, you start missing it. That is why some expats I know who have been here 20+ years still have their moms send them care packages with maple and brown sugar oatmeal and Splenda!

What other myths do you think exist about being an expat?

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about expats in Italy-about what motivates us to move to this country, what encourages us to stay and even more about what it takes to make a life in the bel paese.

And I plan to write more about this soon.

But today, guest blogger, Katie Greenaway, comes to us from the rolling hills of Tuscany with tips on how to make it. Katie fell in love with Italy in 2002 and her love affair has carried her back and forth between her home in the US and Renaissance Florence for most of the last decade.

Today, Katie is sharing four steps to finding a job in Italy.

So, give her a warm welcome, my friends …

Living in Italy isn’t always la dolce vita, especially when you are trying to find a stable job. I was struggling to find just that this past fall. I sent my resume/CV to every language school in Florence and to every announcement on Anglo-Info and in The Florentine.

I was desperate for anyone to give me a shot as an English teacher. Here are some tips I can offer my fellow expats in Italy in finding a job.

1. Network

I asked people when I would be out with friends in the center. If they knew of a good language school to apply to and if they were looking for new teachers. I then would go to the school and with my CV translated in Italian and explain what experience I had. If I didn’t network like I did, I wouldn’t have found some schools that I didn’t even know existed in Florence. It pays to just ask. You can’t lose when you ask.

2. Be Persistent

If you are persistent in Italy, you will eventually get what you want or need. For example, I had an argument with a woman in one language school here in Florence who kept telling me that she couldn’t take my CV because I didn’t have a Permesso di Soggiorno. I had to explain to her that the law had changed for EU citizens and being a dual American/UK citizen, there was no reason I needed a PdiS to apply for this job.

After 10 minutes, I finally convinced her to take my CV to give to her boss because I am legally able to work in Italy. Be bold and confident, like everything else in life, when you are confident you exude power and confidence.

3. Classifieds

I found my job in one of the classified sections like in Anglo-Info and The Florentine. These are your links to the jobs that out there. You can’t just wait for the job to fall into your lap. There are many other sites on the Internet that can assist you in finding a job. Have a friend or use Twitter to find someone to translate your CV into Italian. Send an email with your CV attached, in Italian and English and think positive. Good things are a-coming.

4. Don’t Give Up

It is a difficult when you an expat, away from family, trying to find a job. The support system is non-existent unless you have friends. You must know that it will always work out for the better. If you keep finding the negative in each situation, from each response from each job you apply for. This will kill your spirit when you want to keep yourself grounded and strong. Keep your eye on the prize. Whether it is finding a teaching job, a university job or working for a tourist agency, something will give and you will be happy when it does. Keep your hopes soaring high and you will soon receive the job you were dreaming of.

I try to be positive in all aspects of my life, but I know how hard it can be when you are without a job in a place you wish to be your home. I live by these words from the late Randy Pausch, hope this helps!

“Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.”

What about you? Do you have other tips for expats-or would-be expats-for finding a job?

PS – In other news, the Blogging from the Boot Winners have been announced! Head over to AffordableCallingCards.net to congratulate the winners!

While most American expats I know are happily settled into their new lives, being abroad for holidays, birthdays and special occasions can still be tough. We miss our families. We miss our friends. We miss the customs and traditions that made these events back home so darn special.

photo credit: di_the_huntress

If you are an expat living with your expat spouse and expat children, it might be easy to celebrate holidays in the same ways you did back home. However, for expats like me, who tied the knot with one of the natives, there is a little thing called compromise.

Here are three tips for merging cultures during holidays and special events.

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photo credit: Leandro Martinez

I’ve been an expat in Italy for more than three years and I’ve experienced more than my share of crazy Calabrian moments. Yes, like the time I marketed our B&B at the GYN or the time my husband’s uncle tried to cut his son from a tree or when I was offered fruit from my own garden.

Oh yes, being an expat in Italy is interesting, but somewhere along the way, between the three-hour lunches, homemade pistachio liquor and short, but stout, coffee shots, I became one of them.

Almost.

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Last week Emily of Don’t Call Me Gringa wrote about the overwhelming choices expat women face. No, not choices about where to live, which new cave to explore or which new food item to devour, but rather the overwhelming selections that welcome us back home.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

Maybe it is a gradual thing, like expat’s Stockholm, but I think we get used to the choices, or in many cases, lack of choices in our adopted countries, so much so that we don’t even realize what we are missing.

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About once a week I get an email from an expat-hopeful asking me about Italy, telling me about his or her dream to move abroad and thanking me for my positive and “inspirational” posts about living in a new country.

Gulp.

No pressure here …

So, last week over at ACC, we began a discussion on what it takes to be an expat and I shared some things I’ve noticed over the years that the most successful expats don’t do.

I’d like to continue that conversation today.

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For the last three years, I fought my Texas ways and struggled to become Calabrian. I practiced their language. I mimicked their habits. I absorbed their culture. Then it hit me. Calabrians are really just Texans … you know, without the hat.

photo credit: jerseygal2009

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It is a well-known fact that many people back home covet the expat life because, more often than not, that life is filled with exotic-sounding day trips and easy weekend excursions.

I know, I know … life is hard.

But here in Calabria you can’t hop on a train in the morning and be dining in the Piazza Navona by lunch. It just ain’t happenin’. In fact, there are few places you can get to easily and quickly and cheaply that your stateside friends have even seen on a map.

So what do we do here in Calabria when we are looking for an exciting expat excursion?

photo: Fabio Macòr

Well, like my childhood role model once said, “We don’t go farther than our own backyard.” So, click your heels together three times and come with me, through some of the best Calabrian expat excursions this side of the rainbow.

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Photo by Yan Pritzker Photo on Flickr

 
“How do you say that again?”
 
“I thought I’d be fluent by now.”
 
“I’m just not good with languages …”
 
One of the first things expats who move to non-English speaking countries are faced with is the 24-hour language fest-and if you are anything like me, you left your invitation at home.
 
Over the last year negative phrases like these have crept into my consciousness and crowded my mind with self-doubt and insecurities. I. Just. Can’t. Get. It.
 
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am perfectly conversational in Italian, can understand most people and accents and can basically get by in any situation.
 
But it ain’t purty.
 
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