Hello, Pink Ladies (I loved the movie "Grease")!
My name is Michele, which has created a lot of confusion here in Italy, especially when the Italians read that I am married to Giulio. In any case, I arrived here in Torino permanently on May 5, 2009, in order to marry the aforementioned Giulio, my Italian fidanzato. Since that day I've been embroiled in all the usual expat things, like paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork.
I used to live in Los Angeles, where I was for 20 years. I quit my job of 15 years in April and donated or sold (mostly donated) just about everything I owned to come over here, including the car I had just paid off. I miss my car....
I feel lucky that I am living in the city where I wanted to live, have married a wonderful man, and that I already knew at least a few people here in Torino (and elsewhere in Italy). I also already speak the language, at least at an intermediate-advanced level, so that has helped a lot. However, I recently have been feeling the pain of not having any close friends here. I have gotten somewhat discouraged by how difficult it's been to stay in touch with the women I did happen to know here before I moved here (you know, when you are on vacation, everybody runs to see you -- once you live here, it's another story altogether), and also have found the Torinese character trait of discretion pretty hard to understand and most certainly hard to relate to. As I told a friend of mine the other day, my personality works great at home but here...I often feel like I'm stepping on toes just by asking simple questions.
Anyway, I found this forum through a post on the Expat Talk website, where some of you may be members, too.
I hope to contribute whatever information I can, and hope to at least meet some of you somewhere along the way.
Michele
My name is Michele, which has created a lot of confusion here in Italy, especially when the Italians read that I am married to Giulio. In any case, I arrived here in Torino permanently on May 5, 2009, in order to marry the aforementioned Giulio, my Italian fidanzato. Since that day I've been embroiled in all the usual expat things, like paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork.
I used to live in Los Angeles, where I was for 20 years. I quit my job of 15 years in April and donated or sold (mostly donated) just about everything I owned to come over here, including the car I had just paid off. I miss my car....
I feel lucky that I am living in the city where I wanted to live, have married a wonderful man, and that I already knew at least a few people here in Torino (and elsewhere in Italy). I also already speak the language, at least at an intermediate-advanced level, so that has helped a lot. However, I recently have been feeling the pain of not having any close friends here. I have gotten somewhat discouraged by how difficult it's been to stay in touch with the women I did happen to know here before I moved here (you know, when you are on vacation, everybody runs to see you -- once you live here, it's another story altogether), and also have found the Torinese character trait of discretion pretty hard to understand and most certainly hard to relate to. As I told a friend of mine the other day, my personality works great at home but here...I often feel like I'm stepping on toes just by asking simple questions.
Anyway, I found this forum through a post on the Expat Talk website, where some of you may be members, too.
I hope to contribute whatever information I can, and hope to at least meet some of you somewhere along the way.
Michele