Hey from Castelli Romani!

Hello everyone !
My name is Karla and I spend half of my year in Castelli Romani and the other in the US. I have been traveling back and forth between the US and Italy for almost 4 years now. Recently my Italian and I have been considering a 6 month move stateside which afterward will result in where we plan to live permanently...I'm nervous and excited about this :/

I look forward to meeting everyone :-)
*Thanks Claire for the invite

hai and welkom.
hope you make lots of friends.

where do you like to live?
i so love the us,dont understand why people leave it.
any way good luck on whatever you choose.

rebecca

Thank you Becca for your kind words
The US is gorgeous, big, diverse, and you can find almost anything/anywhere from every walk of life (at great prices)! I do love my US home so much but I also love Italy. I guess in my case, the reason why I may choose to leave it (like with many others) is because of love, we always want what we don't have at home and "the grass is always greener...". Thanks again for the comment and I look forward to chatting more!

becca wrote:hai and welkom.
hope you make lots of friends.

where do you like to live?
i so love the us,dont understand why people leave it.
any way good luck on whatever you choose.

rebecca

Hey Karla

Glad you joined the forum

hi Karla
It sounds to me like you have the best of both worlds...keeping a foot in each country is a great idea...but I don't suppose it is an ideal long term solution unless you have loads of money and no kids!
Never been to the US, so have no valid contribution to make...I'm from Britain...if all things were equal I would choose Italy for its beauty, history and climate (apart from Jul and Aug phew too hot!) it is just such a shame that life has to be such a struggle here, if only there weren't such rubbish jobs, beaurocracy etc. I am happy here, but wonder about the future opportunities of my kids...but at least beign bi-lingual they have a choice!
keep posting...it is so nice to chat!

Yay! Thanks Claire :-)

ClareRoma wrote:Hey Karla

Glad you joined the forum

Hey Lizzie
Thanks for your comment
Traveling back and forth is perfect for now but as you say it is not possible for the long term when we will settle down and have kids.
I agree with you-Italy is gorgeous and has such great history and weather, (where im from in the states it is always terribly HOT)but the beaurocracy is such a mess at the moment..call me naive but I have hopes that one day it will become a bit better. Raising bi-lingual children is definitely a plus! So no worries, your gorgeous kids will be just fine!
I look forward to chatting with you again

Lizzie wrote:hi Karla
It sounds to me like you have the best of both worlds...keeping a foot in each country is a great idea...but I don't suppose it is an ideal long term solution unless you have loads of money and no kids!
Never been to the US, so have no valid contribution to make...I'm from Britain...if all things were equal I would choose Italy for its beauty, history and climate (apart from Jul and Aug phew too hot!) it is just such a shame that life has to be such a struggle here, if only there weren't such rubbish jobs, beaurocracy etc. I am happy here, but wonder about the future opportunities of my kids...but at least beign bi-lingual they have a choice!
keep posting...it is so nice to chat!

with regard to beauracracy..don't hold your breath..if we're stuck in the fifties now, there will have to be major leaps for us to catch up to the 21st centuryanytime soon. my friend who's kids are in their late 30's now had the same complaints that I have now. 2 things I have noticed changing for the better are:
1. customer services in general are improving...maybe due to the influxof international companies. staff no longer all hang around sulkily talking to each other and act like they are doing u a favour if they deign even to acknowledge your presence let alone give u advice or allow for a moment's hesitation. 2.the internet...things are never well publicised, knowledge is power, but now the comune, inps etc. are putting things on the internet its easier to know where to go instead of traiipsing from pillar to post. i'd like to see the concept of appointments instead of neverending queues being introduced...and the realisation that it is not only the proffessional's time that is important, but the client's too.Why should I wait an hour for the bloody hairdresser..why can't she do appointments for goodness sake? ( now I have someone who comes to my house yeppie)

Rant over! feel so much better now!!!!!!!

Hello from Roma,
Welcome!

The beureaucracy of Italy is a nightmare but thats just the way its is. When you are used to how things are done in your home country the weird ways of another one can be annoying and confusing. I am originally from the UK and a friend of mine found it chaotic moving from Belgium to the UK, just because she didn't know where to start.
My 2 tips for relocationg to this beautiful wonderful country are:
1.If you get married to an Italian and take his name, keep a passport in your maiden name as taking your husbands name here creates no end of problems.
2. never accept anything any official says unless you get the same story at least 3 times from 3 different people. The number of times we have been told something can't be done and when you go back and speak to someone else, hey its no problem.
Somethings work and somethings could be improved. I personally find the Italian people to be happy, friendly and generally polite people (except when they are behind a steering wheel) but thats something else! The language is very beautiful I just wish I could master it better and quicker. Oh and the food is sooooo delicious, no wonder I have gained 5lbs in the 5 months I have lived here.

X

Lizzie wrote: staff no longer all hang around sulkily talking to each other and act like they are doing u a favour if they deign even to acknowledge your presence let alone give u advice or allow for a moment's hesitation.

,

Where are you shopping? lol. I see this still everyday, in every kind of store The customer service is atrocious here. The sales clerks I run into can barely even acknowledge that their customers are human beings, let alone attempting to give any type of "service"

I think it helps that it is a local store that I go to most days, the staff are locals too...
about 12 years ago I was with my mum and we tried to enter a leather store in the Vatican area and the shop assitant literally barred the way with her body ..arms and legs in a star shape. My mum was well shocked!

oh that helps! There is actually one bar man that works in the bar under our house, but it has taken almost a year to get to the point of friendly banter.

OMG, what hell is up with blocking the entrance! you think she'd let you guys in so she would have someone to scorn at-heehee