Oh Bella Italia! At the beginning it is all new and exciting, a whole new world. There are the things you love and that you probably moved here for and the things that just annoy the hell out of you. But watch out expats! After a while you might find yourself doing exactly that and you find yourself thinking “Dammit, I’m turning into one of them!”
- The way you're driving these days,you would have lost your driver's license at home a long time ago. Not that you are putting yourself or others at risk, you have just learned that it's safer to go with the flow!.. and you don't want to starve at the roundabout...
- You are talking much louder and you start using your hands a lot. You didn't even notice until you went home during the holidays and people told you they're not deaf... and you wiped more than one glass of the table...
- Back in Italy this actually helps you! Confrontation is sometimes unavoidable and it's better being able to keep up. Show them how your nonna holds the umbrella!!
- You can have a full conversation just using „ma“, „boh“, „eh“ and a bit of gesture and facial expressions.
- You gave up trying to eat only one plate when having dinner at someones house a loooong time ago. So do you now willingly accept the after dinner digestif.
- The bidet is no longer an additional laundry basket or a great extra sink to wash your feet! You have started to appreciate it for what it is and even if you would never admit it, you're a glad your mother in law insisted you get one for the new bathroom...
- Standing in traffic jams has become part of the weekend and summer holidays. At the beginning you tried to avoid the rush hour to get to the sea or the mountain but apparently you hav completely adapted to the Italian rythm and just don't manage tanymore to leave the house earlier. On the bright side? It doesn't even bother you anymore, it's just a part of it.
- You can't remember the last time you ordered a glass of wine. Wine is an essential on the table and apparently only available in quarter litre, half liter or liter jugs or bottles. Even if you are not eating with a group, ordering a glass is just uneconomic!
- You now appreciate when you can just take a ticket at the post office, pharmacy or at the „comune“, at least it saves you the fight to prevent that someone passes and an elbow in your face...
- Coffee is cafè now and you make a face like you bit into a lemon when you order one on your visit at home and you get “brown water” instead of a sip of well concentrated caffeine.