It's been months since I last blogged. The past months were filled with highs and lows and for some reason I didn't feel like blogging about it at the time.
This is what's been going on :
The highs :
* In July the Italian and I went to Belgium. We stayed there a couple of days and then drove my car (full with stuff) back to Italy. We stopped at Lago di Garda and San Benedetto del Tronto and then drove to Rome.
* In August my mom and sister came to visit us in Rome, which was great.
* In September my cousin and her boyfriend came to Rome, we had a blast.
The lows :
* For some reason I'm still not getting used to Rome. I have pretty much always lived in a small village in a small country. I never thought this would be an issue, but the big city chaos is sometimes just too much. I then dream of a house with a big garden in which I grow my own vegetables. I guess there is a farmer inside of me somewhere that I didn't know about.
* The househunting is not going fast enough for me. We have seen it all by now. Houses with water in the walls, bad roofs, houses in the midst of about 20 electrical poles, near the river that floods, agency people who don't give you any information except for : 'this is the kitchen, this is the bathroom...' (why would I pay you thousands of euros for that?!)
* The jobhunting is -to say the least- horrible. Nobody cares apparently that I speak all these languages and have a degree. When I came here I was willing to earn less than what I earned back home, but some of the salaries I have seen here are just ridiculous.
* Making new friends has also proven itself to be harder than it is.
Solution :
* I need to step up my game. Easier said than done, but not impossible. And when I wonder if I want to step up my game, I need to slap myself in the face and realise that the only thing I can change is me. Not this country or its jobmarket or its obvious chaos. I need to stop comparing Belgium to Italy, cause in the end it just makes me unhappier.
Now I know what to do, but how do I do it?
5 comments:
I just found your blog through "Too Tall for Italy". Sounds like you're going through exactly what I went through 4 years ago when I moved here. The unbelievable salaries and (even though I'm originally from New York City) horror at the chaos that is Rome.
No solutions here - I still feel the same about Rome which is why we're thinking about leaving (BTW_ my husband is Dutch from almost-Belgium ie the south). A lot of my foreign friends have left actually for the reasons you mention. :(
Good to know I'm not alone. Sometimes I feel like I'm just a difficult person or something.
Are you planning to move to the Netherlands?
For now, I'm planning to stick it out. We'll see how it goes...
Whatever you do, don't compare Italy to Belgium - you'll never feel better if you do! My advice is to just hang in there... Of all the 'settled' expats I know who have been here for years, not one had a good first year. Many would probably have given up in the first few months, although they're all glad they didn't. Dai, tieni duro!!
I shouldn't compare I know, I know...so hard to do though! I feel like the chaos and the mentality of some people in this city is getting to me. I totally flipped out last week cause I needed a prescription for which I first had to wait in line to ask for the prescription. (no they don't take phonecalls) and then go back the next day to pick it up. When the nurse told me that it wasn't ready and I had to wait a mezz'oretta which turned into an hour I just lost it.Thanks for your uplifting words though! The first year is almost over, so hopefully I'll settle in soon. (if I don't decide to just go back to Belgium instead ;) )
he he he, sounds to me like you just should calm down, take it easy, go with the flow... Sorry, this is not ment to be rude or to upset you. It's just the only way I can imagine that somebody can get by - survive! - in Italy at all ;-) From what I am reading here anyway.
Hope you succeed! Carmen
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