It’s a phenomenon familiar to people who have moved around a lot: when you’re about to leave a place, you are suddenly out of patience with it. Annoyances you’ve put up with for years loom large, and you count the days til you can get the hell out. This is a defense mechanism: by concentrating… Continue reading Changing Places – Moving from Milan to Lecco
Tag: living in Italy
Making Friends in Italy
This question came up recently on one of the expats-in-Italy boards I hang out on (it had coincidentally already been on my mind): How do you make friends with Italians? Although most of the Italians I’ve met are warm and friendly and great fun to have dinner with, I’m not sure that I have any… Continue reading Making Friends in Italy
Medical Privacy
…One big aspect of Italy’s national health system that I forgot to mention previously: it’s available to EVERYBODY. There’s no nonsense like asking for insurance information while you’re bleeding in the emergency room (they do ask for your national health card, but if you don’t happen to have it on you, no one cares). And… Continue reading Medical Privacy
Out Sick: Being Ill in Italy
You haven’t heard from me in a while (and I may not be very coherent today) because I’ve been seriously ill for two weeks now, with a lung infection that came on during a nasty flu. I’m now doing a course of injected antibiotics (the oral ones didn’t make a dent); let’s hope that works.… Continue reading Out Sick: Being Ill in Italy
Scuola Materna: Public Preschool in Italy
Scuola materna (kindergarten) is a wonderful thing. In Italy, every parent has the right – though not the obligation – to put their child in preschool, free of charge, for three years, until they begin first grade in their sixth year. Traditionally, this seems to have been regarded as a way to socialize kids to… Continue reading Scuola Materna: Public Preschool in Italy