Multicultural You

Once your dream of living in Italy comes true, after all the bureaucracy is sorted out and taken care of you might ask yourself how do you make friends with Italians? Many expats forums and groups mention that it is very difficult, especially if you don't speak the language. While...

In many Eastern European countries, if you come to somebody's house and they offer you a cup of tea, it is considered impolite to accept immediately. You have to decline a couple of times, saying you don't want to bother the host, then eventually continue declining but with less emphasis,...

Italy is no longer on lockdown and since May 18th we can meet our friends again. As you probably know, the Italian way of greeting is two kissed on the cheek, starting from the right. But we can't do it anymore because of the physical distancing. How are you supposed...

While making our wishes on New Years' Eve we had no idea how fiercely would 2020 throw us out from the comfort zone. We were prepared and up to a certain point desensitized to local disasters. Especially when they happened in places that we perceived as remote. But this scale...

One of the major insights in my life happened when I discovered intersectionality. For those unfamiliar with the term, it is a theoretical framework for understanding how aspects of one's social and political identities (gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, etc.) might combine to create unique modes of discrimination. It doesn't...

Do you have a dream country you want to move to? You have traveled there several times, you have figured out the paperwork, you already found a place to stay. You move there full of hopes and expectations. What can go wrong? The culture shock. It may take a few...

Given the numbers, no one expected Italy lockdown to be lifted this weekend but Italians surely hoped for more concessions from the government. On Sunday, April 26, the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte called in a press conference where he announced more gradual openings.   Coronavirus lockdown situation in Italy...

If you like this project, subscribe to the Multicultural You newsletter. I hate spam and will send you only one mail per month full of useful intercultural information! Take the free Culture Test! Read new blog posts Read "Understanding Italy" guide Book a cross-cultural training Like Multicultural You on Facebook...

This is the second part of this post about being a happy expat in Italy. You can find the first part here.   6. Don’t be a guest   Even if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in Italy, act as if you came here to...

If you like this project, subscribe to the Multicultural You newsletter. I hate spam and will send you only one mail per month full of useful intercultural information!   Take the free Culture Test! Read new blog posts Read "Understanding Italy" guide Book a cross-cultural training Like Multicultural You on...

Here you are, ready for your new Italian adventure. Your dolce vita is ready to begin. You want to enjoy your time in Italy the best you can. How do you become a happy expat? Learn as much as you can about Italy but be aware of your feelings and...

Your lifetime dream is to move to Italy and you are opting for the capital? Here are some things you should know before moving to Rome. Cost of life, cleaning, strikes and "sampietrini" cobbles are part of the Roman routine. To make them easier to remember, a Roman hill was...

Last week I was on a plane from Chisinau to Rome. A lady from Southern Italy said Eastern-European women were beautiful, but they never seemed to smile. They looked as if they had an icicle inside. This is a recurrent observation of westerners traveling east. It happens because our culture...