Italian Immigration Narrative

In 2010, I moved to Italy to become an Au Pair for two years. This was a big decision for me because I wasn’t able to speak Italian and hadn’t ever lived so far away from my family and friends before. I felt I needed this experience to push my boundaries and broaden my horizons. It was amazing to experience another country’s culture so authentically. Living in Italy made me realize how grateful, fortunate, and capable I truly am.

Living in Italy provided me with so much to be grateful for. I was able to live for the moment, more than I feel I ever had before. Italian culture is a much less fast paced and so it almost forces you to appreciate more of what each day offers. While I lived there, I worked as an Au Pair which is essentially a live-in nanny/teacher for the family’s children. Though my work there was demanding at times, it provided me the chance to view another culture’s day to day lifestyle. Most families come home in the afternoon for a few hours to have lunch together and almost every dinner is had all together as well. Their focus during those meals is about talking and sharing everyone’s day and enjoying the food that was prepared. Here in our American culture, it

seems the family dinner has become a much less important staple to our upbringing. I grew up having dinner together with my family every evening and it was awesome to see this was an important family dynamic in Italy too.

While living there, I had the opportunity to see the differences our cultures had in regards to material possessions.

Unless you are a wealthy Italian, you generally have a much humbler lifestyle there. Many Italians have very small homes and the material things that most Americans want and vie for, are just not as important there. I realized how fortunate I was to have so many of the things that my life had afforded me that I usually took for granted. I grew up in a large and beautiful home and had a huge backyard. Most Italians would have thought our home a mansion compared to their own, but for all of that, they also seemed much more content with less. I was humbled by some of the people I met while living abroad because they were genuinely happy with having a “less cluttered”

life.

Living alone in a foreign country allowed me to develop a new self-confidence in myself. There was one time in particular that I found myself in a situation that would normally have rendered me unable to cope. I had lived with the family for only two weeks when they asked that I take the train by myself to go to their Uncle’s home and bring back their child. I still did not have a good understanding of the Italian language and I was worried I might be unable to make myself understood if I needed help on the way. On my way there, I ended up getting off at the wrong station and found myself quite lost in the center of the town’s piazza. I hadn’t ever had anything like this happen to me before, and though I was quite scared, I was able to keep calm. After more than an hour of backtracking, I finally found my way back to the train station and boarded the train again to find the right station. Once I had retrieved the child and brought him back home, I had time to reflect that evening on just how big of an event it had been. I was proud that I had managed to persevere in the midst of such an anxiety-ridden and scary situation. That was just one of many examples where I was able to prove to myself just how capable I actually was.

Throughout my time there, I felt so blessed to have seen and experienced so many things that I would never have been able to if I had not chosen to try something so far out of my personal comfort zone. I learned many life lessons and saw how the little things in life tend to be the most important. I returned home knowing that I had truly grown as a person and in my spirit. Since returning home, I have encouraged my family and friends to try and make the time to travel and be a part of another countries culture. If I had not had those experiences there, I know I wouldn’t be the same person I am today. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to see what a fortunate and blessed life I have and knowing I am capable of doing whatever I put my mind to.