My adventure with foreign land began after high school, in 2002. Initially, I didn’t suppose it would be a long stay. In holiday periods during the studies I traveled to Italy for seasonal work. I treated those trips as a way to earn some money. At the time I didn’t visit many places, and I met few Italians. It happened that my then-boyfriend, who is now my husband, went there more often than I did. He found himself in Italy better and better, and his stays there were getting longer. He also got a better job. It all unfolded in such a way that after graduation in 2007, I went to him there. At that time he didn’t work seasonally anymore. He found regular work and convinced me to join him. I didn’t really like the idea, but having a few months old baby, anyway I wouldn’t have taken up any job in Poland. So we agreed that we would leave together for a year, save some money and come back.
New neighbors
In the beginning, in order to put aside some money, we lived in a rented apartment along with other Polish tenants. We had already known each other. It seemed then that it would be idyll. The first month was even nice. It was the holiday period. I enjoyed the beautiful weather, trips to the sea, evenings spent with my longing husband. After a month during my husband’s vacation we went to Poland. I was very glad about the stay in Italy. But soon after the vacation and the return to Italy we collided with harsh reality. Very quickly it turned out that it was too crowded in one apartment with several tenants, which did not have good effect on the atmosphere at home. Besides, I spent whole days when my husband was at work virtually alone with the child. I didn’t know the language apart from a few phrases learnt during the previous seasonal work, which didn’t come in too useful. I must add here that we stayed in a fairly small town. Therefore, as newcomers we stood out. The Italians are very open. When I went out with the baby for a walk, each time we were accosted several times by people in the park or even on the street. They were talking to us, raving over the baby, and I felt a great frustration that I wasn’t able to answer almost anything. I missed my old life, living in Poland, family and friends. I felt very lonely and couldn’t wait for the occasion, such as holidays or my husband’s vacation to be able to go to the Poland even for a few days.
Work and home
The situation slowly began to change after a few months. Then I started to look for a job. In the meantime, I began to understand more and more Italian, and I could also speak more and more. After a very short time I found a job as a waitress. I started meeting new people and picking up language faster and better. The problem was that because of the work I stopped seeing my husband. When he came home, I went out. Our daughter found it difficult to bear evenings without mother. In the long run it was impossible to live that way. That’s why I gave up work. And at that moment fortune smiled on us. There was a vacant place in the nursery, and therefore I could find another job. Again, very quickly I found one. Then it seemed to me the most important. It turned out, however, that it was sending the child to the nursery that would change our lives most dramatically. It was the gateway to our new world. Thanks to it, we met many local people who had children at the age of our daughter. It turned out that we had many common topics. The openness of the Italians and their penchant for celebrating encouraged deeper relations. The parents of children from the nursery organized a number of social events in which we participated. First time I felt that I was not alone among strangers. There were, of course, people who avoided our company because they didn’t like foreigners. However, they were outnumbered by those who were curious about our culture. I convinced myself then that the stories of foreigners who think there are polar bears in Poland are completely true. But thanks to it, there was more to talk about.
read more...
