Pasta & Patchwork
  • Home
  • About P&P
  • Patterns
  • Recipes
  • Projects
  • Product Reviews

You've come a long way, ragazzi

1/7/2014

18 Comments

 
7th January 2011.
 Mr A and Ms. V roll off a plane in Milan with two suitcases and two backpacks. It’s evening, noone’s there to meet them at the airport. They only kinda know where they’re going, but eventually get to their new digs: student halls. After a bit of faff, a grumpy porter and some broken Italian, it is established that Mr A and Ms. V are allowed to stay. Phew. 

Mr A and Ms. V survey their room. Two single beds. Two metal desks. One cupboard. One bathroom. One shared kitchen with no food, crockery or cooking utensils for them to use. No-one in sight bar a couple of grumpy and lonely-looking Middle Eastern students. Turns out everyone else is still on holiday. 

Mr A and Ms. V spend the next three days wandering around Milan in the rain, sheltering in cafés and eating take-away pizza for dinner. At one point Ms. makes the monumental faux-pas of ordering a "café latte" and is served a raised eyebrow and a cup of hot milk. You have a lot to learn, kids.

On 10th January Mr. A start his new job as a PhD student. Ms. V tags along because there’s no internet connection in their room, and she can’t bear to be on her own. Fortunately it’s hard to feel lonely when there are Italians around; everyone at the office immediately says hello and a fair few reveal their life story, complete with romantic woes, within the first 5 seconds.

Fast forward to 7th January 2014.
Housing:
60 m2 one-bed flat. Cosy in winter, steaming hot in summer. Has ugly brown furniture, but also fibre-optic internet. Is tiny and full to the brim, but has a view. Oh my, does it have a view. 
Picture
Personal life:
Ooh where to begin.
Mr. A and Ms. V have become Mr. and Mrs. P&P AND made a mini-P&P.
They go on playdates and talk about parenting woes in Italian.
They jump on cheap local trains and explore the lakes at the weekends.
They eat gelato in summer, panettone in winter, and quite fancy brioche + capuccio for breakfast.
They feel like they know what they are doing, what they are talking about, when friends and family visit from abroad. 
They decide to stay for another 18 months.

Jobs:
Mr. P&P is about to start a post-doc, once he squeezes out the last couple of chapters of his thesis. Rattles off endless sentences about lasers and pulse pickers in Italian.
Mrs. P&P freelances as a translator. Doesn’t earn anywhere near as much as she used to in her previous life, but then she only works about 8 months out of every 12. Flounces about at conferences, surprised to see she actually knows her stuff and isn’t just a mummy or an expat wife with nothing to do. That, and she knows more kiddie-vocab in Italian than in any other language.

Three years. You’ve come a long way, ragazzi. 
January 2015 update:
Well, it's now been four years since we started our Italian adventure and we've come such a long way that we can't quite imagine going back anymore. So it may well be that, once Mr P&P's contract is up (in a mere 7 months!), we go somewhere totally new. I look forward to wherever this year takes us. But I just hope it won't involve student digs again. 

Come say hello:

Picture
Picture
18 Comments
Funky Wellies link
2/21/2014 08:05:57 am

Love this post, the view and now have a sudden craving for panettone!! ;)

Reply
Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
2/21/2014 12:11:02 pm

Thanks for the comment! I'm pretty sure panettone is the only thing that keeps me going through the winter months ;-)

Reply
Cecilia
1/7/2015 08:08:16 am

Its life Eline!!! Well done!!! Beijos (its portuguese)

Reply
Seychellesmama link
1/8/2015 03:27:09 am

Eline what a fab post! Amazing how so much has changed in such a short time!!
The view from your place OH MY GOD!!! How amazing, it's absolutely stunning!!!
Only 7 months till the contract is up eeeek, do you have any idea of your next move yet?
Such a lovely idea for a post, I am feeling inspired!
Thanks so much for linking up with #myexpatfamily xx

Reply
Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/13/2015 05:37:08 am

Ooh, glad to have inspired you! Still no idea as to where we're going... Will keep everyone posted!

Reply
Molly @ The Move to America link
1/8/2015 08:06:15 am

So great to look back on your life journey! Lovely post!

How exciting that you have the prospect to move somewhere new ... it will be really interesting to read about it all!

Reply
Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/13/2015 05:39:11 am

It'll also be interesting to find out myself where we're going, hehe! I will definitely be writing about the next journey too.

Reply
Ersatz Expat link
1/8/2015 08:56:56 am

Wow - such a lot of changes!

Reply
Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/13/2015 05:39:54 am

I know, I was quite surprised myself when I took stock of them all.

Reply
Phoebe @ Lou Messugo link
1/8/2015 01:15:09 pm

Lovely post. What a difference 3 (and then 4) years makes! It sounds like you've really integrated and settled in Milan, it'll be hard to leave...but so exciting too. Your view is somethign else! We can see snowy Alpine peaks from many parts of our village but not from our actual house. I'm very jealous. #myexpatfamily

Reply
Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/13/2015 05:41:12 am

I think it will be hard to leave, and I know I will always miss that view! We shall just have to find something suitable to replace it with :-)

Reply
Sara (@mumturnedmom) link
1/8/2015 03:40:30 pm

Love this, such a lovely way to look back on it all and record the changes in circumstance and viewpoint. Seven months, eek! Exciting times :) #myexpatfamily

Reply
Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork link
1/13/2015 05:41:55 am

Seven months, I know, EEEEEK!

Reply
Mum Reinvented link
1/10/2015 04:26:40 am

Love this! What a way you've come and it looks like you still have plenty of adventures on the horizon!

Reply
Louise link
3/23/2015 04:53:25 am

Wow that view from your flat is stunning. Amazing to read about how far you've come in the last four years and good luck with wherever your journey takes you when Mr P&P's contract ends.

Reply
Becky Brown link
3/24/2015 03:37:16 am

Fluent in Japanese - wow! So interesting to find out new facts about people! New adventures always seem daunting at first but it's amazing to look back every once in a while and see how far you've come. At the moment I'm on a major drive to learn French. I'm so tired of not being able to express myself how I want here in France. I know I'll be looking back in a few years telling myself not to worry it will come in time but for now it seems a long way off!

Reply
Polly Mixtures link
3/24/2015 09:01:35 am

Now you've only made me want to go back to Milan again! What an adventure you've had, and you're about to embark on another. How exciting! I can't wait to read about your new travels! #sharethejoy

Reply
Amanda link
3/25/2015 03:17:23 am

I love this post so much - what a long way you have indeed gone (come? Struggling to decide which is best/right in this sentence lol)

Reading this post reminds me of the small amount of time I spent travelling as a student (I studied German and Russian but also travelled to Switzerland and Italy for trips too). I have a real love of languages, but never spent enough time abroad to get really fluent and feel rather ashamed of my language skills these days! But, oh, to travel and immerse yourself in a new culture is such a challenging but wonderful experience, I envy you slightly!

That said, I also know I couldn't face raising a family away from home. I thought I might for a time, but health issues for myself and my husband have meant that now, more than ever, we value being close to family for support and are relocating back to my hometown to be even closer. The thought of moving away now is madness for us (even though I agree with you entirely on the downsides of being in the UK - cost of childcare, crazy educational system etc).

I'll be watching your blog with huge interest to find out what happens next :) xx

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Hello! I'm Eline, and I've recently moved to a new corner of the internet: 
    www.emmyandlien.com/
    ​
    Do come and say hello!

    Read more:
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013


    Hookin on Hump Day
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.