Each month we introduce you to someone who has made the dream of picking up and moving to the Bel Paese a reality. In their own words they share the good parts, the bad parts and the just plain absurd moments of day-to-day life in Italy.
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Roberta Kedzierski, translator, market researcher, editor, journalist. Has been in Italy since 1987.
Currently living in: Milan, while spending as much time in Florence as possible. Luckily, I can work anywhere. Have iBook, can travel.
By way of: Leicester (England), Canterbury (England), London (England), New York (New York), London (England)
How (or why) did you get here from there?
My mother was Italian and I actually spoke Italian before learning English! Unable to study Italian at school, I graduated in French from the University of Kent (which explains Canterbury, see above). Told there were no jobs using languages, I got one — in a Tourist Information Centre in London, answering visitors’ questions in the language in which they asked them. I then moved into marketing for tourism, before getting into marketing for higher education. Had almost given up hope of using my languages actively when I met someone in Milan who was a translator, and he suggested I come out and join him in setting up a business. Which I did. After a while, I started doing market research — interviewing in Italian and writing in English — and from there I started writing for trade magazines. I do all three right now, with some editing also. I also contribute articles on cross-cultural issues to publications such as HelloMilano. http://portal.hellomilano.it
Your biggest challenge:
Dealing with what Italy is today, as opposed to what it was while my mother lived here, and then what it was in her imaginings while my sister and I were children. Let’s just say Leicester did not exactly do it for her.
What did you do to feel at home or adapt here?
It may sound crazy, but I joined an English-speaking women’s organization in Milan. Through the PWA, I met a lot of women who had had, or were having, similar experiences to mine. Knowing that I was not the only one who found certain things frustrating or hard to deal with, helped me realise that it was not me who was especially peculiar or particularly intolerant, or whatever.
What do you still have to get used to/learn?
I have been here a long time, so it is hard to think of anything I have not got used to, and still will. Noise is one that remains a bugbear. Particularly road noise. Interestingly, the Italians have now started to notice it as well.
Compare an aspect (or aspects) of your home town (or other place you’ve lived) to current town.
Milan vs. London? Where do I start? Milan is so compact you can get to see a client on the tram, and get back again on one ticket. In London, it would take you hours to get there, and it would cost a fortune! OK so the ticket prices in Milan are about to go up, but nowhere near London prices. Milan is built as concentric circles with arteries cutting through. Even someone like me, who has no sense of direction, can find her way. London is all over the place. (New York is the other city where I always know where I am going.) Milan is one-third the price of London, so a visit to the Smoke is always heart-attack inducing. Lots of fun, but severe damage to the credit cards is guaranteed! Milan: the food is great and the coffee is sensational. I don’t care what anyone says, the same is not true of London. And so on and so forth. Plus Milan is closer to Florence than is London. London does have a river, though, and lots of beautiful parks.
Latest pursuits:
Looking to explore more writing opportunities, see what else I can do. I am quite interested in screen-writing and/or doing more reporting in the health field. As you can see, I am keeping my options open.
A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is not true:
That the weather would be wonderful or, in any event, that — compared to what I was used to in the UK — I would never complain about it again. Fact is, blue sky, sun, and light become the norm, before you even realise it. So when it starts raining, you complain as loudly as the Italians do.
A preconceived notion about Italians/Italy that is true:
That the TV is not only as bad as you think it is, but it’s actually worse than you can imagine. And there is so much of it.
Your response/advice/warning to the following question: “I love Italy! I really want to live here, even though I don’t speak Italian or have a job.”
Don’t expect an easy ride. Know that unless you have a skill that you can exploit — and you may discover it while you are here — work is hard to find. Learn the language. And, if you decide after a while that you prefer this place as a holiday location, that’s OK too.
How would you sum up your Italian experience in a word (and why)?
Interesting. It has taught me a lot about myself, about my mother’s experience as a woman undergoing what would these days be called a cross-cultural experience; it has helped me develop my language skills, proved to me that I can do a lot more professionally than I ever imagined possible, and — best of all — continues to stimulate me.
Italy’s best kept secret
The sheer wealth of beauty. It’s like the opposite of Italian telly: so many places are more beautiful than you ever imagined possible, and there are so many of them.
