Discover my adventures as a Canadian living abroad in Italy! From navigating Italian bureaucracy to mastering everyday life, this has been my journey so far.
Hi, it’s me! Your friendly neighbourhood Canadian living abroad.
I’m currently in Milan, adjusting after my first full week here (I arrived last Friday night, and it’s now early afternoon on a Friday one week later), and things are different. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting—honestly, I think I was anticipating it to be a lot worse and a lot more lonely living alone, but I’m really enjoying it.
But before I talk about life here and now, let me start from my arrival in August.
A Canadian Living Abroad: Returning to Familiar Grounds
Coming back to Italy was effortless. Well, minus the fact that this time, I arrived with three overweight pieces of luggage, an extremely heavy carry-on, and a personal item that was definitely wider than the specified limits in every single possible dimension. I entered Lamezia airport only to find that the luggage carts were all gone, and I had to push all of this on my own from baggage claim through customs and out the door to my cousin Vittoria, who was waiting for me…and, in typical Emily fashion, I tripped over my luggage and fell flat on my face as soon as I was in the most public area of the airport. But this wasn’t even that surprising to me, to be honest, and we burst out laughing (which made everyone eye us awkwardly).
When we finally got everything into the car and set off to go home, I felt like I had never left the country. It was as if I had taken an extended vacation in Canada—but not that I had been gone for ten months. Vittoria and I quickly fell into conversation, and she filled me in on everything new that I needed to know before arriving in town, and just like that, I was ready to figure out the next 13 months of my life.
Navigating Bureaucracy
While some things threw me for a tailspin and were not on my Summer 2024 bingo card, what I was anticipating 100% was being absolutely screwed over by Italian bureaucracy. I think this is common knowledge that I thought I was absolutely prepared for; however, it was more difficult than I anticipated, stressing me out.
Our first venture had us going to one office to state permanent residence (I’m officially a permanent resident now!!), then to another office where I would supposedly be able to start my citizenship. Fun fact: they rejected my request for a visa on the spot, not even hearing me out or listening to my explanation, just a straight, “No, you have to go back home in 90 days.” However, once they heard I had a claim to citizenship through jure sanguinis, they suggested I get started on that.
Now, I’m in the midst of getting the last of my papers and documents apostilled, so I can get them translated and have my citizenship application filed immediately. Then, I wait!
If you plan on doing the chaotic Emily Version for yourself, come with all your required documents already apostilled in Toronto. You can pay around $50 CAD per page to have everything translated by an official translator in Canada or you can do what I’m doing and have someone do it here for cheaper (and I’m working with them to translate the documents to save money).
Keep in mind that once you arrive, you have to claim permanent residence in Italy and, even if you submit everything on the day that you arrive, you might have to wait up to 180 days for the citizenship to go through—AKA, when you go in and swear yourself in as a citizen. Once you have this, you can apply for your ID and Italian passport. However, beyond 90 days, you must apply for permesso di soggiorno status (which is easy if you’re awaiting citizenship) and not leave the country.
Daily Life and Adapting
When it comes to daily life here in Italy, I think it’s easy. I’m also on a work sabbatical so that definitely contributes to the fact that I’m relatively stress-free (at the moment, at least).
Every day, I like to go to the grocery store and pick up something to eat for the day, and I’ve been cooking like a fiend. I didn’t cook in August, but I feel like that’s all I’ve been doing this month. When I moved to Vittoria’s condo in September, I spent the morning puttering around while she was at work, cooking, reading, and writing until she came home. Then, we’d visit friends, go to the beach, or run errands. Many of our evenings were spent trying to figure out where the sun was setting, as there is this gorgeous annual lining up of the sunset into the mouth of the volcano Stromboli, but every time we went to look, it was slightly off-centre.
All in all, while things felt so familiar and we were doing a lot of the same things that I love doing, there was an added sense of making myself more at home; after all, I’m here for a long time, and there’s no thought about having to catch a plane back to the other side of the world any time soon.
It feels less familiar after coming to Milan last week and being on my own, though. I'm a little bit more lonely and isolated, but I manage, and every day gets easier!
Language Skills and Communication
For one, my Italian is improving. I’m using Google Translate less and less, and now I can text my friends relatively comfortably (probably scattered with grammatical errors, but it is what it is). Sometimes, I even send voice notes to them, and I don’t get drowned in anxiety when one of them sends me a voice note in Italian either—albeit, I have to listen to it at x1 speed, rather than the x2 speed I listen to English voice notes.
Admittedly, I go through self-checkout at the grocery store, and if I pop into a place to eat that has self-order kiosks, I use those to avoid human interaction and stuttering over my words (but I use the machines in Italian, if that counts for anything, even if there’s an English option). Eventually, I’ll get there. I’m trying slowly, and the more comfortable I am, the more I’m putting myself out there and speaking with people, squashing down the self-consciousness of my accent or fumbling over grammar, vocabulary and conjugations.
Culinary Adventures
Is this the most critical update? Probably, let’s be honest.
While I’ve been cooking so much every day, likely a semi-subconscious way of distracting myself from loneliness, I’ve come up with some good recipes. It’s easy to buy so many beautiful fruits and vegetables and to find snack foods that look and taste incredible when you’re wandering not just the little grocery stores here, but also street markets and vendors you come across while on walks.
This week, I made an eggplant and oregano cream sauce for my pasta, which was divine. I also made chickpeas with spinach and local cheese and took that same spinach and cheese mix to make little savoury pastries. One night, I decided to cook over two litres of soup with all of the vegetables I had on hand, which was delicious. I also made pipi e patati—sweet peppers and potatoes cooked in oil because I was really missing Calabria that night—and ate it with fresh bread and some ricotta cheese.
In addition to cooking up a storm, I’ve been lazy some days and have eaten out, too. Before I arrived last week from Calabria, we went out for pizza a few times, and I got a calzone too, as I’m currently on the hunt for the PERFECT pizza. While I have yet to find a 10/10 yet, I’ve come pretty close, and I’m feeling hopeful. I even made an Instagram account just to post about these pizze and my thoughts about them (hahaha).
Travel Plans and Adventures
The week after next, I’ll be heading to the United Kingdom to visit my friends, one of whom I haven’t seen since before the pandemic (who has since moved to another part of England) and another that I technically have never met in person! I’m so excited to explore the country again, especially in these new areas of England. Potentially, there might be an impromptu trip to Scotland if we can squeeze it in there, but that’s unofficial and still to be determined.
Afterward, I’m back in Milan for a night before heading to Malta, where I’ll meet my mom! I’m so excited to see her and to visit Malta with her again, and especially that she’s coming back to Milan with me for a week and I can show her (some of) Italy.
After she leaves, it will be another month alone in Milan before I fly back to the south for a month for Christmas. I’m actually so excited to spend this Christmas here in Italy!
All in All
I did my best to start this adventure with little to no expectations so that I could more easily go with the flow and adjust to things in whatever direction they decided to go. This has been an incredible experience so far; I’ve integrated better than I thought I might have, have been speaking better Italian at this point in time than I imagined I would be, and have been discovering parts of the city on my own much more than I thought I might be brave enough to go out and see.
I’m so excited for everything that’s to come and to continue exploring this beautiful country (and continent).
Your stay in Italy looks quite an exciting one inspite of the bureaucratic hassles. And embarking on a cooking adventure with preparation of different recipes is adventurous indeed. And you get to visit beautiful places is a bonus. The eggplant oregano cream sauce pasta and spinach and cheese pastry sounds yummy!
oh wow, this whole experience my be fascinating! I can't wait to do the same to be honest. Maybe Italy or maybe Spain, we're not 100% certain yet but we can't can't wait. Your experience is extremely helpful and very inspiring, thank you so much.
cant wait o have the chance to travel the world and live wherever I want. You are currently living the life. Everything will fall in place soon.