Go Back  British Expats > Living & Moving Abroad > Europe > Italy
Reload this Page >

Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Old Mar 29th 2017, 5:02 pm
  #1  
Just Joined
Thread Starter
 
Pedemontium's Avatar
 
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 13
Pedemontium is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Just a general question. Does Italy make you feel "welcome" as a Brit living there?

What attitudes do you find in general with local people?

Do you find "acceptance"?

Any input appreciated.

*This assumes that some effort has been made to learn the language and adapt.
Pedemontium is offline  
Old Mar 29th 2017, 6:49 pm
  #2  
BE Forum Addict
 
philat98's Avatar
 
Joined: Nov 2011
Location: Central Italy
Posts: 3,617
philat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

In our village they are not very keen on strangers whether they come from 100km or 1000km away. I've never noticed anything anti English about it. Added to that locals have a strong dialect so conversations can be hard going. An engineer from Milan who moved to the village told me that he found the local dialect difficult to grasp when he first arrived. Probably its like a move from Slough to Clydebank.
philat98 is offline  
Old Mar 29th 2017, 8:34 pm
  #3  
BE Forum Addict
 
Joined: Oct 2016
Location: Ex Teramo, Abruzzo
Posts: 1,212
Geordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond repute
Smile Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Very welcome in every place we have been...
Geordieborn is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 3:50 am
  #4  
Just Joined
Thread Starter
 
Pedemontium's Avatar
 
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 13
Pedemontium is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Originally Posted by philat98
In our village they are not very keen on strangers whether they come from 100km or 1000km away. I've never noticed anything anti English about it. Added to that locals have a strong dialect so conversations can be hard going. An engineer from Milan who moved to the village told me that he found the local dialect difficult to grasp when he first arrived. Probably its like a move from Slough to Clydebank.
Interesting, thanks.
Pedemontium is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 5:41 am
  #5  
BE Enthusiast
 
Sancho's Avatar
 
Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Here
Posts: 680
Sancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to allSancho is a name known to all
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

After about 30 years here I feel far more welcome and at home in Italy than back in the UK.

Last edited by Sancho; Mar 30th 2017 at 5:58 am.
Sancho is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 6:44 am
  #6  
BE Forum Addict
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 2,508
modicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond reputemodicasa has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

undoubtedly more so than for a sicilian to feel welcome in bergamo.
modicasa is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 8:22 am
  #7  
BE Forum Addict
 
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Disneylandia
Posts: 1,824
ononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond reputeononno has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

I am totally accepted as part of the community where I live. Maybe because I can speak the Neapolitan dialect, and have a large family on my wife's side, and childten born and bred here.
ononno is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 2:29 pm
  #8  
Just Joined
Thread Starter
 
Pedemontium's Avatar
 
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 13
Pedemontium is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Originally Posted by Sancho
After about 30 years here I feel far more welcome and at home in Italy than back in the UK.
Nice. I don't think we'd "fit in" there any more. Too long gone, too much has changed. I feel like a Bedouin...
Pedemontium is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 5:34 pm
  #9  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Sep 2013
Location: mid-Wales and Umbria
Posts: 91
fliss59 is a jewel in the roughfliss59 is a jewel in the roughfliss59 is a jewel in the roughfliss59 is a jewel in the rough
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

We bought a house in Umbria last year in a small hamlet where most people are Italian full time residents or Italian second home owners. They have all been fantastic - so welcoming and friendly. We've been in for coffee and to watch football, had presents of salad, veg and eggs. When we arrived in February our neighbour had bought us a bunch of roses and gave us some wood and a bed warmer. And they put up with our sketchy Italian. We are moving out permanently in a few weeks and can't wait to be back in that lovely community.
fliss59 is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 8:07 pm
  #10  
Just Joined
Thread Starter
 
Pedemontium's Avatar
 
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 13
Pedemontium is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Originally Posted by fliss59
We bought a house in Umbria last year in a small hamlet where most people are Italian full time residents or Italian second home owners. They have all been fantastic - so welcoming and friendly. We've been in for coffee and to watch football, had presents of salad, veg and eggs. When we arrived in February our neighbour had bought us a bunch of roses and gave us some wood and a bed warmer. And they put up with our sketchy Italian. We are moving out permanently in a few weeks and can't wait to be back in that lovely community.
That's what I'd hope for. But not really expect it. It'd be a bonus.
Pedemontium is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 8:58 pm
  #11  
BE Forum Addict
 
Joined: Oct 2016
Location: Ex Teramo, Abruzzo
Posts: 1,212
Geordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Originally Posted by fliss59
We bought a house in Umbria last year in a small hamlet where most people are Italian full time residents or Italian second home owners. They have all been fantastic - so welcoming and friendly. We've been in for coffee and to watch football, had presents of salad, veg and eggs. When we arrived in February our neighbour had bought us a bunch of roses and gave us some wood and a bed warmer. And they put up with our sketchy Italian. We are moving out permanently in a few weeks and can't wait to be back in that lovely community.
From what we've experienced and read from others this is 99.9% the norm...
Geordieborn is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 9:24 pm
  #12  
Forum Regular
 
MrsTeapot's Avatar
 
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 206
MrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond reputeMrsTeapot has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Originally Posted by philat98
In our village they are not very keen on strangers whether they come from 100km or 1000km away. I've never noticed anything anti English about it. Added to that locals have a strong dialect so conversations can be hard going. An engineer from Milan who moved to the village told me that he found the local dialect difficult to grasp when he first arrived. Probably its like a move from Slough to Clydebank.

Blimey, that's a shocker. Thanks for your honesty. Is it a lottery then as to where you live and how they feel about strangers?
MrsTeapot is offline  
Old Mar 30th 2017, 9:41 pm
  #13  
BE Forum Addict
 
Joined: Oct 2016
Location: Ex Teramo, Abruzzo
Posts: 1,212
Geordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond reputeGeordieborn has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Originally Posted by philat98
I... Probably its like a move from Slough to Clydebank.
Doubt if anyone south of Newcastle would be welcome too much in Clydebank
Geordieborn is offline  
Old Mar 31st 2017, 5:43 am
  #14  
Just Joined
 
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 4
nellybot is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

More than I ever could have imagined. I'm treated like a VIP in my little town, where even people from the next village over are considered suspicious.
nellybot is offline  
Old Mar 31st 2017, 7:40 am
  #15  
BE Forum Addict
 
philat98's Avatar
 
Joined: Nov 2011
Location: Central Italy
Posts: 3,617
philat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond reputephilat98 has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Do you feel "welcome" in Italy?

Originally Posted by Geordieborn
Doubt if anyone south of Newcastle would be welcome too much in Clydebank
I didn't mean that Glaswegians were unfriendly. I was thinking of the difficulty in understanding them.
Our village had a foreigners welcome day last year. There were displays of Albian and Romanian dancing and music but when the Rai camera showed the crowd there were no locals to be seen anywhere!

Last edited by philat98; Mar 31st 2017 at 8:31 am.
philat98 is offline  

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.