ballerina

oh great! the length of my staying here depends on there being half decent places to go out in the evenings!without having to drive all the way to sarzana or viareggio -could never understand getting in a car to drive to another city just for a drink, which is waht my oh and his mates all do!

lisajhb

well sorry, but as you have already gathered, theres not a nightlife scene here. However dont knock it. You should have seen spezia 10 yeasr ago when i first got here. Its really lively now compared. Dont laugh its true!

jenninitaly

Wow, we should all meet up the next time I am there..my bf lives in Lerici. I am supposed to meeting Sands at some point, so we should all meet up.

I might be coming over some time in July...

Jennifer

lisajhb

lerici is lovely. it gets really heaving in the summer though. however it is a lovely place. i would love to meet up but i dont think i will be around then. we are heading back to the uk!

jenninitaly

Hi again everyone. I am sorry I haven't been on for quite some time, but SO MUCH has happened since I started this thread.

In July, I was supposed to come to Italy for a week's holiday to see Andrea. The day I was supposed to fly out, I went into an NHS hospital with 40 degree fever and a terrible kidney infection which turned into sepsis (blood poisoning and a 1/3 of the people who get it die). The first day in the hospital, I went into cardiac arrest due to the sepsis (I am 35 and have never ever been severely ill or in hospital my entire life). Andrea flew to be by my side. He stayed for 5 weeks and helped me to recover. During that time, he searched for a job in Scotland, found one and moved over and in with me in September.

I wish I could tell you that the above story had a happy ending. For the Christmas holidays, we were to fly to Mississippi and spend them with my family. He was supposed to come 1 week after me as I was there for 3 weeks. He never flew over and kept telling me each day that he would book his tickets the "next day". Finally a week before I was to fly back to Edinburgh, he told me that he could not get excited about visiting no matter how he tried. I understood that a lot had happened in a short space of time and meeting my family might have been that bit too much pressure. So, I told him he should go to Italy and spend Christmas with his family and that we would see each other the following week. He broke up with me on Boxing day - saying that he wasn't ready to be as serious as we were and that it was not the right time in his life as he was trying to get established in his career. It was a real blow to come back to Edinburgh and find that his things had been moved out. It has now been almost a month and I have finally started to see the positives - one being that even if we weren't right for each other, he was there for me in a time when I needed someone the most as I was so very near death in a foreign country away from my family - I still thank God most days for this.

I have just applied for UK citizenship as I have lived here since 2002. I am also finishing an international MBA in May of this year. I have been thinking about the fact that I may return to the US one day (although in no real hurry), but before that I would like the experience of living in another EU country and to learn another language. My thoughts keep landing on Italy as I fell in love with it last year on the many trips over. It most certainly is not a good time to be job searching anywhere, but I am starting to search with some of the multinationals like GE in Florence and the UN in Rome (I have 2 friends who work for the UN but not in Rome and am hoping that they can help somehow). Are there any other multinationals that I should target with the provision that English is spoken on teams and in offices? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am determined that 2009 will be a great year for me! Here's wishing the same to everyone else, ).

Jennifer

TestaRossa

I'll be honest I went from gobsmacked to sad. So much in such a short time!! Maybe he will be back in touch one day.... Seeing someone you care about in a near death situation may just have been too much like you say. It isn't quite Feb yet, he may contact you in time.

One thing I do know, unfortunately, is that GE aren't recruiting at the moment. I have a friend in HR who has just moved back to the UK, so it is pretty much from the horse's mouth. Everyone is putting things on hold at the moment. I wish you luck with your job search but I wouldn't get too hopeful.

Take care!

jenninitaly

Hi TestaRosa,

Thanks so much for the kind words. We have talked from time to time, but it's been me making the initial contact and I have finally given up on that as it upsets me that he does not seem interested anymore. I have let him go and do not contact him anymore as I did the first 10 days. Sigh.

Yes, I was afraid of that on the job search. I work for one of the divisions of BT and we landed a few contracts in Italy last year, so maybe that is a possible avenue although it will take some time. Looks like it will take time regardless.

Thank you for the info regarding GE - shame I did not try this sooner but everything kind of went pear shaped when I fell ill. Good news is that I am finally recovered and I guess being thankful for that is enough these days.

Lorna at Vicenza

I sincerely hope 2009 will be a great year for you too and glad that you are fully recovered from your illness.

All the best.

jenninitaly

Thanks so much Lorna - . I am off to Venice next weekend as I had bought the trip back in November for his birthday. I am going anyway, although alone. should be a good start to the year, .

Lorna at Vicenza

Just for the weekend ? If you're staying longer I might come down on the train if you like. Haven't been to Venice for ages

jenninitaly

Hi Lorna

Yes, it's only for the weekend I arrive Friday evening and leave Monday afternoon. If you are free, it would be great to catch up. I am staying at a hotel near the train station so easy to meet if you are heading over that way.

Please PM if so ) and we can plan a meet up ))

Jennifer