Hi everyone,

I'm new in Parma (as the title says!), and just wanted to introduce myself to you all.

I'm 20 years old, and I moved here in October to be with my Italian girlfriend. At the moment I'm dealing with the craziness of bureaucracy, and trying to take life one day at a time here while I adjust. In the UK I was self-employed as a sound engineer (which unfortunately isn't a career with huge prospects nowadays), and so I'm currently starting from the bottom again searching for basic work.

If there's any expats in Parma it would be nice to speak on here, so far I haven't met any other expats.

Hope everyone's well!

Hi Chris , I've lived in Parma for over 20 years so I can certainly offer advice but I'm old enough to be your mother ! I'm more than willing to answer any question's you have . Good Luck

Hi Chris, welcome to here and to Parma.

HadEnough.. will look after you, and can be your mummy if you ask her nicely enough.

Hi to both of you and thanks for the welcome (it would seem I already have enough surrogate mothers, in the form of every female member of my girlfriends family! They try to pin me down and tie scarves around my neck at every slight breeze, and stuff me full of food at every opportunity)

Good to know there is someone else who is British here, do you know if there is a British community of some kind around Parma? I'm starting to feel settled here now, but I would love to make some British friends to go for a beer with if there is anyone around.

At the moment I'm dealing with the nightmares of comune, for months I've been struggling with residenza. To make the residenza, I needed to have around €6000 in an Italian account, but in every bank I visited I couldn't open it without a carta d'identità . It took until last week for me to sort this, I ended up going to Sant'Ilario where I was finally able to open an account. (Next phase is the tessera sanitaria / or assicurazione, but that's another fight)

Thanks again for the warm welcome!

Haha! Sounds like you're experiencing all that is wonderful about Italy both in the private and public sphere.

Good luck with everything, especially the job side, as the situation is pretty dire.
Do you have any (English) teaching qualifications?

..and put your scarf on!

There must be an expat community in Parma but to be honest the people I knew years ago have all moved on and I don't know any other expats here at the moment . Jobs are not easy to find unless you have qualifications , do you speak good italian ?

It's certainly been an experience so far Mark

Unfortunately I have no teaching qualifications, as I started working straight after school in music as an apprentice. At the moment my CV is highly specialised in one (mostly archaic) area of sound engineering, after working for years with a very experienced engineer in a dying field. I do have a small business qualification from the Prince's Trust, and the experience of running a business if that counts for anything.

I'm not afraid to start from the bottom with work. I came here with realistic expectations of the situation, and I'm not chasing an impossible dream. I hope through determination I'll be able to find my way here!

My understanding of Italian is good, I can follow the TV/newspapers and hold the essential conversations I've needed so far, and I feel like I'm learning quickly. Would you recommend I take courses to specialise in a career here (and also the language?)

Well that puts you ahead of plenty of expats ! the better you speak the language the wider your choice of jobs , I doubt there's much call for sound engineers but you never know , english language teaching might be a good start while you find you feet

I'll look into teaching, thanks for the suggestion. Is it something you've done yourself? I've seen there's a lot of language schools in the area.

Btw, is your water as hard as ours? We live central, and ours takes the name 'mineral water' to new levels

Yeah right .. basically how many of us started out!
Having an Italian girlfriend, you shouldn't have any problem in learning the language well..
Not having many academic qualifications may be an obstacle. I would strongly suggest you get a qualification in EFL teaching, if you feel it's what you could do, but of course it's up to you. I did mine in a month in Rome back in the day.

Again, at least having Italian 'family' connections could bode you well.
You will soon learn that nowhere else more than in Italy 'it's not what you know it's who you know..."

Thanks for the laugh and welcome to Italy and our happy little forum.

Can't help Parma wise though.

Like the ham but hate Parma Violets

Is there a specific course you'd recommend as the standard Mark? Did a quick bit of googling and found a lot of different courses with different certifications. I imagine the CELTA would be worthwhile?

That was also another thing I learned quickly here (with the bank fiasco) Now I'm more settled with the paperwork I can focus on making some more connections here.

Thanks a lot for the advice!

Thanks a lot Lorna I can tell you it took me by surprise the first time it was windy here, seeing everyone scarfed up at 10 degrees.

Also in agreement re Parma Violets, always tasted like soap to me! My dad loves 'em though. Also the drink of choice here is Lambrusco, should I be worried?

Oh yes, beware of the wind. It's deadly you know and causes allsorts of problems from "torcicollo" to stomach pains to bad indigestion and have you heard about the frightful "colpo d'aria"? That one is a favourite of us expats here on the forum.
Sweating is also not allowed, especially kids who play sports, get sweaty and then have to wrap up like mummies in case they get cold.
I hope you are wearing a vest under your shirts this winter, "la maglietta della salute !"