I moved to Europe as an ESL Teacher almost 9 years ago now. It’s been 7 years since I moved to Italy, what lessons has this country taught me? While it has been the biggest decade of personal and professional growth in my adult life, this has taken place in a country that is not my own. That itself comes with its ups and downs, as does being in your 20s, but looking back at this time I think it’s important to point out some of the lessons Italy has taught me. Surely, Italy has taught me how to make wine, how to be a business owner, and a stone mason, but what about the bigger picture? When I am missing my home country of Canada, I like to try to focus on the things I might have never learned if I hadn’t moved to Italy. 

Simplicity is key No matter where you are in Italy, you will be blown away by how simple things seem, I was at least, especially with food. As a North American coming to Italy I thought of Italian food as fancy, and complicated. In reality, the more you eat here the more you find it is all about simplicity. All the most famous pastas are basically three ingredients. While having so many different pasta types might seem complicated, they are only the structure of pasta, and usually the sauces are extremely basic. Made better with local ingredients in typical ways, Italians really have a way of showcasing the main ingredient and making something rather simple feel special. I really do believe that here in Italy simplicity is key: the main dish is usually without sides, a wine list quite uncomplicated, the daily way of life simply less chaotic. 

Eat where the food comes from, this also goes with the idea of simplicity – no place will have all the dishes from allover Italy, it will have the dishes which come from its region, with the ingredients that are important to them. If you find something you like on your travels in Italy, eat it where you find it, the likelihood of you finding it (especially the same way) when you move away from that region is very slight. That is like basically saying don’t take anything for granted, and don’t expect anything as a constant – two very good lessons. Here in Italy, regions are extremely different in what they eat and drink. While pizza, pasta, and wine might always be a constant, the types of pasta, how the pizza is made, and wines might be no where to be seen in the next town over. A few kilometres and everything could be different on your menu, your wine list, even the art and artisanal products you see, so enjoy it where you can. 

Slow down and enjoy the wine. This was something I really struggled with when I moved to Italy. Why is everyone able to have beer or wine with lunch and then go back to work? I’m not sure if I wasn’t old enough when I left Canada to have the maturity do so, or if it wasn’t what was socially acceptable, but here having wine with a meal is pretty much expected. Taking a break for a glass of wine in the morning, almost encouraged in certain places. The ability to release drinking alcohol from getting drunk is something Italy has taught me in an extreme way. The idea of taking a break, slowing down (with a drink or a walk or whatever feels right) and allowing yourself to do so, that is what this way of life is all about. 

Think seasonally (about everything). Just like the wine in the cellar, rest in the winter, get ready in the spring, and stay active all summer. This might be a random way of looking at things, but this idea really resonates with me (maybe because I am indeed making the wine). I make wine after the heat of the growing season, with a sort of panic or intensity throughout fall, the wines sit and rest and wait for you all winter, to then be manipulated and worked into bottle. The season begins again, just like spring, the now bottled wine starts a whole new life in the summer. After being put in bottle comes the excitement to start it all again, to enjoy your time in the warm summer months, stay active, stay present, stay caring (for all your plants and the people you love- we all need extra water), and prepare for what life has to throw at us again in fall. Eating in Italy is extremely seasonally specific, with many festivals for wine and foods representing the end or beginning of growing seasons. Besides cravings, the earth and its cycles know what you need in many ways and Italy has taught me to embrace that, and not fight against Mother Natures cycles. 

The road is two ways no matter how narrow. And hey, stop signs are merely a suggestion. Many roads seem narrower than I would ever want to drive down, but have no fear – they are most likely two ways! You will be shocked when travelling Italy at the size of the roads, the windiness, and the speed that people drive with. This idea can be taken in a philosophical sense; you can always go down that road, there is always a way! But in actuality, while you are travelling in Italy try not to let the aggressive Italian driving scare you, do what you feel comfortable with, but go with the flow. Fiat rage is a thing, highways have a speed limit of 130km/hr but everyone seems to go much faster (a flash of someones lights behind you means they don’t want to slow down and you should move over). But when you roll into many Italian towns, you will find yourself with winding narrow streets, they are probably two ways. You just have to be careful because someone might come and you’ll have to reverse, letting them pass before you return back to your path, and if that’s not a metaphor for life I don’t know what is. 

Italy has taught me so many more things than this, but as I look back on the last year and long for North America I think it is important to find value in the little things about the place that you live. It’s important for me to look for practical and philosophical lessons everyday. Be careful on Italian roads, but also take a beat when you stop driving and slow down with wine, seasonal and regional food, and enjoy the simplicity that every region values.