Living and Working in Italy
David Hampshire
Living and Working in Italy, first published in 2001 and now in its 3rd edition, is the most comprehensive book available about daily life – and is essential reading for newcomers. What’s it really like Living and Working in Italy? Not surprisingly there’s a lot more to life than soccer, spaghetti and scooters! This book is guaranteed to hasten your introduction to the Italian way of life, irrespective of whether you’re planning to stay for a few months or indefinitely. Adjusting to la dolce vita just got a whole lot simpler!
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Other guides for Italy
Extracts from the book…
Finding Help
One of the most important tasks facing new arrivals in Italy is how and where to obtain help with essential everyday tasks such as buying a car and obtaining medical help and insurance. This book was written in response to this need. However, in addition to the comprehensive general information provided here, you will require detailed local information. How successful you are at finding this depends on your employer (if applicable), the town or area where you live (those who live in major cities are usually better served than those who inhabit small towns), your nationality, Italian proficiency and sex (women are usually better served than men, through numerous women’s clubs). There’s an abundance of information available in Italian, but little in English and other foreign languages. For example, bookshops may have some interesting publications about the local region, and tourist and information offices are also useful sources of information.
An additional problem is that much of the available information isn’t intended for foreigners and their particular needs. Some companies may have a department or staff whose job is to help new arrivals settle in, or they may contract this task out to a relocation company.
Unfortunately, many employers in Italy seem totally unaware of (or uninterested in) the integration problems faced by foreign employees, though some businesses (particularly multi-national companies) produce booklets and leaflets containing useful information about clubs or activities in the area.
You may find that other expatriates and work colleagues will offer advice based on their own experiences and mistakes. But take care! Although they mean well, you’re likely to receive conflicting advice or information that’s irrelevant to your particular situation. Your local community is usually an excellent source of reliable information, but you need to speak Italian to benefit from it.
If a woman lives in or near a major town, she is able to turn to many English-speaking women’s clubs and organisations for help. The single foreign male must usually fend for himself, although there are men’s expatriate clubs in some areas and mixed social clubs throughout the country. Among the best sources of information and help for women are the American Women’s Clubs (AWC) located in major cities. AWC provide comprehensive information in English about both local matters and topics of more general interest, and many provide data sheets, booklets and orientation programmes for newcomers to the area. Membership of the organisations is sometimes limited to Americans or those with active links to the US, e.g. through study, work or a spouse who works for a US company or the US government, but most publications and orientation programmes are available to others for a small fee. AWCs are part of the Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas (FAWCO), which can be contacted through its website (www.fawco.org).
There are many other social clubs and expatriate organisations for foreigners in Italy, whose members can help you find your way around. They may, however, be difficult to locate, as most clubs are run by volunteers and operate out of the president’s or secretary’s house, and they rarely bother to advertise or take out a phone listing. If you ask around among your neighbours or colleagues, it’s possible to find various Anglo-Italian ‘friendship’ clubs or English-speaking organisations. Finally, don’t forget to check the internet, where local newspapers, government offices, clubs and organisations often have websites and there are expatriate sites with useful message boards or forums (see Appendix C). Contacts can also be found through expatriate magazines and newspapers such as Wanted in Rome and The Informer (Milan), an Internet magazine (see Appendix B for a list).
Most embassies and consulates in Italy can provide their nationals with local information, including the names of lawyers, interpreters, doctors, dentists, schools, and social and expatriate organisations.
Public Transport
The standard of public transport (mezzi pubblici) services in Italy can best be described as mixed; at its best it can be excellent, but sometimes it’s simply dire. Like many other aspects of Italian life, it’s marked by excessive complication and a lack of co-operation and co-ordination – between companies, regions and modes of transport. The railway system in particular reflects two other aspects of the Italian character: on the one hand the zest for speed, manifested in the super-fast ETR trains (the equivalent of France’s TGV), and on the other hand the easygoing, unhurried approach to life, as depicted by local trains. There’s a huge difference between services in (and connecting) the major cities and those in rural areas. Most cities have an efficient, inexpensive and reliable transport system, consisting of underground trains or trams in some cities, buses and suburban trains.
However, in rural areas you’re dependent on a few, generally very slow buses, and services vary from infrequent to non-existent on Sundays and holidays. If you’re going to be living in a rural area, you’ll almost certainly need your own transport. On the positive side, most forms of public transport in Italy are good value.
All modes of public transport are susceptible to strikes, although they’ve been less frequent in recent years. Strikes are usually short, lasting 12 or 24 hours only, but they can be extremely disruptive as it takes a long time for services to return to normal. The problem for foreigners is knowing when strikes are about to take place. If you don’t have Italian friends, who complain vociferously about the latest sciopero (strike), or watch the TV news avidly, they can easily catch you unawares.
Long journeys often require planning, particularly in the high season. As far as holidays are concerned, Italians are creatures of habit, and almost all inhabitants of the major cities take their holidays in August. Consequently, long-distance public transport is in great demand, and booking months in advance is recommended.
A wealth of information about travelling to and within Italy is available on the internet from a multitude of websites, including www.initaly.com, www.itwg.com, www.italytour.com and www.informare.it, a website devoted to transportation. Most cities and regions also have websites dedicated to them such as www.romeguide.it, www.florence.ala.it and www.doge.it (Venice).
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PRICE: £14.95
PUBLICATION: August 2007
EDITION: 3rd
PAGES: 476
BINDING: paperback
FORMAT: A5 (210mm x 148mm)
COLOUR PHOTOS: 40+
