An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex ("out of") and patria ("country, fatherland").Yep, that's about to be us! We are so excited to begin our adventure as a family and experience a new culture. Officially, we will head to Italy on June 22nd, so the countdown is on! We'll return in June, 2013. So many people have asked if we think we'll stay there after our year is up... While we may fall in love with the country, we both know that we will greatly miss our family and friends! We have so much to learn in regards to language, transportation, lifestyle, etc. It's all a little bit overwhelming, but we are eager to get the experience started.
We'll be living northeast of Milan, most likely in Como or Saronno - in the Lombardy region. The Parker Hannifin plant where Cole will be working is in Veniano, which is a small town of about 3,500 people. Veniano serves as Parker's European headquarters. Here's a map of the three locations, Veniano is the middle marker:
View Italy
We have been fortunate enough to have the services of a relocation company, as well as a tutor in preparation for the trip. There has also been a company working with Cole to process his work visa and assisting us with all of the paperwork necessary to make the move. Overall, the paperwork has been a sticky process and I'm not sure we could have done it on our own - it's a bit overwhelming with multiple options for processing all of the paperwork and the Italian government has a reputation for being kind of confusing to work with.
2012 has already been a whirlwind, after welcoming our sweet baby girl on March 7th, we're now preparing to depart! I've said it before... but this year I am really hoping to regularly update this blog with updates about Eva and Italy! There will be so much to see and do - our year as expats will fly by! Cole is staying in Saronno this week, house hunting and meeting his new coworkers. Hopefully we'll have photos to share of our new "home" soon...
So exciting! I can't wait to hear more... we will vicariously live through your adventures since ours ended us in a pretty uneventful (not complaining!) place.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how hard it is to prepare for a move like that. We've moved all over the country but not to another country...it's tough I'm sure. And now with a baby in tow, good luck!!! However, it's also so exciting! I wish you all the best in your journey as a family of 3! I know you're gonna have so much fun and many adventures!
ReplyDeleteWe are so excited for you...can't believe it's so close to "moving" time. We are going to miss you guys, but are EXCITED to hear about your adventures. Like Cindy...we'll just live vicariously thru you guys!!
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