Authors: Harjot Kauldhar & Jaskaran Kauldhar
When we were 8 and 10 years old we came to Amelia, which is a small and quiet town in Italy.
In the beginning we didn’t understand anything about the culture; for example, we didn’t even speak Italian. But as of today we have been here for 8 years and we are involved in every part of life in Amelia.
Many of our habits have changed over the years.When we first arrived in Amelia we had dinner at 7:30 pm, but now we eat at 8:30 pm, like the Amerini.
We like Italian food a lot, so sometimes we go to the pizzeria to eat pizza. With some of our friends we go to bars to drink coffee and have breakfast. In the evening we often go to the park to play with friends. But, in the first years, we didn’t have many friends, so we spent our time at home.
When we started to go to school, we made friends with students who taught us to speak Italian and we started to go out with them. Sometimes we went to parties and got home at midnight and this wasn’t accepted by our parents.
Compared to the past, we have become very different people; now we feel like Amerini and we behave like them too. So now we are accepted by all of our friends.
Actually, I live in Narni, but, sometimes when I’m in Amelia with my friends, I feel like an Amerino and I feel very well with them.
Harjot, and I’m sure they like your company as well! 🙂
In the beginning it was difficult to integrate with other people because I didn’t understand Italian and I didn’t behave like them but now it is easy for me to integrate with other people and I have changed the way I think about many things.
Jaskaran, I hope Italians can learn from you as well! It goes both ways 🙂
I love reading stories of foreigners integrating and feeling at home in Italy…naturally I take it very personally being foreign myself! I find most Italians are very open to learning about other cultures and I think it’s so important for both natives and new citizens to learn from each other. What a boring world it would be if everyone acted and felt the same way!