This is the story of a young Italian couple who live in Eindhoven and have found their fulfillment.
Barbara is 29 years old, she was born in a nice little village named Amarnath, in the province of Catanzaro, but basically it is citizen of the world. At the age of 18 she flew to London, for a summer work experience, and almost didn't want to return. She went to the University in Milan and then to Padua, to finish her final year in Grenoble, in the French Alps. Not satisfied, pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher, she moved to Algiers for a year, in an Italian school.
A radical choice
Upon her return she married Ertil, whom she met in Milan, who had been waiting patiently for her all the time, and began teaching in Padua and Vicenza. After about 2 years, in September 2016, they left everything: the rented apartment and the respective works. They sold the furniture, packed the suitcase and with a one-way ticket to Amsterdam greeted Italy, looking for new job and life opportunities. This is another aspect of Italians abroad: a decision matured, yes, but almost obliged by the delusional work rhythms that characterize our country, with few expectations of growth to which are added the scarce satisfactions and economic certainties.
In Holland things look different. After the first weeks spent in a hostel, sending curricula and becoming familiar with the new city, Ertil, who worked as a computer scientist in Italy, is hired on a permanent basis to take care of the site of a large real estate company based in Eindhoven. Barbara starts taking a Dutch course and working in an Italian restaurant. But soon she has to stop because she discovers she is pregnant with Ilirian, born last August.
Italians living in Eindhoven
Today they all live in Eindhoven, certainly a quieter city than Amsterdam, where they bought a house. Barbara is a true source of resources. He works as a language teacher in a democratic school (DOE), where he organizes creative workshops (in the photo below the boys are preparing pizza). In addition, twice a week, he teaches Italian to the bilingual children of a family association in Amsterdam.
An all-Italian dream
Do you do it mostly from experience, your dream? Establish a similar association in Eindhoven, to give a point of reference to all Italians living in Eindhoven. To fill the nostalgia of thatItalianness that binds us and that we feel the need to recreate in each corner of the world. Perhaps this is the real secret of ours great spirit of adaptation.
And, who knows, maybe in a few years they could decide to return to Italy!
