Elisa RuggieriMove to Italy. You are thinkign about it but you have no idea how life in Italy may be. Here’s an interview to someone who has done it and is happy with her decision.
As you may know my blog talks about travel with extended family and expat life, however, I wanted to also include a section about moving to and life in Italy as you are reading this blog in English this may interest you more than living abroad for example.
Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Ceren Avar on my blog. I ‘met’ Ceren on Instagram where she posts beautiful pictures of Venice and after following each other for some time, we decided to collaborate for this interview.
Ceren is Turkish and she moved to Italy to attend a Master program. I interviewed her asking about how life in Venice is as a foreigner, what challenges she had to face and what she likes most about this experience.
Read on if you are thinking of moving to Italy or if you dreamt about all your life.
While in Italy, Ceren decided to open a blog where she writes about life in Italy and specifically in Venice and she also has a YouTube channel. Have a look!
Move to Italy: Ceren’s experience of living in Venice
Why did you decide to move to Italy? Why did you choose Italy to study and live in?
I always loved Italy so much. My passion for Italy started 8 years ago. After watching a movie called “Letters to Juliet”, I decided to travel to Italy one day. As a result of my interest in art and history, I chose Florence as the first city to discover in Italy. Then I made a trip to Florence by myself. I still remember every detail of my first trip to Italy and Florence, so clearly. From the first moment I arrived in Florence, I really felt in love with everything I saw. It was a fantastic trip and I started to come to Italy for a holiday at least every 2 years after that trip.
In Turkey, I was working in the Finance area. One day I started to improve my knowledge and decided to pursue a master’s degree abroad. As a result of my passion for Italy, I chose Italy for my education. And I started to study at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice last September. It has been nearly one year since I moved here, and I can surely tell you that I took a very right decision to move to Italy. During this one year, I never felt like a foreigner and I always felt like I am living in my second home here.
What is the best aspect of living in Italy as a foreigner?
There are many positive aspects of living in Italy from my point of view.
First, I always feel so peaceful, positive and enjoy every moment even while walking through the streets. As a part of my other professionality as a breathwork coach, I have been dealing with self-improvement for more than 10 years. As a result, I always believe that every country has its own frequency level in line with its history and the people who live in it. And I think Italy has a very high-frequency level positively. Because Italians have a very positive attitude even to foreigners like me; they know how to enjoy life and stay in the present moment very well.
Secondly, I am interested in art, history, and architecture so much. There are many beautiful historic areas to visit in Italy.
Another positive aspect is my travel passion. I am also a photographer and I love travelling, discovering new places and taking pictures of these places. There are many amazing towns to see in Italy. That is why I started to write a travel blog and YouTube channel to show people how beautiful and amazing Italy is with its towns, people, culture, cuisine, and history with arts.
Finally, the most beautiful positive aspect is living in Venice. The “Musical City” as I call it, Venice is a really fantastic city to live in. I always feel like I am in a fairy tale while walking through its streets. And being able to go everywhere by foot is one of the most beautiful chances while living in a city.
Did you have the chance to travel while in Italy? Where did you travel to?
I made many trips here. All of them were amazing. If I want to mention my favourite ones, first of all, I liked Caorle so much. It is a very peaceful town with its beaches, colourful streets, and green areas such as Isole dei Casoni. Secondly, I visited Napoli with my boyfriend in January. It was also an amazing trip because I ate the most amazing pizza in my life and, I found a chance to taste new flavours like sfogliatella. We are planning to visit Napoli to eat pizza and sfogliatella again in the near future.
Move to Italy challenges
To be honest, I have never felt like a foreigner here. There was not any moment that I questioned my decision about moving to Italy, even during the lockdown period. I have always felt happy and peaceful here and I still do. I do not know the reason for this. Maybe I was so ready to live here mentally before I moved here or maybe it is because I always loved Italy and Italians. Life and the universe always act like a mirror. If you feel love, peace, and happiness while you are living, you always experience lovely, peaceful, and happy situations and people, respectively. I guess this might be the explanation of my amazing life in Italy
What skills/abilities did you acquire professionally and personally by living here?
During my study, I have gained many different points of view professionally. I have also gained much knowledge that I have not had during my career before. I feel so lucky that I am a master’s degree student in such a successful university like Ca’ Foscari. And before I decided to study here, I already knew that Ca’ Foscari University is one of the best universities in Italy and Europe.
Personally, I can say that the most important skill I have acquired by living here is to see how exciting is starting a new life in a new country. I started to learn a new language, I saw many new places which made me gain a new point of perspective about life, I learnt many things about Italian cuisine such as how to make Tiramisu which is also my favourite dessert and finally I met many new amazing friends.
Are you planning to stay in Italy after your studies?
For now, I am planning to start to work and stay in Italy after my studies.
What do you miss most about your home country?
First, I miss my family and a couple of my close friends. Then, I miss Turkish kebab and coffee. That is why I am trying to learn how to cook kebab at home nowadays.
Recommendations if you want to move to Italy
What would you recommend to someone who wishes to do a similar experience?
First, if you are thinking about doing something similar to my experience, follow your desire and do it. I always believe that trying to do something new is better than doing nothing. Secondly, please never listen to anyone who expresses their negative emotions or opinions about starting a new life in a foreign country. Because when you take a big decision like this and announce your decision to everyone, there will be people who really support you and encourage you but on the other side there will be also people who will try to discourage you.
I have such an amazing family and a few close friends who have always supported me about my decision but also some people tried to discourage me. I never took their opinions seriously; I did not listen to them and I only followed my heart. Now I can clearly see that it was one of the best decisions that I have taken in my life.
And finally, if you do not have any knowledge about the local language of the country that you are planning to move in, it would better to take a language course before moving. After my decision, I did not wait to move to Italy to start learning Italian. I started to take private Italian lessons in Istanbul, and I had many benefits of this after I moved here and started an Italian course at my school here.
Is there anything you want to add about your life in Italy?
It is amazing to live in Italy .
Have you thought of moving to Italy? Is there any question you want to ask us about life in Italy?
