I’ve been following you for awhile now - You’ve been so honest throughout. Thank you so much! And just to let you know.. You’re making a difference ❤ 🙏🌹💫

And let me just say, thank you very much for showing this video. I was delighted to watch it, and I would love to see more videos like this in the future, so please keep sending them. It brings me great joy.

I have so many horror hairdresser stories. I was lucky with my first haircut in Sicily. They did a fabulous job. Very helpful and I came out liking my hair.
Now learning Italian is still a huge challenge for me. I'm in my early 70's also. Even harder. Haha. The people have been so nice. I hope that last because it was so nice after leaving the States.

You were a police officer??? Wow I’m fascinated by police. I actually watch along of body cam arrests. I can absolutely see why learning how to be assertive and direct is essential in that line of work. Very interesting video. I like your perspective and the way you communicate it. Seem like an analytical deep-thinker. I can relate to a lot of stuff. I moved myself from one end of the USA to the other. So many challenges for sure. Sometimes I feel like an immigrant even though it’s the same country. Totally different culture.

A very  enjoyable and insightful video sometimes I always watch your videos and wonder to myself how you managed to adapt and how long it took you because coming from London you where always on the move working hard and planning ahead for your goals in life that must have been a very difficult culture shock for you but I am glad you overcame it I hope you make a video on the opposite things I have not found difficult that would intrigue me a lot

Claire! Don't be so concerned about mistake in your Italian. If someone correct you and laugh don't worry. Most times they are not laughing on you, only on your language! They are (most of times) trying to help you...trust me. I'm Italian and know a bit of my country. I know the feeling to be corrected 'cause I experienced frustration and resentment myself time ago in England, but I was very young and inexperenced then! Now, if I try to speak English, I don't worry at all. Even if I make mistakes speaking the aim is to explain myself ...so I don't worry (I'm too old to worry! perhaps with years some wisdom came on me...) So...jump in, like you jump in the sea and swim Italian. Your swimming freestyle is not perfect? Doesn't matter! People usually likes you and love you! I know by esperience with some English friend in the past that sometimes English people hate to be corrected or doing something wrong and be judged. Do NOT worry, really. You're lovely in your efforts and Italian people on the most appreciate this. They appreciate you are trying to became in some way Italian and we love this! Best regards Ms Britaly! 😉😊😇🥰

Hi Claire. On thing that I have always done when in Campania is to drop a few local sayings to let them understand that I may look foreign but I am not! Lucky I do know some Campano  dialect because I worked there when I came to Italy. I also studied Poesia Napoletana at Uni in England.
And guess what? I got ripped off in Tuscany by my barber / hairdresser as they called them here at the time. I felt like a gay guy that I am not. My hair started falling out just like your issues with your hairdressers.
I agree not to compare yourself to anyone else. Just get on with your life and be proud that you are. Confidence can be difficult at the beginning because you can feel less normal than there but that is not ever the case in real life. The people around you probably feel the same and would love to get to know you and chat. Trheee are the situations you come across at the beginning. Like a fish out of the water. I felt like that in France and Switzerland. In Italy I made sure that it wouldn’t last for too long. It lasted for about one month. The time you need to sort of
Settle in, even if you are not settled yet.
Punctuality: I am always there before before the scheduled time. People know this and sometimes they beat me to it. Yesterday I had lunch with an old friend that used to share the office wotj me to save money and have a nice big office in the commercial area of town. We were both bang on time. We arrived at exactly the same time. And he had to come from another city.
We had home made scialatielli with octopus sauce and fresh Alici fritte and lemon as the second dish with a salad. My friend is on a diet and I eat Il giusto. We didn’t have dessert because of his diet. We spent € 32.00. Absolutely not bad at all. The mum is a fantastic cook. Even in Tuscany you can eat well when off the beaten track. No tourists. Just usual locals that work in the surrounding offices.
You can eat in the garden or you can eat in the dining area with A.C. Like the ‘eating at home’ kind of atmosphere.

Goals: I have one goal set for myself  but I don’t plan anything one year ahead with people like they do in England.
The cop way is the same here . I did a bit of army here because I was born here and it is the same kind of training as to how you have to be as a cop.
People here: they love to understand other  people. It is life here. Don’t worry! When you are less confident others will talk to you. With Tina for you helped you a lot. They is really a great feeling.
I think that you are a totally different Claire than you were in London.
Don’t panic With bureaucracy. Just live it. Anxiety I have that too. But I just get on with it. I hardly ever go to any office unless is a driving licence renewal or ID card renewal. I do 95% online. My kids don’t even question it.  Despite me always talking about it when they were young kids. They just don’t even consider it. They just know what to do and how to do it.
One thing a adore in Campania and also in southern Lazio where I used to be is “ ‘O Pere e ‘o musso’ “ a delicate street food delicacy. You may not like it but it is out of this world! The guys that serve you Chuck other stuff into it like steamed or boiled tripe and other bits and bobs that are all fantastic. Then they Chuck a few olives and lupins in for the record. Slated with salt from a cow horn and lemon squeezed from high above like a lemon rain. And they throw in chunks of lemon for you to do it if you need some more. Very generous. Not fattening at all. I do it myself here as with the ingredients that I can find at the Co op. All parts in one pack and I cut them up myslef. They  serve it at Luna parks and any sagras that happen to be on. This in Campania and southern Lazio ( Ciociaria ). Not in Tuscany even if they know it and do it at home. You can maybe find it when there is the European Street food festival. They do they w couple of times per year here.
Take care til your next one…!

As I told you last time, when we move to a new country, we have to adapt. Whether the people there accept us or not is their choice, and this is because our minds are filled with what we've learned and what we want from birth to adulthood. However, in a new country, we encounter the complete opposite: this is our habit, and we can only gradually adapt to the new, and then the old habits gradually fade away.

So, to sum it up, moving to a new country is like completely abandoning your past and starting anew. Only then can we achieve success and the results will be positive.

Here I am telling you only my experiences, people may have their own experiences and their own results.

And as I see it, when we settle in a new country, we do not become its citizens as completely as our future children will; for they will grow up there from birth, absorbing the local culture and environment, and will prove to be truly authentic citizens, as that environment will become an integral part of their very being.