Saturday 28 January 2012

The weird, foreign lady

Here in Italy I come across as a bit "weird". Because I'm doing weird things. Like....

Putting on my summer clothes in March because the temperature is the same as in July in Norway - and everybody else is still in their winter clothes...

I recycle.... and in my kitcken you'll find containers for glass, plastic and paper. The Italians (at least Italian friends and family) see me as somewhat "idealistic".... and when they've been to visit I always find leftovers from the dinner mixed with the paper, Kleenex in the bin for the glass and teabags in the plastic container.....

I make my own bread because I'm not very keen on white bread, but prefer to put in nuts, seeds, oat flakes etc (Weird....) Ma non vale la pena fare il pane in casa. Lo dicono tutti. - But it can't be worth the effort? they all ask.

I walk. Sometimes I walk to the supermarket and other times I walk when we're going to friends and family's house for dinner. Or I just walk. Without having any other plans than just walking. I know. It's a Norwegian thing. We walk because we want to, not because we have to. And for many Italians that is a strange thing to do. And I'm sure they think I'm walking because I can't afford having my own car - or even afford buying a bus ticket. And I offend my sister-in-law when I decline her offer to be driven to and from the dinner party, because she thinks I probably don't like her anymore... If I'd only had a valid "excuse" for walking, but I don't. I'm not obese, I don't have high cholesterol or any other illness. I just happen to like walking. Strange...
 But the most strange about this lady (for now...) is something else. And it's so weird that my husband has to mention it whenever we meet friends and family. And then they all look at me like I'm something strange from the Zoo.
And the reason for this?


It's this little thing that's dangling from the pocket of my coat when I'm walking in the dark ....



And for non-Norwegians who have never seen a thing like this I can tell you that in Norwegian it's called "Refleks" and we use it when we're walking roadside in the dark so the passing cars will notice us.... Clever, huh?? Well, at least I think it's clever, but still, I will probably remain the weird lady for as long as I live....

;-)



15 comments:

Vesle Serena said...

Hei!

Jeg liker dette så godt, jeg delte det på bloggen min, og lånte headeren på bloggen din....håper det går greit?

xx

theromanticrose said...

Che bella idea utile il tuo cuore illuminato!E' difficile farsi capire con queste persone,io penso che ti succede perchè abiti in quel posto che la pensano così,nelle città,succede di meno e facciamo pure la raccolta differenziata!Sentiti libera,fai quello che ti senti di fare,baci e buona domenica!Rosetta

A Foreigner in Italy said...

Serena: Helt i orden :-) Bare kjekt med litt ekstra PR!

Rosetta: C'è anche la raccolta differenziata qua, però la gente non se ne frega niente di quella cosa...

Faccio come mi sento anche se faccio le cose "strane" ;-) Buona domenica anche a te!

erleichda said...

Linda, its trueyour are weird! as we weird as we all are when living in another country than ours ; )
but... if it makes you feel any better i was weird in Greece although a greek because of the walking thing! nobody has walked around Athens as i have (exept pobably my mother) and that was weird for the same reasons your Italians think its weird.
As they say Italiano Greco una fatsa una ratsa
; )

A Foreigner in Italy said...

Demie: Since you're a "walker" you fit right in between the Norwegians... And yes, the Italians and Greeks probably agree upon this "strange" walking habit of the Norwegians... ;-)

H. said...

Morsomt å se du også har tatt med deg din refleks...jeg har også med min, for her er det jo ikke akkurat masse opplyst veier...eller fortauer for den saks skyld...heheh

Elsker også å gå tur, vi går gjerne langt innover bondeveier, og da stopper gjerne bonden (hvis han kommer kjørende på sin traktor) og MÅ hilse på oss....vi kjenner han ikke, og han skal vel bare sjekke om vi er italienere eller ei.... hhiihi

God helg !

A Foreigner in Italy said...

Har både refleks og refleksbånd ;-) Det er jo like mørkt her som det er i Norge om kveldene...

Tror de italienske bøndene er ganske så sikre på at det IKKE er italienere som er ute og går. Stort sett bare utlendinger som finner på sånne "halsbrekkende" manøvre ;-)

God helg til deg også!

Anonymous said...

Carissima LINDA,
altro che strana,per me sei da ammirare per le cose che fai, restando sempre te stessa!Ti assicuro però che nelle grandi città la gente non
si meraviglia di niente,ma tu abiti in un piccolo centro?Ti invidio il fatto che tu cammini molto,
fa benissimo alla salute, io sono un pò pigra,però
vado a scuola di ballo.......Buona domenica.
LILIANA

A Foreigner in Italy said...

Grazie Liliana! Ed io ti ammiro perché vai a scuola di ballo...!!

Camminare (lontano) per me è un modo di sentirmi libero e non smetterò mai...

Buona domenica :-)

New Life in Spain said...

Haha, fin lesning. Skal si du er merkelig ;-)

A Foreigner in Italy said...

Jepp, nordmenn generelt er "rare dyr". Ihvertfall når vi er langt hjemmefra. Da blir vi liksom så synlig i samfunnet....

Anonymous said...

eh pensa io vivo in Norvegia e tutti (norsk) mi chiedono perche non mi compro una macchina!!!!
simo

A Foreigner in Italy said...

Strano ;-)

Anonymous said...

I saw your blog yesterday and being married to a Norwegian, decided to read it. Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion, but from your words I read that you feel like norwegians are superiar to italians. You critisize all the time, rarely like something, mock italians any chance you have and in general your attitude is ugly. If you dislike Italy so much, why don't you move back to cold and expensive Norway, where you can have the healthy breakfast " bananas with bread"?

P.S. I am not Italian!

A Foreigner in Italy said...

Anonymous: Like you say we're all entitled to our own opinion. However, I wonder why it is that people who leave angry comments on blogs (ALL blogs, not just mine) are always Anonymous.....?

Anyway, my blog is not compulsory reading so anyone not liking it are free to skip it.

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