I've been reading a lot of terrible things about Italian people fleeing the country recently. Usually written by those who stay. And those who stay get to write on important newspapers, which makes me think, oh, well, easy for you to just talk shit about other people when maybe you're the guy who licked a few arses here and there to be in the position you are, and maybe yes, you might be that guy we never want to be, and that guy who makes our country worse than it already is.
When I say we I mean "those who have left"--and no, I don't mean it in a patriotic yet emptied-out sense. Honestly, I don't see any reason why I would see myself as part of any stupid group of people who do something - what, exactly? I am the out-group and I'm okay with that. I don't like to criticise Italians on their behaviour nor do I utter useless words about the situation because "now I can, cos I see things from the outside"; on the other hand, I don't like to complain about the food or the weather because "hey, in Italy everything is perfect and I miss my mum's lasagna". I don't surround myself with Italians nor do I avoid them when they're around me. And some people are stupid, and when I say this I'm thinking of all those spoiled kids who go to London because they want to live in da city cos they're kool. But mainly, the reason why I feel like an out-group is because I don't see a clear boundary in all this shite people are talking about, cos I don't see why "nationality" should be what everything revolves around.
Call me shallow or call me disrespectful, but honestly I don't care. I don't believe in a country that is "mine", these are names we give to things and borders we create. There are a lot of things I like about Italy, but I don't feel the place I was born in is the place I belong in. I left because I had practical reasons not to stay; also, it is understandable why people want to leave: they feel unsatisfied with their lives, and they know that what they have been working hard for is not going to pay them back in the short run. And everyone should understand that. And I'm not saying that I don't miss Italy, but the problem is that I don't actually miss Italy; I miss the people I love and those I don't, I miss San Lorenzo with its junkies, I miss the good pasta and the good old bidet. These are my things and I don't want anyone to generalise everything out of this in the name of a "nation".
Probably other expats will not feel the same way, but I don't like it when someone identifies me with a "stereotyped" group. If someone wants to leave, they have their right to do so. And very often those people are not sick and angry at their "country", they're not doing it to show off; very often they just want to get what they deserve. What you deserve is not always at hand, so you run after it. I feel more satisfied when I can do something and that makes me happy. If one day what I want to do is in Italy, I'll go back; if what I want to do is in Greenland, I'll go to Greenland.
In the meantime, you haters and know-it-all's go get a life instead of lecturing people on how to behave and how to be "good Italians".
...and we miss you.
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