I'm so excited to share this interview that I did with James Thomas, the wonderful multi-lingual host of Four Seas One Family, a podcast where he shares stories about expat and immigrant lifestyles. I hadn't heard of his podcast before he contacted me but now it's one of my must-listens. When I hear the stories of like-minded individuals around the globe, it really makes my heart sing. I feel like I'm listening to myself, in different cities. It's a way to dream somehow, listening to the stories of those who are chasing the dream and living the beautiful mess that is life abroad. If you have 20 minutes, hit play and have a listen as James asks me everything from common misconceptions about Italy to how to make friends as an adult expat! 

Podcast Notes: 
No one can really ever predict with absolute accuracy the road life will take them. Desires, wishes and dreams may at first just seam to be passing thoughts with no reason to take action to see to completion. This episode we catch up with someone who had a simple desire to one day live abroad. Luckily, in this case, a decision that was made by our guest did in fact lead to her current life overseas.

Today we talk to a self proclaimed city girl with a country soul (ME!!!). Joining us from her secret hideaway in Europe, Jasmine Mah, a prolific blogger from North America, joins us to share her, what I would call romantic, story about how she ended up living overseas and also how she has adopted to her new life abroad. Hear how she learnt to make adjustments to her persona that helped her adapt to her new overseas environment.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to "dare un'occhiata" at these ones or at the Expat Life category on the sidebar:
​
​Immunity to Accent Attractiveness: Can the Italian Accent Stop Being Sexy?
The English Stare and Getting "Englished" Living Abroad and How To Deal
What I'm Really Thinking While Speaking Italian as a Second Language
Taking Risks in Language Learning
Language Burnout
The Gift of Language: Italian and Beyond
The Neverending Story of Learning Italian
Living in Italy, Speaking in English 
Parli Italiano? 
​How to Keep Learning Italian in Italy
​​​​

It's never crossed my mind to provide this post even though it's common with bloggers. I only recently had the idea to do so when, after purusing Google Analytics, I discovered that people often end up on my blog after asking Google what CHILLY GEL is. I found this HILARIOUS and decided to find out what other posts people tend to gravitate to when they end up where you are right now: the best-damn-racially-ambiguous-Asian-Canadian-expat-in-Italy blog ever! After compiling this list, I noted that there's one that is a bit of an odd-one-out, my review on the Rudsak Grace coat that I procured in Toronto in 2014. Apparently, many potential buyers were looking for reviews on it! The rest of the posts are more Italy/Italian-focused. So here they are, the TOP TEN MOST POPULAR POSTS ON QUESTA DOLCE VITA THIS YEAR:

1. How to Snag (and Keep) an Italian Man ​
What you'll read in this post:
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Be a good cook: Take note that "good" is very relative and a "good" cook in North American terms will probably not suffice in Italy. You cannot use anything pre-made here except perhaps Giovanni Rana lasagna (because my future mother-in-law says it's good). Your future Italian relatives would expect a homemade five-course meal MINIMUM so if you can't take that kind of heat...get outta the kitchen girl. 
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2. Asians and Italians…The Perfect Cross-Cultural Cocktail? ​
What you'll read in this post:

Asian-Americans work well with Italians because we come from similar backgrounds that focus heavily on the two things most important things in life: FOOD and FAMILY. Most nationalities claim to emphasize similar values, but maybe not to the extent of Asians and Italians. We get really intense with this stuff. 

3. The Unofficial, Community-Curated, Comprehensive List of Italophiles ​
What you'll read in this post:

This morning I started a project to create a user-driven compilation of all the best Italophile Instagram accounts to follow, the only criteria were that those included love Italy and/or Italian as much as yours truly. We did it “chain-reaction” style in order to get the widest reach and the most diversity in contributions so anyone who was added was then asked to add their own favorite “Italophile” to the ever-growing list. It's easy to find a "blog roll call" or a list of recommended blogs to follow these days, but I have yet to come across a community-curated list of Instagram accounts. The best part about this list is that all the featured accounts have essentially been "hand-picked" by YOU AND ME, mutual lovers of Italy and all things Italian. 

4. A Short Rant on Customer Service in Italy ​
What you'll read in this post:

I mean, it's a general well-known fact that customer service in Italy is laughable- from being transferred from person to person on the phone and finally being hung up on to having someone make me wait while they take an Instagram of their morning coffee- I've experienced it all. I really would have pulled a Samantha (remember that iconic "dirty martini, dirty bastard" scene in Sex and the City?!) on that girl taking a photo if not for the fact that she was sitting behind a pane of protective glass. More often than not, people in the customer service in industry in Italy act like they are serving a life sentence while at work, as if they never asked to be doing that job and someone is coercing them into it. I'm sure sometimes that's the case, so I'll let those people off the hook. 

5. ​wear this: Rudsak Grace coat (STYLE Nº # 8113928)
What you'll read in this post:

Rudsak is a Montreal-based company that epitomizes 'the spirit of cool rebel', but in my mind, it aligns perfectly with 'the style of Torontonians', which I would describe as being very much the high-end hipster with rebel touches. I love to buy local and I still adore my made in Canada Mooseknuckles bomber jacket, however it is not exactly something you can dress-up or wear out to a fancy dinner. Enter the Grace coat. 

6. ​What the heck is Chilly Gel?
What you'll read in this post:

If you don't know the answer, that means you've never lived in Italy and therefore not well-versed in the infamous detergente intimo (soap for your intimate parts, my goodness it sure doesn't translate well!). Chilly gel is a brand of these soaps and there are whole sections in the supermarket dedicated to a vast selection of them with varying characteristics such as pH type, scent, etc.

7. ​The Weekend Catch-Up: Santa Margherita Ligure and Pretty Portofino
What you'll read in this post:

​The nightlife is young-ish, trendy, wealthy; the heels of the girls super high and skinny while the skirts were so short they almost were non-existent. Be warned it's alot of tourists and the locals/Italians did not seem overly interested- I think it's gotten to the point where foreigners aren't so preyed upon, therefore if you're looking for a fling with someone who you can't understand, from my observations I think that would be unlikely- try Florence instead.

8. Annoying Things Non-Canadians Say About Canada ​
What you'll read in this post:

It’s consistently said that travel is the cure to ignorance and I understand that travel, especially across the Atlantic, is not economically feasible for everyone. But inform yourselves the old-fashioned way. Ask questions, read books or at least scroll through Google images of different countries. Do all of this before telling me how relieved I must be to be “out of the cold” and living in a “real city”. I live in Bergamo, it’s 115,223 people. Remember Edmonton’s number? 932,546. I think it’s safe to say that I was living in a real city before as well.

9. LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Maddie & Gio
What you'll read in this post:
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I was also completely taken aback by how direct Gio was with his feelings. This was a combination of having less-than-perfect English (which forces one to be direct) and him being Italian. I remember getting a text from him one night asking me what I was doing that evening. I wrote back saying something like, "I am tired, so I am just going to watch a movie. I will see you tomorrow because I am sure you want to be out enjoying the city with the others!" and he wrote back saying, "No, I want to be with you. You are the only one I care about here, I will come watch a movie with you." 

10. The Appeal of Italian Men ​
​What you'll read in this post:

​Okay, this is the blog post that everyone wants. So grab your prosecco and pull up a chair, let’s discuss the global appeal of Italian men. Let’s start off with the superficial basics. If you have any taste in men at all, it’s almost impossible to deny the classically revered features of the Italians- the strong noses (here there is a fine balance required, let’s be honest), the even stronger jawlines, the thick eyelashes that look better than mine with two layers of falsies…just the eyes in general. Sometimes I think that the Romans invented bedroom eyes.

What's your favourite post? Is it included on this list? If not, let me know! 

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to "dare un'occhiata" at these ones:
​Why We Love Italian Boys
​Immunity to Accent Attractiveness: Can the Italian Accent Stop Being Sexy?
​Can You Fall in Love Without Speaking the Same Language?
​The Double Standard Between Italian Street Harassment and American
​Can Men and Women Be Friends? Here's How My Italian Colleagues Responded
Dating Diversity: Italy vs. Canada (and North America)
Cross-Cultural Dating: My First Jaw-Drop Moment with an Italian 
Italian Men: The Unofficial Guide for Wives and Girlfriends
How to Date an Italian Man or Woman (From The Iceberg Project)
Guest Post: My Story with the Italian Language

RECENT POSTS FEED:

Lately I've been very naughty with the blog and not being consistent with new posts which they say commonly leads to the eventual un-following and demise of all blogs eventually. So I decided to let ya'll know that you can expect a new post on Fridays, I will aim for every Friday but it could also be every second Friday (cut me some slack here, we have a wedding in September to plan for!). But yes, this is just another reason to love Fridays. And remember you can keep more close tabs on things here in Italy over on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/questadolcevitablog​. 

​I woke up this morning mentally preparing myself for laundry day ( so much more of a hassle in Italy due to the extra step of setting-up the wet, wrinkly clothes to air dry, don't underestimate your dryers people). It was going to be a normal day. But then I read my e-mail and all of a sudden, one of my lifelong dreams came true:

I found out that I was chosen as a contributing author for an anthology of expat stories curated by Canadian expat legend, Lisa Webb, to be titled "Once Upon an Expat" and scheduled for publication this summer! 

I know I sound like a broken record repeating the same childhood aspiration story, but I really, truly always wanted to be a painter-writer. Read this post from 2014, it will confirm I'm not delusional: 

" If everything had been up to me, I would have been a painter-slash-writer. I love to create, I think it is an innate need that exists in all of us. It amazes me that a blank canvas, with purposefully placed strokes of color, can become something wonderful." 

The same can be said about the written word, it's akin to a visual art with a perfect composition consisting of carefully chosen combinations of letters. Needless to say, this is an absolute DREAM for me and just so soulfully satisfying to see three of my favorite things come together (writing, wine, and Italy) to make it a reality. Perhaps you are wondering why the wine (I'll have you know this is a ludicrous question and you should be ashamed)...because I write with wine, that's why. 

To stay updated with the book and the release, as well as to meet all the authors, check out Canadian Expat Mom (click to see the book cover release) or search her page on Facebook. I'll of course post anything new or interesting on the blog and my Facebook page as well. I post neat things all the time, including the Daily Dolce photo, so you should follow if you aren't already. MUCH LOVE. 

I'm on Day 4 of the Jasmine and Jhumpa Project, it's a far cry from a year's worth of writing but breaking it down into little bite-size bits of Italian practice is actually quite palatable, dare I say, enjoyable. If you're studying or have studied Italian in the past, I invite you to join me in doing 365 days of writing! How fun if it became a group endeavor, like book club...! You could write right on my site: http://thejasmineandjhumpaproject.weebly.com/blog/day-4 or even make your own. Anyways, the only point of this post was because I found this super cute photo on Mindy Kaling's Twitter essentially posing with a book which is essentially my signature move. Thought I was the only one that took selfies with books like this, apparently was wrong. 

BUY THE BOOK:

I am soooooooooooo excited because I finally got to see our House Hunters International episode on an Australian online streaming website after we had thought we missed our chance when it aired at the end of December in the US. If you are also tech-savvy, you can use a VPN service like Express VPN (same method as how expats watch American Netflix abroad) and change your settings to "Australia". Here is the link: ​http://www.9jumpin.com.au/show/househuntersinternational/episodes/season-82/episode-8/bella-vita-in-bergamo/#autoplay I also much preferred the Australian title of the episode which they called "Bella Vita in Bergamo" as opposed to the American version which was less of a title and more of a run-on sentence. Here are some random screenshots I took as I watched our episode for the umpteenth time, enjoy! If you've seen the episode and found your way here, hello! Let me know in comments or e-mail how you liked it.

P.S. Our cat Puffo is seriously famous though, he's been in an Italian magazine AND on television worldwide (check out his cameo at the end). What a natural. 

Unbeknownst to us (and only discovered after Massi's friends in the US told him), our House Hunters International episode has already aired once and is scheduled to air again tomorrow! It is not the same schedule that is being followed by the network HGTV in Canada, so I think all of us north of the border are SOL. So if you happen to be reading this and can PVR our episode, please do and tell me all about it! Also if you happen to be reading this and are an internet mastermind and have somehow found our episode, please forward and you will have a lifetime supply of pasta and my eternal love. Or I suppose if you have a time machine to take me back to yesterday, I will obviously honor the aforementioned means of gratitude. Here's the upcoming airdate (tomorrow):

Recently, I had the chance to do an interview with Multicoolty, a site aiming to connect the thousands of stories lived everyday by people all over Europe with a focus on the idea of those who are global citizens- the nomadic among us that have lived in more than one country. Here's a snippet from "Meet Our Team": 

We are (Eve short from Evgenia, Inga, our collaborators Nasima, Ying, Masha, Lorena in Italy and Federicain France) a team of journalists, bloggers and migration experts passionate about storytelling and photography. We have lived and worked in different countries and our international experiences have shaped our global perspective on the world we live in. We are real multicoolties and global citizens!

Every day in  the countries where WE are (Germany, Italy, France) we meet plenty of people from all parts of the world just like us: bright and inspiring people who bring their cultures with them making Europe more diverse. And so the idea of Multicoolty was born as we see how Germany, Italy and France increasingly become more multicultural and global. With this project we want to provide a glimpse into the lives of multicultural community by taking pictures, making great videos, collecting short and long stories from real people we meet on the streets (and not only) of various European cities.

Anyways, check out my full English interview here (I've included just a small portion of the questions and answers from it below), or if you like, read the short and sweet Italian version here. 


What brings you to Italy?

Moved to be with my fiancé, I was a pharmacist and now am doing a mixture of blogging, freelance articles, and taking advantage of being a mother tongue English speaker for teaching and consulting.


What were the initial struggles when you moved?

The main challenge is leaving behind your old life- everyone and everything in it. Besides friends and family, I had just started a profession as a pharmacist and practiced for a little more than a year before moving so that was hard to give up. Talking to other expats, the most common struggle is the language but I had a slight advantage having studied Italian back in Canada.


What are the things that you like/dislike here?

Life in Italy is so coveted because it’s really well-rounded. You have the opportunity to be immersed in pretty much any “vice” you desire – great wine, food, scenery, art, shopping, history…you name it, you can find it in Italy. Plus, being such a small country, you can travel from one city to another easily and see the topography, dialect, and food change even between short distances. There’s only one thing I dislike- the bureaucracy. Everything that should be easy is made exponentially more difficult by the need to go to several different offices with several different documents on a variety of days (during hours you would normally need to be at work)…basically it’s a nightmare and you need to behave like an Italian to get things done. By this, I mean you have to be extremely persistent and not be afraid to raise your voice!