2. Only drinking wine and water with meals. No more mixing meals with carbonated beverages that ruin the taste or with cocktails that don’t mesh with what I’m eating, only wine and water will do! The only exception is pizza. With pizza now, I’ll have a beer. That's pretty much the extent of it. I have carbonated drinks or fancy coffees once in a blue moon. For example, I had an "iced cappuccino" from Tim Hortons right at the airport after leaving International Arrivals. But since then, I've only had brewed coffee.
3. Wearing slippers everywhere in the house. Before moving to Italy I NEVER wore slippers in the house. Our house is a typical North American house with carpet and of course, it’s just strange to walk around carpet with slippers so I was always barefoot growing up. Nowadays, it just completely grosses me out to think what’s in the carpet (we clean our Persian throw carpet religiously and there’s so much dirt that comes out of it!). So I’ve taken to walking around with slippers!
4. Not wearing a seatbelt or using indicator lights. Both terrible habits, I know. It was hard to get used to in Italy and now that I’m used to it, it’s hard to go backwards. I just forget. I do, on occasion, use indicator lights but apparently not consistently (as my father pointed out to me!). I’ve also noted that I drive faster. Actually that’s a lie, I didn’t realize this until I was told “you drive crazy” by the aforementioned concerned parental.
5. Parking like a boss. My husband will tell you that I’m the world’s worst parker, I fall right into the Asian stereotype. However, I’ve noticed a definite change in my abilities since living in Italy. Just the other day, I squeezed into a huge spot that 2 other cars gave up on. I also watched them struggle humorously from sidelines first, just like a real Italian!