It's been almost a year in Italy and thankfully, I actually have friends...! Miraculous. Out at dinner yesterday with some of them, I got to thinking (whenever I write this, it makes me think of Carrie's voiceovers in Sex and the City)...when you're an expat and able to communicate (most of the time!) che in your native language sia in your adopted country's language, you end up having AT LEAST seven friend categories. Here they are in no particular order:
1. The Italian Friends You Speak Italian With
2. The English Mothertongue Friends You Speak English With
3. The Italian Friends You Speak English With
4. The English Mothertongue Friends You Speak Italian With
5. The Friends That You Switch Back and Forth With
6. The Non-English Mothertongue/Non-Italian Friends You Speak Italian With
7. The Non-English Mothertongue/Non-Italian Mothertongue Friends You Speak English With
Now try saying those three times fast.
It's VERY bizarre. But I actually have friends in all these categories. I have this theory (actually I stole this theory from the person who told it to me)- the language in which you initially meet a person usually ends up being the default language that you use for the rest of your relationship. Massi has a friend, for example, that was very good at English seven years ago when I spoke no Italian and we went on a road trip together. To this day, I always associate him with that trip and with English and it's strange to speak to him in Italian. Instead, I have a friend that is Ukrainian, so English has never been an option, and we speak Italian together. Last case study is a dude I know from California, we like to do the mix and match of both languages, doing one word or one sentence in one language before switching to the other. There is really no rhyme or reason to this madness. Can you relate?
1. The Italian Friends You Speak Italian With
2. The English Mothertongue Friends You Speak English With
3. The Italian Friends You Speak English With
4. The English Mothertongue Friends You Speak Italian With
5. The Friends That You Switch Back and Forth With
6. The Non-English Mothertongue/Non-Italian Friends You Speak Italian With
7. The Non-English Mothertongue/Non-Italian Mothertongue Friends You Speak English With
Now try saying those three times fast.
It's VERY bizarre. But I actually have friends in all these categories. I have this theory (actually I stole this theory from the person who told it to me)- the language in which you initially meet a person usually ends up being the default language that you use for the rest of your relationship. Massi has a friend, for example, that was very good at English seven years ago when I spoke no Italian and we went on a road trip together. To this day, I always associate him with that trip and with English and it's strange to speak to him in Italian. Instead, I have a friend that is Ukrainian, so English has never been an option, and we speak Italian together. Last case study is a dude I know from California, we like to do the mix and match of both languages, doing one word or one sentence in one language before switching to the other. There is really no rhyme or reason to this madness. Can you relate?
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