An expat retreat in the place I love the most
The first expat retreat for Italian speakers took place in my house in Tuscany from 1st to 3rd June. Here are my impressions.
I practice Linguistic Empathy and I expect you to do the same. Please bear with me if my English is not perfect.
There was an Italian, a Dutch, an Italian, a Belgian, an Italian and an Italian that on Friday 1st June took their suitcase (to be honest, someone forgot it home 🙂 ), left families and activities behind in order to get to my beloved Tuscan house.
These women had never met in flesh and bones. Some of them had “seen” each other on the Expatclic Facebook group, or in its online support group. They came from Lucca, Bari, Mar del Plata, Bruxelles, Milan, Pordenone. At six pm they were all around a toast to start their expat retreat:
We had more than one reason to celebrate. The most important for them was to stop for a week-end of reflection and sisterhood in their busy lives; for me and my colleague and companion of adventures Barbara, it meant to realize yet another event to channel to work we love so much on Expatclic.
The programme was ambitious: in two days we would hold two sessions, one on intercultural communication, managed by me, the other one, led by Barbara, of group counseling.
I want to stress that both Barbara and I enjoyed every moment spent in thinking and organizing this expat retreat. After days of discussing via Skype, when we met in Milan and drove all the way to Tuscany, we were delighted. I am certain that the alchemy between us in creating the event has been a fundamental ingredient of its success.
Hugging someone you have only met online is a very strong emotion.
This emotion was amplified for me by the fact I was using my dear house for this initiative. Not only because there is no other place on earth so perfect for this kind of things, but also, and foremost, because the deepest meaning of having this house for me is sharing it.
From Friday to Monday we have lived in closed contact. Eight different life stories sharing the common desire to reflect, talk and improve. Together we analyzed, reasoned, laughed, cried, discovered, shared. We breathed a lot of closeness, a lot of love.
Barbara has led a whole group therapy session, something completely new for me, which gave me a lot to think about. I happily involved the participants in an intercultural communication session, one of the things I love the most in the world.
We all left richer: with human relationships, reflections, inspiration and awareness. And wanting to repeat the experience!