Expat Journal: What Will I Be When I Grow Up?

Did you know that one of the hats I wear is that of an Italian teacher for foreigners?

But how did I end up here? And what did I learn along the way?

Last April, a friend of mine called me.

She said, “I’m moving abroad!”

What do you mean? Aren’t we already abroad?

“Yes, but a little more abroad.”

Like Australia?

“No, come on—closer. South Korea!”

Wow. Cool! Long live K-dramas!

Then she added, “I have to leave my job teaching Italian. And I thought that, since you’ve done some training work, you might be interested.”

Me? Teaching Italian?

In my head—boom! Total explosion. I barely speak Dutch myself. Grammar rules? I’ve forgotten them all! Every time I need to make “arancia” plural, I double-check if it keeps or drops the “i”. Five years of classical studies buried in a drawer, crushed under the weight of my Greek dictionary! And on top of everything—how would I juggle the rest of my work?

“I’m not sure I can do it.”“Okay, let me know,” she said, “but I think you’d be perfect.”

Full of doubt and fear, I went with her to observe one of her lessons. Then I did interviews with the two organizations she worked for. We led a co-taught session together. She was amazing with Dutch. And me? “We all started like this,” she told me. “You’ll learn while teaching. You’ll see.”

I wanted to give it a try—but not just wing it. So I spent the summer studying, designing activities, creating visuals and materials. I did my research, built interactive lessons, and even started inventing games. My experience in training helped a lot: the subject was new, but working with people wasn’t.

First lesson. A bit of a disaster.

“What, you don’t speak Dutch?”“Not really! But I’m fine in English… and the grammar slides are all in Dutch!”

Two weeks in, I wanted to give up. But stepping into the classroom felt natural. I wanted it to work. I wanted to become good at it.

I told myself: let's try with the other groups. With the 7:30am class, it went okay. At 8:30am, the next group arrived. Their very first Italian lesson.

And a light switched on. We laughed, we talked, they helped me out. There was a man I nicknamed “Google Translate”, he had memorized the entire Italian–Dutch dictionary.

I walked out of that class floating.

Finally!

I looked into what wasn’t working with the first group. And I realized—it wasn’t my method. It wasn’t even the language barrier. I’m not gelato. I don’t have to be everyone’s favorite flavor.

Counseling has taught me something essential: I’m not responsible for other people’s emotions. But I am responsible for how I respond to them.

I kept showing up with enthusiasm. And eventually, the classroom energy shifted.

one year later

Of course, after a year, I reflect. I ask myself what I’ve learned—and what I could do better.

Coming back into the classroom—even in a different role—has been incredibly generative. I pour my creativity into these courses. I see people learning, struggling, then feeling proud of themselves.

Even my Dutch has improved. Teaching motivates me to study it more. I’ve created new courses, found new clients—and I’m loving it. Truly.

Plot twist.

One day, I stumbled on an old email. From seven years ago. Before I had even set foot in the Netherlands, I was offering myself as an Italian teacher to a language school.

I remembered all the times my best friend said, right after I moved here: “You should try teaching Italian.” All the conversations I had with that same friend (the one who’s now in Korea), and every time she told me about her lessons, I thought:“That sounds amazing. I’d love to try that…”

In short... this job was already there. I’d been thinking about it for years.

Here’s what I’ve learned—and maybe it resonates with your own story too:

• The fear of not being “good enough” can make you miss out on something important.

• Insecurity keeps you stuck and isolated. It can create unnecessary suffering.

• Visualizing your future self is powerful—even if it takes a long and winding road to get there.

• Being in the right place at the right time is partly luck… but more than anything, it’s about recognizing what’s unfolding around you.

• Sometimes, someone sees something in you—and helps you see it too. That doesn’t happen often. But when it does, it’s a gift.

  
  

Everything you do, everything you learn, every skill you develop—they all become part of your toolkit.And sometimes, an opportunity shows up that lets you pull all those pieces together and make them work in harmony.