Canadian_Tifosa
8th December 2011, 20:14
Hi everyone! I just joined this site a week ago. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a lifelong tifosa who moved to Italy earlier this year in order to experience life in the land of Ferrari!
It may seem a little crazy to some, especially to those who don't have an intense passion for something, but this is a journey that I have been planning my entire life. My love for Ferrari started out harmlessly enough. I grew up in Montreal listening to tales of Gilles Villeneuve and watching the excitement in the city as the Formula 1 circus rolled into town every year. Rapidly my minor fascination developed into a full blown obsession and when I was a teen, I devised a plan to make it to Maranello one day. Of course I grew up and fell into that familiar rut that many people get themselves into; getting up, putting on a suit and going into the office. Every day I sat behind my computer squishing my boss's head from afar in between my index finger and thumb and slowly losing my sanity. I was doing what everyone expected of me and what the people in my life had convinced me was the only real option for my future. I was fairly successful for someone my age; I had my own place, a decent salary and a wardrobe full of beautiful clothing but I was miserable.
Last year I made the New Years resolution to do everything that my heart desired. At the top of my list was attending the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. It is an event that I have been to many times and yet this time was particularly emotional for me. The moment I saw the team I felt tears well up in my eyes, it was like an emotion that I had suppressed for so long finally came up to the surface and exploded out of me. When the weekend was over I was desperately unhappy, I had taken a photo of myself outside the Ferrari garage and placed that photo on my desk at work. I literally could not get through a day without looking at it and almost crying, I felt torn.
Throughout my life I have always admired Enzo Ferrari and looked at his life for strength and inspiration. Oddly enough at that point I had never read "My Terrible Joys." It's not that I had never been curious about the book, it was more that I was afraid of what I would find written upon its pages. What if Enzo turned out to be a misogynistic ...or even worse, what if Enzo turned out to be boring?! Lol! Thankfully when I checked the book out of my local library (it may be a bible to us tifosi...but come on $300?!!!) it measured up to all of my expectations and more. Enzo answered every question that I had and even some questions that I was afraid to ask. I won’t tell you all of my questions, but the most important answer he gave me was the answer to what I should do next. He wrote about his wife wanting him to get a job with a local tram company, but he simply refused. He also wrote a very moving passage about when he was a boy questioning his future.
After that moment I was no longer torn, I quit my job, sold all of my furniture and sub-let my amazing apartment. I found a job near Maranello and off I went! At the time all of my friends told me that I had lost the plot when I gave up my material possessions and my job. The common response to “Guess what, I'm moving to Italy!" was "You're crazy!!!" lol! I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't been a little scared and the first few weeks here were terrifying but the truth is right now I am the happiest that I have ever been because I am following my heart! :-) I have no idea where the future will take me, but I'm still young and there's plenty of time to find out.
Living here has given me a unique perspective on all things Ferrari and I will try to share some of my experiences with you as they happen! :-D Also, if anyone has something that they would like me to write about (Ferrari related) in Italy, chances are I have already done it or am planning to do it, so just ask!
It may seem a little crazy to some, especially to those who don't have an intense passion for something, but this is a journey that I have been planning my entire life. My love for Ferrari started out harmlessly enough. I grew up in Montreal listening to tales of Gilles Villeneuve and watching the excitement in the city as the Formula 1 circus rolled into town every year. Rapidly my minor fascination developed into a full blown obsession and when I was a teen, I devised a plan to make it to Maranello one day. Of course I grew up and fell into that familiar rut that many people get themselves into; getting up, putting on a suit and going into the office. Every day I sat behind my computer squishing my boss's head from afar in between my index finger and thumb and slowly losing my sanity. I was doing what everyone expected of me and what the people in my life had convinced me was the only real option for my future. I was fairly successful for someone my age; I had my own place, a decent salary and a wardrobe full of beautiful clothing but I was miserable.
Last year I made the New Years resolution to do everything that my heart desired. At the top of my list was attending the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. It is an event that I have been to many times and yet this time was particularly emotional for me. The moment I saw the team I felt tears well up in my eyes, it was like an emotion that I had suppressed for so long finally came up to the surface and exploded out of me. When the weekend was over I was desperately unhappy, I had taken a photo of myself outside the Ferrari garage and placed that photo on my desk at work. I literally could not get through a day without looking at it and almost crying, I felt torn.
Throughout my life I have always admired Enzo Ferrari and looked at his life for strength and inspiration. Oddly enough at that point I had never read "My Terrible Joys." It's not that I had never been curious about the book, it was more that I was afraid of what I would find written upon its pages. What if Enzo turned out to be a misogynistic ...or even worse, what if Enzo turned out to be boring?! Lol! Thankfully when I checked the book out of my local library (it may be a bible to us tifosi...but come on $300?!!!) it measured up to all of my expectations and more. Enzo answered every question that I had and even some questions that I was afraid to ask. I won’t tell you all of my questions, but the most important answer he gave me was the answer to what I should do next. He wrote about his wife wanting him to get a job with a local tram company, but he simply refused. He also wrote a very moving passage about when he was a boy questioning his future.
After that moment I was no longer torn, I quit my job, sold all of my furniture and sub-let my amazing apartment. I found a job near Maranello and off I went! At the time all of my friends told me that I had lost the plot when I gave up my material possessions and my job. The common response to “Guess what, I'm moving to Italy!" was "You're crazy!!!" lol! I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't been a little scared and the first few weeks here were terrifying but the truth is right now I am the happiest that I have ever been because I am following my heart! :-) I have no idea where the future will take me, but I'm still young and there's plenty of time to find out.
Living here has given me a unique perspective on all things Ferrari and I will try to share some of my experiences with you as they happen! :-D Also, if anyone has something that they would like me to write about (Ferrari related) in Italy, chances are I have already done it or am planning to do it, so just ask!