Arrivederci- when saying Later Gator seems inappropriate

This was a killer week, in my world of insurance and pasta. Busy at work and outside as well, all topped off by the fact that I threw a dinner party for about 15 people in a kitchen that comfortably seats five.

My friends Marco and Carla left this week to start a job in Luxembourg for the Banca Generali, which is the finance and investing end of the huge Italian Insurance conglomerate Generali (for those of you who have been to Rome, you’ve seen Generali’s administrative offices in Piazza Venezia- and if you’ve visited Italy recently, perhaps even their TV advertisements with a lion, the company symbol, protecting a man from the dangers of the Jungle. I think it drives home the idea of personal risk management and protection- so points to them for a memorable ad campaign!)

Anyway, watching them say goodbye to Milan, where they have been for years now (Carla has been here for 3 and Marco 7), brought me way back to January 2007 when I was saying goodbye to so many friends and family myself. Fundamentally, as human beings (or essere umani for them), it is difficult to leave something so certain and familiar for something unknown. My first thought upon seeing the tearful hugs, best wishes for whatever the future may hold, and thoughtful glances that seemed to say “come back home soon”, was to my own friends at college and at home when I left. It was hard to say goodbye to Sam and Simone- to Martha, Sarah and Chris- when they had always been there to make me laugh or chortle. Then it dawned on me that had I never said goodbye, I would have never met any of the wonderful fascinating people I have met over the past year. That is what this age- this stage in life is about. Growth.

Now back to the crazy Italians who are moving to Luxembourg. When faced with a challenge like this one, especially because they are being sent over as part of a team to open an entire office, you have to jump! It isn’t only the tremendous expense a company must undertake to move you there, train you in new areas and teach you French- but the idea that you are being singled out as a rising star. Luxembourg for Carla and Marco isn’t an exile, but rather an opportunity to learn about a new market, and to really make a name for themselves within the company. An opportunity for…Growth.

I have learned such a tremendous amount since being here, all of which I reflected on today when I probably (read: definitely) should have been working. In New York, I had always thought about the money we were making- big premium dollars, big name Insureds (clients) and big policy limits- but we had a fairly limited geographic area in which we worked. In Italy, working in the exact same sector, I have learned not only how to Underwrite other “Financial Lines” products like Directors and Officers Insurance, Employment Practices Liability and Crime- but I have also worked on Architects and Engineer’s Professional Insurance and put together programs on a territory that spans an entire country and so the needs and risks vary greatly.

Even when you take the jump though- you can always be comforted by the fact that wherever you go on this earth (except for maybe small African villages, I have to check on that) there will always be…karaoke.