Alfa Romeo and the Giulia

Before I knew it, 85 people had bookmarked my blog—thank you so much! The other day, my husband requested information about the new Alfa Romeo Giulia, and showed me the brochure when it arrived. I knew almost nothing about Alfa Romeo. I was so clueless that I actually blurted out, “Giulia? Romeo and Juliet? What’s that?” So my husband filled me in.

Apparently, since Alfa Romeo became part of the Fiat Group, the company hadn’t been able to build the kind of sports cars it wanted. And sure enough, many reviews of the cars it launched afterward were less than glowing.

But the new Giulia has been getting rave reviews online and on TV. It hadn’t arrived in Japan yet, so a test drive wasn’t possible, but my husband was clearly excited. “Alfa Romeo has finally made a car I actually want to drive!”

A Moment in the Car

The next day, our family was out driving when my husband, in the left lane, started pointing out the cars passing us on the right. “That’s a [car name]. This one’s a [car name]—it’s the same model as Grandpa’s,” he told our eldest daughter. She was fascinated, asking, “What’s that one? And that one?” We kept up the conversation for about 20 minutes.

Then, all of a sudden, our daughter said:

Dad, where’s the Giulia?

Me: “Huh? Giulia? Who’s that?”
Daughter: “Where’s Giulia? The one we had at home.”
Husband: “Do you mean the Alfa Romeo Giulia?”
Me: “The red car we were looking at at home?”
Daughter: “Yes, the Giulia.”

I couldn’t believe it—what a three-year-old!

She’d been looking at things and pointing beside me, sure, but I never imagined she’d remember the name too. And it wasn’t a familiar Japanese name like Hanako—it was Giulia, a name she’d never heard before. It really drove home just how closely children listen to their parents’ conversations.

She must pick up all sorts of things from what we say every day. It made me realize all over again that I should be a little more mindful of what I talk about.