Meet Mr. Bowtie

At the wedding reception two days ago, I met this interesting gentleman who spoke moderate English. He used to be a physician and now he's a dentist. He's also a violinist on the side. He has two kids, 12 and 13. They're young kids because he got married much later in life because he wanted to pursue his career(s) first.
From what I've been hearing, a set career path is very important for Italians. There's not much room to explore other interests other than as a hobby. They're very unfamiliar with my American freelancer lifestyle, which explains why I had a relatively difficult time getting a visa. The Italian embassy kept asking for an employment letter explaining my title, position and salary. They were very puzzled by the idea of having more than one employer at once.