immauss,
I agree on all the advice that was given above. As for an Italian instructor. I was stationed in Italy for 3 years (supporting an Italian artillery unit) and I found that most Italians speak english. Look around for and IHS (Italian hobby shop) and start asking if there are any flyers that speak english. Biggest problem I see is the mode I vs. mode II mentioned above.

while looking for an instructor over there remember this, a bottle of jack and a carton of marlboros can go a long way to getting anything done in italy

good luck