Ta Nea

I wrote an article for Ta Nea, a political newspaper in Greece, recently. The link for the article in Greek and pictures is on the left side of this page.

But for most of you, here is what is sounds like in English:

The first time I lived in Athens I was 22 years old. One day I was living with my parents in my childhood home in Seattle, Washington, the next I was living alone in a foreign city where I didn’t speak the language, the taxi drivers were all on strike, and I got yelled at multiple times a day (sometimes by people that paid me, sometimes by old women at the supermarket). It was a confusing time.

And rightfully so. It was a period of my life ripe with changes and new experiences. My first step outside of North America was when I landed in Athens; I had my first real apartment in Ano Patissia. My first boyfriend after college was Greek and my first job as an adult was playing basketball in the Greek league. Athens holds many of my personal milestones

I can’t say that I didn’t like Athens in the beginning but I did find myself with misplaced emotions; blaming the city garbage strike on my feelings of loneliness; getting mad at errant drivers when really I just missed my family. Eventually I realized that the city garbage workers were not to blame for the fact that I didn’t have any close friends and that Greek drivers shouldn’t be held accountable for the fact that my family was 6,000 miles away. Hindsight is a protracted process however; it’s only taken me five years to realize my twisted ways.

My second year in Athens I swung the opposite direction. I fell into the stereotypical American expatriate mindset; namely that everything European is excellent while everything American is a terrible idea thought up by workaholic type A’s that have no passion for life. I even accepted smoking around me, mainly because I had no choice in the matter but despite the fact that its one of the stupidest things you can do.

For all the things that irritated me my first year, I learned to laugh about them during my second. Greeks became hilarious to me. I’d laugh when discussions about American politics turned into lectures; some old Greek man telling me all the things about our stupid former president that I already knew. I sat back and enjoyed when team meetings became shouting matches, my fiery teammates yelling at coaches and managers in a way one could never do on my side of the Atlantic. I’d shake my head in astonished amusement when gia gia’s would cut in front of me in line at the grocery store, seemingly oblivious to the concept of queuing. I even caught on to the driver’s right of way; rude driving is really much more fun.

My third year in Athens I found my inner Greek. Literally. Not only was I living like a local but some family history research had revealed that I had Greek ancestors from the 19th century. I finally had a reason why I’d kept coming back to Athens and evidence to support exactly how I felt: 1/32nd Greek. This revelation led Greek people to say entirely false comments with surety such as ‘you look Greek’ (I don’t), to ‘you should marry a Greek and live in Greece forever’ (probably not going to happen), to ‘you could get a Greek passport.’ (I wish). Mostly Greek people exhibited the trait I like the most, pride in their culture and excitement over my sudden inclusion.

It didn’t really matter that my lineage was negligible; I was considered an honorary Greek by the very fact that I understood and appreciated Greek culture. This was accomplished by fumbling over Greek words to the great amusement of everyone around me, eating kukoretsi (though I’m still questioning that decision), and not ordering decaf very often. I even went to Ephesus and cornered tour guides to ensure that the proper credit was given to the Greeks.

Don’t get me wrong, I still miss America but there are some things that I could do without; manufactured stress, bad fruit, and skim milk being among them. But other than that, it’s still my home country and the place I always want to return. So, I have a genius idea that I’m sure no one has every thought of. My plan is to merge the best of America with the best of Greece. I’ll combine long weekday hours drinking coffee in cafes with the salary of an overworked American; I’ll take the benefits of Greek nepotism when it comes but eschew the practice when it doesn’t work out in my favor; I’ll eat a simple, healthy, fresh Mediterranean diet but also enjoy the variety that comes from an unfocused palate; I’ll apply the sea la vie attitude when I need more time but utilize the American propensity for timeliness when I need someone to get something done for me; I’ll drive like a European behind the wheel but when I’m a pedestrian I’ll appreciate it if people drive like nice, law abiding Americans.

My plan is seemingly flawless and I like to tell myself that it will work. Call me crazy if you want but I’ll blame it on my 1/32nd Greek blood.