Is it a really crazy idea to want to move to Greece someday?
I'm not even sure I do. I think at the moment the thought is more "OMG, I've just realised I don't want to spend the rest of my days in England".
I've already decided that I'm not staying in London any longer than I have to. Don't get me wrong, I've had a long and fruitful love affair with this city. I was born here, and it's as much woven into the fabric of my upbringing and behaviour (no, I don't smile on trains) as anything my parents, family or friends managed. Being relatively smart, I don't even really buy into the whole stabbing hysteria - even though I work in Islington - since I know crime rates are not really changing that substantially. I do think the criminal demographic is changing, and it's a fact that the people I know who were born in London had a shorter childhood and were more mature at an early age.
When I was young I was proud of this. Now that I'm thinking of having kids in a couple of years, I find it depressing and a little frightening.
My first thought - and what's probably going to happen - is moving just outside London to somewhere within an hour or so's commuter distance. Thanks to the astronomical costs associating with commuting, this will mean convincing my work that I can do my job from home at least half the week. It's completely and utterly possible; I work on the web and would happily provide my own hardware if they'll provide a CMS that works properly on Camino.
In Greece this summer, however, Ashley and I were on the verge of jacking it all in and getting a large loan to open up some sort of business in Kefalonia (we did have an idea which I'm keeping to myself for now). We knew we had little experience, but were willing to learn from any and everybody if necessary. What scuppered that idea in the end was the knowledge that what we earned in a summer might be enough to see us through a lovely winter on the island, but actually we wanted to be back in London for winter. We couldn't afford that - and where would our kids go to school?
We know we don't want to live in Athens. It's a great city from some viewpoints, but the sheer volume of people shoved into a small space would get to me in the end. Nevertheless, the quality of life in Greece is just becoming so much better than here. The food is better (and cheaper), the weather is better, the pace of life is different and less frenetic, public services have massively improved since my childhood... etc etc. All the things that are deteriorating here seem to be improving there.
I would happily live in Thessaloniki. Ashley's never seen it, but I'm sure he'd like it and it is the hub of what Jewish society is left in Greece.
Language isn't really even an issue. There are English-speaking jobs and Ashley's going to start lessons at the end of the summer. My writing and advanced speech are wobbly at best, but that's easily brushed up. Six months of living there and I'm sure we'd be confident and able.
Yet, in the back of my mind, I think other places would be more exciting. I've never even been to Canada, but the idea of such a ridiculously beautiful country, being in an English-speaking world and having all the benefits of being in North America plus free health care... well, that's pretty beguiling. I have been all over parts of the US several times. I know that I would jump at the chance to live in (the more populous areas of) New England. Florida too.. well, maybe. At least in parts. Not Miami, ugh. Definitely East Coast, at any rate.
I have a child's excitement about the US - about North America in general. And yet getting a job, sorting a visa, finding a legal way to stay would be a headache and a half. IF they ever succeeded. And I'd be really far away from my closest family. I'm sure my sister would bring the Little Weasel (my nephew) to Greece for holidays, but America? Not likely that often if only due to expense and distance.
I don't know if I'll ever actually leave England. My mother has lived in three countries (Egypt, Greece and England) and my father two (the latter two). My sister moved from London to Leeds at 18 for university and didn't come back. Whether on a small or large scale, I have a nomad's fear of stagnation. We like to shake things up - I'm just not happy when there's not a crisis because it gives me too much time to think of all the things that could go wrong.
Moving to Greece would be logistically easy enough. Any place would be emotionally hard at times. I'm pretty sure my transatlantic thoughts are largely because I have never lived there and don't appreciate what daily life is really like; I know I felt nothing but horror standing by the supermarket fridge in Palo Alto in January staring at all the different kinds of coffee creamer and thinking "would you even miss this shit if it were gone? Why do you need peanut butter flavoured coffee?! Because you can have it?". US excess makes me slightly ill - I really didn't like Vegas. I haven't lived in Greece but have spent so much time there with people who have that it holds no real mysteries. My birth is registered in Athens. I belong there. I can vote there and have a passport.
So why is it that when I belong to two places and know the wonderful warmth of having two 'homes', I nonethless don't quite feel like I belong anywhere?
Comments
Sorry - back to the point. What would you say were the top whatever (3, 5, 10) best reasons to move there? The things that you really felt you benefitted from? These obviously would be personal to you and might or might not be relevant to me but they'll be very interesting either way. And then, conversely, what are the things that would put you off?
I really must nudge Ilias - his point of view as someone who currently lives there would be an interesting counterpoint to yours as well!
Thanks for indulging me!
Well, what I mean by "conveninces" is more than just lack of favourtie foods, or other products. Greece has some terrific stuff of its own. The major problems I experienced with living there were:
1) the work ethic Many Greeks still have what my Greek friends call a 'slave mentality' Thie goal is to do as littel work as possible int eh amount of time they are on their employers clock They want to secure 'meson' ---a job where they have some connection to the owner and from which they can't be fired easily - so that they can have a steady income for the rest of their lives. They do not, as a population have an entrepenuerial spirit. They don't understand free enterprise and find competition between companies a source of contention, not a reason to excel For that reason they are always looking for exclusive contracts, government regulations on trade, etc, so they don't have to compete in price or service. As an American used to a capitalistic system, this was hard to adjustto. But if you read Ilia's blog, he has the same complaints. He claims it's hard for a young person to make a living in Greece, since the system has many drawbacks in fostering an atmsophere of excellence. So the first and formost drawback for me would be lack of employent opportnity and how the work ethic effects every service one needs- from the post office to the neighbourhood air salon.
There is a bit of xenophibia too,that will affect you. Having said that, Americans are disgustingly the same, When you read my book you will read about a certain type of Greek ex-pat who returns to Greece only to 'lord' it over anyone wh did not ever leave the country. Their air of superiority makes them disliked and with good reason. But it doesn't make it easy for those of us foreigners who do not have contempt. We're tarred with the same brush, sometimes.
I also hated the way gypsies and Albanans were looked down upon. It reminds me of the US before the civil rights movement in the 60's.
What I loved -ahh,many more things. First the very system that makes Greeks not a fan of work, also gives them a sense of fairness. There is no separation of the classes, with the exceptions of as I mentioned, the gypsies and the Albanians. A rich Greek does not look down on a poor one (With the exception of certain, blue-colar, uneducated ex-pats, who look down on everyone except others of theri own kind, as I also mentioned) Every beauty in Greece is shared equally, You do not have to have a deep pocketbook to enjoy the many outdoor delights Greece has to offer. When I was living there, only the very poor could not afford a holiday on an island somewhere. The quality of living for a young family starting out is much much better than anywhere in the US as near as I can tell. The weather plays a great part in that. There are so many delightfulthins to do that are free or cheap.
Gosh, there's so much more. The education system, I think is sound. I love that young people in greece can talk about world politics with a knowledge that not even the most educated here have necessarily
Sense of family. Children are society's blessing there, not a commodity as they are here in the US.
Forgive typos, etc. I wrote this very fast. There is much much more for me to say, too much to write. part of my good times there was because of my attitude. My son and I embraced Greece. It was ironic that I went there to please my Greek husband, who swore he couldn't t be happy unless we went back. He ended up complaining about it and I, who hardly could speak Greek when I got there miss it to this day. My ex still lives there and still complains, I've heard. Like everywhere else, it has its good and bad points. It's up to every individual to find the balance, what's worthwhile in it for him/her and how to cope with the things one doesn't like. I find that true everywhere I live, though.
Honestly Alex, the more I learn about you, it's as though I wrote my memoir just for you alone. I honestly am now waiting with baited breath to see if my story accomplishes with you what I hoped it would accomplish with everyone who reads it, which is the positive, life -changing effect an understanding and respect for a culture other than one's own can have on a human being, and how stepping outside of one's safety zone makes us so much stronger and wiser. I hope when you read my story you'll feel those things and it will have a good effect on you after all you've written about yourself here. It would be a nice wedding gift to you from me if I'm able to achieve that with my words.
I also agree about the politicised children. Greek cynical apathy is thankfully not infecting the young as much as it has worn down their parents and grandparents. The further we get from the memories of the civil war, the more hopeful the situation becomes. As England descends into a mixture of futile petition signing and tired resignation, as ID cards and erosion of civil liberties vie for attention with stabbings and a dangerous level of lack of responsibility when it comes to drug-taking (it's just a little coke! It's not harming anyone! What Colombian / Afghan / pick a country people?).... as all this happens, Greece is finally finding its modern feet. There are downsides. Every other shop is car showroom and everyone has to have 43,000 gadgets. But people are speaking out. Debates rage (sometimes to the point of insanity on the split-screen TV news). A radio DJ is baiting Simitis to take him to court over his insulting comments so that he can prove he was involved in the Siemens scam. They're alive. And kids know about it.
What Ash and I have agreed on is working out what we're running from and what we're running to. That really informs whether it would be a clever decision to make - whatever happens there are things we want to do here first, work projects we want to complete etc, so it's not an urgent choice. I just think it wouldn't do any harm to get away from family and friends and find out what we are capable of. And who our real friends are, of course. My parents, I'm sure, would eventually join us but there they have very much their own lives in Athens - it was evident when we all went away together that they leave us to our own devices far more in Greece. Maybe it's an innate confidence they derive from the place, although my mother only lived there between the ages of 18 and 23.
I am running from bad secondary schools, bad weather, expensive lifestyles, a lack of a sense of childhood. Ash tells me for him it's much the same. I am running to a cheaper, more relaxed life. But I'm very, very scared. Partly because I'm worried I won't make new friends, but that's everyone's fear. Partly because I'm at the beginning of a long decision-making process - one that can't even proceed until Ashley's visited the place and decided what he thinks of it. And that won't be until next year, most likely.
I was kinda proud of myself though. When I mused on this with my mum I said I knew she'd come along wherever I went. And I said that she had to understand that if I changed my mind in two years and came back, she couldn't blame me for that because I wouldn't - I won't - be responsible for her life. I am thinking for me, with Ashley, and for our future kids. I can't, and won't, think for everyone. I don't think she was entirely happy, but she accepted this without argument and seemed to understand. A weight lifted.
Maybe it's that kind of feeling you want to inspire with your book? You already have helped do so with your comments. :)