Now that I live on the Gold Coast, where almost everyone is Anglo, I miss my home suburb of Burwood. once known as Little Greece, then Little Italy.....the area has always been very culturally diverse.
Here are a few reasons I like Greek people and their culture: (please excuse any stereotypes)
1) When you enter Athens by bus there are huge signs over the Motorway saying "WELCOME TO ATHENS" with the Greek equivalent in smaller letters underneath!! Blew my MIND!!
2) Anna, Vicki, their Mum and Athena are four fabulous Greek women I know. A lot of Greek women are named after goddesses-quite appropriate really.
3) Given my conservative English background, where people have normal simple names like "James Smith" or "David Jones" I love when you meet a Greek woman for example and she will say "Call me Dina"...when you ask what her name is she'll say (excuse the probably incorrect spelling:
AGOSTINA DEMETROPOLOPOLOS!!!
WOW !! A Party in your mouth just to say it!!! Hey, let's have fun--whack on a few extra syllables....maybe they started out with short Anglo-style names but it comes out with all the extra syllables after a few glasses of OUZO...
4) It is one thing for a woman to be topless on the beach..it is quite another for her to walk into a beachside cafe on the Island of Crete in that state to buy a drink while I am sitting there quietly, aged sixteen, eating a plate of souvlakia. An experience of some impact at the time.
5) Real Greek Souvlakia is more addictive than heroin.
6) My sister and I used to entertain ourselves checking out houses bought by Greek people and renovated....next thing you know an otherwise boring 3 bedroom brick-and-tyle has a HUGE staircase on the outside, Corinthian columns on either side of the front door which are almost as wide as the house and half the garden has been concreted.
A Greek friend of my sister saw one of these houses which also had a huge portico which extended almost to the front fence. He got out of his car, knocked on the door and shook the guy's hand for a job well done.
7) The most easygoing relaxed Greek guy will instantly become an unstoppable killing machine if he hears someone disrespect his mother.
8) SOUVLAKIA MMMMM--35 drachmas (plus bread) when I was there in 1986.
9) If you visit a Greek house, make sure you fast for a couple of hours beforehand--trust me on this one..
10) Greek Easter- a period during which all my Greek Uni friends started out all grumpy, lethargic and jealous of our lunch....by the end they are lying around holding their stomachs vowing never to eat anything of any kind again.
11) Not one of the 911 hijackers was Greek.
12) Jennifer Aniston, who I find very irritating, is only part-Greek-there's your explanation.
13) I scored major points age nine with my school principal for knowing heaps about Greek mythology...I didn't mention to him that I was freaking out at night worrying that Medusa the Gorgon was going to come and get me!
14) George Donikian is Greek (as he liked to tell people at every opportunity) but I haven't seen him on TV in over ten years so I am happy.
