No Greek in Greece Has Me Losing It!

I want more authentic Greek experiences.

I love foreign culture. I fell in love with Spanish in 9^th grade. I fell in love to the degree that I would actually STUDY it voluntarily over the summer months just to engrain it into my memory so that I wouldn’t fall behind at all or forget any of the language I loved.

Sophomore year of college I traveled to China with my good friend Jie Wang, and fell in love with China and the culture there.

Now it is January 2012 and as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’ve fallen in love with Greece.

I’ve now officially been in Athens for one week, yet I can only count on one hand the amount of authentic Greek interactions I’ve had were I speak Greek to a Greek, and they speak Greek back, and we share a moment that is complexly Greek. Even though we may be from different places, we are able to share a common bond. Today I got a small taste of that in the farmers market, where men and women shouted Greek to each other while expressing themselves enthusiastically. For a couple minutes I felt like I was in the Greece that had been described to me by my professor and other Greek friends.

Hallmark moments like these have thus far been largely a mythical allusion, as most of the people here in Athens are either annoyed when I speak Greek, or always respond in English. Its as though they perceive me to be talking down to them by speaking Greek, when in actuality all I’m trying to do is show respect for them and their culture.

It is starting to drive me mad, and I’m losing my head.

Before coming to Greece, both Professor Finitsis and my Greek coworker at Nordstrom told me that Greek people are very loud, expressive, and affectionate my first thought, “sounds like I’ve finally found MY people.” I looked forward to the trip with eager anticipation, anxiously waiting the day when I wouldn’t be the loudest person on the street because everyone on the street is loud. To not be told to “quiet down” or “shhh” was the liberation I was expecting from Greece.

In preparation, I spent my whole Christmas break learning Greek from my coworker, and researching vocab words on the Internet. January 6^th, our departure flight date, was marked down as my “Homecoming.”

Yet here I am, losing my mind in Athens. Why? I am an outsider, and no matter how hard I try, I cannot be viewed as someone on the inside. Even when I order my food in perfect Greek, I still cannot join them. I’m still an outsider.

In our group of classmates, I am the go-to guy for questions on Greek language, and cultural interaction. Yet even my position as our group’s “Greek ambassador” cannot elevate my status amongst Athenians.

There is however a glimmer of hope. Soon we will be heading to Rhodes, a smaller city with less non-Greek influence. During the time spent here and on a day trip to a non-tourist island I will do my best to make up for the cultural disappointments in Athens.

~Z