In my last two posts I talked about the reality of our daily
life in Greece during the current crisis.
Yet the term ‘Greek reality’ is one I do not
particularly like to hear.
Years ago, when I was a course
tutor on a Cambridge DTEFLA teacher training course, one course participant
decided it was time to put me straight on what that was. According to her, this
reality meant Greeks never meet
deadlines, don’t take things too seriously (presumably as course tutor I was
doing just that!), do not like being told what to do. My response to her was if
she wanted internationally acknowledged certification then she had to set her
sights higher.
Another course participant
submitted all her assignments on time, consistently gave of her very best and
was adored by her students. It came as
no surprise, then, to learn that one did not make the grade, while the other
gained distinctions in both the theoretical and the practical components.
Sometimes, say, when I’ve voiced
disapproval of the pushing and shoving that is getting on a local bus, I’ve
been told ‘ This is Greece!’ – subtext: ‘like it or not !’ Now I know there are
sensitivities attached to a foreigner criticizing something of one’s own
country – I get that; but not the fact that one expresses the phrase almost with
pride when the situation is a third world one.
A friend recently used that term to me when
I’d made what I thought was a reasonable observation about a situation she
thought was hopeless, while I disagreed.
And this ‘Greek reality’ phrase raises my hackles
for a variety of reasons:
·
Firstly it’s condescending; the implication
being: I know, you don’t!
·
It usually debases whatever aspect of Greek life
is being discussed as being the overall given state and with no alternative:
yes, it’s deplorable but that’s the way it is – immutable.
·
It implies you’re ‘stoopid’ since you’re unaware
of the environment in which you live, and, worse still, you’re naïve enough to
think things can improve.
Let me give you a glimpse of what
Greek reality is for me:
As a teacher I have had the privilege of
working with some of the finest minds:
·
A fifth form student preparing for admission to
Ivy League US universities gained in her English SATs (¾ of the overall sum)
scores which surpassed the total score of the then US president in all four of
his subjects.
·
Meeting a young man in the street some years
after he’d been a little chubby 1st grader in my Elementary class, we
chatted about his future plans. He wanted to study Nuclear Physics and, since I
knew he held the University of Cambridge Proficiency in English, I assumed he’d
be heading for an American University. His response – that he was also
considering studying in Moscow since he was equally proficient in the Russian
language – blew me away. Humbling!
These were just two of the many
students who had defined their goals and had given all of their considerable
talents to reaching them. These young people represent Greece and Greeks more
than those featured in the Go Greek For A Week program on recipients of early
pensions and fat bonuses.
So, my friend,
you can keep your Greek reality where you’ve given up almost completely on
things here and the possibility of improvement. I’m certainly going to hang on
to mine. Yes, things could be run more
fairly and efficiently. Yes, the politicians have short-changed the electorate for
many years. People who believed they would benefit from political patronage and continued to vote for those who were
operating within a corrupt, bureaucratically bloated system. But
gradually the old regime is being pensioned off while new blood and new
perspectives take its place.
Since I first came here as a
tourist, I have always felt a huge affinity
with the Greek people, their language, their culture. For them the family unit
and family life is the very cornerstone of society’s fabric.
They uphold and continue to
follow the cultural traditions of
each region; they honour their unique history, as do others throughout the
world. Below you see my beloved karyatides,
the noble ladies supporting the roof of the Erechtheion temple on the
Acropolis.
The Greek understands the
imperfection that is man and accepts that as part of his nature. There is a generosity of spirit that embraces
humanness and forgives its frailty.
You may not fancy eating sheep’s head but you
cannot fault the generosity and hospitality of the host!
And when the wine has been
quaffed and the music mingles with it in the blood, that’s when the soul of the Greek
overflows and needs to express its joy or sorrow, its chara or kaimos.
And he will never be alone in doing that.
And he will never be alone in doing that.
So, all in all, I think somehow
we can cope with capital controls, we can eke out the additional taxes, but
only if they contribute to something specific: to abolishing the current system
and constructing the new, more just and efficient system the Greeks richly
deserve.
One’s reality is not composed only of one’s
perception, it also embodies one’s dreams.
