The Greek Reality

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 1^st 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.

                                

 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.