Though Greece is consistently excellent, there are some things that I've been missing lately. Here they are, in no particular order. (Note: As this is intended to be a commentary on Greek vs. American/New York culture and lifestyles, all family, friends, pets, acquaintances, significant others, etc, are disqualified from inclusion herein.)
1) Non-Greek Food
Greece has a 98% Greek population. Thus, not only is the predominant culture Greek, but the less-than predominant culture is also mostly Greek, and there are not a huge selection of ethnic restaurants. I'd jump in the filthy Thermaic gulf for some pad thai or something. It doesn't even have to be something exotic; I ate a veggie burger with salsa the other day and it tasted better than ambrosia from Olympus.
2) Used Bookstores
Used bookstores are my favorite kind of store, hands down. Unfortunately, they are few and far between in Thessaloniki (at least, they are if you're looking for books in English).
3) Real Cold and Snow and Stuff
The Greeks are all wearing their down jackets and mittens and scarves, but it still feels like October to me.
4) Afternoon Movies
I saw the 6pm showing of Pride and Prejudice the other day, and it was definitely the early bird screening, with an audience that consisted of about fifty women over the age of fifty. I just don't understand it; why don't Greeks go to the movies before the night-time? I know things happen later around here, but surely some people still occasionally feel like watching a film sometime before dark? (Especially people that spend their evenings working with teenagers but still want to see the new Woody Allen film, dammit.)
5) Live Theatre
Of course they have live theatre in Greece. It's just, well, in Greek. So I haven't seen too much of it.
6) The New York Subway
It smells, it's crowded, gross, and costs two whole dollars, butit's fast, runs 24/7, doesn't get stuck in traffic and I love it dearly.
7) The Non-Smoking Section
In order to get my residence permit, I had to get a chest x-ray. As I handed my pictures over to the doctor at the public hospital, I couldn't help but think "Those have got to be cleaner than about ninety-nine percent of the lungs this guy sees on a daily basis." I really want to keep them that way, but I'm struggling. To be sure, there is, ocassionally, a place for non-smokers to sit...and it's often about two feet away from the smoking section.
8) Coffee To Go
I have a travel mug here, which I frequently carry with me as I'm on duty in the dorms. I was surprised to discover that this is an object of fascination to the kids; I've had about thirty separate students look at my mug with fascination and ask "what is that?" In Greece, see, there is no such thing as coffee on the run. Coffee time in Greece is when you sit down and relax, not when you caffeinate yourself into a frenzy. In theory, I like this, but in reality, I sometimes just want to take my coffee with me.
9) The Sunday New York Times
I really enjoy buying this on Saturday night and then devoting large portions of time to it the next day. I usually discard anything that involves cars, business, technology, read anything of interest in the magazine, News, City, Metro, Arts and Style sections, and devote the rest of the week to the crossword puzzle, which I will invariably have to abandon when I can't figure out the eight letter word for nocturnal Indonesian amphibian.
10) Weird People
Yeah, Greeks have their quirks. But I miss just plain weird people, the kind that roam the streets of Manhattan in their sock feet proclaiming that they are the Messiah, or the guy in Times Square who wears nothing but a cowboy hat and little white underpants with the words "Naked Cowboy" emblazoned across his butt. I miss the people in medieval costume fighting with foam rubber swords on the Grinnell Campus, and the weird guy down the hall who named himself after a tree. Maybe I ought to set an example, and do something outlandish. Ideas would be welcome.
And with that...it's started to snow. Wow. Maybe some Olympian god is granting all of my wishes. I'm going to stay right here and wait. Maybe there will be chicken korma for lunch...
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9 comments:
Emily, you’re grrrrrrrreat!!!
As a Greek American and a person who visits Greece regularly (my parents home is in the old city in Thessaloniki) I sympathize with you and wish you luck!!!
Keep writing!!!
KB from snowy New Hampshire
Hey Scruffy American!
I'm glad yu enjoyed my post! Nope, Thess doesn't have many foreign restaurants, English theatre (that I know of) and there's only one Starbucks, way out on the other side of town. Actually, I'm delighted that there are not more Starbucks here...there are too many in the US, I think. We do have a Village Cinemas, I believe, in the new shopping center which I have yet to see. Hmmm...maybe I'll have to check that out!
zardoz says:
HI emily z ,
came thru scruffy,
pretty nice traveler guide for turkey,
ON the ten points except for the
metro (train)
everything else you will find
its there ,,
just look slowly and carefully
its all there, just have to discover it on your own
thats the fun in thessaloniki
be happy
--------zardoz
Hi! Scruff beat me to it but his comments are valid and it's what I would have said. Thank you for saving me all that typing Scruff. Maybe you should move to Athens and get the best of both worlds.
hi there I found you through scruffy. I'm the opposite of you.. meaning a woman from Thessaloniki living in US and in fact very close to NYC. Life is funny huh?
Let me take one by one the things you miss.
1.Non-Greek food.
Right now I would give my right hand to be at ladadika eating the yummy things... I am sick of everything here and good thing I cook a lot of Greek thigns but still you cant find everything
2. Used bookstores
Hmm weird.. I can point you to some in the center of Thessaloniki, but to be honest I wasn't visiting them much so cant say much about that. What I miss though is the little bookstores with a personal touch that the huge Barnes and nobles..I prefer some human connection
3.I live in Southern CT and I am sick already of the freezing cold and constant snow and rains. I want my Greece weather :)
4. I miss the late night movies in Thessaloniki... here everything is dead after 9pm
5. See?? I miss hearing some Greek.. I had enough of Theater in English
6. Take it take it I hate the darn subway !!! What I miss is all the little motorcycles which trust me make your life so easy in Thessaloniki's traffic.. I left mine back there :(
7. Being a smoker... I hate when I go somewhere here and they dont have a smokers section. I agree with you though.. In my opinion they should take care of both
8. I admit I love my dunkin donuts but I have lost the meaning of coffee as I knew it. Cause yes coffee in Greece means :relaxation time.. I want that back
9. And I miss Eleftherotipia but you can't find it here unless you go to Astoria and again there's a big IF there.
10. I am sick of weird people. But I definitely miss walkign o nthe street and saying "geia" , I miss hearing my language and one thing I miss the most is walking and seeing PEOPLE on the streets. If you walk where I live the drivers look at you like you are from... Greece :P
Hey wanna switch for a while?
I am completely addicted to the Greek Sunday papers. News plus magazines plus DVDs. It is one of the things I miss most about being in the US. Even if your Greek is rudimentary, there's a lot to be picked up from the Sunday papers, pluse they will help you with your Greek. Nothing better than a day spent wallowing with a big stack of Sunday papers, followed by an evening of DVDs.
1)You 're right (almost) about foreign kitchen in Thessalonica, but that's a Thess thing, not Greek in general. Athens, Patra, Herakleion definetaly have places to eat non-greek food, and Athens especially, since there are immigrands here from all Asia (excluding Japan of course), the Balkans, and many African and Arab countries. In my apartment building, there are only 3 Greek families, and there are 22 apartments here. And ofcourse there are many restaurants which serve European kitchen. There is definetaly however ,a shortage in mexican food.
2) no matter what anyone tells you, you're absolutelly right, and not only about books in english... thank god there are enough bookcrossers here in Athens (see http://www.bookcrossing.com/ , there might be some english bookcrossers in Thessalonica)
3)Right again
4) most cinemas with 2 halls or more start showings around 4pm, but few people go around that hour, except maybe on Sundays...
5) I don't know of any plays in English to be honest, except when foreign companies on tour, come to give a show (which is kind of often actually, but for limited shows).
6)we have a subway in athens, it's clean organised and tidy, but doesn't cover much of the city (yet)
7) it's tragic. Greeks are pigs when it comes to smoking, they think it's as natural as breathing. That's why most non-smoking sections are actually obsolete
8)? I don't understand that one... There are infinitely many places to take coffee-to-go here and many starbucks ofcourse among them, though they're kind of expensive. I can't imagine Thessalonica being otherwise... I think you're missing something...
9) some periptero, propably in the center of Thessalonica, must sell The Times, at least I know there are some places that you can get them here in Athens, but that doesn't help much...
10) right again. Actually, there are many weirdos here, but they are disguised as normal people :), so be carefoul.
Well ,
1)There are some good non-greek food restauraunts in thesaloniki but a bit hard to find. I know 3 chinese restaurants that are worth something ,one in ladadika which is all you can eat for 10e and one near navarinou square and one opposite the ymct (χ.α.ν.θ. ) .
There are 2 mexican restaurants and a sushi bar in Krini, the one is mexican is so-so ,the other one is being run by a mexican family and is much better.I haven't tried the sushi bar . Unfortunately no Thai restaurant i know of. For "american food " you can try Ruby Tuesday at mhtropoleos street and apleebee's in paralia (very near to lefkos pirgos) .I know some other non greek restaurants but I think there is no worth mentioning them (take-away or bad food quality).
2)There are some second hand bookstores with a very narrow selection though.For new books there are two book stores I use : First is located exactly behind the Kamara bus station ,second in a side road of navarinou square.The second one has the biggest selection in fantasy/fiction books in all the balkans ;) .
3) You actually miss cold ?!
6) There are plans for a subway in Thesaloniki.For the last 10 years actually.I really wonder if it will happen in my lifetime.
7)Sad but true.
8) You can take a cofee to-go from
any pastry shop (in greek μπουγατσατζίδικο ) .Your students probably where asking about the cup ,because everyone uses those ugly white styrofoam cups .
9)You can get your Times from a shop that specialiazes in foreign daily editions ,located in the Agias Sofias Street (next to a Everest shop where you can take a cofee to-go :P )
For the weird people stuff I tottaly agree with Peavey
Actually, your nicely written post made me start thinking about US things I miss -- and I miss a lot. I'm glad Scruffy pointed me your way. Keep up the good writing.
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