Horizon - Culture - Act the Greek way

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EUPHORIA: Eυφoρια
A word for the feeling of exaltation and the ultimate emotional high. Invented in Greece. Is this the reason why your memories of such relaxed surrountings are so intense?

The Greeks greet each other by huging and kissing each other once on each chick. A simple hug has no meaning to them. Women kiss women and women kiss men. Men kiss other men only when they know each other well but they kiss women freely. In a business environment men and women shake hands and avoid kissing or huging. In general touching other people (up to a logical extend of course!) is not only acceptable but it is considered a sign of friendship and acceptance and not necessarily flirting. As a matter of fact pulling away from a Greek who will try to greet you by kissing you can be percieved as an offence! Women can hold hands in public places or even hold each other without this meaning they are homosexual! People can touch each other's arms or jewelry while they talk to show intimacy or attention to the conversation. Children are often urged to kiss even people who are not very close to the family.

Birthdays and name days

The Greeks celebrate more their name days than their birthday. Usually the person whose name day is on will organise a party in his/her house or a dinner in a restaurant where s/he will be expected to pay the bill. The guests are expected to bring gifts. Somewhat personal gifts are ok but the most common are sweets, flowers, whisky or wine.

Paying the bill
When at a restaurant or a cafe' the Greeks never split the bill unless they are teenagers or students (in which case they cannot afford the whole bill!). Adults often fight over who is going to pay the bill since everyone will want to do it no matter how big it might be. In general money is a sensitive issue for a Greek who will consider offensive any attempt to be offered money or having his and his friends' bill payed by someone else.

Paying a visit to a Greek house

When one is invited at a guathering in a Greek house s/he is expected to bring a gift. Usually it is sweets or chocolates. When there avoid admiring too much objects or people for two reasons: First people might suspect that you give the evil eye in which case you might be asked to spit on the person or the object of admiration. Second the host/ess might insist you take the object with you as a gift. When one is offered a sweet, food, or anything the Greek politeness rules say s/he has to refuse even if s/he wants it. The host/ess will insist at least 3 times until the guest give in to the offer!!!

Paying an unexpected visit to a Greek house
In general paying an unexpected visit is not a good idea. People usually make a call first, even a few minutes before, to arrange their visit with the host. If for some reason you have to pay an unexpected visit to someone avoid doing so (or even calling) between 2pm and 6pm since most of the Greeks take their afternoon nap at this time. When a Greek family accepts an unexpected visit will try not to show any discomfort to the visitor (read the "beeing a Greek host/ess paragraph below) even if the time is a very unconvinient one. When the visitor arrives while the family is eating or it is generaly lunch time s/he will be asked to join the table. A refusal might be percieved as an offence to the hostess sometimes! In general people will share food even if it is obviously not enough for all.

Hospitality, a sacred notion

In Greece, being hospitable is not an abligation, it is more a sacred task towards others, family members, strangers, Greeks and foreigners alike. In ancient Greece, the mightiest God of all, Xenios Zeus, was considered to be the protector of guests and any disrespect or maltreatment of them was considered a direct offence to the God himself! Today Xenios Zeus in Greece is nothing more than a memory but visitors and guests are still honoured in the same way. Don't be surprised if total strangers buy you a drink withought expecting anything in return, shopkeepers give you things for free or unknown people in neighbourhoods smile to you with no apparent reason. It is not a marketing trick, they do not expect you to buy anything or give them anything in any way. It is just the way Greek view foreigners (or even Greeks from different parts of Greece). As a child I remember inumerable times when while I was playing in the streets with my friends away from my house I got thirsty. The only thing I had to do was to knock on someones door and I would be gladly given not only a glass of water but even a candy or a chocolate if it was available! Even in the most touristic places a foreigner can find locals drinking their ouzo or raki at a kafeneion. They will be imediatelly invited to join them and will be treated for free just because! A very typical Greek scene is a group of Greeks arguing over who will have the honour to accommodate a foreigner in his house, a foreigner who after a few days will be considered a family member.

Being a Greek host/ess

In contrast to being a Greek guest, being a Greek host or hostess is not an easy task. Hosts are expected to organise everything thinking to the slightest desire of their guests. Even though there are no prefixed roles men and women usually untertake different tasks. When a couple has invited over some friends the woman is expected to serve the food and the drinks and make sure all plates and glasses are constantly full. Don't get surprised if she seems to be constantly at something while everyone else is having a good time. The man is responsible for entertaining the guests and keeping the glasses full. In general at least one of the hosts should always be present otherwise it is considered bad maners. When the guest drinks up his/her wine the empty glass is an invitation for more. Don't try to refuse. It will have no effect since it will be percieved as the polite refusal that was mentioned above. Expect lots of food and lots of people refilling your plate no matter how much you protest. The good host/ess will never accept a guest helping with the dishes or anything else unless the guest is a very close friend. At times, when guests live away and they don't have their own means of transportation the man is expected to drive them home when the night is over. When everyone has gone the host find itself exosted among lots of dirty dishes and untidy rooms but it knows that it will be treated in a similar manner when it will be its turn to be a guest.

Eating the Greek way
The Greeks usually don't pray before they eat, they just make the sign of the cross. When guests or family members from far away join the table the hosts say "kalos irthate" or "kalos orisate" meaning "welcome" and the guests "kalos sas vrikame". Good manners say that both hands should be on top of the table no matter how small is the available space. When really close relatives eat together they might eat the salad from the same plate. Dinner is usually served really late, from 9:00 pm and on.

Sleeping the Greek way
But, really, is there a *Greek* way to sleep, you might ask? Well, let's see. First of all, the Greeks stay up late, I mean REALLY late. Even kids do not go to bed earlier than 11:00 - 11:30 pm even if they have to go to school early in the next morning. As a matter of fact Greeks tend to take kids along when they go to tavernas or restaurants even if they intent to return home really late. I have heard people claiming that this happens because the day starts late in Greece but I am not so sure about that. Most people start their job at 7:30 am which means they have to wake up at least one hour earlier. Now, add to the picture the heavy traffic of Athens and you need at least one hour to go to the office. That is you should set your alarm two hours earlier. Of course that depends on the profesion and on the location of the office but jobs beginning as late as 9:00 am are extremelly rare in Greece. The funny thing is that most of the morning newspapers are out no earlier than noon but that's another story!

So lets see: A typical Greek will wake up around 5:00 am. He will spend on average 45' fighting the traffic. He will work from 7:30 am until around 4:00 pm. He will take a nap somewhere between 5:00 and 6:00 pm. He will eat dinner at around 9:00 pm and he will go out at around 11:30 pm. Don't forget that some clubs do not open earlier than 12:00 pm! He will home around 4:00 am and around one hour later he will have to wake up and go to office again! Now I can hear you shouting "But is it possible for someone to sleep only two hours per day?" Of course not. But this is the mystery of the Greek sleeping pattern. Nobody knows when this nation is sleeping! Big cities stay restless throughout the night and very often the traffic is worse at midday and at the very early hours of the day. The Greek laws forbide drivers to use their car horns only between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm ("siesta" time). This means they can use them all night long since obviously no people sleep then!!! Even though the "siesta" is part of the Greek culture all shops are open and restaurants and cafeterias are pucked with people throughout the day. The best movies in the television never begin earlier than 11:00 pm.
So if you want to sleep the Greek way do the following:

Stay up as late as you can.

Wake up as early as you can.

Sleep in small intervals whenever you can (not in the office!)

Never unplug the telephon even if you want to sleep.

If you are woken up by a phone call or an unexpected visit never admit that you were sleeping. Good manners do not allow it.

And that's all! :)

Showing graditute

The Greek lifestyle involes lots of "networking" and I don't mean only the business environment. Asking favours from friends or relatives is not only perfectly alright but at times it is the only way to do things. People will rarely refuse to help you and if they are relatives will help you at any cost. Greeks are expected to show their graditute with a gift and by no means with money. Greeks are highly offented when offered money! A person having accepted a favour can buy a gift for the house or the child of the person that helped him/her. Giving money to children is considered ok. Between friends when someone has borrowed small amounds of money will give them back by offering them to the child. In general repaying the favour in such a way doesn't mean the bill has settled and the person that helps is not expected to ask for any repayment whatsoever.