Heh, it's ok, blast from the past comments are fun.
I'd be curious to hear more on this!
Oh, man. I don't even know where to start. A lot of it has to do with the leisure activities-there's the spending literally hours at a cafeteria, which I personally can do with a friend I hadn't seen for months, but not the same people every day like some-what the hell do they find to talk about. There's the open, unapologetic way everybody stares-and not just men, which could be explained away by the obvious reason, but also women. People watching is a national sport and any deviation from a standard fashion sense/appearance gets obvious side-eyes. You should see some of the looks I get when I get gothed out for a night out sometimes.
As an extension of that, there's the fact everyone is up on everyone's business. I miss living in the UK and literally not having exchanged a word with my neighbours the whole time. Here people like to meddle, and while it can have some good side-effects (my elderly neighbour often brings me a plate of something she cooked too much of or sweets people brought her that she can't eat for health reasons), the constant gossiping is annoying as hell.
Generally families are tighter knit than in Western European countries, which is good in terms that they'll always support you if you need it (in fact, considering our non-existent social system and raging unemployment, family support is what keeps a huge chunk of the population from living beneath the poverty line. The only homeless people you see here are either emmigrants or some people with serious addictions: generally it's unheard of to allow anyone in your extended family to end up on the street) but again, often you'll wish they'll leave you the fuck alone. It's not so much a problem with me, as my mum is very cool and only meddles in terms of motivating me career-wise and I'm good at setting clear boundaries with everyone else, but something I observe.
Then there's stuff like Greek TV (which I don't remember being so horrifyingly BAD last time I lived here), the fact there's STILL not separation of Church and State (there are specific historical reasons for this, but I think we're overdue moving past them), the way casual racism/sexism/homophobia is still...casual (but hey, where ISN'T that true to a degree?) and the fact people seem obsessed with status symbols and leaving beyond their means.
no subject
I'd be curious to hear more on this!
Oh, man. I don't even know where to start. A lot of it has to do with the leisure activities-there's the spending literally hours at a cafeteria, which I personally can do with a friend I hadn't seen for months, but not the same people every day like some-what the hell do they find to talk about. There's the open, unapologetic way everybody stares-and not just men, which could be explained away by the obvious reason, but also women. People watching is a national sport and any deviation from a standard fashion sense/appearance gets obvious side-eyes. You should see some of the looks I get when I get gothed out for a night out sometimes.
As an extension of that, there's the fact everyone is up on everyone's business. I miss living in the UK and literally not having exchanged a word with my neighbours the whole time. Here people like to meddle, and while it can have some good side-effects (my elderly neighbour often brings me a plate of something she cooked too much of or sweets people brought her that she can't eat for health reasons), the constant gossiping is annoying as hell.
Generally families are tighter knit than in Western European countries, which is good in terms that they'll always support you if you need it (in fact, considering our non-existent social system and raging unemployment, family support is what keeps a huge chunk of the population from living beneath the poverty line. The only homeless people you see here are either emmigrants or some people with serious addictions: generally it's unheard of to allow anyone in your extended family to end up on the street) but again, often you'll wish they'll leave you the fuck alone. It's not so much a problem with me, as my mum is very cool and only meddles in terms of motivating me career-wise and I'm good at setting clear boundaries with everyone else, but something I observe.
Then there's stuff like Greek TV (which I don't remember being so horrifyingly BAD last time I lived here), the fact there's STILL not separation of Church and State (there are specific historical reasons for this, but I think we're overdue moving past them), the way casual racism/sexism/homophobia is still...casual (but hey, where ISN'T that true to a degree?) and the fact people seem obsessed with status symbols and leaving beyond their means.
Ya know, for starters. ;)