Today checking up on my daily blogs I read California Kat's latest post about the dismal job prospects in Greece and I was forced to take a big sigh and ask myself a question I’ve been avoiding for a long time.
Does Greece just suck and I’m too scared to admit it? Have I picked a slightly more Western version of the Home Country to live in?
Does Greece just suck and I’m too scared to admit it? Have I picked a slightly more Western version of the Home Country to live in?
There have been times when I looked at Greece and thought how the hell did this country get into the EU? Greece’s membership in the EU is somewhat like a Greek civil service job – you can be bogusly incompetent and under qualified but if you know the right people you can get a slice of the pie and the big bosses will only slap you on the wrist when you screw up. Repeatedly.
Seriously though. This is the latest in a line of events which is making me confront the fact that Greece might not be such a fabulous place to live. I got lucky jobwise, but I’m planning a future here for my future children and to be honest, my school in the Home Country was better maintained than the local high school I attend for Greek classes and that’s pretty appalling considering the Home Country is so much poorer than Greece.
I don't hate Greece, far from it, and my experiences so far, apart from the sexism, have been good. No one for example has ever been racist towards me and I am very obviously foreign. The weather is great, it's a very child-friendly society, but children don’t stay children forever. They eventually grow up and need a good education and a job.
My parents left a decent standard of living both socially and materially to start from scratch in the UK in order for their children to have a better shot in life and it paid off. Have I taken a step backwards by choosing to live here, especially since according to the info California Kat has supplied, this situation looks highly unlikely to change in the future?
So answer me this, because I’m really curious to hear what you all think; does Greece suck?
ps: No nationalists telling me to f*ck off back home please, I’m here to build a future, I can’t just wake up tomorrow and decide to unwind everything I’ve invested. Constructive opinions only. In Greece’s defence, last night I went to an Andrea Bocelli concert for much less than it would have cost me in the UK.
UPDATE: Anyone else pondering this same question should read Hope's reply to my question. It's very good!
10 comments:
I am always amazed at foreign people coming to live in my homecountry, Greece. I don't understand what they see in this country! Greece sucks so BAD. Why did it take you so long to realise it? And why is taking me so long to leave this craphole country?
This is such an interesting subject that I have decided to write a reply to you on my blog. My comment was bordering on its own post anyway.
I'll post it later. :)
took you long enough.
I'm not sure Greece sucks exactly but it sure isn't an easy country to live in. I don't understand why my sister in law left Canada to live here again. Germany is marginally better but I wouldn't live there again. I guess it's a lifestyle issue for some people, Kat obviously loves it here but is the daily battle worth it?
I have given a detailed 'answer' on Hope's site. What I lack in subjectivity I have made up for in objectivity! Be warned, it is really just statistics.
I live in Greece too and i HATE IT HERE!!! Actually I love the country itself, I just hate the people.. The only problem with Greece is that it's populated with Greeks
O yes, Greece sucks, If i had the slightest doubt left, now that had definitely disappeared with the ruinous state of the Greek public finances coming to light.. This country, which scenically is one of the most beautiful in the world and that until the fifties was a kind of paradise, is hopelessly lost.
I am greek and if I had a choice I would go to another country. Greece is a beautiful country but everyday life here sucks, Services suck, when it comes to health or education for example it's a living hell and citizens many times feel that are being treated like animals (in the field of health is even dangerous). The fact that the bars and clubs stay open until the early hours doesn't mean is a carefree country where you can be happy, the quality of life makes you happy and that is something you can't find easily in Greece.
I have lived in Greece for the past 2 years. I am not Greek, have no Greek relation, just came here for a job as a teacher. In one month I leave for another country in the EU and I couldn't be happier. Greece is a horrible place to live. It's hard to get anything done and the people are horribly rude. There are some nice things, but when compared to the rest of the EU, as stated in the article, it's amazing they got in.
you people are so negative..maybe its not Greece you dislike so much but your own selves
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