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| *Travel Tips>>>Greece Travel Tips |
Has anyone here moved to greece from the states? |
Travel Info and if so, how was it? was it hard to ajust, was it hard to get your paper work? i would like to know as much as you would like to share. Travel Tips I did. You ask a difficult question. If you have $, papers are no problem. If not, you'll need to either have an EU spouse or a job waiting for you. The difficulty in adjusting, even if you are very flexible, comes when you begin to really get to know the culture. No one can argue that sun, blue skies, and parties are fun. But when you stop ignoring things like animal abuse and civil rights abuses, it becomes more difficult. People from the US will have trouble comprehending the legal/justice/vendetta system. Americans (generally) are so immersed in rule of law that they simply cannot wrap their minds around an entire culture which ignores the law. It's charming when people flout the law by double parking or illegal building. It becomes much less charming when it gets personal. Many, many people live in Greece for years with no problems - but the idea of keeping your head down to stay out of trouble is no guarantee. It's really easy to make an enemy simply by meeting the wrong person - and it's easy for one person to f*** up your life for a long time simply by making a false police complaint (it doesn't have to have any basis in reality) or by forcing your neighbors to choose sides. (In this scenario, it is unlikely your Greek neighbors will choose you as they are more likely to be related to your accidental enemy.) You might guess that I have personal experience with such a scenario, and you're right. I know lots of people who've lived there for years with no problem, but I know plenty who've become entangled in a serious and expensive legal wrangling simply by offending someone. What came as a soul-wrenching shock to us (Americans) was that there is really no way to disentangle yourself from a legal hassle, even when the hassle was based on totally fabricated statements and there was no evidence to support the wacko's claim. Cases drag on for several years (and several hundred euros in legal bills) until the case finally is dismissed - and the victim of this frivolous legal hassle is often asked (told, commanded) that their case will be dismissed but they will be required to keep quiet about the injustice. In the states, there has to be evidence of a crime for someone to be arrested or have their property seized - this is not true in Greece. In Greece, you can be arrested based only on a person's word that they think you did something illegal. Others Not me. But I know plenty of people that did. It is not hard to adjust at all but it depends on which state you are coming from...If you are coming from California, then there is not much difference. If you are coming from Boston, there is a difference in culture as much as there is between Boston and Los Angeles... For many Americans it is easier to adjust in Athens than...Paris The paper work is time consuming but should not frighten you...Europeans are bureaucrats... If you stay in Athens, you will enjoy it. Some sense of the Greek language will help you considerably. Welcome to Greece just a Greek my first cousin moved from NJ to Greece. she was like 10 at the time. she told me she was miserable for like a month really but then she sorta got used to it. but she was always sad because in the states she played soccer as a girl and in Greece (or at least where she lived) they didn't have any girls soccer leagues. for paper work...the was 10 so she didn't really do anything. What also bothered her was that in NJ she lived in the sorta normal suburbs and when she moved, she moved to Athens. so suburb life is VERY different from the city life. and one more thing. how people are always like "oh it would be nice because of all the history and architecture and stuff" but no. it is way different to go and visit the amazing sites than to live there. after going to the places once or twice it isn't that amazing. but the views (if any) are pretty awesome! im greek. been to greece 10 times. and my firsst trip was at 5 months. i am very close to my cousin (she lived with my family in the states to go to college for two years) and she told me a lot about her experiences. |
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