Culture & People

The Crete of today is very different from the Crete I first encountered 20 years ago. EU integration and modernisation has had a huge impact on local culture and attitudes. The youth of today are independent and well educated.

There is, though, a contrast between town and village life. Many villages still retain the ' old ' way of life - men in the cafeneons and women gathered outside their homes, crocheting and gossiping together. These are mostly older people, the younger generations having moved out of villages into the more 'sophisticated' town life.

Tourism has also made its mark on the island. Parts of the North coast in particular have seen villages expand to become large resorts.

But the famous Cretan hospitality is still very much in evidence. Don't be surprised if friendly neighbours occasionally bring you fresh eggs, home grown vegetables or fruit. Just accept them with a smile and a thank you, they don't expect anything in return. Cretans often cook huge casseroles of food during the day which they eat for both lunch and dinner, but more importantly they don't want to be caught out if they have unexpected visitors! If you happen to visit anyone during their mealtime they will always invite you to sit down and eat with them - it's considered rude if they don't.

Much of the Greek culture revolves around the Greek Orthodox church, which is instrumental in the daily life and cultural traditions of the Cretans and 97% of the population are Greek Orthodox. Religious holidays are rigidly observed; some are designated as National Holidays and others are celebrated with colourful festivals.

Cretan music and traditional dances play an important part in life in Crete, and will be seen and heard at most festivals and parties.

Name Days are celebrated in Crete and Greece, as opposed to birthdays. It is the custom for the person celebrating their Name Day to host a party or dinner, and treat his friends and family. Take note - if it's your birthday don't expect Greek friends to treat you to a drink , it is the custom for you to treat them!

Villages also celebrate their church's Name Day. For example a St. Mary's church (Maria) will have a Name Day on 15th August - the village festival (Panayiri) will usually start on the eve of the Name Day , say 14th August, and run for 2 nights with food and drink, live music and dancing.

Culture Shock

When moving to Crete be prepared to experience culture shock. Even if you have spent many holidays on Crete, and think that you know the country and the people well it can still manifest itself when you are out of holiday mode and start living here. You may feel lost and encounter difficult times and crises in daily life; not knowing how to do simple things that you take for granted in your home country. Communication difficulties will occur and it can be very frustrating not being understood or not understanding. What exactly should you expect and how can you overcome it?

The following article gives you some answers. (Reproduced with kind permission of Simon Payn www.livingabroadreport.com )

The ability to cross cultures is essential if you are to live overseas successfully. Indeed, a mark of the international citizen is the ability to fit in - and shine - in strange places and with strange people.

If you can't do that, not only will you be unsuccessful but you'll be unhappy too. Getting on with people from other cultures is paramount. After all, you will be thrown into all sorts of situations - at work or in your personal life - where you will need the help and support of people from cultures other than your own..

Those who are successful in an international career are able to adapt to other cultures. Indeed, employers when hiring look for someone who will feel at home. After all, who wants to be a fish out of water, and who wants to hire one? It would lead to disaster.

But more fundamentally than that - if you fail to adapt to your new culture, you're going to be unhappy. And unhappy people end up going home.

If you are continually feeling like you don't belong and that you don't understand the society in which you find yourself, you are going to be feeling continually isolated and frequently frustrated. That's no way to live - and it's certainly no way to succeed.

So what does culture shock feel like?

When you're used to things being one way, suddenly being somewhere where things are quite different can be a huge shock to the system. It's as if all you ever knew is wrong. People don't behave in the way you expect them to behave; things don't happen the way you expect them to happen.

This experience is called "culture shock".

Craig Storti, in his book The Art of Crossing Cultures, is careful to make the distinction between country shock and culture shock. What is this difference?

Country shock is the shock at the physical differences you encounter in your new home; the different standard of living, perhaps, or the language. It's the very fact that you are somewhere new - you don't know where anything is or where to get help. You are lost.

This would be bad enough. But on top of that comes culture shock proper. And with this, we're talking about the people.

You can easily understand countries being different - but aren't people the same the world over? Actually, ?.no.

The way people behave differs according to the culture in which they have been brought up and live. Something that might be culturally unacceptable to you might be perfectly acceptable to them - and vice versa.

An example if queuing - or getting in line. In Britain and North America, people know how to queue. Indeed, it's said the British like nothing better than a good old queue.

Go to Spain, (and here in Greece!) for example, and it's just the opposite. There's a queue or sorts but, in the words of Expatica's excellent blogger Sal DeTraglia, it's "three-dimensional". There's no easy to understand line but rather a huddle of people, most of them shouting to get attention.

It's these fundamental differences that lie at the heart of culture shock.

Culture shock doesn't come on as soon as you step off the plane. Indeed, the first few days and weeks often feel like a holiday. It's known as the honeymoon phase - you are so happy to be in this exciting new location that you are blind to its differences and any faults you will later perceive.

But then culture shock sets in. You start to be aware of the culture around you, and you don't feel comfortable in it. You feel you are being continually assaulted by events, and you start to feel stressed and uncomfortable. You can even start to hate your new home and the people within it, to the point of being ready to leave and go back to Britain..

This period can last for a few weeks - until you start to take control. Then you start to recover; you find the skills you need to cope with culture shock and start to beat it. That's when you can finally be said to have adjusted - to be functioning properly as a foreigner in a foreign culture.

How long will this process take? It depends on many factors, such as how different the culture is to Britain (or your home country) and the tools you need in order to accept that culture. Culture shock begins when the honeymoon ends - when you have to take off your rose-tinted spectacles and face the real world. It manifests itself in many ways.

You will become aware of silly misunderstandings with people you meet. These can lead to general confusion about people and events. Aspects of the country - things that are 'not like at home' - start to get to you. You perceive these things to be so much worse than at home - and you can't seem to understand why things are not done the way they are back home. After all, the way you are used to seems so much more sensible, so much more efficient, so much more pleasant. You start to resent the country for not being like home; for annoying you with its inconveniences, its difficult people. You even start hating the place where you live.

All this leads you to start to feel lost. There feels like there is nothing to hold on to - no familiar places, rituals, sayings. You can start to feel lonely.

And when you start to feel isolated and lonely, it can get even worse. You lose confidence in your ability to cope - things start to get difficult in your everyday life at work. Your ability to function is reduced - you're too busy stressing about the culture that you can't concentrate on the task in hand. Tasks that were easy back home are enormously difficult. You can no longer take things for granted.

The point is: if you stay in this state, you will be unhappy. You might end up throwing the towel and going back home. Indeed, culture shock is one of the main reasons that people stop living abroad. But luckily there is a way to fit it and succeed abroad.

I'm not going to tell you that getting over culture shock is easy. But here are perhaps the three most useful ways to put an end to culture shock - and perhaps nip it in the bud before it starts.

First - research. It goes without saying that it helps to know what you are getting into before you get into it. If you are expecting the country and its people to be a particular way, you won't be shocked when you get there. So research as many aspects about the country and the people as you can. Luckily, there are many resources out there to help you in the form of websites and books.

Next - accept that people won't be the same as you. It seems simple, but by making this paradigm shift, the shock doesn't seem so, well...shocking. If you are expecting someone to behave towards you as you would back home, you'll be shocked and upset when they fail to do so. But if you expect absolutely anything to happen - and you accept it - you can't be as shocked. So instead of comparing their behaviour to that you would expect back home - and comparing it unfavourably - just say to yourself that it is different. Not worse, not better - just different. Now, you don't necessarily have to agree with this way of behaving - but it won't get to you quite as much as it did before.

Finally - get out there and get yourself muddy. It's easy to give into the urge when culture shock sets in of staying at home and locking yourself away from the outside world. But this is the worst thing you can do. You must go out there and confront it, go and keep yourself busy and start meeting people. Not only will that take your mind off the shock you are feeling, but it will also bring you close to ways of understanding the culture. The more you are exposed to it, the more you will see how normal (in that particular country) that behaviour is, so the more you will accept it. And if you are able to meet other people - particularly expats - they will be able to share your frustration...but also help you find a way through it.

Crete School

The European School in Heraklion
The European school opened in September 2005. It was set up as an international school in order to provide schooling for the children of the multi-lingual European employees of ENISA, The European Organisation for the Safety of Networks and Information, which was recently established in Heraklion.

The European school is actually based in a Greek school, the 3rd Dimotiko of Heraklion in Ag. Triada, on Savathianou street. It is part of the public school system and there are no fees.

As well as providing education for the children of ENISA employees, the school has taken in a few pupils from parents from the EU living in the area, with children up to the age of 8 (up to Grade 3). Next year the school intends to offer a Grade 4 class, as Grade 3 pupils move up a year, and continue adding Grades, until the school eventually offers a full range of classes from nursery to secondary education.

For more information about enrollment at the European School Tel. (0030) 2810 301780

Part time English Language Schools
In Chania the Cross Cultural Center offers part time English language and cultural programmes aimed at bi-lingual or native English speaking children.

Cross Cultural Center
32 Athinon
Koun Kapi
Chania
Contact Tel. 28210 31845

Lessons are twice a week, in the afternoon, 2 hours per session. There are classes for pre -school aged children, right up to teens.

Greek School
Any child who lives in Greece can attend Greek school.

To register your child at Greek school or nursery go along to the school in your residential area. Some documentation showing your local address (e.g. electricity or phone bill) is usually required, to prove that you are living in the area. You will also need the child's birth certificate, and you may be asked for details/proof of your child's innoculation history.

How will your child adjust to Greek school?
In general, the younger the child, the easier it will be for him/her. Toddlers and small children adapt and absorb new language very easily.

Older children, and especially those coming up to their teens, may have a very hard time adjusting. If they are not fluent in Greek they will be placed in a class with younger children to cover the basics. Imagine your 12 year old in a class full of 8 year olds, with whom he can hardly communicate...

You should carefully consider what effect a move would have on older children in particular, and their future education. Children from another country with little or no knowledge of Greek, who join the system in their teens are unlikely to graduate from high school as they will not have the language skills. ( Think of reading and debating Greek literature, for example, or passing an advanced physics exam in Greek, after just one or two years studying the language, and having missed much of the curricullum.)

Nursery Schools
The state nursery schools 'nipio' , start taking children who have reached their fourth birthday by the start of the school year (September). There are 2 years of nursery school, then they start junior school at 6 + . These classes are free. However some nursery schools have too many children and not enough teachers and so will only take children in the second year , i.e at 5 years. You should ask at the nearest school to where you will be living.

Private nurseries here are very reasonably priced, and many parents send their children. Price is around 200 to 250 Euros a month for 5 days a week, and you can negotiate a better price for part time. It may be a good idea for a young child to go to one of these nurseries, even part time, just to get used to the language.

Emergency - Ambulance Tel. 166

Heraklion

Chania

DOCTORS G.P. Kirsten Grigorakis General Practitioner 2 Sfakion Street Chania Tel. 28210 52706 (Fluent German/ English/ Greek speaker) ENT Specialist Iosif Zervos  (also with IKA) Sfakion 10 - 12 Chania Tel. 28210 28136 (speaks some English) Pediatricians Christiane Forthomme- Zacharaki M. Botsari & Zimvradakidon Chania Tel.28210 90348 (Fluent French/English/Greek speaker) Chrissie Pallidis 50 Apokoronou Street 1st Floor Chania Tel 28210 88821 (Fluent English/Greek speaker) Osteopath and Naturopath Christine Kakavelaki Sfakion 10-12 Apt. 4 Chania Tel 28210 23248 (Speaks English) Gynecologist Stelios Petroulakis Therapevtiko Centre, Nik. Foka 3. Chania Tel. 28210 50023 (speaks English) DENTISTS Bob Manousakis 12 El Venizelou St. 4th Floor Chania Tel. 28210 45544 (Bilingual English-Greek) Dimitris Railakis 5 Papanastasiou Str (Courthouse ? Dikastirion Sq.)) Chania Tel. 28210 45600 (English/Greek speaking . Practiced 3 years in the UK.) D Apostolakis & E Papadimitriou Associates Chania Dental Practice Platanias 73014 tel/fax 28210 60095 web: www.surgical-dentistry.gr VETS Emergency Number Akrotiri/Souda 6973272282  Panayiotis Ignatiadis Dimakopoulou 1 Dikastirio (Courthouse) Chania Tel. 28210 42730 Georgos Vizyrakis Souda (Opposite the Post Office ? ELTA) Tel. 28210 23505 Stavros Kounoupidiana 28210 69966 Giorgos Mousourakis Kalyves (Armeni Rd.)  Tel. 28250 51653 and Vrysses Tel. 28250 32186 Mobile:- 6974 121043

DOCTORS Medical Line [Heraklion Prefecture] 24hr Medical & Ambulance services Tel [Free] 80011 29400 [Medical centers] Malia Tel 28970 35321-9 Hersonissos Tel 28970 29429 Various specialties +Labs [Multilingual personnel] VETS Andreas Badouvas. Heraklion Tel. 2810 317 870 . Mobile 6944 202 667. Surgery from 18.00 to 21.00 Monday to Friday

Hersonnissos

DENTIST Dr. Giorgos Papadakis 101 El. Venizelou str.  Tel  28970-22970

Rethymnon

DENTISTS Evgenia Anagnostaki Moatsou 4 Rethymnon Tel. 28310 27304 [Bilingual English-Greek] VETS Costas  14 Chortatzi St, up from the 'unknown soldier', near Round Travel Tel: 28310 55999.

Ierapetra

VETS Spyrioakis Michail Kthniatpiko Kentpo Ierapetra Tel:28420 80390 e-mail:vet2000@hotmail.com, mspyr@ier.forthnet (speaks English)

Sitia

DENTISTS Gerakaph E Marigoyla  (Maria) Myknos Sitia Tel:28430 25205 (speaks English - ask for Maria, as assistant speaks little English) VETS Sortiris Papanikolaoy Sitia - Paleokastro Road, Sitia. Tel Mobile. 6977 546632

Vamos

DOCTORS Dr. Elisabet Catafygiotou Scharfenberger 28250 22184 Mobile - for emergencies only 6976 881 647 Speaks Greek, German and English On the road towards the Vamos Medical Centre. DENTISTS Giorgios Papadougiorgakis 28250 23336 In the centre of Vamos on the main road from Kalyves.

Information courtesy of Carol Palioudakis www.livingincrete.net and from her book "Living in Crete. A Guide to Living, Working, Retiring & Buying Property in Crete"