I’d love to move (back) to Australia, but part of the reason is that I am Australian, which would make things a lot easier for me. I’m also thinking of Germany (lived there in the past and loved it) and Poland (also liked it, but mainly because my daughter did, and would me moving alone this time). Funnily enough, I live in Greece now, and would much rather live in the Netherlands, though for me it’s not a realistic option, as I’m sure I couldn’t find a job there in a million years (the skills I have are useful everywhere else except Holland).
So, since you are thinking of moving to Greece, here’s some tips:
1) Mediterranean climate sucks. Mark my words. You’ll love the sun…for about 3 weeks. Then you’ll spend the rest of the summer in an air-conditioned room writing emails in Dutch to all your friends back home.
2) The problem with writing e-mails to your friends is of course that internet lines in Greece also such, unless you’re willing to pay >100 euros/month for the service (which in my case only works because I live a block away from the OTE building). Thinking of a nice romantic Greek island? Think again. Most islands don’t even have DSL yet.
3) So you’ve finally found a way around all this. An expensive wireless line, which works through the mobile phone network. Luckily there is pretty good coverage, though connections are slow. Just make sure you have a laptop, because electricity cannot be taken for granted here in Greece. Sure, it’s up most of the time, but power surges are “normal” and complete black-outs happen as often as rain in Amsterdam.
4) Water? What water? Ok you’re lucky, you can get it fairly cheap, for about 1e/lt, but unlike most N.European countries, the tap water is not as good, and extremely expensive.
5) If you thought traffic on the Rotterdam-Vlaardingen route was bad, try Athens. And Salonika is even worse. As for parking, forget it. There’s no such thing as legal parking spaces anywhere in Greece. You just park illegally on the pavement, hoping the cops are too lazy to write you a ticket.
6) If you like Greek people, then you obviously haven’t met many. You’ll adore them for the first few months, then start getting bored after a year or so, and miss all them stommer Kaaskops you left behind. By the third year you’ll hate every single Greek there is, and join the “burn Attica” movement (as you may have heard on the news, half the country is on fire once again).
7) Speaking of which, you don’t like plants and stuff like that, right? Cause there aren’t any. If you’re lucky you’ll be stuck on a natural rock with a few dry thyme bushes, and not a block of cement, or a burnt-down forest.
8) The food is great. That’s one thing that might make it all worthwhile, especially if your dream in life is to become fat.
9) The music is crap. The favourite instrument, used in almost any song, is the “bouzouki” which in Turkish means “out-of-tune instrument”. This says it all. I personally cover my ears when they start playing.
10) Last but not least, the amazing Greek organisation, a beaurocracy built on chaos itself, an intricate Kafakesque web of rules, laws, regulations and public officials that never work, only to be de facto replaced by routine procedures that do, but are only apparent to the most corrupt of politicians. Luckily you don’t need a stay permit (there are immigrants that have come here in 1989, after the fall of the Berlin wall. They bore children who have since become adults, and their countries have since joined the EU, but their passports still haven’t been stamped). The lack of organisation is enough to drive even the average Greek crazy, let alone a foreigner. So, unless you have survived a spell in some African dictatorship, I doubt you’d put up with Greece for more than a couple of years.
Yes, I know there are all these people who come here with all these romantic ideas, thinking they’ll be sipping ouzo under the Acropolis (5 euros per glass if you really want to do that), or tanning on some sandy Myconean beach (5 euros for the sunbed, water polluted and make sure you don’t stay over 10 mins or you’ll fry). In reality most people have a hard time getting through the day, give up and leave. I have only met one foreigner who actually stayed here long and enjoyed it (a Danish fisherman, he just got a job as a fisherman here instead).
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