Athens
posted by Emma J in Athens forum
Hi Jo
I lived in Athens for 2 years in 2001. I loved every minute of it and I wish one day I could go back but now I'm back in Blighty (sadly). I found it very hard at first to pick up Greek as I'd never heard anything like it when I first moved there and it took me a good 6 months to get the basics down. I found though, that I managed to read it faster than I could speak it, boredom in taxi's you end up reading road signs and in supermarkets, you just seem to figure out the alphabet.
I found the Greek people very welcoming, and were very keen to help me learn Greek, I think the fact I was enthusiastic in making an effort to blend in helped immensly. The only people I didn't like were taxi drivers! (beware they WILL try and put the tariff on double fare if they know you're a foreigner and I had countless arguments over that!)
Just beware that their pace of life is very slow and that can take some getting used to.
I hope you really enjoy yourself in Greece, it will become a part of you.