BEING GREEK CANADIAN 
I love being Greek Canadian! I'm fully Greek in that I read, speak and write Greek, I've been raised according to Greek culture and tradition, and I'm a Greek Orthodox Christian. I've also attended and graduated from both Greek and Sunday School. I'm proud of my history, my anscestors, my PATRIDA. But I'm also Canadian. I speak, read and write English, my life has been influenced by Canadian culture, and I'm proud to be a part of this huge, prosperous country.
The following are some funny and interesting stories about what it's like to be Greek Canadian. Enjoy!
DANCING
Greek Canadians love to Greek dance. Well, most do. You see them at the clubs, at the festivals, at the weddings, in the dance groups...they're amazing. In my opinion, we Greek Canadians can dance better than the Greeks in Greece.
Now I am not one to make a statement like that without valid proof, so here is just one example from my trip to Greece that validates my point:
I was dancing at "Club Imago" in Sparti with my cousins when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my leg. A girl who was dancing near us had accidentally kicked me as she was attempting to pull off a zeimbeikiko dance. She gushed "Signomi, signomi" {"sorry"}, but continued with her chicken dance or whatever she was doing. I was annoyed, but I continued dancing after the pain wore off. Two minutes later, my cousin was the victim of this girl's lethal dance. I figured, okay fine, she's a complete clutz, but maybe she just needs more room to dance.
NOT THE CASE.
I watched her zig zag around her friends, all the while thinking (no, hoping) that she was drunk because it would save Greece from the shame of bringing such a horrid dancer to the world, but alas, this was not the case. She was totally sober.
So I went through my whole trip thinking that Greek Canadians dance better than Greeks born in Greece, spotting even more evidence to support my case. Until one night, at the Dimitri Kokotas concert when I spotted someone dancing really well.
"Wow", I thought, "so some Greeks can dance as well as Canadians!"
NOPE.
The person dancing was my cousin,born in Canada.
I AM CANADIAN!!
A funny thing happened to me on my last trip to Greece. I was in Athens with my cousin's friend (who was from Australia)and we were waiting to be seated at an outdoor cafe to have some lunch.
The owner of the restaurant could tell we weren't born in Greece, so he started talking to us in English. I informed him that we spoke Greek and he acted really happy. He asked us if we were from the U.S.A.
I said "No, do we look that dumb?"[No offense to any Americans, but I was sick and tired of being called an American during my trip to Greece.]
So he asks, "So where are you from?"
I thought that I'd be clever so I said "I'm from the biggest and best country in the world."
That's when it began to seem like an episode of Jeopardy when noone knows the answers.
He guessed England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia (at least he got ONE person's country right) and even resorted to saying America THREE MORE TIMES.
Finally my friend got fed up and yelled "Canada! She's from Canada!!" [She was eager to get a table and order.]
You should have seen the guy then. "Oh my! Yes of course, CANADA. My sister lives there!"[Yeah right, he would have guessed the answer then!!]
This is just one example of the many incidents this happened to me. Why is it that NOBODY in Greece knows about Canada, and everybody knows about the States?? Everyone in Greece must have at least ONE relative living in Canada, so they should make an effort to get to know about our home.
If one more person asks if we have igloos in Toronto I think I'll freak out.
**By the way, the restaurant's name was AEOLOS. If you're a little ticked off at them for what they did, you can send them an e-mail at: AEOLOS RESTAURANT
GRENGLISH
All English-speaking Greeks will be able to identify to this!
Grenglish is a (fake) language made up of both English and Greek words. Some of the more common Grenglish words:
caro = car
steki = steak
troki = truck
keki = cake
tost = toast (they use this one in GREECE too!)
I kinonisi'ed = I took communion
I kerasi'ed =I treated (someone)
tzintzirrella = ginger ale
mouvarizo = to move
hembrika = hamburger
video (pronounced Vi'-dey-oh)= V.C.R.
IF GREEKS DISCOVERED CANADA
I've always wondered what Canada would be like if it was originally founded by Greeks. If you think about it, Greeks were at the forefront of everything, including science, music, drama, literature etc. until they were enslaved for 400 years by the Ottoman Empire. If their great minds hadn't been stopped short, who knows where they'd be now.
Perhaps Canada would be the new Greek Territory. Imagine the language being Greek, the religion Greek Orthodox. Greek Festivals every week, cafe's at every corner, people playing tavli...it would be a humoungous Greece!The only difference would be the weather, but Greeks would learn to tend to their sheep on ski's in the winter (ha ha).
I'm NOT saying I wish history WOULD have happened this way, I am simply wondering WHAT IF? I love Canada just the way it is, and besides, anywhere there are Greek people, there's a "Little Greece" (That was the philosophy of the Ancient Greeks, did you know that?).
GREEK TOWN
The Greek Town on the Danforth is like a home away from home for the Greeks of Toronto. In the area where the first Greek-Canadians settled in Toronto, Greek Town offers cozy cafenia (cafes) for people to drink coffee, play tavli or just twirl a komboloi (Greek Beads), five-star restaurants which tantalize taste buds with traditional Greek dishes, the Plateia (Town Square) of Alexander the Great to meet friends or just sit by the fountain, and a couple of clubs to dance tsifteteli and zeimbeikiko to their heart's content.
It is also where twice a year, on the Sundays nearest March 25 and October 28, proud Greek Canadians line the Danforth to cheer on their fellow patriotes, kids, and grandkids who march proudly to the sound of Greek Independence Day songs blaring from the speakers.
To the young, it's a place to socialize, meet friends and buy Greek boxing gloves to hang in their cars; it's also the place they most probably grew up in. To the old, it's like the village they left behind, warm and comforting; they're sure to know someone walking down the street there.
It's our own "Little Greece".
I love Greek Town.
