Greece and Its Cultural Differences

There are many cultural differences between the United States and Greece, ranging from religious beliefs to table manners. For me, the most prominent one is the work ethic. I definitely believe that Americans are extremely hard working people, but it is hard not to notice the way the Greeks, particularly the young people, work to make a living. I met someone on the Cyclades island of Paros who explained that he was there for the summer, working from 7 am to 7 pm at a beach, seven days a week, for three euros an hour. However, he is so grateful to have a job after being unable to find work in Athens due to the crisis that he did not complain at all. Another example I have of this cultural difference is through a girl named Artemis in Athens that we met through our professor, who used to teach her when he worked at the university there. She has a master’s degree but currently works in a book store because she cannot find a job that utilizes her degree or one that is in the field of her education and interests. Despite this, she feels lucky to have work at all and instead of feeling like she is above her job or better than working at the store, she is very devoted to it. The attitudes of these young Greeks reflect another cultural discrepancy that shocked me: How happy the Greek people are no matter how much wealth they have. At home, I feel like there is a huge focus on making the most amount of money possible. Even when people do make a lot of money, I find that they are often still dissatisfied and want more or may be completely unhappy with their job and stressed from it. What i have noticed on this trip in Greece is that the people have such positive attitudes regardless of their circumstances. This was culturally shocking but also refreshing, because I felt that their way of life and contentment was almost contagious during my time here.
There were several stages of culture shock that I experienced throughout the dialogue. Upon first arriving in Athens, I was surprised by the look of the city. It did not have the beautiful architecture that I expected from a famous European center of culture. There is a lot of graffiti with political opinions, which also contributed to my culture shock because things of that nature are usually painted over back home, and are definitely less prevalent.

When we left Athens, I again experienced a great deal of culture shock because I could not believe that these beautiful islands with the white houses, blue dome roofs, and turquoise waters were even part of the same country as the city we just left! That is one thing about Greece that I find to be so incredible: Each island and city is so distinguished from the others that is is almost like traveling to difference countries. When I got to know the island residents, I was surprised that so many of them live there year round, even though the summer months are the only times that there are things happening. From getting to know the Greeks over the past month, it seems to me that they are all very attached to their homes. At each island, the people there stress that their island is the most beautiful in Greece. I admire how much they support their home and how thankful they are for what the land provides them. Overall, the culture shock that I experienced in Greece was positive for the most part. I was pleasantly surprised by the positive attitudes of the Greeks despite the current crisis. Every island and town that I visited is amazing in its own individual way and I am so glad that I got to visit many different parts of this wonderful country through this dialogue.