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Are you happy in Greece?

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Priscilla

Hello everyone!

According to the 2016 UN World Happiness Survey, Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland are the happiest countries on earth.

How about you? Are you happy in Greece? Do you feel happier today in your host country than before in your home country? What has contributed to the change?

In your opinion, are locals in Greece happy? How can you tell?

Please share your experience!

concertina

I do agree,as a non Greek living here one cannot voice ones discontent and I guess any non British living in the UK would not be able to comment negatively either.But Im very happy not to see and live  back in the UKs atmosphere of violence and cruelty to children.I am so happy with the weather in the Attiki area,not all of Greece has such easy winters though.Im not happy to look at all the mostly ugly concrete flats everywhere without lovely gardens,I miss gardens too much.And really Greeks are hopeless at gardening,they just stick a few lemon and orange trees in their cottage gardens outside of Athens.I long to see daffodils and bluebells in the woods.But we cannot have everything..utopia.Greece used to be much different,more crime now,not such an innocent place,too many house break-ins,most of my road has been done,some of them twice,so extra locks are needed on your doors everyone,my next door neighbor heard a noise in her hall the other day and found two guys had forced the front street door and were ready to open hers and the flat below,scary,you dont know if they might kill you at the same time,but of course crime is here to stay on earth.Im happy to have late shopping nights,makes everything safer for walking about in the evenings,lots of people around,unlike England, after six its scary quiet on winter nights.Im so happy to have lovely hot summer evenings and nights sitting by the sea,sleeping outside is lush.

myrto

Concertina, as a Greek I am sorry you are feeling unsafe in my country and from what you describe the area you are living in has had some incidents with robberies and this surely is very stresful. However, reading your reply I feel I need to say a few words.

This isn't the usual case in Greece. Of course there are robberies and there is crime but this doesnt happen everywhere. I have lived in so many different areas in Athens and I have never felt scared or never knew someone that had his house robbed.

Like in every city there some areas, mainly in the center and also in expensive areas with expensive houses that robberies still occur. As a Greek I know these areas and surely I stay away from them when deciding to rent a house.

Perhaps talking with a native person can help someone decide on picking a safer neighborhood and be aware of the areas in Athens that are a bit more dangerous.

I hope you have an amazing life in Greece and zero problems in your future! Take care!

myrto

Andreo that is not true. Like in every country there are some expressions using the ethnicity of others.
"Kanw ton kinezo" doesnt mean playing dumb. And "Όλα μου φαίνονται Κινέζικα" is very similar to "this is all Greek to me". Should us Greeks say that we feel american language makes fun of us too?

This is a matter of character. In every country there are people who don't want foreigners come and work. This isnt something that happens in Greece. This is something that is happening everywhere.

So suggesting to an East Asian person or a person that looks like an Asian to take extra care when coming to Greece, its you who is perpetuating this situation.

I am sorry if you have experienced incidents of racism but I want to speak for the part of Greeks who have no problem at all with foreigners and still have that excellent sense of hospitality that we are known of.

Take care and I hope all is good with you in Greece,

concertina

Thankyou for your reply although I dont totally agree with you about robberies.I dont live in a rough area or a posh area,Im in Egaleo,mostly normal families,not rich Id say.If you study sociology you will see that with a country or area that has increasing unemployment,social unrest,lack of welfare,social structure derailment and increasing anger and discontent as a result of the above then violence and robbery will ensue and enlarge at alarming rates.Statistics for Greece show that bank robberies numbers are down but other types of robbery are up.I dont say this to degrade Greece in any way only to highlight the change that has happened here.The country I came from also had this change but a long way back in time compared to Greece.I personally dont know anyone who has been murdered or raped but that isnt an indication that it does not happen either in my area or in Greece,only statistical information can show me that.I have heard plenty of true stories for my area and had experience myself.But as I said,these things are the way life sadly is and its better to be aware of them.No area in Athens is immune to robbery,rich ,poor,average etc..so prepping oneself accordingly and being aware can only be a sensible thing instead of living life as if it were a bed of roses.

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