by Joeline Richter, German
Every nation has stereotypes and clichés. Some of them are true, some are not. Probably every one of us volunteers (15 people from 7 different countries) knows the typical stereotypes of our own home country. When we arrived here in Greece at the beginning of the problem, we also had some stereotypes in mind about the Greek people. After one week living here and working in the project, how did the volunteers experience these stereotypes? Here are the 10 most common clichés for Greek people and the answers from our Group:
- Greeks are always loud
60% of the volunteers agreed. We experienced this especially at night, when in front of our hostel all the Greeks enjoying their night at the Taverna by singing and talking.
- Greeks are lazy
The opinion here was equal: 50% agreed, 50% disagreed
- There are many smokers in Greece
The majority of the volunteers agree with this (about 62%)
- Greeks love to eat meat (Gyros, Souvlaki, lamb) and feta and olives
100% agreed with this. Greeks just love their food, but to be honest we also love it (let’s go get some pita after this work day!)
- Greeks are careless and do not worry about a lot
The opinion here was again equal: 50% agreed, 50% disagreed
- Greeks drink a lot of Ouzo
Maybe this is just a stereotype and not true? About 70% of the volunteers disagreed. But let’s find out: Yamaz!!
- Greeks are never punctual
Oh yes Greek are always late, like the Spanish people (Sorry Marco & Alba).
100% agreed on this.
