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The Greeks in Australia

AUSTRALIA | Thursday, 15 November 2007 | Views [856]

I met my first Australian Greek in Darwin. Dimitris spoke perfect Greek with an Ozie accent and worked at a lovely caffe on Mitchell street. As soon as I walked in I got suspicious. I first saw loukoumades on a table next to the laptops a couple of business people where hunched over, then melomakarona and kourabiedes – all quintessential Greek sweets – and finally mousaka and pastitsio behind the counter. The place is owned by his mum who is from Athens and his dad who is from Kalymnos one of the places of Greece that lived of sponge fishing and that literally bled population at one point in our history. According to him 90% of the Greeks in Darwin are from Kalymnos. Later and from someone else, I learn that when the massive hurricane hit in the 70s and everyone ran to abandon Darwin, the Greeks that were here stayed put and bought whatever piece of land they could afford. With an eye on the long run as usual, they made a pretty good deal. Greeks abroad, assimilate themselves with the population and work hard and the people that came to Australia did not waste the opportunity. The Greek district in Melbourne is small, smaller than I thought it would be but it is easily recognisable. The road signs all have a little Greek “maiandros” underneath. It is the first time I have ever seen a Greek “Chinatown” equivalent and it’s a funny feeling. It re-enforces the fact that actually communities abroad evolve at a different pace than the motherland. The cafes were all the kind of café that Zonar’s was before it got refurbished (both the furniture and the clientele). The restaurants on the other hand are gorgeous. All the tavernas have a “designery”, nouvelle cuisine look about them and the stuff on offer seems fairly authentic. Sadly, I did not go to any as I tended to go around the neighbourhood either before or right after lunch. It feels great hearing the language quite a lot both in Melbourne and in Sydney. People tend to be second generation Greeks so the accent is a bit funny, but it still sounds great. Particularly having travelled in places where Greece is unheard of and you are largely an oddity in a stream of British, Canadian, Australian, French and in the case of Indonesia, Dutch tourists. So! Zito i athanati Ellas!

Tags: Culture

 

 

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