This is not your country.

[MoxisPilot]

Short and sweet:

I'm currently on vacation in Crete, and saw an SC I just couldn't wait to share with you all.

At the airport in Athens, as we were handing our boarding passes over, the flight attendant was speaking with a passenger near me in Greek.

Behind me, a surly woman not much older than myself (and obviously American by her accent) had the nerve to shout at the attendant, loud enough for half the room to hear, "SPEAK ENGLISH! GOD!!!!!!!"

I stopped abruptly, turned around, and gave her the, "Who the hell do you think you are?" look, and apologized to flight attendant on her behalf (yes, I did this within earshot of the woman). She had enough sense of self-preservation to not make another sound for the rest of the trip.

Seriously, WTF? I was absolutely humiliated that someone would behave like this.

[edible_hat]

Almost as bad as when a friend of my parents went to Italy with her (now-ex) husband. He ordered "a latte" and got a glass of milk. Started to complain until he realised that latte is Italian for milk.

[MoxisPilot]

Almost as bad as when a friend of my parents went to Italy with her (now-ex) husband. He ordered "a latte" and got a glass of milk. Started to complain until he realised that latte is Italian for milk.

Excuse me for one second:

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I've mentioned before that I live in Italy, I think. I saw where that one was heading.

I will say, I miss me some espresso when I go on vacation. They have American coffee here. Might as well be hot water.

[thehippie777]

Speak Greek! It's the official language of this country, God! damn lady...

[MoxisPilot]

Speak Greek! It's the official language of this country, God! damn lady...

In defense of that, Greek is difficult (Greek alphabet, say wut?), and Greeks are very accomodating about speaking English (Everyone here speaks English. Everyone.).

But it's a COURTESY, not a RIGHT.

Totally not going to go shouting at someone for speaking the national language.

[edible_hat]

Totally not going to go shouting at someone for speaking the national language.

Especially if they're not even talking to you.

[MoxisPilot]

Especially if they're not even talking to you.

Oh, JEEZ. That part of the suck didn't even register to me, so bad was the comment she made and the attitude she said it with.

Double suck!

[mikoyan29]

In defense of that, Greek is difficult (Greek alphabet, say wut?), and Greeks are very accomodating about speaking English (Everyone here speaks English. Everyone.).

But it's a COURTESY, not a RIGHT.

Totally not going to go shouting at someone for speaking the national language.

Wha? Everyone is supposed to speak English...We Rule the World Dammit!!!!!!!!

Greek...P'shaw.....

Well, I can speak to anyone....I just speak slower and louder....then they will understand.

[Darkforge]

In defense of that, Greek is difficult (Greek alphabet, say wut?), and Greeks are very accomodating about speaking English (Everyone here speaks English. Everyone.).

well, not all of us speak english, just most of us (my grandmother only speaks greek, italian, french and german i'm afraid )

That said I know a lot of people have told me that english is a lot harder to learn than greek. I know the alphabet is different, but its easier than most alphabets to learn as its only got 24 characters (2 less than the roman alphabet-not including the accents that a lot of roman languages use)

[AccountingDrone]

half the fun of going overseas is meeting people and learning parts of the language ... getting drunk and exchanging phrases for stuff is fun, and sometimes the inadvertant games of charades is a blast =)

[tropicsgoddess]

Ruuuude.

[wolfie]

The surly woman obviously missed out on the punctuation when someone told her to "Go to Hellas" (Greek name for Greece).

[MoxisPilot]

well, not all of us speak english, just most of us (my grandmother only speaks greek, italian, french and german i'm afraid )

That said I know a lot of people have told me that english is a lot harder to learn than greek. I know the alphabet is different, but its easier than most alphabets to learn as its only got 24 characters (2 less than the roman alphabet-not including the accents that a lot of roman languages use)

Touche.

I want to learn Greek since I've been here, but the one person I've expressed it to (the hotel manager) told me, "It's hard. Don't bother."

Which made me want to do it even more. >.> I pick up languages kinda quickly (I speak French and Italian, and will have to learn another one when we move, either Arabic or German). Any advice on getting started? So far I've got "thank you" and "hello" down.

And not quite on-topic, but I had tzasiki (sp?) for the first time last night. OMG good!!

[mharbourgirl]

I know how to swear in Greek, and some rude gestures, thanks to my younger brother's first job in a Greek restaurant. Mr. Skanos and his brothers were fantastic cooks, but they loved to teach the young Canadian boy every obscene phrase they could think of. Mom was SOOOO not impressed.

If that restaurant was still there, I'd have a reason to go back to the west coast. I discovered such things as tzatziki and pita, souvlaki, and the most divine kalamari I will ever consume. Only kalamari I've ever eaten that didn't have the consistency of pencil erasers. I also discovered the ambrosia that is genuine Greek salad. OMG.

Genuine Greek food has forever replaced Szechuan and Thai at the top of my personal favorite food groups.

[Andara Bledin]

Only kalamari I've ever eaten that didn't have the consistency of pencil erasers.

You need to find a place that does it fresh. If it's not fresh, then it's rubbery.

I've found a few places that have divine calamari, but most places let it sit too long, or don't cook it right.

^-.-^