{"id":19469,"date":"2019-03-11T11:05:36","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T11:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/?p=19469"},"modified":"2019-03-11T11:18:10","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T11:18:10","slug":"settling-in-to-greek-culture-and-lifestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/settling-in-to-greek-culture-and-lifestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"Settling in to Greek culture and lifestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- SEO Ultimate Plus (https:\/\/seoultimateplus.com) - Code Inserter module -->\n<script async>(function(s,u,m,o,j,v){j=u.createElement(m);v=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];j.async=1;j.src=o;j.dataset.sumoSiteId='b68b392479b5981b8acf46565e9fe32a0734fc21a1f7c1e60121eaa6ca1a1c64';v.parentNode.insertBefore(j,v)})(window,document,'script','\/\/load.sumo.com\/');<\/script>\n<!-- \/SEO Ultimate Plus -->\n\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Greece; its history, cuisine and mediterranean atmosphere may feel familiar but that certainly doesn\u2019t mean that expats making their move there won\u2019t be immune to culture shock.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Greek culture has ancient roots and rich traditions, traditions that are still intertwined with the modern way of life. No matter where you choose to begin your expat journey in Greece, there will be the expectation that the Greek culture is understood, and in the least, respected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><b>The language <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Although English is widely spoken across many parts of Greece, learning the language is going to be your ticket to truly settling into the culture. Having said that, Greek is renowned for being tricky to learn. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Firstly, Greek has its own alphabet which differs quite widely to the English one. This means that, although many English words have their roots in the Greek language, it can be more difficult than with other European languages to spot the connection. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">There are also differences between spoken and written Greek, as well as variances across the regions and islands of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Greeks are, on the whole, accepting of those that can\u2019t speak the language fluently. However, they are intensely proud of their language and its contributions to other European dialects; Expats making a long term or permanent move to Greece would do well to immerse themselves in the language and learn as much of it as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><b>Work\/life balance <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Another potential aspect of Greek culture that could cause culture shock is work\/life balance. The typical working day in Greece can vary depending on which region and industry you are working in &#8211; it may also be a longer working day than the one you are accustomed to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Greece has experienced a period of troubled economy since the 2010 credit crisis which has reportedly had a negative impact on work\/life balance for Greek workers. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEDC), the Greek population racks up one of the highest amounts of <a href=\"https:\/\/businessculture.org\/southern-europe\/business-culture-in-greece\/work-life-balance-in-greece\/\">working hours<\/a> in a year and also tends to have less holiday time too. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Having said this, expats hoping to create a new life in Greece shouldn\u2019t be completely disheartened by the recent economic difficulties that the country has been experiencing. The Greek government is keen to attract expats and entrepreneurs to the country in a bid to help boost its economy. To this end, the Greek government has created a number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.internations.org\/guide\/greece\/moving-to-greece-16172\">incentives<\/a> aimed at attracting those who wish to live and work in Greece, particularly in the tourism trade. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Expats wishing to explore the potential of becoming an investor or entrepreneur in the Greek economy could visit the <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">\u2018<\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.enterprisegreece.gov.gr\/en\/\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><u>Invest in Greece<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"><u>\u2019<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"> website for more details about the opportunities available.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a name=\"_GoBack\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><b>Taxes and healthcare <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Taxes in Greece, as with many countries, can be somewhat of a controversial subject. Since the credit crisis, tax laws, as well as tax thresholds, have undergone a lot of change; when looking to work out an exact obligation, expats should seek the official advice of a tax advisor. Currently, anyone who is in Greece for 183 days or more is subject to Greek income tax, although it is worth noting that expats are only taxed on their Greek income. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Although healthcare in larger metropolitan areas tends to be of an excellent standard, healthcare provisions across the country are not always deemed to be adequate. Expats relocating to more rural, or island regions of Greece should be aware that travelling to receive certain types of medical treatment, particularly in public hospitals, is often the norm. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Greek nationals have access to public healthcare through paying a mandatory insurance contribution each month. For expats, public healthcare is only available if you are employed in the country, are the holder of a social security card (known as an AMKA) and pay the contributions to public health insurance. If you do not meet this criteria, it may be worth investigating the option of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetnainternational.com\/en\/individuals.html\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><u>international health insurance<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"> as you will be responsible for the cost of most primary care visits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><b>Daily life in Greece<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Greece is predominantly a christian country, with over <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.internations.org\/greece-expats\/guide\/living-in-greece-16174\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><u>88% of Greeks being a member of the Greek Orthodox church<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">. Because of this, much of the country\u2019s culture, traditions and law are based around Greek Orthodox values.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Shop opening times can be a new experience for expats to get their heads around. As Greece is very much still a traditional country, it is not uncommon to find that the majority of shops will not be open at all on a Sunday, particularly in more rural areas or outside of the tourist season. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Shops also keep hours that you may consider \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.athens24.com\/shopping.html\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><u>non-standard<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">\u201d throughout the week, especially as different hours are held for different days.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">In larger, metropolitan areas the shops tend to be open from 9am-5pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the shops are most likely to be open 9am-3pm with larger stores opening up again from 5pm-9pm. On saturdays, large shops such as department stores tend to be open from 9am, right through to 9pm. Expats should bear in mind that shops in more rural areas will most likely keep reduced versions of the hours found in the larger cities, particularly when \u2018out of season\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><b><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19475\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Greek-culture-article-Greek-independence-day-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"453\" height=\"550\" \/>Customs and celebrations<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Celebrations are a big part of the Greek calendar. Like many other predominantly christian countries, Easter and Christmas are major celebrations throughout the year. Easter, in the Greek Orthodox calendar, is a week-long celebration which does not always coincide with the Easter dates for other western-christian countries as it is calculated on a modified Julian calendar (rather than the Gregorian calendar).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Greek celebrations are still deeply intertwined with religious ceremony. The Christmas period in Greece is most traditionally observed as being between the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/publicholidays.gr\/christmas\/\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><u>Feast of St. Nicholas and the Feast Epiphany (6th December &#8211; 6th January)<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">. Epiphany is marked across Greece with a ceremony where a priest will bless the waters with a Holy Cross; it is not uncommon to see young men jumping into the water after the Cross to attempt to catch it and gain the priest\u2019s blessing for the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">The other important celebration for expats to note is name days (or Eortologio). In Greece, holy name days are celebrated instead of, or as well as your birthday. The Greek Orthodox church dedicates each day of the year to a different saint or martyr from the Bible. Children named after a saint will typically have a celebration and be given gifts on this day, rather than their birthday. For children that are not named after a saint, their celebration will fall on All Saints Day, which is typically 8 weeks after Easter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Expat children living in Greece will certainly not be expected to give up their birthday celebrations in favour of All Saints Day, but it\u2019s an important custom to be aware of. Birthdays may be celebrated just with close family members whereas name days will likely be a bigger celebration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Despite the economic obstacles that Greece has experienced in recent years, the country still has a lot to offer to its expat communities. According to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.internations.org\/expat-insider\/\"><span style=\"color: #1155cc;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><u>InterNations\u2019 Expat Insider survey<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"> for 2018, Greece ranks amongst the top 20 countries for things like \u2018ease of settling in, \u2018friendliness\u2019 and the ability to make friends. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">For expats that are looking to benefit from the government incentives and the opportunity to invest in an economy that has hopefully already seen its darkest days, there is a stunning country with rich traditions and a welcoming population awaiting. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greece; its history, cuisine and mediterranean atmosphere may feel familiar but that certainly doesn\u2019t mean that expats making their move there won\u2019t be immune to culture shock. Greek culture has ancient roots and rich traditions, traditions that are still intertwined<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/settling-in-to-greek-culture-and-lifestyle\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":19471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[7,1,16],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[602],"modified_by":null,"_wl_alt_label":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Greek-culture-article-Shopping-in-Santorini.jpg","wl:entity_url":"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl0502\/post\/settling_in_to_greek_culture_and_lifestyle","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19469"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19476,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19469\/revisions\/19476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19469"},{"taxonomy":"wl_entity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wl_entity_type?post=19469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}