Greece, My Reflections - Tim Taulbee

     A very key and essential part of higher education is often overlooked in today’s high tech, high pressure, and time sensitive environment of success-oriented learning.  Although it is honorable and valuable to obtain the advantage of a college degree, we must not overlook the need for knowledge gained by being exposed to different environments, societies and social settings.  This is what traveling with the class to Greece, my first European experience, was able to provide for me.

     For the first time, I was able to feel the culture, the scenery, and the environment of Europe not just read about it in a book or see it on video.  I was able to speak to people who were totally different from me in their social, economic and ethnic background and yet so similar in their beliefs, desires, hopes, dreams and fears.   We soon found no problem in bonding together in scholarly conversations.

     For those of you contemplating the adventure, here are a few examples of what you can expect: 

1)      You will be flying for almost 12 hours, yet when you arrive in Athens a refreshing swim and a cold beverage will make you forget about the entire “crossing.”

2)      Be prepared to walk, you will get tired, you will also be treading on the same ground as did Socrates and Plato. Late summer in southern Greece is a very enjoyable climate, warm days and nights with very little rain. 

3)      You will view the city of Athens from atop the Acropolis, walk through the streets of Plaka (the older portion of Athens) and you will see things that you could never have imagined.  Here you will meet people from all nationalities. You will smell the fresh meats of a gyro being prepared and you will barter with the local citizens for the best deal on a souvenir.

     My ideal experience came from learning to appreciate a fine wine aged in the pine cask.  Enjoying the sounds of a local musician as he strummed the bouzouki as we all joined in a meal fit for a king.  Later that evening, in the shadows of the Acropolis, we shared fine wine and bread with many local citizens of Athens as they taught us traditional Greek dance steps.  Here I met “Nick the Greek,” an unpretentious young man who was certain that any, if not all Americans could help him get his start in Hollywood.  Later in the same evening, a friend and I would share a ride to a street side café, where in the company of five new found Greek friends we would discuss politics, foreign policy, America, Greece and European beer, well into the wee hours of the morning.  This was my “first” day in Greece.

     Throughout our trip we would enjoy many other such impromptu encounters.  Twice we met up with a group of Italian tourists one of who sung opera to us as we sat in ancient theaters. Talk about reflecting on time passage.  To be at an ancient Greek open-air theater and hear Italian opera; now, this was an experience that few will ever enjoy.  On a city bus late one night, we would meet a woman that had seen us several times on the streets.  She was very intrigued as to who we were and where we were going.  Apparently, groups of Americans who do not necessarily behave as tourist are a curiosity.

     I loved the food, the sea, the history, but most of all I loved the people: an expatriated Greek who returned to Athens after 20 years in Australia; a young lady from the Ombudsman’s Office of the U.S. Federal Government.  In one night alone we met and shared experiences with people from Norway, Great Britain, Holland, and of course Greece.  What you will soon find out, if you take the time to listen and learn, is they are no different from us.  They seek personal happiness, good music, wine and health.  The people that I met were open and honest in their feelings and expressed one universal concern, please, no more wars.  As my good friend Dr. Hadjiyannis once said, if they should have the peace talks on the Greek Isles, then a lasting peace could eventually be realized.

Reflections of My Trip to Greece – By John Howard

     It was like waking up from a horrible nightmare and finding yourself in a beautiful place filled with exotic people and many beautiful sights to behold.  This was how I felt after the plane flight and subsequent trip to the hotel onboard the tour bus, which I was later to learn I would spend a lot of my time on.  After we checked in at the hotel I donned my swimming apparel and made my way to the beach.  As I sat there finally getting to relax and realized where I was the tension I had felt melt away.

     Every day started out the same way except the day after the earthquake.  We would wake up, take our showers, eat breakfast, and assemble in front of the Hotel.  Doctor Hadjiyannis would arrive and off we would go looking at ancient sights that many people will never see.  We would stop and eat lunch and possibly check out the shops for good buys, and then we would be off again experiencing Athens and the people who reside there.  Evening would come and we would gather at a local diner and eat, drink and then we would strike out on our own creating our own adventures.