Learn Something Greek

For the last few years I have been absolutely fascinated with everything Greek. It all started when I was given the privilege of moving to Greece to cover the Olympic Games for the magazine I am on staff with. The year I spent in Greece before, during and after the games was one of the best years of my life. As soon as I was assigned to the project, I began researching everything Greek I could think of. I wanted to enter that nation and their culture with at least a little bit of knowledge and understanding to relate.

One of the first steps I took was to enroll in an introductory Greek class at a local university. I knew I had about a year until I would actually leave for Greece, so I wanted to get even a start on learning the language. I spent two evenings per week learning the basics of the modern Greek language. Even though I had studied ancient Greek in college, there was much more to be learned than I could have imagined. I am so thankful that I started learning Greek when I did. I cannot imagine having moved to that country without the basic language skills I had gained.

Another part of Greek culture that has always fascinated me is the history and the mythology. I spent a lot of time at the library before heading to Greece reading any book that I could find on Greek culture, history or mythology. I wanted to have the fullest possible understanding of the people I would be living among and working with during the Olympics. And I love libraries, so I guess that was part of my motivation as well.

If you are anything like me, than one part of any culture that you must learn to appreciate is the food. I visited every Greek restaurant that I could find before I went to Greece. I wanted to be familiar with the basic Greek dishes so that I wouldn''t be at a loss when I sat in restaurants in Greece. I even picked up an "Everything Greek" cookbook and learned how to make a few dishes on my own.

I loved living in Greece and immersing myself in everything Greek more than I loved preparing for my move. I loved the Greek people, their culture and yes, their food. Living in Greece and feeling Greek was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I''d encourage anyone who is fascinated with anything Greek to pursue your interests and learn about it.

Belina Storrey loves her job as a traveling journalist. She especially loved learning about all things Greek. See www.aboutgreek.info for more on Greek things.