It wasn't like the holiday after all.

Thanks for that, Thea. Actually I really love a suburban life. I would want to move to a suburban area someday. That would be so cool... I know that a lot of people my age have emigrated to places where they could earn more, and what's the term called? For a more greener pasture? LOL. I think that's awesome and fabulous and perhaps I might join those clan someday.

Is it really hard to get coffees in your area, Thea?

What happened? I responded to you earlier, and now its not herePossibly I was too busy swooning to enter it properly but unlikely. You'd probably make a success of emigrating and are already used to city life so it would suit you. My little place wouldn't suit at all, except for a visit as it would be far too deserted for you. A lot of your age group have left here for towns and cities unless tied by a family business. An hour south of here the land is completely barren and away from most things, with little life at all outside of the season. I think I'd quite like the brooding isolation of it, overlooking the sea, but its way too impractical, I might have an emergency such as running out of coffee.

I think when I wrote luxury, I meant that these foreigners you referred to, probably thought they were going into a life of luxury. I can completely understand your desire to mix with the locals and get to know and fit in with their culture. Having your son at a local school would really help. It was very courageous of you to leave England for a different lifestyle. Dont think I could have done that. Your son will benefit, getting experience the Greek culture and your Emglish background. Yes, my ex hubby is trying to get a share of my penneshaw house. He knows he cant own it, but if he is successful in his claims to a share of my assets, I will certainly have to sell that house to pay him out. The law here makes no difference to the fact that I owned everything many years before we married, nor does it take into account Domestic Violence. I told my lawyer yesterday that I would fight it well and truly.

Hi jenny, you made me laugh as luxury isn't the way to describe things over here, unless it's inside some of the foreign houses with (don't make me say the foul word), swimming pools. The luxury houses turn out not to be anyway as they were built by Greek builders.It's all rather basic out here though there are now taveranas which have upped a bit to the restaurant level in order to open all year round to attract the foreigners. I can think of nothing more souless than going into a Greek restaurant which has nothing but foreigners eating in them, I much prefer to go in the sort of basic place full of local fishermen and a bit of Greek atmosphere. I do hope the ex isn't trying to take the Penneshaw house. Maybe you should do it up anyway and rent it out for extra income. I hope you manage to keep hold of it. I'm in Greece as disillusioned totally with the UK, and didn't want my son educated there. The lifestyle appealed here and the people are fantastic, and I was lucky enough to do it at the right time to swap a mortgage still owing for a house I was able to pay for outright. But although I knew the whole pace of life here would be much more relaxed I never thought of it as a holiday, integrated very quickly and have good friends in the Greek community, many of them who speak not a word of English. It's a really safe place to bring up a child and the sea is a playground in the hot months. I have a couple of good friends who are English but they are like me and haven't become part of the ex pat lifestyle, which I think must be tedious beyond belief. There's plenty of things that aren't perfect here just like anywhere else, and I never thought the winters could be so cold and damp. I'll be staying here though for certain, my son thinks he's Greek and won't be told otherwise.

The law is crazy and a man like that who wants to get his hands on your previous assests obviously has no pride in himself. I'd go for moving as much of your funding as you can out of his reach and stay married on paper rather than support a bunch of greedy lawyers. He might get bored as presumably whatever he's after needs two signatures. I don't know what happened but suely if you reported the violence at the time to the police then you'd have a good chance of getting rid of him without him taking your assests. But then I know not a thing about Australian law.

Hi Gerty, The best holidays have been when there's been nice people to meet, where the locals are are really friendly, probably one reason I used to holiday in Greece a lot but never in this area. People who have many they would miss by moving away don't tend to settle as they miss home too much, others make a new home where they are. Constantly covered in snow could be an improvement on damp if it was in some nice area where it didn't turn black overnight with all the activity.

Heck with coffee bags, they have fresh Kona coffee there. And as for baking, it's much hotter here in the summer than it is there. It's a lovely temperate 70 something to 80 something most days.

Kona coffee. I'm putting the brik on now and sending you a cup of real Greek coffee, you are obviously deprived over the pond.

Hi dawn, well obviously you'd need to consider some vital things before you offed to HAwaii, can you get your coffee bags there, will it be too hot to bake brownies? I have to say part of my dream was having an olive grove which I have, and lots of fruit trees which I haven't. The reality is my Greek friends have fully laden fruit trees from which they offer up their fruit and tending to olive trees at harvest time is best left to strong Greek men who have the right equipment. I still get the nice bit of going to the press.

Hi lina, exotic travelling through the Orient, I used to fancy doing that. Did you actually get to Taiwan? I'm a bit out of date with the situation there these days. Moving without integrating and knowing the language can prove to be huge mistakes, and it is usually when something medical happens that it brings it home. Imagine living in a place ten years and then having to pay someone to translate for you in a hospital? I think many have had their reality check that way, or by the frustrations they encounter when they have to suddenly deal with something for themselves without the aid of a Greek to guide them through it all. The irony of it is that quite a few in beaurocratic jobs are quite willing to drop into a mix of English and Greek, if you at least start off by trying to explain what is needed in Greek. The ones who walk in demanding if someone speaks English don't get any help. Education wise I like it lots over here - in fact the headmaster just phoned me as I'd made 2 errors on completing the all Greek information form they'd sent out last week which he was quite happy to correct for me, and he uses my first name and I use his, even though we don't move in the same circle. You wouldn't get that kind of friendliness in most places so it makes up for the horrors of the Greek forms.

Bounce, belly dancers are Turkish not Greek, not good to compare our two countries as the Turks occupied here for centuries. I think an extended holiday is probably more suitable for most as real life is not a permanent holiday and to settle in a foreign land and not attempt to integrate is foolish, even though it is a difficult thing for most to accomplish.

Pardon my ignorance on the Greek history. I think the Greek tavernas here had made it so commercialized that they integrate other cultures to attract more customers like unsuspecting calamari-addicts like me.

SeriouslyThey put belly dancers in Greek taverans there. They should do Greek bazooki music - wonderful-, Greek dancing, or plate smashing. The latter isn't allowed anymore, not sure why, maybe the neighbours complained about the din of the smashing plates or there was a plate shortage. I hope you've tried the saganaki.

Well, they can bring in their own customs, but at the same time embrace the customs of others. I say this because California is very diverse, but at the same time we all try to embrace American traditions and make our own at the same time. Bring your culture with you, but also be willing to add on to your culture and incorporate the new culture. I come from a very racially diverse background, and I embrace a lot of cultures. I think that every culture has something great to bring to the table. I love Christmas, I love Chanukah, I love Kwanzaa, and I love Winter Solstice. I love Cinco de Mayo (a day to play Mariachi Music and drink, do I need a reason to celebrate?). Life is too short to be serious, so let's all celebrate before we die! Let's not fight. Let's not argue over who's culture and religions are better. Let's just have fun, and try to get along with each other before it all comes to an end.

Hi rogue, sorry for the late response here. Indeed no place is perfect and I wouldn't expect your sunshine state to be either, as it has pretty high crime levels. I don't think people should move to another country though and try to change it, but rather accept the ways of the local population and adapt to them. If they aren't willing to do that then they should go back home. I think its a bad thing when foreigners bring in their own customs rather than embrace those of the place they move to and try to impose them.

Hi Cloud, well if there's no place like home why change it. None of the places you mention on your wish list of holidays would appeal to me as I really don't get on well with the cold. I used to have many places I wanted to visit but these days the list narrows to places within Europe. I will get to Poland one day and now I'm intrigued with Romania too. There is still so much here though that I haven't seen yet and at least at the other end of Greece I would be understood.

California is nice too. hint hint...

Hi scarlet, no they aren't like that, they have to pay people to translate for them if they can't be bothered to learn, which is most of them. I don't want things changing here and I think those who come in should respect the Greek way, as they can't have all the old fashioned courtesies along with the ultra quick modern ways they'd like to see.

thanks for the info. :) at least now i know a little on what to expect when i visit there someday. :)

Hi yushen, as a tourist in Greece you wouldn't get that many people talking about you or commenting on your strange habits. They don't even comment too much on the strange habits of foreigners who live here. They do comment on all the habits of anyone they've accepted into their culture though as they care enough to worry about how many coffees one drinks or that one isn't putting enough lemon over their food to make it healthy.

typo should have I have thought about it, thea, and my dream if my wish came true....

Hi Hatley, well sad to say you might actually have a problem settling there anyway as Ireland is part of the Euro zone now which only allows Americans to stay for three months at a time. When your roots are in a place though and you speak the language anyway, it does make it all a lot easier. I hope you manage a visit at least one day.

I have just cheverly deleted my long response and as time waits for no man - will have to be brief - such a difficulty for me. Each Island is thousands of miles from the other and their culture and dialect is different from ours. Our nearst Island is cuba (wonderful!) The culture shock would be probably worse. They are not allowed to drift around from Island to Island without work permits (hard to get) or citizenship. Also to hard to get. They need visas to travel! Trinidad and Tobago are the only ones twinned. Sorry to rush but people are arriving at villa and have to leave. Fashion designers from New York. They come out every year with friends to crash and party. I had to get 2 Nannies. Bye bye

Hi cynthiann, I never thought of it from the angle of those who are returning to their homelands to retire. Don't they consider a nearby island or would that just not be the same? That must be far worse actually, to work all your life abroad with a dream of returning back home, only to discover it isn't home anymore.

And my response to you was just lost in a short power cut. The very little knowledge I have of the islands is gleamed from reading 'Papillon' which is obviously way out of date now, but at that time all the islands were most welcoming to Henri.

Hi Irene, nice to see you back again.The strength of the euro is at the root of the problem for most, as it is indeed when I try to sell my own house, as it now costs one third more than it used to outside of the Euro zone. It's effected the local economy as now more expensive for tourists and had a knock on effect on some of the work I had but I just have to accept that for another couple of years I think and live very frugally. Anyone who moves anywhere with a different language needs to learn it and it amazes me when so many don't bother.

Shirley my dear, if a sleepless night can produce such wonderful words as lolligagging (can I steal it) it has some merits. You should be taking things easy and dosing yourself up with hot chocolate, I so hope you start to feel a little better and manage some good sleep. Nightmares are the pits. I didn't even realise you had the foreign investor types there, obviously not the type to offer to ferry the odd item over on the ferry with them. Tell me another time if they really wear plastic.

Hi jillhill, there are many days when the beauty of the area stands out, and the simple things like walking along the coast or driving over the mountain, but I have to say I never actually came here on holiday before I chose it as the ideal place to move to. So many others have done it too that one of the villages which is a tourist one hardly seems Greek at all anymore.That's where most of the foreigners hang out as they really can get by without a word of Greek there. Spain has much of the same kind of thing but on a much much larger scale. It's amazing that people can be so different though and that you'd make the effort just as a holidaymaker to try to communicate in the language whilst people can live in a country without understanding anything.

Hi Aunty, well it wasn't silly in my case as we rather took to it but then again I never imagined a permanent holiday either. I like the more relaxed pace of life but somethings about that can be irritating, but they get less so each year. I thought it was a much better start in life for a child to live in a safe country which is less materialistic and you'd certainly never be able to drag him anywhere else now. This is home. I do think a lot are disillusioned with it all though. Personally I'd be embarrassed to be them and still have to order a meal in English after ten years of living here. I know you aren't going anywhere as you'd miss your family too much,.

Hi Opal, I've never been across the pond but I have two entirely different perceptions of Florida. One is the that of many retirees moving there and settling down, the other is of the glades and the huge crime ridden streets. I would hope they are in different parts of the state. It makes a lot of sense to just move areas within the same country, and although I'm not in my original country I wouldn't move out of this one but would consider changing locations within it.

Hi Bill, I'd imagine it is a whole different thing moving to a fast growing city which will be open all year round to a rather dull rural area which in the main shuts down for six months of the year. I would imagine though that it is more familiar to those who move there from New Zealand or within Australia as you've got the same language and culture. Here we have the retired couples moving in then most probably leaving again after a number of years, and mainly foreign immigrant workers who have a totally different culture and whose children will most definitely outnumber the Greek children soon thus making a huge impact on schooling in the future. Of the two villages I'm between I think of one as mainly English and the other as Greek, and see a huge difference in the area where my Greek lives as it is still entirely Greek in population.

Did you read the topic before responding? If you search under interests you will find many discussions to your taste under both the subject of shirts and christmas.