By George Hopkins, Pinewood International School Teacher
George Hopkins has lived in Thessaloniki since August 2005 and teaches IB Economics at an IBO World School.
I concur with Kelli. Thessaloniki is far from Kansas in many ways. I've driven through Kansas a couple of times and one word comes to mind: flat. Thessaloniki is anything but flat—and I mean this in both a literal and figurative sense. The view towards Mount Hortiatis from the south coast of Thessaloniki's bay (near the airport) looks unmistakably like a bare-breasted woman lying on her back, knees bent, with her head turned shyly away to the northeast.
My grandparents fled Smyrna in west Turkey (now Izmir) in the 1920s and settled in a village on the south coast of the bay. Thus, I've had the chance to see this somewhat naughty view many times while running along the dirt roads there, and I've often wondered if the ancients living thousands of years ago noticed the demure, geologically naked Thessaloniki lying there. Indeed, the city is named for a woman.
With mountains and heights surrounding the Bay of Thermaikos, Thessaloniki looks like a natural and expansive amphitheater surrounding calm waters. You can see Mt. Olympus from here, and there's something nostalgic about that. In fact, if you want to see the "Throne of Zeus" at close range, it's only about an hour's drive away. If you go, you'll get out of the car, walk around, and begin to understand how the place could inspire so many rich stories. Then drive back here to Thessaloniki and see it at nighttime … with the lights … it's … well … imagine it … with the water….
Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey in 1923, was born here. And there are remnants of the Ottoman Empire all over the place, most especially in public restrooms. Let me take this opportunity, since the subject came up, to make an important public service announcement: when taking care of business here in Greece, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT throw toilet paper into the commode.
Almost all public and private latrines provide a little trash can for disposing of such paper. Use it. The reason is related to the design specifications of the public sanitation system. Quite a few of the public commodes are in the old Ottoman Empire style, which is basically a hole in the ground framed by a lovely porcelain point of departure. I’ve been aware of these "old school" commodes for some time having used them over the course of half-a-dozen childhood summer vacations. But I never quite understood the finer, more technical point regarding that little trash can—how would I? In the states, everything goes in the same place. Don't all toilets work the same? At any rate, one of the benefits from my tour of duty protecting the Hellenic Republic (yes, I served in the Greek Army)* was an indoctrination to the caliphal ways of holding court. As crude as they look, supposedly they are more ergonomic.
Kelli already mentioned the shopping and nightlife; so perhaps I’ll mention a word or two about the Greek temperament, driving here, and the system of roads in Thessaloniki.
I have found the men & women with whom I share this city, her cafes and her motorways to be both incredibly laid back and wildly impatient. Everything is "xalara" (pronounced "halaRA") which loosely means "chill". Drink your coffee, talk for hours, watch the people go by, relax. And yet, if you were to operate your motor vehicle for more than two minutes, you might think you were in Freak Show Central New York City. It is dog-eat-dog at its best here. On Greek roads, fortune favors the bold, and he who hesitates is honked into oblivion.
"Helping" the situation is the system of roads. The idea of managing traffic flow seems to have escaped us here. In fairness, the place where we live has evolved over thousands of years, so I imagine current roads are more archeological testaments to early donkey cart paths than modern designs for efficient, effective transport.
Further adding to the fun is the fact that you'll find stop lights at every intersection on the NEAR side of the crossing. So if you are at
the head of the queue, you must crane your neck to see if the light has changed or simply wait for the wildly impatient guy behind you to honk and curse your family. As infuriating as all this can be, I am inexplicably growing to, dare I say, love it? It does take some getting used to, but in Greece, everything is possible.
* (I served in the Greek Army due to the laws about conscription and in order to remain in Greece at will. I am now a dual citizen of both the United States and the Hellenic Republic, with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities hereto. amen.)
