A very happy new year to everyone.
Today, 3rd January 2022, we went to a fish restaurant where I learnt that my vaccination certificate/Covid pass had expired. I have already booked my booster, but it looks as if I am going to have to bring it forward if I can. Digital or e-government has really embedded itself in Greek public life. Only two or three years ago a minister appeared on TV to show the millions of files gathering dust in the bowels of his ministry. Queuing to pay bills, to be served in a bank or to get something done in a government office was reminiscent of a bread queue in the Eastern Bloc. In fact, many banks were deliberately designed so that no more than two or three customers could be served simultaneously. The other employees would be sitting at desks doing fuck knows what while customers queued to be served by the one teller on duty, the other desk warmers making no effort to occupy the other vacant teller slots. A word frequently used was ταλαιπωρία [taleporia], which means ‘hassle’ – and on top of the hassle you frequently encountered unacceptable levels of behaviour which ranged from unhelpfulness to rudeness.
Again, only a few years ago Greece was still very much a cash economy. Paying by credit card almost induced epileptic fits in sales assistants. ID was asked for. Then you had to write your address and phone number on the back of the receipt. Now, POS is as widespread as it is elsewhere in the EU, so much so that the Greek for POS is POS!
There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. They are neuter and indeclinable. 2021 ended with Omicron – όμικρον in the news. In the context of the virus, the letters appear to be feminine. One hears η Όμικρον because the feminine noun μετάλλαξη [metallaxi] – variant – is understood. Yesterday it was reported that 60% of new Covid cases are Omicron. Cases have rocketed in the past eight or nine days. Fortunately, deaths and intubations have not kept pace with the jump in new cases.
Anti-vaxxer madness continues, however. An anti-vaxxer and Covid-denier husband tested positive for Covid. He beat his wife up because she asked him to leave the house. The story is here: https://pelop.gr/apistefti-katangelia-antiemvoliastis-nosise-i-syzygos-tou-tou-eipe-na-fygei-apo-to-spiti-kai-tin-xylokopise-vinteo/
In Serres, a northern town with a low vaccination rate, an anti-vaxxer wife is threatening to divorce her husband because he had their kids vaccinated without consulting her.
In a nearby village called Angelohori, a 46-year-old Albanian was fined €50,000 for holding an illegal party in a disused factory. He must be mentally ill if he thought he could keep that a secret. The number of people at the party must have exceeded the village population.
4th January. I went to the health centre to ask if I could bring forward my vaccination booster date from 13th to today. I was hoping I could take the place of a no-show. The employee keyed in my National Health number but nothing happened. The employee was one of those native speakers who thinks foreigners will understand him better if he shouts at them. That, by the way, is not a criticism of Greeks; it’s something I have witnessed in my travels. Anyway, with my eardrums registering 3.5 on the Richter scale, I learnt that I was too early, and that the system will not recognise me till about 10th January. The government has mobile vaccination units where no appointment is needed, so my next option is to travel to a part of Thessaloniki called Evosmos. I might go there tomorrow.
It’s always a pleasure to read your posts!
Regarding your comment about native speakers, in S. Korea I experienced several times people who would repeatedly speak in their own language and at a slower pace as if I would understand what they were saying! Even though it was clear from the beginning of my conversations that I did not speak Korean! Usually this would happen with Koreans above their fourties.
People are strange!