Pontos Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 What's the story behind most Greek Americans? My knowledge is they settled some time before the immigration of most Greeks in Aus in the 60's, or am I wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BostonThanatos Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) The biggest influx of Greeks in America was in the late 60's - Early 80's I believe. Most Greeks my age (35-40) here are the first generation of Greeks born in America, with the younger kids (2-10 years old) are the mostly the 2nd generation and the ones who are more likey to be mixed or not speak Greek, etc. There was also a bunch from the 1940's, but most of their kids and grandkids have been more americanized. Edited August 24, 2015 by BostonThanatos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pash Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 My mom's side came in the mid 70's, my dad in the early 80s. I think their area had had one large "migration" that happened in the 30s, from Corfu. Whenever I go back to their church, you can definitely tell who's descended from them - they're elderly men and women who do not speak Greek at all. I'd say 90% of the people who are active in that community, are first gen like me (and their immigrant parents/grandparents). I went to the Greek-American museum in Chicago's Greektown right after it opened, and it seemed to focus on people from the 50s and (some considerably) earlier. I found it hard to relate. It seems that the diaspora grows by waves, at any rate. With the newest wave happening since the crisis (obviously). Generally more educated than the font from which I sprung. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdkmangosalsa Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 ^i actually met and heard about more greek researchers while i was doing my thing at MGH. they get good educations in greece but no jobs obviously. my mom was 13 months old when her parents moved here in the early 60s. funny that you mention it Pontos, my Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pash Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I know plenty of people with doctorates who are teaching beginner Greek classes ;) Ahh, the land of opportunity. Better than the horio, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 What's the story behind most Greek Americans? My knowledge is they settled some time before the immigration of most Greeks in Aus in the 60's, or am I wrong? But ... but ... Australia does not exist. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 . Im first generation in my family lol. My dad came here in the 80s when he was my age and my mom came a little bit before that. The only thing I hate about being born here are those a**hole old Greeks that tease me calling me "Americanaki" that pisses me off because they are trying to be disrespectful when they tell me that. Skase Amerikanaki me tin grinia sou! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nea Bafra Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I'm curious, so where in Greece is everyone from? I'll start, Dad was from a little xorio about 30 minutes outside Drama but in Nomos Serres called Nea Bafra and mum is from a town called Polikarpi in Nomos Pell past edessa towards the hot springs at Loutraki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pash Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 But ... but ... Australia does not exist. I didn't have the heart to tell him that. Some people need their delusions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akritis_1944 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Nah you tell us, Pash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BostonThanatos Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I'm curious, so where in Greece is everyone from? I'll start, Dad was from a little xorio about 30 minutes outside Drama but in Nomos Serres called Nea Bafra and mum is from a town called Polikarpi in Nomos Pell past edessa towards the hot springs at Loutra My mother is from Drama (a xorio 20 minutes out) and my father was born in Chalkidiki, raised in Thessaloniki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pash Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Our beaches are much better than what you filthy Greeks have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontos Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 (edited) My roots can be traced back my villages in Pontos. My father's family is from a village called Pistofandon in Santa in the district of Trapezounta. My father's side left Pontos and settled in a town named Kars, in what was then Russia (now near the Turkish-Georgian border) in the Caucasus Mountains prior to WWI breaking out. They lived there for some time until after WWI they moved to with many other Greeks to their spiritual homeland of Greece. Getting to Greece took them 3 years. Instead of being relocated to the abandoned homes of Turk's who were living in northern Greece, they decided the build a new village an hour from Florina, naming it Neos Nakfkasos (New Caucasus) in homage to the home they left behind. It's not a very old village, just over 90 years old, the second to last village (Niki is the last) before you reach the Skopje border if you're leaving from Florina. My mother's side did not manage to evade the Greek genocide affecting Pontos, they barely escaped from their village in Imera, also in the Trapezounta district. They settled in a village near Edessa, somewhat close to the Loutra like Nea Bafra, in a town named Apsalos. My great grandfather on my mother's side who lived through WWI as a child and passed At 104 years of age (on paper, he may have been older) and was of healthy body and mind till his death of old age, he recalled all of the events that transpired during his life in Pontos. He lived majority of his life in Australia till his death, he could speak Greek, Pontic Greek, Turkish and a little English. A few articles were written about him and his story in Greece. Long story short, I'm from villages near Florina and Edessa haha Edited August 25, 2015 by Pontos 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pash Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I'm loving these stories, keep them up guys! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paok4athens Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 so since we opened a cafe' here, what is your favourite coffee btw? i'm a big frappe' fan ! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doxa Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Cappuchino and Espresso !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdkmangosalsa Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 so since we opened a cafe' here, what is your favourite coffee btw? i'm a big frappe' fan ! :) all the Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdkmangosalsa Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) something fantastic happened to me yesterday. i went with a couple friends to this pizza place around the corner from our apartment to grab some lunch before watching tottenham-everton. we go in there and put our orders in and i jokingly ask one of my friends (lebanese descent) if he knows the people who own the place, since his family also have pizza places and he seems to know a lot of restaurant owners. he says he doesn't know these people, but he later adds that he thinks they're greek. i look at the guy behind the counter and i think to myself, yeah, i could see it. but when the lady working there announces that a vedzie (veggie) slice is ready for pickup, there could be no doubts. interestingly, before i or my friends even said anything, the boss of the place comes over and tells us he's going to give us free pizza. alright! anyway, when the food was ready and we go to pay, my friend asks what nationality they are and sure enough they're greeks. i start talking to the guy there and when he hears my mom was born in thessaloniki he immediately asks which team i support. my life is on the line here, i realized, but of course i told him PAOK. he immediately reaches under the counter and produces a fantastic scarf (BLACK HELL one) that he gave to me. my two buddies and i also walked out of there with a free pizza on top of whatever food we had all already ordered. the guy's name was stathi, seems like a good fellow and absolutely a PAOK fanatic. Edited August 30, 2015 by gdkmangosalsa 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontos Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 What a levendi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BostonThanatos Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) Name the spot, so me and pash can go get our free scarves as well! jk.... what town was this in? Edited August 30, 2015 by BostonThanatos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdkmangosalsa Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 i bet that he has plenty of scarves to go around, he was very keen to know if i have a team shirt and a scarf. i told him i had one of each and he gave me the scarf anyway. the place is <5 minutes walking from my apartment, it's called pizza stop. very close to BMC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pash Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BostonThanatos Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) On Harrison Ave? I drive by there every day. Edited August 30, 2015 by BostonThanatos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdkmangosalsa Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 that's the one. never guessed it was owned by one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackhawk Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Cool story gdkmangosalsa. Speaking of pizza. For you Boston area based PAOKtzides, if you're in the Cranston, RI area and have a taste for a good pizza, I recommend Basil's Pizza. Tell them you're PAOK fans from the Phantis PAOK Forum and they will take care you. Ask for Vasili. B) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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