Memories of growing up Greek in the USA

[Jawge]

My father was born in the US. When he was 5 y/o his family moved back to Greece. He went back to the US just before WW2 and, of course, he was drafted. He spent 4 years in the S Pacific as a combat veteran. He was wounded twice. Initially, upon his return, he could not speak English and so he attended adult ed to learn.

Papou and Yayia returned and lived with us for a few years. I remember Papou smoking his pipe and taking me for daily walks. In 1955, they returned to Greece. I was 7 y/o and I never saw them again. I missed them dearly. Not everything about growing up Greek was great.

After the war, he married a strong Greek woman who along with my maternal Yayia taught me Greek. Ma was born in the US. Greek was my first language and so I became steeped in the Greek culture and fluent in the Greek language as did my 2 brothers. I lived it first hand and loved it. When I went to school I struggled with English so much so that my first grade teacher complained that I did not know my colors. Ma said, "Sure he does. Ask him in Greek." So that was that.

I married a strong wonderful Greek woman who is also fluent though she was born in the US. We have 2 wonderful daughters who spent a semester or 2 studying Greek at UNH. Thank God they have an excellent Greek language program there.

My family is Greek Orthodox and prior to the pandemic we attended an Orthodox church weekly and became very involved in the life of the church. Now we do the best we can through Zoom.

Though I am fluent (4 out of 5 according to my daughter) I never learned to read and write Greek. My wife and I now attend a Greek school at a church, at least we did prior to the pandemic, and so now I can read and write Greek.

So I have come full circle, like my father, who attended English school I have attended Greek school as an adult.

So that's how I grew up Greek in the USA.

 

[k_tsoukalas]

So interesting reading about your experiences growing up! I was exposed to Greek from a young ageand it was nice to be able to learn some of the language from a young age. That has honestly helped me when learning other languages, and continuing my Greek studies as an adult. Back then, too, it wasn't easy to travel, and also we didn't have Skype and Zoom to keep in touch. It's so sad you didn't see your grandparents again.

 

[Joni T.]

My father was born in the US. When he was 5 y/o his family moved back the Greece. He went back to the US just before WW2 and, of course, he was drafted. He spent 4 years in the S Pacific as a combat veteran. He was wounded twice. Initially, upon his return, he could not speak English and so he attended adult ed to learn.

Papou and Yayia returned and lived with us for a few years. I remember Papou smoking his pipe and taking me for daily walks. In 1955, they returned to Greece. I was 7 y/o and I never saw them again. I missed them dearly. Not everything about growing up Greek was great.

After the war, he married a strong Greek woman who along with my maternal Yayia taught me Greek. Ma was born in the US. Greek was my first language and so I became steeped in the Greek culture and fluent in the Greek language as did my 2 brothers. I lived it first hand and loved it. When I went to school I struggled with English so much so that my first grade teacher complained that I did not know my colors. Ma said, "Sure he does. Ask him in Greek." So that was that.

I married a strong wonderful Greek woman who is also fluent though she was born in the US. We have 2 wonderful daughters who spent a semester or 2 studying Greek at UNH. Thank God they have an excellent Greek language program there.

My family is Greek Orthodox and prior to the pandemic we attended an Orthodox church weekly and became very involved in the life of the church. Now we do the best we can through Zoom.

Though I am fluent (4 out of 5 according to my daughter) I never learned to read and write Greek. My wife and I now attend a Greek school at a church, at least we did prior to the pandemic, and so now I can read and write Greek.

So I have come full circle, like my father, who attended English school I have attended Greek school as an adult.

So that's how I grew up Greek in the USA.

I'm reflecting on growing up Greek. I'm 71 now, and all 4 of my grandparents were born in Greece but my parents were born in the US. One thing I remember is NOT enjoying going to Greek School at our church from 4 to 6PM 2 days a week while my parents worked. I had to take the bus to the center of Lowell, MA, and then walk to the church...not something I would allow a child to do by herself nowadays. Who wanted to do that after being in school all day? Fast forward to adulthood: it's a blessing being able to read and write Greek! I could read anything, but often have no clue what I'm reading. I never thought I could speak Greek until we visited Greece on vacations, and lo and behold I found I could communicate. After a few more visits to Greece and with the motivation to learn Greek, my fluency is improving . I'd LOVE to visit Greece again. In fact there's sooo much to see in Greece, I have no desire to visit any other country in Europe. Too much of Greece to explore.

 

[Jawge]

My father was born in the US. When he was 5 y/o his family moved back to Greece. He went back to the US just before WW2 and, of course, he was drafted. He spent 4 years in the S Pacific as a combat veteran. He was wounded twice. Initially, upon his return, he could not speak English and so he attended adult ed to learn.

Papou and Yayia returned and lived with us for a few years. I remember Papou smoking his pipe and taking me for daily walks. In 1955, they returned to Greece. I was 7 y/o and I never saw them again. I missed them dearly. Not everything about growing up Greek was great.

After the war, he married a strong Greek woman who along with my maternal Yayia taught me Greek. Ma was born in the US. Greek was my first language and so I became steeped in the Greek culture and fluent in the Greek language as did my 2 brothers. I lived it first hand and loved it. When I went to school I struggled with English so much so that my first grade teacher complained that I did not know my colors. Ma said, "Sure he does. Ask him in Greek." So that was that.

I married a strong wonderful Greek woman who is also fluent though she was born in the US. We have 2 wonderful daughters who spent a semester or 2 studying Greek at UNH. Thank God they have an excellent Greek language program there.

My family is Greek Orthodox and prior to the pandemic we attended an Orthodox church weekly and became very involved in the life of the church. Now we do the best we can through Zoom.

Though I am fluent (4 out of 5 according to my daughter) I never learned to read and write Greek. My wife and I now attend a Greek school at a church, at least we did prior to the pandemic, and so now I can read and write Greek.

So I have come full circle, like my father, who attended English school I have attended Greek school as an adult.

So that's how I grew up Greek in the USA.

My father was born in the US. When he was 5 y/o his family moved back to Greece. He went back to the US just before WW2 and, of course, he was drafted. He spent 4 years in the S Pacific as a combat veteran. He was wounded twice. Initially, upon his return, he could not speak English and so he attended adult ed to learn.

Papou and Yayia returned and lived with us for a few years. I remember Papou smoking his pipe and taking me for daily walks. In 1955, they returned to Greece. I was 7 y/o and I never saw them again. I missed them dearly. Not everything about growing up Greek was great.

After the war, he married a strong Greek woman who along with my maternal Yayia taught me Greek. Ma was born in the US. Greek was my first language and so I became steeped in the Greek culture and fluent in the Greek language as did my 2 brothers. I lived it first hand and loved it. When I went to school I struggled with English so much so that my first grade teacher complained that I did not know my colors. Ma said, "Sure he does. Ask him in Greek." So that was that.

I married a strong wonderful Greek woman who is also fluent though she was born in the US. We have 2 wonderful daughters who spent a semester or 2 studying Greek at UNH. Thank God they have an excellent Greek language program there.

My family is Greek Orthodox and prior to the pandemic we attended an Orthodox church weekly and became very involved in the life of the church. Now we do the best we can through Zoom.

Though I am fluent (4 out of 5 according to my daughter) I never learned to read and write Greek. My wife and I now attend a Greek school at a church, at least we did prior to the pandemic, and so now I can read and write Greek.

So I have come full circle, like my father, who attended English school I have attended Greek school as an adult.

So that's how I grew up Greek in the USA.

I forgot to mention that my family took our first trip to Greece in 1997. To me, it seemed like a pilgrimage. It was so exciting to stay in a hotel next to the Acropolis. To think we actually walked were Plato, Socrates and St Paul walked. The Acropolis was no longer just a picture in a book.

 

[dpappas87]

Wow thank you for sharing, what an incredible story. It's hard to keep our culture strong, especially when we're in the states and don't have the luxury of traveling to Greece often. It's so nice to see others keeping up with their Greek in their adulthood. My parents are from Greece but I struggle with talking sometimes and I can barely read and write. I started taking online classes using this website called Italkie that I really love. My teacher is from Greece and we do the classes through facetime.

 

[michaeljamesromt]

This is a really touching story and shows how language and culture can shape identity across generations. It is interesting how both you and your father had to relearn a language later in life. Experiences like these remind us how important connection and community are in everyday life, much like reliable support systems such as FS Premier Transport.