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The Age, Australia
Sept 23 2004
One-way odyssey
September 23, 2004
Exciting jobs created by the Olympics have made young Greek
Australians want to stay in Athens. Victoria Kyriakopoulos reports.
Four years ago, Melbourne chef Costa Garyfallou quit Australia to try
his luck in Greece, curious about the heritage he had resisted for
most of his life.
His first taste of Greece had been during a working European holiday
in 1997 and he was determined to return and see more of the country
his parents had left behind. In 2000, he did six months in the Greek
army to get his Greek citizenship before landing a job in one of
Athens' trendy new restaurants.
Since then, Garyfallou, 32, has cooked Australian-style fusion at
leading restaurants in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini, spent a summer
as the chef on a private cruiser, and cooked for the Prime Minister
and Greece's top businessmen, actors and celebrities. This year he
landed the plum job of executive chef at the Karaiskaki soccer
stadium, cooking for 1500 people a day during the Olympics.
"The irony is that the land of opportunity for me has been Greece,"
says Garyfallou, who grew up in Keilor Park and learnt his craft at
Melbourne restaurants including Cafe e Cucina in South Yarra. "Doors
opened for me here that I couldn't have dreamed of in Australia."
Garyfallou is part of a small but steady wave of young Greek
Australians who have been drawn back and are thriving in the country
their parents or grandparents forsook to give their children a better
life.
But in contrast to their parents, who migrated to Australia as
largely uneducated, unskilled workers, this generation has returned
to Greece equipped with education, professional skills and
confidence. To their surprise, many are finding themselves staying.
"I came here to find out what my heritage was about. It's something
that I came to embrace late. Before that I was almost anti- Greek. I
didn't even want to speak Greek," Garyfallou recalls. "Greece gives
me work and it gives me a good life and lifestyle and it gives me
history, culture and a sense of belonging.
"I can't see myself going back (to Australia). Here I work to live
not live to work. It's not a work ethic but a life ethic. It's just
that I've now split the family in two."
More than 40,000 Greek Australians are estimated to be living
permanently in Greece, a reverse migration that began in the 1970s,
when some families started returning while their children were
relatively young. Others, many of them young women, came to Greece
for a summer holiday and ended up getting married and staying. Others
have come back to retire.
While most Greek Australians feel a strong sentimental pull, Greece
was until recently seen as a great place to visit but not to live.
Few seriously contemplated leaving steady jobs in Australia to work
in the urban jungle of Athens. But Greece today is a far cry from the
poverty-stricken country their parents left. And in the past five
years, Athens has developed rapidly.
Melbourne architect Kalliope Malapani, 34, was one of many Greek
Australians who jumped at the chance to work in Athens for the
Olympics, arriving at the end of 2000 to work on the design of the
stadiums. She has since taken a longer-term job that allows her to
stay on indefinitely.
While Greece's notorious bureaucracy remains a major source of
frustration, Malapani says she takes the negative in her stride and
uses the experience she gained in Australia to her advantage. "One of
the fantastic things about professional life in Australia is they
take you and, if you have smarts, they push you. You can be well
rounded at a relatively young age. Here the 35-year-olds don't have
the confidence."
She is thrilled that her Greek is now good enough to be making
presentations in Greek architecture-speak. Malapani feels something
innate and comfortable about living in Greece, but she is still torn
about whether she will make the choice for life. Feeling
professionally challenged is paramount, but social and emotional
aspects weigh heavily on her decision. "Part of what drove me here
was a need to live my culture, and then maybe reject it and put it in
a box, but I remember thinking when I came here how far it had
slipped away from me.
"It's a complex and beautiful city and country, and I am challenged
on all levels. It's enlivening and you are not getting into the rut
that can exist in professional and social life in Australia.
"But having been given the gifts of Australia, and coming here and
making an intelligent, informed choice to stay, it's very difficult."
While her family in Melbourne is proud she got the Olympics job, no
one anticipated it could be a permanent move. "I think they feel some
sort of comfort from the fact that they know the environment I have
put myself in, but if I called up and said `Mum I just met a Greek
and I am about to commit to living here,' I don't know what they
would say." For men, a major deterrent has always been the mandatory
military service, but these days many are opting to do a commuted
six-months' service to secure citizenship and a coveted EU passport.
Shipping lawyer George Panagopoulos, 35, has just finished his stint
in the army, clearing the way for a future in Greece. He moved to
Piraeus, the heart of Athens shipping industry in 2001, from London,
and later joined the international firm Richards Butler.
"The opportunity arose to come here and it was too good to refuse,
professionally and in all sorts of ways. I know both cultures and
both languages and it was a great way to utilise all my skills."
With the Olympics and the introduction of a common European currency,
the timing could not have been better. "Professionally it's been a
good place to be. The work here is very interesting, it's very
international and probably more international that I would have been
doing in Australia."
Panagopoulos has no short-term plan to return to Australia but does
not discount the possibility. "If I was going to leave Greece I would
go back to Australia. I think it is a bit easier to bring up a family
there. But Australia is not like it used to be. It is a totally
overregulated society in many ways. Greece is still quite liberated."
Panagopoulos, an only child, says his parents, who are retired and
spend time in Greece, have been positive about his decision, and are
even considering returning themselves. "I think they are going to
come back for good if I don't go back to Australia."
Not everyone has that option, and many families are dealing with the
trauma of being split again, with children and grandchildren now
living in both countries. In one family all three children moved back
to Greece, leaving their parents alone in Australia waiting until
they were eligible for their pensions.
Musician Hector Cosmas was drawn to Greece in 1998 by the music, but
has now married and started a family in Athens. A third-generation
Australian, he arrived in Greece with his violin, very poor Greek and
a passion for rebetika (Greek blues) and traditional Greek music.
"A lot of Greek Australians of my generation come to Greece on
holidays and feel some sort of connection to this place. For a Greek
musician that connection is something more.
"I felt that in Australia I was stagnating a little and I knew that
if I wanted to grow as a musician this was the place to be. I didn't
really think about where I would be 10 or 20 years down the track."
Cosmas has been playing with one of the most established rebetika
musicians and has had the opportunity to work with some of the finest
artists in the country. He married a Greek-Canadian in 2000 and has
two children. "Athens has improved dramatically as a place to live,"
he says. "As a musician I can see a future here for myself and I can
see us being here long-term, but when you have a family with kids
there are other considerations.
"But for now Greece is home." Cosmas believes Australia has gone
backwards in terms of multiculturalism, and has become more
xenophobic. "There have been lots of times in the last few years that
I've felt glad I'm not living there."
Tania Nassibian, 25, has been in Greece for five years making a
career as a singer, recording two CDs with Sony Music and
collaborating with some of Greece's leading artists. "I never thought
I'd work here. It never crossed my mind, but I have loved the
experience. I'm happy that I've finally learnt Greek. I have family
here and it was a good opportunity to get to know them."
Nassibian grew up in Sydney where her Greek mother ran a folkloric
dance school and her Armenian father ran a business. She had finished
school and was living in Paris when she was offered the recording
contract in Greece.
Nassibian, who sings in English, Greek and French, is now trying to
break into the international scene and expects to stay in Greece for
the short term at least.
"I love Greece. It is the land of opportunity because you can do
whatever you want. I have enjoyed my life here but I've also
struggled a lot because of the disorganisation. I don't think that
I'd like to permanently stay here," she says.
"I have sacrificed my family and I never expected to be overseas for
so long. I love the craziness of Europe but I also miss the
Australian way of life, and I miss my brothers and dad. "Australia
has everything except the life and spirit that Europe has. I have a
feeling I will end up in Australia. The ideal thing would be to have
a house there and a house here."
Sept 23 2004
One-way odyssey
September 23, 2004
Exciting jobs created by the Olympics have made young Greek
Australians want to stay in Athens. Victoria Kyriakopoulos reports.
Four years ago, Melbourne chef Costa Garyfallou quit Australia to try
his luck in Greece, curious about the heritage he had resisted for
most of his life.
His first taste of Greece had been during a working European holiday
in 1997 and he was determined to return and see more of the country
his parents had left behind. In 2000, he did six months in the Greek
army to get his Greek citizenship before landing a job in one of
Athens' trendy new restaurants.
Since then, Garyfallou, 32, has cooked Australian-style fusion at
leading restaurants in Athens, Mykonos and Santorini, spent a summer
as the chef on a private cruiser, and cooked for the Prime Minister
and Greece's top businessmen, actors and celebrities. This year he
landed the plum job of executive chef at the Karaiskaki soccer
stadium, cooking for 1500 people a day during the Olympics.
"The irony is that the land of opportunity for me has been Greece,"
says Garyfallou, who grew up in Keilor Park and learnt his craft at
Melbourne restaurants including Cafe e Cucina in South Yarra. "Doors
opened for me here that I couldn't have dreamed of in Australia."
Garyfallou is part of a small but steady wave of young Greek
Australians who have been drawn back and are thriving in the country
their parents or grandparents forsook to give their children a better
life.
But in contrast to their parents, who migrated to Australia as
largely uneducated, unskilled workers, this generation has returned
to Greece equipped with education, professional skills and
confidence. To their surprise, many are finding themselves staying.
"I came here to find out what my heritage was about. It's something
that I came to embrace late. Before that I was almost anti- Greek. I
didn't even want to speak Greek," Garyfallou recalls. "Greece gives
me work and it gives me a good life and lifestyle and it gives me
history, culture and a sense of belonging.
"I can't see myself going back (to Australia). Here I work to live
not live to work. It's not a work ethic but a life ethic. It's just
that I've now split the family in two."
More than 40,000 Greek Australians are estimated to be living
permanently in Greece, a reverse migration that began in the 1970s,
when some families started returning while their children were
relatively young. Others, many of them young women, came to Greece
for a summer holiday and ended up getting married and staying. Others
have come back to retire.
While most Greek Australians feel a strong sentimental pull, Greece
was until recently seen as a great place to visit but not to live.
Few seriously contemplated leaving steady jobs in Australia to work
in the urban jungle of Athens. But Greece today is a far cry from the
poverty-stricken country their parents left. And in the past five
years, Athens has developed rapidly.
Melbourne architect Kalliope Malapani, 34, was one of many Greek
Australians who jumped at the chance to work in Athens for the
Olympics, arriving at the end of 2000 to work on the design of the
stadiums. She has since taken a longer-term job that allows her to
stay on indefinitely.
While Greece's notorious bureaucracy remains a major source of
frustration, Malapani says she takes the negative in her stride and
uses the experience she gained in Australia to her advantage. "One of
the fantastic things about professional life in Australia is they
take you and, if you have smarts, they push you. You can be well
rounded at a relatively young age. Here the 35-year-olds don't have
the confidence."
She is thrilled that her Greek is now good enough to be making
presentations in Greek architecture-speak. Malapani feels something
innate and comfortable about living in Greece, but she is still torn
about whether she will make the choice for life. Feeling
professionally challenged is paramount, but social and emotional
aspects weigh heavily on her decision. "Part of what drove me here
was a need to live my culture, and then maybe reject it and put it in
a box, but I remember thinking when I came here how far it had
slipped away from me.
"It's a complex and beautiful city and country, and I am challenged
on all levels. It's enlivening and you are not getting into the rut
that can exist in professional and social life in Australia.
"But having been given the gifts of Australia, and coming here and
making an intelligent, informed choice to stay, it's very difficult."
While her family in Melbourne is proud she got the Olympics job, no
one anticipated it could be a permanent move. "I think they feel some
sort of comfort from the fact that they know the environment I have
put myself in, but if I called up and said `Mum I just met a Greek
and I am about to commit to living here,' I don't know what they
would say." For men, a major deterrent has always been the mandatory
military service, but these days many are opting to do a commuted
six-months' service to secure citizenship and a coveted EU passport.
Shipping lawyer George Panagopoulos, 35, has just finished his stint
in the army, clearing the way for a future in Greece. He moved to
Piraeus, the heart of Athens shipping industry in 2001, from London,
and later joined the international firm Richards Butler.
"The opportunity arose to come here and it was too good to refuse,
professionally and in all sorts of ways. I know both cultures and
both languages and it was a great way to utilise all my skills."
With the Olympics and the introduction of a common European currency,
the timing could not have been better. "Professionally it's been a
good place to be. The work here is very interesting, it's very
international and probably more international that I would have been
doing in Australia."
Panagopoulos has no short-term plan to return to Australia but does
not discount the possibility. "If I was going to leave Greece I would
go back to Australia. I think it is a bit easier to bring up a family
there. But Australia is not like it used to be. It is a totally
overregulated society in many ways. Greece is still quite liberated."
Panagopoulos, an only child, says his parents, who are retired and
spend time in Greece, have been positive about his decision, and are
even considering returning themselves. "I think they are going to
come back for good if I don't go back to Australia."
Not everyone has that option, and many families are dealing with the
trauma of being split again, with children and grandchildren now
living in both countries. In one family all three children moved back
to Greece, leaving their parents alone in Australia waiting until
they were eligible for their pensions.
Musician Hector Cosmas was drawn to Greece in 1998 by the music, but
has now married and started a family in Athens. A third-generation
Australian, he arrived in Greece with his violin, very poor Greek and
a passion for rebetika (Greek blues) and traditional Greek music.
"A lot of Greek Australians of my generation come to Greece on
holidays and feel some sort of connection to this place. For a Greek
musician that connection is something more.
"I felt that in Australia I was stagnating a little and I knew that
if I wanted to grow as a musician this was the place to be. I didn't
really think about where I would be 10 or 20 years down the track."
Cosmas has been playing with one of the most established rebetika
musicians and has had the opportunity to work with some of the finest
artists in the country. He married a Greek-Canadian in 2000 and has
two children. "Athens has improved dramatically as a place to live,"
he says. "As a musician I can see a future here for myself and I can
see us being here long-term, but when you have a family with kids
there are other considerations.
"But for now Greece is home." Cosmas believes Australia has gone
backwards in terms of multiculturalism, and has become more
xenophobic. "There have been lots of times in the last few years that
I've felt glad I'm not living there."
Tania Nassibian, 25, has been in Greece for five years making a
career as a singer, recording two CDs with Sony Music and
collaborating with some of Greece's leading artists. "I never thought
I'd work here. It never crossed my mind, but I have loved the
experience. I'm happy that I've finally learnt Greek. I have family
here and it was a good opportunity to get to know them."
Nassibian grew up in Sydney where her Greek mother ran a folkloric
dance school and her Armenian father ran a business. She had finished
school and was living in Paris when she was offered the recording
contract in Greece.
Nassibian, who sings in English, Greek and French, is now trying to
break into the international scene and expects to stay in Greece for
the short term at least.
"I love Greece. It is the land of opportunity because you can do
whatever you want. I have enjoyed my life here but I've also
struggled a lot because of the disorganisation. I don't think that
I'd like to permanently stay here," she says.
"I have sacrificed my family and I never expected to be overseas for
so long. I love the craziness of Europe but I also miss the
Australian way of life, and I miss my brothers and dad. "Australia
has everything except the life and spirit that Europe has. I have a
feeling I will end up in Australia. The ideal thing would be to have
a house there and a house here."