15 Telltale Signs You're An American Raised In A Greek Household | The Odyssey Online
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15 Telltale Signs You're An American Raised In A Greek Household

You know you're Greek when...

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15 Telltale Signs You're An American Raised In A Greek Household
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1. You have hair that's dark, thick, and likely very curly.

It's both a blessing and a curse. You constantly hear comments from people like "oh your hair is so gorgeous!" "wow I wish I had your hair!" "can I play with your curls?"

But what they don't realize is how you labor over it in front of the mirror every morning, using endless amounts of hair gel to get those curls perfectly.


2. If you're not fully Greek on both your parents' sides, you get tired of constantly being asked why your last name isn't Greek, as if it makes you any less of a legitimate Greek.

It's like how in Harry Pottermost of the Slytherins (mainly Draco Malfoy) would constantly be so overly proud of their pureblood heritage that it led them to believe they were more genuine than half-bloods or Muggle-borns.


3. You can still read words written in Greek, thanks to your mandatory days of Greek school classes when you were younger.

...You just can't necessarily understand them.


4. You learned the Lord's Prayer in Greek before learning it in English.

And it's probably the same case for the Greek national anthem vs. the American one.


5. You can relate to the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding on a spiritual level.

Every single aspect of it.

And you just want everyone who's not Greek to see it so they'll finally understand us.


6. Because you get easily annoyed of trying to explain aspects of Greek life to non-Greeks.


Like why we celebrate Easter on a different day, why March 25th is so important to us, what a Name Day is and how to pronounce names of Greek things.


7. Speaking of that, it feels like second nature to you to come across the name of a Greek person, place or thing and instantly know how to pronounce it.

For example, while "Papadopoulos" would sound extremely abstract to anyone else, for Greeks it's just as common of a last name as "Smith".


8. But it's still hilarious hearing non-Greeks try to pronounce Greek things.

Except "gyro"- you die a little inside every time you hear someone call a gyro a "jy-ro."

(Hint: it's actually pronounced "YEE-ro"- with the "r" rolled.)


9. You are/were in your church's chapter of GOYA. (Greek Orthodox Youth of America)

And you've been to more GOYA dances than you can count.

10. Having been raised on Mediterranean food, you know full well the importance of olive oil.

And you cook almost everything with it.


11. Your church's Greek festival is one of the most important times of the year.

You and your fellow Goyans have likely worked long hours helping out at your church whenever the festival rolls around. You've also probably brought quite a few of your non-Greek friends to it.


12. You've been to Greece at least once in your life and it feels more like home to you than America.

No matter how long it's been since you were there.


13. You've known how to do various Greek dances for as long as you can remember.

And at every party you've gone to that was hosted by Greeks, everyone ends up Greek dancing at some point. It's inevitable.


14. You get overly excited whenever you meet someone else (outside of your family or church) who's also Greek.

Because that means there's someone else who understands the quirky little elements of your culture that no one else seems to.


15. You feel an overwhelming sense of pride for your Greek origins and you make sure everyone knows it.

Greeks aren't known for being humble about our culture. We never shut up about it. We don't let anyone forget how proud we are to be Greek.

But why shouldn't we be? We're actually quite an exciting group of people!


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