To my Greek boyfriend,
All of my life I have just been one thing: “white.” I’ve never really had any culture in my life, and the extent of my learning any foreign language was taking five years of German from middle school to the end of high school. When I met you, you were literally a wave of culture shock that hit me head on; I had never met anyone who was as proud of their heritage as you are. It was and still is so intriguing to see you effortlessly carry on a conversation in Greek, and I’m finding myself constantly wishing that I could understand all of those complicated words.
From day one, you never cared what anybody thought or said about you being Greek. It was and still is who you are through and through, and I admire that about you. You embrace every tradition and openly show your unwavering pride for your mother country. When we started dating, I knew that wouldn’t change. From the moment you got a car, you were forcing me to listen to old Greek music whenever we drove around, and you were happily and very loudly singing along, despite my constant protests. After a while, I would catch myself recognizing songs and humming along with the melody. Eventually, I started constantly asking you to translate the songs, and you would happily oblige; you would even try to teach me words that sounded close to their English translation. This became an almost everyday occurrence, and I’ve actually grown to like that old Greek music.
It also has now become a tradition for us to go to the Greek Festival every May, and every year I get more and more excited to go. Just like your old Greek music, you somehow managed to make me fall in love with Greek food too. Whenever we’re at the festival, you’re always forcing me to pronounce the names of the foods we eat, and somehow all of those extra calories of extremely oily food are totally worth the learning experience.
Despite you being so different, you accepted me for the fact that I wasn’t. I am a fourth of fifth generation American who, when attempting to speak a foreign language, butchers it so badly because she has an “American accent.” Whenever I inquire about your culture, your language, or your country, you entertain me and always answer all of my questions. You so tirelessly try to teach me a new Greek word every day, no matter how badly I ruin the word on the first try, and you never judge me or laugh at me when you try teaching me Greek, despite how terrible I sound when I do speak the language.
So thank you. Thank you for teaching me about a culture I never would’ve known without you. Thank you for accepting me despite the fact that I am a “foreigner”, and trying to always make me feel otherwise. Thank you for taking on the challenge of teaching me your native language; it might take a couple of years, but I promise I will get there. And thank you for always being you, and constantly being the extremely proud Greek that you are. Se agapó, Stylianos.
Love always,
Your Girlfriend Who's Learning
