Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner really worried for Greece right now...

Nikolas,

I am definitely a "don't panic" kind of guy, but I will add my voice to the chorus suggesting you and your family consider leaving before it becomes too difficult or complicated to do so, if you're apprehensive about the situation. It may be difficult to know how things will turn out there, but your peace of mind - to say nothing of your family's safety - is of immeasurable value.

-Jim

Golden Dawn's behaviour is both ridiculous and dangerous. They seem to operate by brute force and intimidation, and in the videos I've seen there is hardly anyone who stands up to them. Whatever happens with them the economic situation in Greece is not going to get better in the near future as the persons in power both in the Euro countries and the U.S./U.K., and now the present Japanese Prime Minister, don't seem to ever have read even one economics treatise or studied and spent much time thinking about any papers on monetary theory, and when they do something right it is by chance or because they are forced by circumstances. If I were you I would look to leave regardless of what happens with Golden Dawn. I wouldn't want to live somewhere where the economic situation has deteriorated to the extent that the power companies need government bailouts to keep the lights on. You need to think about what is best for you and your family and about the fact that the process to get securely into another country for the long-term can take a bit of time. A lot of Greek residents are moving to Sweden (and you would not need to learn Swedish as almost everyone here speaks English) but there are other options in Europe which might be better such as Norway and Switzerland.


M.

Nikolas, after Michael's post, you must think very seriously about where you are going to move. Sure, Sweden and Norway have a thousand years of culture, and fjords, and those little wooden shoes -- no, wait, that's Holland. But Philadelphia has the Rocky statue. Just sayin'..



Edit: got my country-of-origins mixed up!

Nikolas. Sorry to hear this. I too think you need to get out for the sake of children. My prayers for safety of your family.

As I wrote my post, I started worried if it is wise to have this thread. Any one can search the web with GD and get this thread. And Nicholas, they can easily uncover you. You may want to ask the mods to remove the thread and going forward you may call the party Gold evening or something.

Nikolas, it must be terrible living in such fear. Its hard to get a clear picture and assess the situation via the internet. Hopefully any decision you make will be rational and not based simply on fear. Although, it does seem that you could bring your skills to another country and work from there. However, leaving your country and family indefinitely must be a terrible decision to have to make. What about a temporary leave such as visiting your wife? (who if I understand is working overseas already?).

Be safe, Greg

you're actually right I think... hmmm... I'll have to contact Kreisler to the rescue once more...

I doubt any Golden Dawn members are keen classical pianists who might chance upon these posts. Their focus seems to be against immigrants in Greece (which Nikolas is not) which shows how ignorant they are of the causes of these economic issues.


M.

I'd hate for this thread to be deleted or anything, to be honest. I am grateful for your support and everything and I do think that there's not too much in my posts to indicate much of anything...

In any case, there are no riots currently. 65 people were held in custody from the police last night, but there seems to be an odd silence from the political parties.

Amazing how history repeats itself ...
I was a schoolboy when Adolf Hitler (Deutchland) and
Benito Mussolini (Italy) were bosom pals.

After 6 years of tragic WWII when 20 million people lost their lives, Hitler finished up committing suicide while Mussolini was hanged.

But how can 10% neo-Nazis be allowed to terrorize
the present Italian population?

Any thoughts of flight will only increase the Brown-shirt percentage.

How well I remember news of the Allies steadily marching victorious up the length of Italy to defeat the Axis.

It took the Hiroshamo and Nagasaki atom bombs to defeat Japan.

It appears that there's movement...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/18/greece-ban-golden-dawn-pavlos-fyssas

I'm not too sure if this is a rumour or what it is, but in any case it's an indication that something must be done, for the so many things going wrong right now in Greece!

Greetings Nikolas,

I read your posting earlier today. ... and then read further news online about the situation.
I've been attuned from a distance the severity of problems and issues in Greece in recent years.
And the so many constant atrocities in the world at large.
Never ending ....

I sincerely wish you and your children and wife, the best plan of action.
Have you previously thought of making an exit from your homeland and adopt another country?
I know you've lived in England, and perhaps other countries.
Where would you go if you had completely free choice?
I think you have a choice.
And lots of support from the many friends and people who care about you.

It's perhaps difficult to imagine that you are personally threatened by current events ... directly in danger
Do you feel that things are escalating beyond the point of personal safety?

Caring wishes to you and your family,
and to your wonderful country

the little island i live on
has a very generous heart
if you ever find yourself stuck
you'll find a place here !

♡

It's good to see that people understand the gravity of the situation, so let's hope the government and the people cooperate to get rid of the golden dawn party once and for all. (This needs to be in the head of the priorities)

… and my father's youth was spent marching with that army. Not something he remembered with great fondness, and getting him to "remember" it at all took some doing.

It's a wise decision to keep your wife away. I know the feeling of being foreigner during economic crisis. Even in the States around 2009 / 2010, some people with redder necks (is it correct?) did not view foreigners who "took" their jobs did not look kindly at me. It's quite understandable if you are laid off for 18 months or losing their houses, and see this Asian girl doing well enough to buy a grand piano. The saving grace for me was my husband (an American) who had also been laid off for two years. The moment my neighbors realized thàt I am actually supporting a US citizen I had no more eggs thrown at my car. I can only imagine how much more scary it could have been if it were like Greece now. Hang in there. In one way or another you will escape the situation. You have all our prayers. God bless.

Quite right PD ... those in WWII don’t relish war tales ... and when I think how many of my friends lost their lives! ... I was just too young to join up when the war ended.

But the long and short of the Greek crisis is “filthy lucre” ... it was the Americans who got the world into a frenzied pickle with their over-sale of house mortgages ... and now we all have to pay the piper ... and Greece, for some reason which defeats my non-accountant brain, is presently holding the short straw.

It might be of interest to know that many Italian Prisoners of war (captured in North Africa with Montgomery’s push west from Alamein) were sent to Cape Town and helped build some magnificent local scenic drives ... such as that around Chapman’s Peak ... hairpin curves on a narrow two-lanes with a breathtaking view of the Atlantic.
(Keep your eye on the road!!)

The story goes that the Italians weren’t frontline soldiers, lacking the steely single-mindedness of the Deutche Wehrmacht.

My advice is for Nikolas and family to hang in there ...
if the American economy perks up (and we in South Africa
have been grateful for a recent huge jump in the gold price) ... it might just be a matter of time before things stabilize.

Kind regards, btb

Thank you everyone!

I feel blessed to be here!

There are sooo many things to fix, that by just making a semi-political party illegal, doesn't help too much. But in the end we all need to keep calm and not further aggravate the situation, by replying to violence with violence!

As for leaving Greece...

I've lived in London for 4 years and have travelled quite a bit. My wife is in Asia, so certainly it is a possibility and one that I'm constantly exploring. Still I strongly believe that
a. We (Greeks) shouldn't just abandon Greece in such situations (as a precaution somehow). Assuming that we are the sane ones, then how can we leave our country to the thugs (of any direction...).
b. If I am to leave I'm trying very hard to do it in my own terms. We still have all the necessities available and the country is not (yet) in war. Hopefully it won't be. I'd love to come to the US, or any western place to teach in a university, or something (considering I have the academic credentials), but I don't think it too probable. Or at least I'm still expanding on that...

For the moment, as I said earlier, I'm keeping a close eye on what's going on...

Check out Drexel in Philly. We used to call it the Greek mafia.. entire administration was Greek, and half the professors.

What Nikolas told us made me think of this. This is a picture of a German piano called Hupfer. It's preserved in Japan and belong to a high school located in a remote village in Japan. There's a story behind this. During the end of World War Two the piano got two visitors. They were kamikaze pilots. They walked two days to get to the piano. They told the school master that they used to be students at Tokyo music conservatory ( this is like Juliard in Japan) but they have to fly on a kamikaze mission as soon as they go back to the base. They heard that there is a piano and wanted to come to play it before they die. They got a leave and came to the school. They asked for a score and the school master gave them the only score he had, moonlight sonata. After the soldier played all the movements everyone there were touched by emotion. The soldiers said with a clear face "thank you I feel better now I can die". Then children told them "solders I will follow you". The soldiers scolded the kids immediately. "Don't be absurd. You have to rebuild Japan. We are dying for that. We won't win".

I hate wars. It's a complete waste. These young man could have performed in Carnegie hall rather than dying in vain. They knew they have no chance. But they could not escape from the stupid kamikaze thing. It's a small island. If you resist you get killed. Music majors and literary majors were the first ones to be sent to front lines as kamikaze pilots or etc. my apologies for digress. It's just this while thing makes me mad

I think I would have tried to fly to a peaceful nearby country, land safely and figure out what to do from there.