Μεγάλη συζήτηση γίνεται στις μέρες μας για την επόμενη εκλογή προέδρου της Δημοκρατίας. Η μία πλευρά υποστηρίζει ότι η εκλογή είναι αφορμή για μια τεχνητή πρόκληση γενικών εκλογών και απαρχή πορείας απαγκρίστρωσης απο το μνημόνιο και τους δανειστές. Η άλλη, προειδοποιεί ότι η εκλογή είναι αναγκαία για να παραμείνει η χώρα σε τροχιά εξόδου απο την κρίση. Προχωρεί δε και σε συζητήσεις για το πρόσωπο που θα μπορούσε να διαδεχθεί τον Κ. Παπούλια.
Σύμφωνα με τις απαιτήσεις των καιρών και την ανάγκη για μια ευρύτερη πλειοψηφία ο ιδανικός υποψήφιος, η μάλλον η ιδανική υποψήφια, πρέπει να αριστεροφέρνει, αλλά όχι και προκλητικά για να μην φοβηθούν οι επενδυτές και πάρουν τα λεφτά τους απο τη χώρα και μείνουμε στον άσσο, να είναι διακεκριμένη στον επαγγελματικό στίβο αλλά σε τομέα μακρυά απο το δημόσιο για να μην την πάρουν για λαικάντζα συνδικαλίστρια ή κομματόσκυλο και τελευταίο και σημαντικό να έχει εκτεταμένη επαφή με την κοινωνία των πολιτών γιατί εδώ που τα λέμε το πολιτικό σύστημα τα τελευταία χρόνια μιμήθηκε την Μαρία Αντουανέττα και απέφευγε την τριβή με τους πληβείους, ίσως και να κρυβόταν απο τις φάπες.
Με τη διαστροφή που με διακρίνει αντί να σκέφτομαι απο ποιό επαγγελματικό χώρο θα προέλθει η επόμενη πρόεδρος, προσπαθώ να αποφασίσω με δεδομένη την πολιτεία του κάθε διατελέσαντος προέδρου για ποιό επάγγελμα πραγματικά θα έκανε! Έχουμε λοιπόν και λέμε με χρονολογική σειρά και παραλείπωντας τον Φ. Γκιζίκη για προφανείς λόγους:
Μιχαήλ Στασινόπουλος
Σύντομη και αθόρυβη θητεία, έμοιαζε περισσότερο με αποστολή σε μια ταραγμένη περίοδο.
Δεν γνωρίζω αν το νομικό του έργο είναι άξιο μνείας αλλά το λογοτεχνικό του έργο για μικρά παιδιά ήταν ότι έπρεπε. Έπαιξε το ρόλο του δασκάλου της δημοκρατίας σε ένα έθνος που αντιμετώπιζε τη δημοκρατία του παιδικά. Η διεύθυνση φαίνεται πως δεν εξετίμησε το έργο του δεόντως και αντικαταστάθηκε πριν τη λήξη του σχολικού έτους. Κατάλληλο επάγγελμα: δημοδιδάσκαλος
Κωνσταντίνος Τσάτσος
Πανεπιστημιακός δάσκαλος αξιοσημείωτου βεληνεκούς που θα μείνει στην ιστορία για την απόσταση που τον χώριζε απο την νεο-Ελληνική πραγματικότητα. Θα προτιμούσε να συνομιλεί με τον Schlegel και τον Fichte στην Χαιδελβέργη επι της πορείας του Πνεύματος στην Ιστορία, αλλά η τύχη τα έφερε να χαιρετάει τελετουργικά βλαχοδημάρχους στο προεδρικό μέγαρο. Είχε το θράσσος να επισημάνει στον αντάρτη-Αρχιεπίσκοπο Σεραφείμ ότι η Εκκλησία πρέπει να γίνει πιο "φιλοσοφική" (κάτι σαν να λέμε "αφήστε τη νηστεία και πιάστε τα βιβλία") και έκτοτε έφαγε πόρτα κατά το κοινώς λεγόμενο. "Τιμωρήθηκε" για τις αμαρτίες του με το να συμμετάσχει σε τηλεοπτική εκπομπή του Ν. Δήμου και να αποκληθεί συνάδελφος φιλόσοφος. Κατάλληλο επάγγελμα : Γυμνασιάρχης
Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής
ο και αποκληθείς σε εποχές παροξυσμού των οπαδών του "Θεός". Άνθρωπος άφιλος και αχάριστος αλλά πέρα πάσης αμφιβολίας ο αποτελεσματικότερος διαχειριστής της κρατικής μηχανής την τελευταία 50ετία. Έμεινε γνωστός γιατί στην προσπάθεια του να εξασφαλίσει την πρόοδο των δημοσίων έργων και το δημόσιο συμφέρον απειλούσε τους εργολάβους της εποχής και τους έπιανε απο το πέτο (έκτοτε οι εργολάβοι άλλαξαν μόδα, πέταξαν το σακάκι, έγιναν trendy και επι Σημίτη ανέλαβαν και τη διακυβέρνηση της χώρας.) Προερχόταν απο την Ελληνική επαρχία και είχε όλα τα χαρακτηριαστικά του Μακεδόνα τσαμπουκά "Ξέρεις ποιός είμαι εγώ ρε; Α μα θέλω φεύγω και απο ΝΑΤΟ!" Διακρίθηκε για τις κακές γεωγραφικές του γνώσεις ("Η Κύπρος κείται μακράν"). Δυστυχώς, την ώρα που εσωτερικά πάσχιζε να βάλει τα δυο πόδια της Ελλάδας σε ένα παλιομοδίτικο καλούπι που τον εντυπωσίασε κατα την εν Παρισίοις διαμονή του, οι ιδιοφυείς γείτονες ηγέτες προετοίμαζαν την χώρα τους για την μετα-ψυχροπολεμική εποχή που αυτός με τις επαρχιώτικες παραστάσεις του αδυνατούσε να συλλάβει. Βλάχος ων, την έφαγε απο την χωσιά του "πονηρού βλάχου" Παπανδρέου και είχε την ατυχία στο τέλος της ζωής του να δεί την κατάρευση όλων όσων για τα οποία εργάστηκε. Κατάλληλο επάγγελμα: επιστάτης σε αγροικία.
Χρήστος Σαρτζετάκης
Ο μόνος σύγχρονος Έλληνας ο βίος του οποίου έγινε διεθνής ταινία με πρωταγωνιστή πρώτης γραμμής. Αυτό και μόνο θα έφθανε για να αναγνωριστεί ως sex symbol αλλά φρόντισε με τις ιδιόμορφες δηλώσεις του να μας αποδείξει ότι έχει και κωμικό ταλέντο.
Απελάμβανε όσο κανείς άλλος το αξίωμα και φρόντισε να το δείξει στέλνοντας στο αυτόφορο τον ηθοποιό που τον σατίριζε ή επιβάλλοντας στον αοίδιμο Πατριάρχη Δημήτριο να του κάνει υποδοχή. Η μνημειώδης δήλωση του "Είμαστε έθνος ανάδελφο" απέδειξε ότι καταλάβαινε περισσότερα απο όσα έδειχνε. Μείναμε με την απορία γιατί δεν μας τα είπε. Κατάλληλο επάγγελμα: πρωταγωνιστής στο θίασο του Μολιέρου στην αυλή του Λουδοβίκου 14ου.
Κωνσταντίνος Στεφανόπουλος
Ήταν ο εφιάλτης των στενογράφων της Βουλής λόγω της ταχύτητας με την οποία αγόρευε.
Άρχισε εντυπωσιακά την πολιτική του σταδιοδρομία, στη μέση βρέθηκε σε τέλμα αλλά στο τέλος ο επιμένων νικά! Κάτι σαν την Γλυκερία δηλαδή. Απεδείχθη ο προσαρμοστικότερος των Ελλήνων προέδρων. Άρεσε στους συντηρητικούς γιατί πλήρωνε το κρασί στα γεύματα του, στους αριστερούς γιατί ήλεγξε λεκτικά τον πρόεδρο Clinton και στις νοικοκυρές γιατί έλεγε "χαριτωμενιές" στη Θάνου. Δυστυχώς έμεινε σιωπηλός και άπραγος στην εθνική ταπείνωση στα Ίμια, στην επέλαση της διαφθοράς στο δημόσιο βίο επι διακυβέρνησης Σημίτη και στην προσβολή της θρησκευτικής συνείδησης του λαού στο θέμα των ταυτοτήτων. Κατάλληλο επάγγελμα: ραδιοφωνικός sportscaster στημένων αγώνων box.
Κάρολος Παπούλιας
Ουδέν σχόλιον γιατί η "δημοκρατία" της οποίας προίσταται κολάζει την κριτική προς το πρόσωπο του ποινικά.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Saturday, November 15, 2014
What did you do in WWII or what modern Greeks are really proud of
I have been leading a vagabond life: Ann Arbor, Austin, San Diego, Mountain View, and now Zurich. I can hardly remember the number of times I have introduced myself to strangers but most of the times the following pattern emerged: after a short conversation either through a direct question ("where are you from?") or a semi-obvious deduction based on my last name ("I have a good friend from Greece. His last name is Papadopoulos / Stefanopoulos / you-name-it-opoulos.") the inevitable conclusion is reached: I am Greek.
Now here is the funny thing. I may appear as a morose guy in general (a dear friend recognized in me the opening lines from Dostoevsky's "Notes from the Underground", those of you who have read it will understand what I am talking about) but upon hearing of my origin, I have always received people's positive feedback, apart from once. The one exception does not really count; he had recovered from a severe stroke, apparently not fully.
The nice thing about people is that coming from different backgrounds and educational levels, each one has his own way of being nice to you. Simple fellows usually tell me something along these lines: "My sister went to Greece for vacations last year and she had a great time" or "2 blocks from where I work there is a Greek restaurant that I like to go and have gyros". Not very polished but the point is gladly taken. On the other hand side, guys with serious formal education usually go like this: "Damn you Greeks! We owe everything in our culture to you! What would we do without democracy and philosophy?" or for those with more of a baroque taste "I can observe the bravery of Achilleas and the cunning of Ulysses in your argument. Was the goddess Athena your teacher?" I am usually surrounded by CS/EE/Math PhDs so I had most of the latter. And I must confess it is starting to get me on the nerves (the spiteful guy from Dostoevsky comes to surface again.)
It is getting me on the nerves not just because it is wrong ("you do not have real democracy and your philosophy is an abomination") but mainly because it is so out of touch with contemporary reality. Modern Greeks, do not spend their time walking around the agora dressed in tunics debating about philosophy. Nobody seeks the enlightenment from Apollo (or even more receives it) and the name "Dionisios", the contemporary form of the ancient name "Dionysus", is associated in people's conscience more with Christian forgiveness rather than ... drinking! In one word: you've got it all wrong.
Most people upon hearing these news react like children who realize that Santa Claus does not really exist. "Shame on you! Bastards! You all come from the Turks!" and so on. Even worse, some go even further to claim that the loss of that fake identity, brings with it a loss in pride. In other words, what could contemporary Greeks be proud of? I hope that the answer to this question will give a glimpse of the true identity of modern Greeks.
Putting aside the exaggerations of the past, our current identity is much more humble. It carries a certain amount of wisdom in it. Greeks have twice ruled the world (and by extension twice lost it.) Yet, they are the only ones who still have the face to go back to the places they have ruled. In Middle East the name "Greek" is greeted with friendship and in Afghanistan the name "Alexander" still commands respect after roughly 2300 years. In comparison, it took only a couple for G. W. Bush to trash his name (and by extension of his country) in that region of the world.
Our world is a world of change. Heraclitus of Ephesus, the first Greek "mega-genius", put it succinctly: "everything flows." What matters is not how people perceive you when you have power. What matters is how people perceive you when you have lost your power. A good name in the latter case, is something to be truly proud of.
Furthermore, it is undeniable that modern West, which boats a heritage going back to ancient Greece, is founded upon the ideas of rational thought and power. Descartes takes Euclidean geometry as a model of clarity for his philosophy and Machiavelli aspires to reach Thucydides in insight about what it takes to govern successfully. What is not immediately obvious is that living by rational thought and power is not inline with living a life of sacrifice.
Choosing to be the victim definitely does not make sense in any rational way neither it increases one's power. Still, that is exactly what the Greeks chose to do in 1940 when they fought outnumbered against Fascist Italy and ultimately won. That is exactly what the Greeks chose to do in 1941 when they fought even more outnumbered against Nazi Germany and ultimately lost. That is exactly what the Cypriots chose to do in the '50s when they fought against Imperialist Britain and won their freedom. That is exactly what Greeks and Cypriots chose to do in 1974 when they chose to fight the US-backed Turkish invasion and won their right to be the legal representatives of the island. A life of sacrifice has as its clearest symbol, the Cross. The Cross has been inspiring the Greeks for the last 2000 years and like St. Paul their life on the Cross of history has been their pride.
At the same time the self declared children of Athena and Apollo had been partying in the streets of Nazi-occupied Paris after they loudly questioned "why fight?" and finally they declared in their philosophy that "God is dead". So much for a genuine cultural and spiritual lineage to Greece.
In contemporary times suffering can take many forms, e.g., refusing to submit to an unjust power, coping with the inequalities of a rigged financial system, staying faithful to life during the time of a crippling disease. I could go on for ever, and I fear that my natural tendency for sarcasm is not my best ally in making my message come across. I am not trying to point any fingers but I am afraid that the messages we get from our current ideology will not make us proud, e.g., 2500 years down the road when people of that era will reflect upon our lives. Which way of life is right and which is wrong? For sure, history will tell. I do not have a definite answer but I am optimistic for the modern Greek way. After all, history was the first Greek science.
P.S This post is a bit overdue. On 10/28 we celebrated Greece's refusal to submit to the Axis powers during WWII. The post is dedicated to the memory of P.M Ioannis Metaxas, King George B' of the Hellenes and all the veterans of the 1940 Albanian campaign. Your sacrifice so that we do not speak German today was not in vain. I still cannot speak proper German.
Now here is the funny thing. I may appear as a morose guy in general (a dear friend recognized in me the opening lines from Dostoevsky's "Notes from the Underground", those of you who have read it will understand what I am talking about) but upon hearing of my origin, I have always received people's positive feedback, apart from once. The one exception does not really count; he had recovered from a severe stroke, apparently not fully.
The nice thing about people is that coming from different backgrounds and educational levels, each one has his own way of being nice to you. Simple fellows usually tell me something along these lines: "My sister went to Greece for vacations last year and she had a great time" or "2 blocks from where I work there is a Greek restaurant that I like to go and have gyros". Not very polished but the point is gladly taken. On the other hand side, guys with serious formal education usually go like this: "Damn you Greeks! We owe everything in our culture to you! What would we do without democracy and philosophy?" or for those with more of a baroque taste "I can observe the bravery of Achilleas and the cunning of Ulysses in your argument. Was the goddess Athena your teacher?" I am usually surrounded by CS/EE/Math PhDs so I had most of the latter. And I must confess it is starting to get me on the nerves (the spiteful guy from Dostoevsky comes to surface again.)
It is getting me on the nerves not just because it is wrong ("you do not have real democracy and your philosophy is an abomination") but mainly because it is so out of touch with contemporary reality. Modern Greeks, do not spend their time walking around the agora dressed in tunics debating about philosophy. Nobody seeks the enlightenment from Apollo (or even more receives it) and the name "Dionisios", the contemporary form of the ancient name "Dionysus", is associated in people's conscience more with Christian forgiveness rather than ... drinking! In one word: you've got it all wrong.
Most people upon hearing these news react like children who realize that Santa Claus does not really exist. "Shame on you! Bastards! You all come from the Turks!" and so on. Even worse, some go even further to claim that the loss of that fake identity, brings with it a loss in pride. In other words, what could contemporary Greeks be proud of? I hope that the answer to this question will give a glimpse of the true identity of modern Greeks.
Putting aside the exaggerations of the past, our current identity is much more humble. It carries a certain amount of wisdom in it. Greeks have twice ruled the world (and by extension twice lost it.) Yet, they are the only ones who still have the face to go back to the places they have ruled. In Middle East the name "Greek" is greeted with friendship and in Afghanistan the name "Alexander" still commands respect after roughly 2300 years. In comparison, it took only a couple for G. W. Bush to trash his name (and by extension of his country) in that region of the world.
Our world is a world of change. Heraclitus of Ephesus, the first Greek "mega-genius", put it succinctly: "everything flows." What matters is not how people perceive you when you have power. What matters is how people perceive you when you have lost your power. A good name in the latter case, is something to be truly proud of.
Furthermore, it is undeniable that modern West, which boats a heritage going back to ancient Greece, is founded upon the ideas of rational thought and power. Descartes takes Euclidean geometry as a model of clarity for his philosophy and Machiavelli aspires to reach Thucydides in insight about what it takes to govern successfully. What is not immediately obvious is that living by rational thought and power is not inline with living a life of sacrifice.
Choosing to be the victim definitely does not make sense in any rational way neither it increases one's power. Still, that is exactly what the Greeks chose to do in 1940 when they fought outnumbered against Fascist Italy and ultimately won. That is exactly what the Greeks chose to do in 1941 when they fought even more outnumbered against Nazi Germany and ultimately lost. That is exactly what the Cypriots chose to do in the '50s when they fought against Imperialist Britain and won their freedom. That is exactly what Greeks and Cypriots chose to do in 1974 when they chose to fight the US-backed Turkish invasion and won their right to be the legal representatives of the island. A life of sacrifice has as its clearest symbol, the Cross. The Cross has been inspiring the Greeks for the last 2000 years and like St. Paul their life on the Cross of history has been their pride.
At the same time the self declared children of Athena and Apollo had been partying in the streets of Nazi-occupied Paris after they loudly questioned "why fight?" and finally they declared in their philosophy that "God is dead". So much for a genuine cultural and spiritual lineage to Greece.
In contemporary times suffering can take many forms, e.g., refusing to submit to an unjust power, coping with the inequalities of a rigged financial system, staying faithful to life during the time of a crippling disease. I could go on for ever, and I fear that my natural tendency for sarcasm is not my best ally in making my message come across. I am not trying to point any fingers but I am afraid that the messages we get from our current ideology will not make us proud, e.g., 2500 years down the road when people of that era will reflect upon our lives. Which way of life is right and which is wrong? For sure, history will tell. I do not have a definite answer but I am optimistic for the modern Greek way. After all, history was the first Greek science.
P.S This post is a bit overdue. On 10/28 we celebrated Greece's refusal to submit to the Axis powers during WWII. The post is dedicated to the memory of P.M Ioannis Metaxas, King George B' of the Hellenes and all the veterans of the 1940 Albanian campaign. Your sacrifice so that we do not speak German today was not in vain. I still cannot speak proper German.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Πάγκαλος for president!
Θα έχετε ασφαλώς ακούσει τις τελευταίες δηλώσεις του λαλιστάτου πρώην αντιπροέδρου της κυβερνήσεως κ. Παγκάλου. Ναι, αναφέρομαι σε αυτές που "ομολόγησε" ότι στις τελευταίες εκλογές ψήφισε το κόμμα της ΝΔ για να στερήσει, κατα το μέτρο των δυνάμεων του, την πρώτη θέση απο τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ.
Ομολογώ ότι αυτή η δήλωση φανερώνει πολιτική ωριμότητα και με ξάφνιασε ευχάριστα.
Δείχνει ωριμότητα γιατί κανείς σώφρων δεν διώχνει το κακό, ΝΔ εν προκειμένω, για να φέρει το χειρότερο, δηλαδή τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ. Μου προκάλεσε δε ευχάριστο ξάφνιασμα γιατί ο κ. Πάγκαλος μας έχει συνηθίσει σε πολλές προκλητικές και αρκετές ανόητες δηλώσεις. Ποιός μπορεί να ξεχάσει το θρασύ "μαζί τα φάγαμε", το "διπλωματικό" "η Γερμανία έχει μυαλό νάνου" και το "συναινετικό" "θα γίνει Πεκίνο"; Αυτό το τελευταίο τώρα που το καλό-σκέφτομαι φανερώνει τις Πασοκικές ρίζες του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ αλλά μάλλον ο κ. Πάγκαλος ούτε που θα θέλει να το ακούει.
Ουδέν κακό αμιγές καλού! Πιστεύω ότι η τάση του κ. Παγκάλου να μην συγκρατεί τη γλώσσα του μπορεί να αποβεί χρήσιμη, ή τουλάχιστον διασκεδαστική. Τα παραπολιτικά ρεπορτάζ, ο χαρακτηρισμός είναι εμφατικά αξιολογικός, αναφέρουν ότι το κυβερνητικό στρατόπεδο είναι σε αναζήτηση υποψηφίου για την Προεδρία της Δημοκρατίας. Ο πήχης έχει πέσει τόσο χαμηλά που επικρατέστεροι είναι η αρσενική και η θηλυκή ενσάρκωση του πολιτικού "τίποτα" (άλλη μια "ιπποτική" δήλωση του κ. Παγκάλου για τον τότε αντίπαλο του Δ. Αβραμόπουλο) : ο Φ. Κουβέλης και η Μ. Δαμανάκη. Μπροστά τους ο κ. Αβραμόπουλος δείχνει πολιτικός γίγαντας.
Κάνω έκκληση στην κυβέρνηση να αναθεωρήσει τις απόψεις της και να προτείνει για το αξίωμα τον κ. Πάγκαλο. Κίνδυνος για το πολίτευμα δεν υπάρχει κανείς, παρά την προιστορία της οικογενείας Παγκάλου, ο ρόλος του ΠτΔ είναι πια διακοσμητικός. Απεναντίας η ανάμνηση και μόνο της στρατιάς του Έβρου, ένα απο τα ελάχιστα θετικά του Στρατηγού, έστω λόγω συνωνυμίας, μπορεί να έχει θετικό αποτέλεσμα για την εθνική μας αυτοπεποίθηση. Επιπλέον όσοι γνωρίζουν καλά τον κ. Πάγκαλο αναφέρουν ότι είναι κάτοχος σημαντικής μόρφωσης, γεγονός που μπορεί παλαιά να εθεωρείτο δεδομένο για πολιτικό με κορυφαίες φιλοδοξίες σήμερα όμως είναι πολύ αμφισβητούμενο. Όπως και να το κάνουμε και μαζί να γράψουν διαγώνισμα η κ. Δαμανάκη και ο κ. Κουβέλης, μάλλον καλύτερα θα τα πάει ο κ. Πάγκαλος. Αν μη τι άλλο, ακόμα και αν ξέρουν τις απαντήσεις, δεν θα δώσουν κοινή κόλλα. Είναι παράδοση της Αριστεράς στην Ελλάδα η διάσπαση. Πως περιμένετε να ενώσουν τον Ελληνικό λαό;
Η ουσία όμως της υποψηφιότητας Παγκάλου είναι ακριβώς στις ατυχείς δηλώσεις που νομοτελειακά θα κάνει και θα μας εκθέσει. Φαντάζεστε π.χ. σε επίσκεψη του Τούρκου ομόλογου του να "τα πάρει" και να δηλώσει "οι Τούρκοι είναι βάρβαροι και δεν έχουν θέση στην ΕΕ, για να μην πώ και στον πολιτισμένο κόσμο;" Ή ακόμα καλύτερα, "Αι σιχτίρ εσείς και τα σήριαλ σας!"; Προβλέπω ότι οι Έλληνες θα τον αποθεώσουν γιατί επιτέλους θα βρούν ένα πρόεδρο "να τα λέει καλά" και να τους "αισθάνεται"(τι παραπάνω έκανε ο Στεφανόπουλος;), η Χρυσή Αυγή δεν θα έχει λόγο ύπαρξης, η αριστερή συνιστώσα του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ θα καταδικάσει τον αυξανόμενο εθνικισμό στην κοινωνία, ο Κ. Μητσοτάκης και η Ν. Μπακογιάννη θα υποστηρίξουν ότι μόνο αυτοί μπορούν να ασκήσουν αποτελεσματική εξωτερική πολιτική, οι Ευρωπαίοι "σύμμαχοι" θα μας ψέξουν υποκριτικά μετα βίας συγκρατώντας τη χαρά τους και η Τουρκία θα μας κηρύξει επιτέλους τον πόλεμο. ΄Ολοι χαρούμενοι δηλαδή! Προβλέπω ότι θαυματουργικά η νίκη θα έρθει με το μέρος μας και οι προφητείες θα επαληθευθούν! Ένας Πάγκαλος θα μπεί στην Αγια-Σοφιά και ο Κασιδιάρης θα προσφερθεί να τον υπηρετεί μέχρι τέλους, κάτι σαν τον Θόδωρο του παλαιού Καραμανλή. Πάγκαλος for president!
Ομολογώ ότι αυτή η δήλωση φανερώνει πολιτική ωριμότητα και με ξάφνιασε ευχάριστα.
Δείχνει ωριμότητα γιατί κανείς σώφρων δεν διώχνει το κακό, ΝΔ εν προκειμένω, για να φέρει το χειρότερο, δηλαδή τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ. Μου προκάλεσε δε ευχάριστο ξάφνιασμα γιατί ο κ. Πάγκαλος μας έχει συνηθίσει σε πολλές προκλητικές και αρκετές ανόητες δηλώσεις. Ποιός μπορεί να ξεχάσει το θρασύ "μαζί τα φάγαμε", το "διπλωματικό" "η Γερμανία έχει μυαλό νάνου" και το "συναινετικό" "θα γίνει Πεκίνο"; Αυτό το τελευταίο τώρα που το καλό-σκέφτομαι φανερώνει τις Πασοκικές ρίζες του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ αλλά μάλλον ο κ. Πάγκαλος ούτε που θα θέλει να το ακούει.
Ουδέν κακό αμιγές καλού! Πιστεύω ότι η τάση του κ. Παγκάλου να μην συγκρατεί τη γλώσσα του μπορεί να αποβεί χρήσιμη, ή τουλάχιστον διασκεδαστική. Τα παραπολιτικά ρεπορτάζ, ο χαρακτηρισμός είναι εμφατικά αξιολογικός, αναφέρουν ότι το κυβερνητικό στρατόπεδο είναι σε αναζήτηση υποψηφίου για την Προεδρία της Δημοκρατίας. Ο πήχης έχει πέσει τόσο χαμηλά που επικρατέστεροι είναι η αρσενική και η θηλυκή ενσάρκωση του πολιτικού "τίποτα" (άλλη μια "ιπποτική" δήλωση του κ. Παγκάλου για τον τότε αντίπαλο του Δ. Αβραμόπουλο) : ο Φ. Κουβέλης και η Μ. Δαμανάκη. Μπροστά τους ο κ. Αβραμόπουλος δείχνει πολιτικός γίγαντας.
Κάνω έκκληση στην κυβέρνηση να αναθεωρήσει τις απόψεις της και να προτείνει για το αξίωμα τον κ. Πάγκαλο. Κίνδυνος για το πολίτευμα δεν υπάρχει κανείς, παρά την προιστορία της οικογενείας Παγκάλου, ο ρόλος του ΠτΔ είναι πια διακοσμητικός. Απεναντίας η ανάμνηση και μόνο της στρατιάς του Έβρου, ένα απο τα ελάχιστα θετικά του Στρατηγού, έστω λόγω συνωνυμίας, μπορεί να έχει θετικό αποτέλεσμα για την εθνική μας αυτοπεποίθηση. Επιπλέον όσοι γνωρίζουν καλά τον κ. Πάγκαλο αναφέρουν ότι είναι κάτοχος σημαντικής μόρφωσης, γεγονός που μπορεί παλαιά να εθεωρείτο δεδομένο για πολιτικό με κορυφαίες φιλοδοξίες σήμερα όμως είναι πολύ αμφισβητούμενο. Όπως και να το κάνουμε και μαζί να γράψουν διαγώνισμα η κ. Δαμανάκη και ο κ. Κουβέλης, μάλλον καλύτερα θα τα πάει ο κ. Πάγκαλος. Αν μη τι άλλο, ακόμα και αν ξέρουν τις απαντήσεις, δεν θα δώσουν κοινή κόλλα. Είναι παράδοση της Αριστεράς στην Ελλάδα η διάσπαση. Πως περιμένετε να ενώσουν τον Ελληνικό λαό;
Η ουσία όμως της υποψηφιότητας Παγκάλου είναι ακριβώς στις ατυχείς δηλώσεις που νομοτελειακά θα κάνει και θα μας εκθέσει. Φαντάζεστε π.χ. σε επίσκεψη του Τούρκου ομόλογου του να "τα πάρει" και να δηλώσει "οι Τούρκοι είναι βάρβαροι και δεν έχουν θέση στην ΕΕ, για να μην πώ και στον πολιτισμένο κόσμο;" Ή ακόμα καλύτερα, "Αι σιχτίρ εσείς και τα σήριαλ σας!"; Προβλέπω ότι οι Έλληνες θα τον αποθεώσουν γιατί επιτέλους θα βρούν ένα πρόεδρο "να τα λέει καλά" και να τους "αισθάνεται"(τι παραπάνω έκανε ο Στεφανόπουλος;), η Χρυσή Αυγή δεν θα έχει λόγο ύπαρξης, η αριστερή συνιστώσα του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ θα καταδικάσει τον αυξανόμενο εθνικισμό στην κοινωνία, ο Κ. Μητσοτάκης και η Ν. Μπακογιάννη θα υποστηρίξουν ότι μόνο αυτοί μπορούν να ασκήσουν αποτελεσματική εξωτερική πολιτική, οι Ευρωπαίοι "σύμμαχοι" θα μας ψέξουν υποκριτικά μετα βίας συγκρατώντας τη χαρά τους και η Τουρκία θα μας κηρύξει επιτέλους τον πόλεμο. ΄Ολοι χαρούμενοι δηλαδή! Προβλέπω ότι θαυματουργικά η νίκη θα έρθει με το μέρος μας και οι προφητείες θα επαληθευθούν! Ένας Πάγκαλος θα μπεί στην Αγια-Σοφιά και ο Κασιδιάρης θα προσφερθεί να τον υπηρετεί μέχρι τέλους, κάτι σαν τον Θόδωρο του παλαιού Καραμανλή. Πάγκαλος for president!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Plato's kitchen
I am (re)reading "From Socrates to Sartre: the philosophic quest". In my humble opinion it is the most readable introduction to philosophy I ever came across. Why am I reading it? To start with, I want to make sure I really understand the work of major philosophers before I dive into modern philosophy :) (I admit that the argument is kind of circular). But even more, I want to make sure I really understand Aristotle before I venture into reading a book I set my eyes on many years ago: "The Name of the Rose." Is it necessary to know Aristotle inside out before you read it? I guess not, but given that the story is set in a medieval monastery in western Europe, I would expect to find many arguments based on scholastic philosophy and Aristotle. Hence, my effort.
I have to admit that the aforementioned book does not focus on Aristotle as much as I would like. Sigh. But it does focus on Plato. Skimming through the pages of the book, I ran into Plato's theory of justice. Plato was a prolific and charming writer and a lot of his works made it to our day. You might be familiar with his work on knowledge, i.e., his theory of forms (or ideas). For example, in another existential level there is the idea of the perfect horse and all horses on Earth are just imperfect copies of it. (was he trying to say that Jolly Jumper is not perfect? No way.) Same thing for apples, trees, etc. A weird theory overall but still cute. If you move to his theory on politics there it gets creepy (yes, I mean the part with the kids should be raised by the state after the age of 6.)
Anyway. What is justice according to Plato? When is it achieved? The question is discussed in Plato's book "The Republic." In this book, written in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and a bunch of other Athenians during a banquet, Socrates goes on demolishing the opinions of other participants before offering his own. The one that deserves to focus on here is offered by a merchant, Cephalus, who says bluntly "justice is paying your debts." To make a long story short, Plato finally argues that the soul has reached "justice" when the constituent parts forming it are in the right analogy. What are these elements? Logical reasoning ("λογιστικό"), mood ("θυμοειδές") and desires ("βουλητικό"). Note, that you can extend and apply this definition from, e.g., a society (people, authorities, government make up the ideal society according to Plato), to a family (kids, parents) down to ... food. Mmmm yummy.
What is the right analogy? Plato does not say much about that, but to be sure as far as societies are concerned he favors a very centralized system, hence he got a bad reputation of being rather totalitarian. Being totalitarian is something that most "normal" people verbally condemn but I have a sneaky feeling that secretly have a lot of tolerance, if not support, for it. You do not believe me? What about the management style of the late Steve Jobs? It was hailed as the secret sauce behind the success and aesthetics of the Apple products. But I digress.
Fast forward 2300 years to my late aunt Irene's kitchen where her husband, my also late uncle Paul, was tasting her food. He would unfailingly comment whether some ingredient was "according to its justice" meaning in the right analogy. A rather annoying habit that used to drive my late aunt furious. Could this be a remnant of Platonic thought in our language? Or was it just because my uncle was an educated man? I think the former. Great ideas tend to stick around. Even in different forms (no pun to Plato's theory.)
Speaking of forms I once semi-seriously argued that Plato's influence on modern Greek kitchen does not stop there. It is no secret that Plato had a great admiration for geometry. In the entrance of his school, the "Academy", there was a sign warning "let no one who does not know geometry enter".
Looking around the dishes found in the world which ones stand out as the ones with a most clear geometric cylinder-like form? You got it, "gyros" and "pita-gyros"! It comes as no surprise that googling "Plato restaurant" returns enough results although I fear most restaurateurs will side with Cephalus' view on justice. Well deserved!
I have to admit that the aforementioned book does not focus on Aristotle as much as I would like. Sigh. But it does focus on Plato. Skimming through the pages of the book, I ran into Plato's theory of justice. Plato was a prolific and charming writer and a lot of his works made it to our day. You might be familiar with his work on knowledge, i.e., his theory of forms (or ideas). For example, in another existential level there is the idea of the perfect horse and all horses on Earth are just imperfect copies of it. (was he trying to say that Jolly Jumper is not perfect? No way.) Same thing for apples, trees, etc. A weird theory overall but still cute. If you move to his theory on politics there it gets creepy (yes, I mean the part with the kids should be raised by the state after the age of 6.)
Anyway. What is justice according to Plato? When is it achieved? The question is discussed in Plato's book "The Republic." In this book, written in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and a bunch of other Athenians during a banquet, Socrates goes on demolishing the opinions of other participants before offering his own. The one that deserves to focus on here is offered by a merchant, Cephalus, who says bluntly "justice is paying your debts." To make a long story short, Plato finally argues that the soul has reached "justice" when the constituent parts forming it are in the right analogy. What are these elements? Logical reasoning ("λογιστικό"), mood ("θυμοειδές") and desires ("βουλητικό"). Note, that you can extend and apply this definition from, e.g., a society (people, authorities, government make up the ideal society according to Plato), to a family (kids, parents) down to ... food. Mmmm yummy.
What is the right analogy? Plato does not say much about that, but to be sure as far as societies are concerned he favors a very centralized system, hence he got a bad reputation of being rather totalitarian. Being totalitarian is something that most "normal" people verbally condemn but I have a sneaky feeling that secretly have a lot of tolerance, if not support, for it. You do not believe me? What about the management style of the late Steve Jobs? It was hailed as the secret sauce behind the success and aesthetics of the Apple products. But I digress.
Fast forward 2300 years to my late aunt Irene's kitchen where her husband, my also late uncle Paul, was tasting her food. He would unfailingly comment whether some ingredient was "according to its justice" meaning in the right analogy. A rather annoying habit that used to drive my late aunt furious. Could this be a remnant of Platonic thought in our language? Or was it just because my uncle was an educated man? I think the former. Great ideas tend to stick around. Even in different forms (no pun to Plato's theory.)
Speaking of forms I once semi-seriously argued that Plato's influence on modern Greek kitchen does not stop there. It is no secret that Plato had a great admiration for geometry. In the entrance of his school, the "Academy", there was a sign warning "let no one who does not know geometry enter".
Looking around the dishes found in the world which ones stand out as the ones with a most clear geometric cylinder-like form? You got it, "gyros" and "pita-gyros"! It comes as no surprise that googling "Plato restaurant" returns enough results although I fear most restaurateurs will side with Cephalus' view on justice. Well deserved!
A challenge to those who look down on nationalism
The world's lowest quality magazine is called "Cosmopolitan". Explain that!
Monday, August 4, 2014
Μια βιβλιοκριτική για το βιβλίο "Σκηνές απο το βίο του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο" σε σχέση με τον "Περίπλου" του Δ. Ρώμα
"Πας μετά Ρώμα περιπλανώμενος, γάιδαρος!" Αυτό σκέφτηκα μόλις άκουσα την υπόθεση του τελευταίου βιβλίου του Ισιδώρου Ζουργού. Ποιά μυθιστορηματική σύνθεση μπορεί να σταθεί επάξια δίπλα στην τιτάνεια σύνθεση του Περίπλου που ψηλαφεί τρείς αιώνες νεο-Ελληνικού βίου; Είναι δυνατόν να αναμετρηθεί κανείς με την τιτάνια μορφή του κορυφαίου "εγκυκλοπαιδιστή" των νεο-Ελληνικών γραμμάτων;
Και όμως! Το νοητό σκάφος του Ζουργού περνά μέσα απο τις συμπληγάδες και βγαίνει ακέραιο. Αν ο συγγραφέας επέλεγε για το ταξίδι του μια υπόθεση αντίστοιχου μεγαλείου με τις γαλεάτσες των Νταβιτσέντσα θα συντριβόταν στα βράχεια της σύγκρισης με το πόνημα του Ζακυνθινού κόντε. Επικεντρωνόμενος όμως στο βίο του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο, ενός δευτερεύοντα χαρακτήρα απο το κλίμα του θιάσου του Περίπλου, ο συγγραφέας καθοδηγεί το νοητό αυτό τρεχαντήρι, ελίσσεται, αποφεύγει τα βαθειά νερά και ολοκληρώνει το ταξίδι του με επιτυχία.
Ο χαρακτήρας του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο είναι το αρχέτυπο του συγχρόνου ανθρώπου που ξεπετάχτηκε με ορμή απο την εποχή της επιστημονικής επανάστασης. Οπλισμένος με το εξέχον ταλέντο του στην επιστήμη, ο Αλμοσίνο αναλαμβάνει τα ηνία της ζωής του και διατρέχει μια ξέφρενη πορεία στην Ευρωπαική ήπειρο. Στη διάρκεια αυτής της πορείας, ζώντας την ψευδαίσθηση της αυτονομίας συναντιέται με τις τρείς μεγάλες μονοθειστικές θρησκείες, αναμετριέται με αυτές, τις απορρίπτει και στο τέλος γνωρίζει τον αληθινό Θεό.
Ο Ματίας Αλμοσίνο Εβραίος το γένος, γεννημένος στην Βασιλεία της Ελβετίας, ανατρέφεται μέσα στην Ιουδαική παράδοση πριν ο χαρακτήρας του θρησκομανούς πατέρα του τον αναγκάσει να ζητήσει καταφύγιο στην Ελληνική κοινότητα της Βενετίας και στο διάσημο πανεπιστήμιο της Πάδοβας. Εκεί με τη βοήθεια του Τζαντιώτη θετού του πατέρα, βαπτίζεται Χριστιανός και ανδρώνεται φυσικά και επιστημονικά. Επόμενοι σταθμοί η Ζάκυνθος, η Κωνσταντινούπολη, το Λονδίνο, η Μολδαβία, η Ρωσία και στο τέλος η Ι. Μονή Διονυσίου στο Άγιο Όρος.
Σε αντίθεση με τον Περίπλου του Ρώμα, όπου τα δύο κεντρικά θέματα είναι ο αγώνας του Γένους απο την καταστροφή προς την παλιγγενεσία και η επέλαση της επιστήμης σε βάρος της αλχημείας, ο Ζουργός επιλέγει να μελετήσει σε βάθος την πορεία ενός και μόνο χαρακτήρα. Η επιλογή αυτή, μια "Κοπερνίκεια" στροφή, προσδίδει στο θέμα αυτονομία και μια συμπάθεια που κερδίζει την εύνοια του αναγνώστη.
Στον Περίπλου, με "Π" κεφαλαίο παρακολουθούμε κάθε γενιά της φανταστικής οικογένειας των Νταβιτσέντσα, να δίνει την σκυτάλη στην επόμενη, άλλοτε με μεγάλη επιτυχία, άλλοτε με μικρότερη. Κοινό συνθετικό στοιχείο και μέτρο σύγκρισης της αξίας των χαρακτήρων η πεποίθηση ότι "Η Ελλάς προώρισται να ζήσει και θα ζήσει". Επιπλέον όμως, ο Περίπλους δεν είναι μόνο, ένα μεγαλειώδες εθνικό χρονικό, κάτι ανάλογο με τους "Μαυρόλυκους" του Θ. Πετσάλη-Διομήδη. Είναι επίσης και ένα συναξάρι του Ευρωπαικού πνεύματος. Κάθε Νταβιτσέντσα είναι ένα παιδί της εποχής του, που αφοσιώνεται στα μυστικά της Αλχημείας ή ενθουσιάζεται με τον νεο-ανακαλυφθέντα μηχανισμό της κυκλοφορίας του αίματος. Οι Νταβιτσέντσα αλληλογραφούν ως ίσοι προς ίσο με τον Γαλιλαίο ή τον Χάρβευ και συνομιλούν με τον Παναγιώτη Νικούσιο.
Σε απόλυτη αντιδιαστολή, η ζωή του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο δεν αφήνει περιθώρια για κανενός είδους εθνική ανάταση. Υπο αυτή την έννοια το μυθιστόρημα καθίσταται απολύτως σύγχρονο αφού αντηχεί το κλίμα της εποχής της κρίσης. Ο Ματίας Αλμοσίνο είναι ένας χαρακτήρας χωρίς εθνική ταυτότητα, χωρίς αλληλεγγύη προς καμμία πατρίδα. Ο μόνος σύνδεσμος που δένει τον Αλμοσίνο είναι με τις πόλεις που πραγματοποίησε την μετεωρική του πορεία.
Ο περίπλους του Ζουργού είναι απλοικός, χωρίς "π" κεφαλαίο, μια ανθρώπινη ιστορία επικεντρωμένη στην ζωή ενός χαρακτήρα στην οποία ο συγγραφέας ξεδιπλώνει το δυνατό σημείο του συγγραφικού του ταλέντου: τον λυρικο-φιλοσοφικό στοχασμό. Σε σχέση με τα προηγούμενα του έργα ο συγγραφέας εμφανίζεται πιο ώριμος παρά ποτέ. Ο λυρισμός του είναι πιο μετρημένος π.χ. σε σχέση με την "Αηδονόπιτα" και ο φιλοσοφικός του στοχασμός πιο ουσιαστικός για την περιπέτεια της ανθρώπινης ζωής π.χ. σε σχέση με τα "Ανεμώλια".
Αν υπάρχει ένα σημείο που το βιβλίο υστερεί φανερά, είναι στη σκιαγράφιση των δευτερεόντων χαρακτήρων. Ίσως με αυτό τον τρόπο ο συγγραφέας να θέλει να δώσει έμφαση στο κύριο αντικείμενο του βιβλίου, το βίο του πρωταγωνιστή, αλλά μου φαίνεται ότι κανείς απο τους χαρακτήρες του Ζουργού δεν έχει αποτυπωθεί με αρκετή ένταση. Σαν ο συγγραφέας να εξήντλησε όλο του το μελάνι στην προσωπικότητα του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο και όταν ήρθε η ώρα να σχεδιάσει τους άλλους χαρακτήρες απλώς τους σκιαγράφησε. Ο κυρ-Παναγιώτης είναι μια σκιά μπροστά στην "Ομηρική" μορφή του κολονέλου Διπλοβατάτζη, αυτού του διαχρονικού Έλληνα φιλοσόφου-πολεμιστή. Η αντιπαθής χήρα του κυρ-Παναγιώτη δεν τρομάζει κανένα σε σχέση με την βροντερή μορφή της ηγουμένης αδελφής του κτηνώδους Βαρτάγγελου Νταβιτσέντσα που παραπέμπει σε αρκετές "σιόρες" που δέσποσαν στην Κεφαλονίτικη γή. Ο δε μυστηριώδης Αναστάσης παραμένει ημιτελής προκαλώντας μάλλον απορία για το ρόλο του. Επιπρόσθετα ενώ στον Περίπλου οι ιστορικές μορφές των μεγάλων επιστημόνων, κληρικών και αγωνιστών διαπλέκονται φυσικά με το νήμα της υπόθεσης, στον Αλμοσίνο οι αναφορές σε αυτούς μοιάζουν απότομες, σαν σκιές που προκαλεί η ξέφρενη πορεία του πρωταγωνιστή.
Εκεί που ο Ζουργός θεωρώ ότι κερδίζει κατα-κράτος και αφήνει υποσχέσεις για ακόμα καλύτερα δείγματα γραφής είναι στην πνευματικότητα της υπόθεσης. Σε όλα του τα συγγράματα είναι φανερό πως το κύριο θέμα που απασχολεί τον Ζουργό είναι η εξερεύνηση του μυστηρίου της ανθρώπινης φύσης και σε κάθε του έργο καταφέρνει να προχωρήσει και ένα βήμα πιο πέρα. Το δε θετικό σε αυτή την προσπάθεια είναι ότι ο συγγραφέας δείχνει αρκετή πρωτοτυπία και επιστρατεύει διαφορετικούς ρόλους, χαρακτήρες και εποχές στον αγώνα του να γνωρίσει το μυστήριο της Σφίγγας (δες και "Αηδονόπιτα", "Ανεμώλια"). Σε αντιδιαστολή, ο κόντες μαγεμένος απο τη γλύκα του Ζακυνθινού τοπίου, παραμένει κυρίως στο αισθητικό επίπεδο και μόνο οι εθνικές εξάρσεις διασπούν ουσιαστικά τον ατομοκεντρικό προσανατολισμό των ηρώων του.
Η νεο-Ελληνική λογοτεχνία έχει δείξει λαμπρά δείγματα στο τομέα της ποίησης, επιτεύγματα που την φέρνουν στην πρώτη γραμμή των Ευρωπαικών γραμμάτων. Η πεζογραφία, δυστυχώς, παρά τα αρκετά καλά δείγματα, δεν έχει παράξει το "μεγάλο Ελληνικό μυθιστόρημα" που θα ανανεώσει την εγχώρια λογοτεχνική παραγωγή και θα εξακοντίσει την Ελλάδα στην πρωτοπορία σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο. Φέτος συμπληρώνονται 150 χρόνια απο την ένωση των Επτανήσων με την Ελλάδα, μια ένωση που ενέπνευσε ήδη δύο σημαντικά έργα. Η πρόκληση για τον Ζουργό είναι μέχρι την επόμενη μεγάλη επέτειο των 200 χρόνων απο την παλιγγενεσία να έχει συγγράψει το πόνημα που θα σηματοδοτήσει την αναγέννηση της νεο-Ελληνικής πεζογραφίας, ίσως ένα προπομπό της εθνικής αναγέννησης.
Και όμως! Το νοητό σκάφος του Ζουργού περνά μέσα απο τις συμπληγάδες και βγαίνει ακέραιο. Αν ο συγγραφέας επέλεγε για το ταξίδι του μια υπόθεση αντίστοιχου μεγαλείου με τις γαλεάτσες των Νταβιτσέντσα θα συντριβόταν στα βράχεια της σύγκρισης με το πόνημα του Ζακυνθινού κόντε. Επικεντρωνόμενος όμως στο βίο του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο, ενός δευτερεύοντα χαρακτήρα απο το κλίμα του θιάσου του Περίπλου, ο συγγραφέας καθοδηγεί το νοητό αυτό τρεχαντήρι, ελίσσεται, αποφεύγει τα βαθειά νερά και ολοκληρώνει το ταξίδι του με επιτυχία.
Ο χαρακτήρας του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο είναι το αρχέτυπο του συγχρόνου ανθρώπου που ξεπετάχτηκε με ορμή απο την εποχή της επιστημονικής επανάστασης. Οπλισμένος με το εξέχον ταλέντο του στην επιστήμη, ο Αλμοσίνο αναλαμβάνει τα ηνία της ζωής του και διατρέχει μια ξέφρενη πορεία στην Ευρωπαική ήπειρο. Στη διάρκεια αυτής της πορείας, ζώντας την ψευδαίσθηση της αυτονομίας συναντιέται με τις τρείς μεγάλες μονοθειστικές θρησκείες, αναμετριέται με αυτές, τις απορρίπτει και στο τέλος γνωρίζει τον αληθινό Θεό.
Ο Ματίας Αλμοσίνο Εβραίος το γένος, γεννημένος στην Βασιλεία της Ελβετίας, ανατρέφεται μέσα στην Ιουδαική παράδοση πριν ο χαρακτήρας του θρησκομανούς πατέρα του τον αναγκάσει να ζητήσει καταφύγιο στην Ελληνική κοινότητα της Βενετίας και στο διάσημο πανεπιστήμιο της Πάδοβας. Εκεί με τη βοήθεια του Τζαντιώτη θετού του πατέρα, βαπτίζεται Χριστιανός και ανδρώνεται φυσικά και επιστημονικά. Επόμενοι σταθμοί η Ζάκυνθος, η Κωνσταντινούπολη, το Λονδίνο, η Μολδαβία, η Ρωσία και στο τέλος η Ι. Μονή Διονυσίου στο Άγιο Όρος.
Σε αντίθεση με τον Περίπλου του Ρώμα, όπου τα δύο κεντρικά θέματα είναι ο αγώνας του Γένους απο την καταστροφή προς την παλιγγενεσία και η επέλαση της επιστήμης σε βάρος της αλχημείας, ο Ζουργός επιλέγει να μελετήσει σε βάθος την πορεία ενός και μόνο χαρακτήρα. Η επιλογή αυτή, μια "Κοπερνίκεια" στροφή, προσδίδει στο θέμα αυτονομία και μια συμπάθεια που κερδίζει την εύνοια του αναγνώστη.
Στον Περίπλου, με "Π" κεφαλαίο παρακολουθούμε κάθε γενιά της φανταστικής οικογένειας των Νταβιτσέντσα, να δίνει την σκυτάλη στην επόμενη, άλλοτε με μεγάλη επιτυχία, άλλοτε με μικρότερη. Κοινό συνθετικό στοιχείο και μέτρο σύγκρισης της αξίας των χαρακτήρων η πεποίθηση ότι "Η Ελλάς προώρισται να ζήσει και θα ζήσει". Επιπλέον όμως, ο Περίπλους δεν είναι μόνο, ένα μεγαλειώδες εθνικό χρονικό, κάτι ανάλογο με τους "Μαυρόλυκους" του Θ. Πετσάλη-Διομήδη. Είναι επίσης και ένα συναξάρι του Ευρωπαικού πνεύματος. Κάθε Νταβιτσέντσα είναι ένα παιδί της εποχής του, που αφοσιώνεται στα μυστικά της Αλχημείας ή ενθουσιάζεται με τον νεο-ανακαλυφθέντα μηχανισμό της κυκλοφορίας του αίματος. Οι Νταβιτσέντσα αλληλογραφούν ως ίσοι προς ίσο με τον Γαλιλαίο ή τον Χάρβευ και συνομιλούν με τον Παναγιώτη Νικούσιο.
Σε απόλυτη αντιδιαστολή, η ζωή του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο δεν αφήνει περιθώρια για κανενός είδους εθνική ανάταση. Υπο αυτή την έννοια το μυθιστόρημα καθίσταται απολύτως σύγχρονο αφού αντηχεί το κλίμα της εποχής της κρίσης. Ο Ματίας Αλμοσίνο είναι ένας χαρακτήρας χωρίς εθνική ταυτότητα, χωρίς αλληλεγγύη προς καμμία πατρίδα. Ο μόνος σύνδεσμος που δένει τον Αλμοσίνο είναι με τις πόλεις που πραγματοποίησε την μετεωρική του πορεία.
Ο περίπλους του Ζουργού είναι απλοικός, χωρίς "π" κεφαλαίο, μια ανθρώπινη ιστορία επικεντρωμένη στην ζωή ενός χαρακτήρα στην οποία ο συγγραφέας ξεδιπλώνει το δυνατό σημείο του συγγραφικού του ταλέντου: τον λυρικο-φιλοσοφικό στοχασμό. Σε σχέση με τα προηγούμενα του έργα ο συγγραφέας εμφανίζεται πιο ώριμος παρά ποτέ. Ο λυρισμός του είναι πιο μετρημένος π.χ. σε σχέση με την "Αηδονόπιτα" και ο φιλοσοφικός του στοχασμός πιο ουσιαστικός για την περιπέτεια της ανθρώπινης ζωής π.χ. σε σχέση με τα "Ανεμώλια".
Αν υπάρχει ένα σημείο που το βιβλίο υστερεί φανερά, είναι στη σκιαγράφιση των δευτερεόντων χαρακτήρων. Ίσως με αυτό τον τρόπο ο συγγραφέας να θέλει να δώσει έμφαση στο κύριο αντικείμενο του βιβλίου, το βίο του πρωταγωνιστή, αλλά μου φαίνεται ότι κανείς απο τους χαρακτήρες του Ζουργού δεν έχει αποτυπωθεί με αρκετή ένταση. Σαν ο συγγραφέας να εξήντλησε όλο του το μελάνι στην προσωπικότητα του Ματίας Αλμοσίνο και όταν ήρθε η ώρα να σχεδιάσει τους άλλους χαρακτήρες απλώς τους σκιαγράφησε. Ο κυρ-Παναγιώτης είναι μια σκιά μπροστά στην "Ομηρική" μορφή του κολονέλου Διπλοβατάτζη, αυτού του διαχρονικού Έλληνα φιλοσόφου-πολεμιστή. Η αντιπαθής χήρα του κυρ-Παναγιώτη δεν τρομάζει κανένα σε σχέση με την βροντερή μορφή της ηγουμένης αδελφής του κτηνώδους Βαρτάγγελου Νταβιτσέντσα που παραπέμπει σε αρκετές "σιόρες" που δέσποσαν στην Κεφαλονίτικη γή. Ο δε μυστηριώδης Αναστάσης παραμένει ημιτελής προκαλώντας μάλλον απορία για το ρόλο του. Επιπρόσθετα ενώ στον Περίπλου οι ιστορικές μορφές των μεγάλων επιστημόνων, κληρικών και αγωνιστών διαπλέκονται φυσικά με το νήμα της υπόθεσης, στον Αλμοσίνο οι αναφορές σε αυτούς μοιάζουν απότομες, σαν σκιές που προκαλεί η ξέφρενη πορεία του πρωταγωνιστή.
Εκεί που ο Ζουργός θεωρώ ότι κερδίζει κατα-κράτος και αφήνει υποσχέσεις για ακόμα καλύτερα δείγματα γραφής είναι στην πνευματικότητα της υπόθεσης. Σε όλα του τα συγγράματα είναι φανερό πως το κύριο θέμα που απασχολεί τον Ζουργό είναι η εξερεύνηση του μυστηρίου της ανθρώπινης φύσης και σε κάθε του έργο καταφέρνει να προχωρήσει και ένα βήμα πιο πέρα. Το δε θετικό σε αυτή την προσπάθεια είναι ότι ο συγγραφέας δείχνει αρκετή πρωτοτυπία και επιστρατεύει διαφορετικούς ρόλους, χαρακτήρες και εποχές στον αγώνα του να γνωρίσει το μυστήριο της Σφίγγας (δες και "Αηδονόπιτα", "Ανεμώλια"). Σε αντιδιαστολή, ο κόντες μαγεμένος απο τη γλύκα του Ζακυνθινού τοπίου, παραμένει κυρίως στο αισθητικό επίπεδο και μόνο οι εθνικές εξάρσεις διασπούν ουσιαστικά τον ατομοκεντρικό προσανατολισμό των ηρώων του.
Η νεο-Ελληνική λογοτεχνία έχει δείξει λαμπρά δείγματα στο τομέα της ποίησης, επιτεύγματα που την φέρνουν στην πρώτη γραμμή των Ευρωπαικών γραμμάτων. Η πεζογραφία, δυστυχώς, παρά τα αρκετά καλά δείγματα, δεν έχει παράξει το "μεγάλο Ελληνικό μυθιστόρημα" που θα ανανεώσει την εγχώρια λογοτεχνική παραγωγή και θα εξακοντίσει την Ελλάδα στην πρωτοπορία σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο. Φέτος συμπληρώνονται 150 χρόνια απο την ένωση των Επτανήσων με την Ελλάδα, μια ένωση που ενέπνευσε ήδη δύο σημαντικά έργα. Η πρόκληση για τον Ζουργό είναι μέχρι την επόμενη μεγάλη επέτειο των 200 χρόνων απο την παλιγγενεσία να έχει συγγράψει το πόνημα που θα σηματοδοτήσει την αναγέννηση της νεο-Ελληνικής πεζογραφίας, ίσως ένα προπομπό της εθνικής αναγέννησης.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Paris mon amour! :)
Just came back from a weekend trip to Paris by train.
Lots of good things to say about the experience of traveling by train in Europe.
Lots of things to say about Paris (note the progression.)
Lots of bad things to say about French organization (you saw it coming. Didn't you?)
I left Zurich on Friday afternoon around 3pm.
I did not have tickets on the direct high-speed train, so I had to change trains in Basel, Mulhouse, and Dijon.
In Mulhouse, I managed to upgrade to the high speed train and saved myself the train change in Dijon.
That also gave me an extra half-an-hour, so I managed to step out of the train station and get some pictures. So far so good.
The train is fast, more comfortable than the airplane and usually on time.
I made it to Gare de Lyon in Paris by 9:30 as planned.
My friend Takis called me on the spot and let me know that he and his fiancee are waiting for me at their place for dinner.
I took a cab to go to my hotel in Opera, checked-in in no time and then to the Metro.
As per the suggestions I had, I bought for 17.5 Euros a 2-day pass (little did I know) and went to the platform for line #8. I got into the train and waited for it leave the station. After 5 mins of waiting, the friendly voice from the loudspeakers kindly let me know that there will be some delay. After another 5 to 10 minutes and some perspiration from the hot and humid weather, we were notified that due to some failure we were required to abandon the train. Nice start! I thought.
Long story short, after a pleasant Saturday spent meeting with my friends Takis and Andreas where I used the metro only once, Sunday came. I checkout out of the hotel and sure that less than 48 hours had passed from the time I bought the ticket, I went again to the Metro. What a surprise! The ticket did not work. A brief pause for thought solved the issue. The 2-day pass in Paris is good for literally two days, not 48 hours. Nice job guys!
Conclusion, I paid for 17.5 Euros and was able to use the Metro once!
I do not mind the frustration, that happens to me often without French help, but next time someone from France complains about the Greek debt I will ask for the money from my ticket back!
P.S Visiting Paris is always a unique opportunity, so I might come back with other details and impressions from visiting the "city of lights." Stay tuned!
Lots of good things to say about the experience of traveling by train in Europe.
Lots of things to say about Paris (note the progression.)
Lots of bad things to say about French organization (you saw it coming. Didn't you?)
I left Zurich on Friday afternoon around 3pm.
I did not have tickets on the direct high-speed train, so I had to change trains in Basel, Mulhouse, and Dijon.
In Mulhouse, I managed to upgrade to the high speed train and saved myself the train change in Dijon.
That also gave me an extra half-an-hour, so I managed to step out of the train station and get some pictures. So far so good.
The train is fast, more comfortable than the airplane and usually on time.
I made it to Gare de Lyon in Paris by 9:30 as planned.
My friend Takis called me on the spot and let me know that he and his fiancee are waiting for me at their place for dinner.
I took a cab to go to my hotel in Opera, checked-in in no time and then to the Metro.
As per the suggestions I had, I bought for 17.5 Euros a 2-day pass (little did I know) and went to the platform for line #8. I got into the train and waited for it leave the station. After 5 mins of waiting, the friendly voice from the loudspeakers kindly let me know that there will be some delay. After another 5 to 10 minutes and some perspiration from the hot and humid weather, we were notified that due to some failure we were required to abandon the train. Nice start! I thought.
Long story short, after a pleasant Saturday spent meeting with my friends Takis and Andreas where I used the metro only once, Sunday came. I checkout out of the hotel and sure that less than 48 hours had passed from the time I bought the ticket, I went again to the Metro. What a surprise! The ticket did not work. A brief pause for thought solved the issue. The 2-day pass in Paris is good for literally two days, not 48 hours. Nice job guys!
Conclusion, I paid for 17.5 Euros and was able to use the Metro once!
I do not mind the frustration, that happens to me often without French help, but next time someone from France complains about the Greek debt I will ask for the money from my ticket back!
P.S Visiting Paris is always a unique opportunity, so I might come back with other details and impressions from visiting the "city of lights." Stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Φόρους να πληρώσουν οι ιδιώτες!
Ο Γ. Γ. Δημοσίων εσόδων παραιτήθη. Ζήτω ο Γ. Γ. Δημοσίων Εσόδων!
Κανείς δεν θα κλάψει αγαπητοί αναγνώστες για την "απώλεια" του "πολύ" αλλά πλέον "πρώην" κ. Θεοχάρη. Ενός ανθρώπου που μπορεί βάσιμα να επαίρεται ότι στην μέχρι τώρα σταδιοδρομία του κατάφερε να επιβιώσει της κατάρευσης της Lehman Brothers, της κατάρευσης της ασφαλιστικής Ασπίς Πρόνοια και της κατάρευσης κάθε έννοιας δικαίου στην επιβολή της φορολογικής πολιτικής στην Ελλάδα.
Αν ισχύουν οι πλέον τολμηρές θεωρίες που οι φυσικοί διατυπώνουν για το σύμπαν, ξέρετε αυτές που ενθουσιάζουν τους φανατικούς αναγνώστες βιβλίων επιστημονικής φαντασίας, τότε σε ένα παράλληλο αλλά αντίστροφο σύμπαν ο σερίφης του Νόττιγχαμ θα μελετά με πολύ ενδιαφέρον την πολιτεία του κ. Θεοχάρη και θα αναφέρει με σεβασμό στον προστάτη του, τον πρίγκιπα Ιωάννη τον Ακτήμονα (οποιοσδήποτε συνειρμός πέρασε απο το κεφάλι σας, είναι προιόν του κεφαλιού σας.)
Αν όμως το κλάμα αποκλείεται, σίγουρα το γέλιο θα μας κατακλύσει διαβάζοντας την προκήρυξη που ανήρτησαν οι πρώην συνάδελφοι του κ. Θεοχάρη στον δικτυακό τόπο opengov. gr (wow! opengov!!!!) για να τον αναπληρώσουν. Προσπερνώντας την νομικίζουσα εισαγωγική πρόζα, περνάμε στο "ψητό": τα προσόντα που πρέπει να έχει ο ιδανικός υποψήφιος για να διοικήσει τον φοροεισπρακτικό μηχανισμό της Ελλάδος. Ξεχωρίζω:
- ο υποψήφιος πρέπει κατά προτίμηση να διαθέτει μεταπτυχιακό τίτλο "στη φορολογική διοίκηση και το φορολογικό σύστημα", προσόν που ο απερχόμενος γραμματέας δεν διέθετε. Δεν μπορώ παρα να σχολιάσω ότι αυτός ο, εύλογος, όρος προσετέθη για να αποφύγουμε στο μέλλον κατορθώματα ανάλογα με αυτά που είδαμε επί της γραμματείας του απερχομένου.
- ο υποψήφιος πρέπει να έχει "σημαντική επαγγελματική εμπειρία κατά προτίμηση στον ιδιωτικό τομέα, στη φορολογική διοίκηση και το φορολογικό σύστημα." Δεν θα σας κουράσω αναφέροντας το προφανές, ότι ο πρώην Γ. Γ. υστερεί και σε αυτόν τον τομέα. Θα προτιμήσω να εστιάσω την κριτική μου σε δύο σημεία που δυστυχώς έχουν γίνει σιωπηρά αποδεκτά απο την κοινή γνώμη.
Στο μετα-πασοκικό μας πολιτικό σκηνικό οι επιβιώσαντες μεταλλαγμένοι σοσιαλιστές κατάφεραν το ακατόρθωτο: να δυσφημήσουν το δημόσιο απο το οποίο προέρχονται, τρέφονται και εμπνέονται και να αποκηρύξουν μετα βδελυγμίας κάθε σχέση μαζί του μέχρι να αποφασίσουν να ξανα-ασχοληθούν με το δημόσιο, αυτή τη φορά για να το σώσουν απο ... το παρελθόν τους.
Η νέα γενιά των "λύκων" που επιτέθηκαν στο μαντρί της Ελληνικής δημόσιας διοίκησης έμαθε απο τα λάθη των προγόνων της. Αντί να κατασκηνώσει στο δημόσιο και να ρουφήξει το λίπος του σιγά-σιγά, με αντάλλαγμα να απωλέσει σταδιακά και τα δικά της αντανακλαστικά, τριγυρίζει γύρω απο αυτό με τη μορφή Μ.Κ.Ο, ακτιβισμού και διεθνών οργανισμών. Περιμένει την κατάλληλη ευκαιρία για να επιτεθεί γρήγορα, σύντομα και ολοκληρωτικά. Μια θητεία ενός συγχρόνου golden boy μπορεί να βλάψει όσο μια καριέρα ενός παλιού κομματικού συνδικαλιστή.
Δεν ασπάζομαι σοσιαλιστικές αντιλήψεις για την κοινωνία και την οικονομία και δεν έχω εργαστεί ποτέ μου στο δημόσιο. Στα νιάτα μου απήλαυσα τον ήχο του τραγουδιού των σειρήνων του "θατσερισμού" αλλά κατάφερα να κρατηθώ μακριά απο τα νύχια των εν Ελλάδι "τραγουδιάρων" που το διακόνησαν π.χ. Τ. Μίχας, Δράση κλπ. Δεν μπορώ όμως να μην σχολιάζω όταν με προκαλούν με τον πλέον ευθύ τρόπο.
Ποιός μπορεί λογικά και καλοπροαίρετα να υποστηρίξει ότι ένας ανώτατος υπάλληλος καρριέρας του υπουργείου Οικονομικών είναι υποδεέστερος ενός εξωτερικού υποψηφίου με νεφελώδη εμπειρία π.χ. "παροχής συμβουλευτικών υπηρεσιών σε Μ.Κ.Ο επί του φορολογικού συστήματος των αναδυομένων οικονομικά χωρών" μόνο και μόνο γιατί ο τελευταίος εργάστηκε στον ιδιωτικό τομέα; Είναι απορίας άξιο πως κρατικοί λειτουργοί δέχονται να αναρτούν προκηρύξεις με τέτοιους υποτιμητικούς όρους για τον κλάδο τους.
Σύμφωνα με τον κανόνα του Occam, η απλούστερη εξήγηση, η ανοησία εν προκειμένω, είναι και η αληθινή. Απόδειξη τούτου η συνέχεια της επίμαχης πρότασης που ζητεί εμπειρία στην φορολογική διοίκηση και το φορολογικό σύστημα. Πως αποκτά κανείς εμπειρία στον ιδιωτικό τομέα στην φορολογική διοίκηση όταν σε όλες τις πολιτισμένες χώρες του κόσμου φόρους επιβάλλουν οι κυβερνήσεις άντε και η τοπική αυτοδιοίκηση; Καλή ερώτηση θα μου πείτε εκτός και αν συμπεριλάβουμε τις μπανανίες που οι ιδιωτικές εταιρίες αποφασίζουν και οι κυβερνήσεις εκτελούν.
Και μην μου πεί κανένας παλαιοημερολογίτης yapee ότι η εργασία σε ιδιωτική συμβουλευτική εταιρία του δημοσίου συνιστά προυπηρεσία στην φορολογική διοίκηση. Η ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στην "διοίκηση" σε αντιδιαστολή με την αναφορά στο "φορολογικό σύστημα" υποδηλοί ενεργή άσκηση πολιτικής. Αλλιώς θα επρόκειτο περί πλεονασμού. Φοβάμαι όμως πως οι πρώην συνάδελφοι του κ. Θεοχάρη δεν υποφέρουν απο τέτοιες λεκτικές ανησυχίες. Η υποβάθμιση της γλωσσικής ικανότητας των νεο-Ελλήνων ήταν το πρώτο βήμα προς την αμάθεια που αυτή με την σειρά της έφερε την γενικολογία για να καταλήξουμε τελικά στην παράδοση του τύπου "ναι σε όλα."
Σύμφωνα με τον κανόνα του Occam, η απλούστερη εξήγηση, η ανοησία εν προκειμένω, είναι και η αληθινή. Απόδειξη τούτου η συνέχεια της επίμαχης πρότασης που ζητεί εμπειρία στην φορολογική διοίκηση και το φορολογικό σύστημα. Πως αποκτά κανείς εμπειρία στον ιδιωτικό τομέα στην φορολογική διοίκηση όταν σε όλες τις πολιτισμένες χώρες του κόσμου φόρους επιβάλλουν οι κυβερνήσεις άντε και η τοπική αυτοδιοίκηση; Καλή ερώτηση θα μου πείτε εκτός και αν συμπεριλάβουμε τις μπανανίες που οι ιδιωτικές εταιρίες αποφασίζουν και οι κυβερνήσεις εκτελούν.
Και μην μου πεί κανένας παλαιοημερολογίτης yapee ότι η εργασία σε ιδιωτική συμβουλευτική εταιρία του δημοσίου συνιστά προυπηρεσία στην φορολογική διοίκηση. Η ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στην "διοίκηση" σε αντιδιαστολή με την αναφορά στο "φορολογικό σύστημα" υποδηλοί ενεργή άσκηση πολιτικής. Αλλιώς θα επρόκειτο περί πλεονασμού. Φοβάμαι όμως πως οι πρώην συνάδελφοι του κ. Θεοχάρη δεν υποφέρουν απο τέτοιες λεκτικές ανησυχίες. Η υποβάθμιση της γλωσσικής ικανότητας των νεο-Ελλήνων ήταν το πρώτο βήμα προς την αμάθεια που αυτή με την σειρά της έφερε την γενικολογία για να καταλήξουμε τελικά στην παράδοση του τύπου "ναι σε όλα."
Κλείνω την παρούσα ιερεμιάδα με την ακόλουθη κοινότυπη διαπίστωση.
Απο την εποχή του Σαίξπηρ, οι γραφειοκράτες δεν είχαν και την καλύτερη φήμη.
Ο Άμλετ στον διάσημο μονόλογο του αναφέρει ως λόγο για να προτιμήσει να αναχωρήσει κανείς απο τον μάταιο τούτο κόσμο την βραδυπορία στην εφαρμογή των νόμων και την αυθάδεια των κρατικών λειτουργών:
"...
The pangs of despised Love, the Law’s delay,
The insolence of Office, and the Spurns
...."400 χρόνια πέρασαν και δεν άλλαξαν και πολλά αν κρίνουμε απο τον "μικροαστικό" Γιώργο
Προτείνω λοιπόν να εφαρμοσθεί με ερμηνευτική εγκύκλιο ή κάτι ανάλογο πομπώδες η ακόλουθη διάταξη: φόρους απο εδώ και στο εξής να πληρώνουν τιμής ένεκεν μόνο οι ιδιώτες, με την αρχαιο-ελληνική έννοια φυσικά, δηλαδή οι βλάκες. Μπας και ξυπνήσουν ποτέ και αναρωτηθούν ποιός τους κατάντησε έτσι. Τότε ίσως, και το τονίζω, πιέσουν τους πολιτικούς να πιέσουν τους δασκάλους να βρούν πως έγινε το κακό. Δεν ξέρω αν έτσι θα ξεπληρώσουμε το χρέος. Ελπίζω όμως ότι έτσι δεν θα ξαναδούμε δημόσια κείμενα τόσο προκλητικά ιδιωτικά.
ΥΓ οι θιασώτες του κ. Θεοχάρη τονίζουν το έργο που απετέλεσε στην μηχανοργάνωση, τον τομέα της αυθεντίας του, για να καλύψουν την προκλητική του ανεπάρκεια στα θέματα του φορολογικού μηχανισμού. Καλό θα ήταν πριν τον ανακηρυξούμε σε Μεσσία της ηλεκτρονικής διακυβέρνησης να θεσπίσουμε διαδικασίες για να περνάει κάθε δημόσιο κείμενο απο αυτόματο έλεγχο πριν αναρτηθεί στον ιστό. Το αναφέρω γιατί στο τέλος της προκήρυξης η ακόλουθη φράση βγάζει μάτι "Σύμφωνα με τις διατάξεις της υποπαραγράφου Ε.2.6. του άρθρου μόνου του ν.4093/2012, ..." Τα μεταξωτά βρακιά θέλουν και επιδέξιους ...
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Forgive me my city, for I have sinned.
If there is a world book of the most outrageous statements, something akin to the Guinness world records book, the statement above should certainly be in it! How can one confess to a city? Moreover, how can one sin against a city?
The statement is clearly alluding to the story of the prodigal son, who ran away from his father to seek freedom and independence only to return to him after a period of famine in the foreign land where he was living made him realize his failures. The ending of the story is well known and is rightly considered to be among the most touching passages of the Bible: the son, much to his surprise, experiences the increased love and forgiveness of his father and is restored to his previous state despite the protests coming from his "righteous" brother.
But how can a city play the role of the father?
To start with, it appears that someone can indeed be the "child" of a city. At least this is what M. Hadjidakis claimed in his famous song "The children of Piraeus" which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960 (for the record, my favorite performance is the one from Miss Piggy.) In my case, I am a child of Moschato, a city of ~25K people situated between Athens and Piraeus which got its name from the vineyards that used to cover most of its area up to not so long ago. (I still remember growing up there in the 80's, wine merchants selling wine directly from the barrel.)
Like all redemption stories, mine starts with overwhelmingly positive memories as well.
My first pictures of the world where dominated by nice mediterranean weather close to the coast, a fairly homogeneous social order which led to insane levels of security and an increasing scarcity of open/public space as the entire country was heading to 'growth' more or less in the same way a drunk driver accelerates his car to experience his eluding goal of satisfaction.
Pretty soon adolescence with its troubles came along and I found myself increasingly frustrated.
A major lack of communication between me and my fellow classmates and the sense that I had a right to something better than my city could offer me pushed me to look for an escape route. University studies captivated me and opened my horizons to places far away. I went on my way to grad school and work in the US and Europe and never looked back.
The years passed and all communication between me and my city had been lost.
But much like the prodigal son a "random" event brought me back to my senses.
For reasons outside of my control, my family decided to stay in our city and celebrate Easter this year. Every day activities during the day, e.g. shopping and attending services in the church in the afternoon "forced" me to be surrounded by familiar faces and "re-connected" me to people that had left my life for more than 20 years. The "best" part came from the mother of a former classmate who recognized and stopped me in the street. "You have not changed at all since high-school". That was it! Some-how much like the prodigal son, my city using the voice of one of its other children restored me to my previous state. Nothing has changed. Despite the years that you were away, some-how you were still part of our world. A warm thing to hear for sure.
In my story, there is no brother with "heart of stone". That is good.
But the story of the prodigal son, limits its description to the first day of the son's return, the happy day, the day where suddenly everyone thought that it was as if "nothing had changed". In my life there is a second day and hopefully more. Will the son stay true to his father? Will he do the same mistake and leave again? Nobody knows. One can only hope that the father will always be there to welcome the returning son and utter "you have not changed at all."
The statement is clearly alluding to the story of the prodigal son, who ran away from his father to seek freedom and independence only to return to him after a period of famine in the foreign land where he was living made him realize his failures. The ending of the story is well known and is rightly considered to be among the most touching passages of the Bible: the son, much to his surprise, experiences the increased love and forgiveness of his father and is restored to his previous state despite the protests coming from his "righteous" brother.
But how can a city play the role of the father?
To start with, it appears that someone can indeed be the "child" of a city. At least this is what M. Hadjidakis claimed in his famous song "The children of Piraeus" which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960 (for the record, my favorite performance is the one from Miss Piggy.) In my case, I am a child of Moschato, a city of ~25K people situated between Athens and Piraeus which got its name from the vineyards that used to cover most of its area up to not so long ago. (I still remember growing up there in the 80's, wine merchants selling wine directly from the barrel.)
Like all redemption stories, mine starts with overwhelmingly positive memories as well.
My first pictures of the world where dominated by nice mediterranean weather close to the coast, a fairly homogeneous social order which led to insane levels of security and an increasing scarcity of open/public space as the entire country was heading to 'growth' more or less in the same way a drunk driver accelerates his car to experience his eluding goal of satisfaction.
Pretty soon adolescence with its troubles came along and I found myself increasingly frustrated.
A major lack of communication between me and my fellow classmates and the sense that I had a right to something better than my city could offer me pushed me to look for an escape route. University studies captivated me and opened my horizons to places far away. I went on my way to grad school and work in the US and Europe and never looked back.
The years passed and all communication between me and my city had been lost.
But much like the prodigal son a "random" event brought me back to my senses.
For reasons outside of my control, my family decided to stay in our city and celebrate Easter this year. Every day activities during the day, e.g. shopping and attending services in the church in the afternoon "forced" me to be surrounded by familiar faces and "re-connected" me to people that had left my life for more than 20 years. The "best" part came from the mother of a former classmate who recognized and stopped me in the street. "You have not changed at all since high-school". That was it! Some-how much like the prodigal son, my city using the voice of one of its other children restored me to my previous state. Nothing has changed. Despite the years that you were away, some-how you were still part of our world. A warm thing to hear for sure.
In my story, there is no brother with "heart of stone". That is good.
But the story of the prodigal son, limits its description to the first day of the son's return, the happy day, the day where suddenly everyone thought that it was as if "nothing had changed". In my life there is a second day and hopefully more. Will the son stay true to his father? Will he do the same mistake and leave again? Nobody knows. One can only hope that the father will always be there to welcome the returning son and utter "you have not changed at all."
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Lyrics, more lyrics, and even more lyrics
Why do we learn a new language? How do we learn a new language? Prof. Keating in the, cheesy, movie "Dead Poets Society" tries to answer a similar question: "Why do we study poetry?" I find his answer, "to woo women", unsatisfactory. For one thing, if it were true, poetic geniuses like Solomos or Pessoa, would have spread their genes most efficiently. Ιn reality it is the likes of Genghis Khan, who can rightfully claim that they are the "fathers" of humanity (pun intended.) Secondly, and more importantly, who would fall for poetry when there is music around?
Going back to the original question, foreign languages entered my life very early
(I will skip the infamous "cat/dog" story that my mother can narrate much better than I, remind me to explain more when we meet again in person.)
It must have been around 1984, I was ten years old, and my parents "encouraged" me (a mild expression) to take French lessons. The strongest memory I have from these days is a bipolar me either vehemently refusing to interrupt my early afternoon sleep to attend class (classes usually took place after school between 2pm and 8pm) (that was more frequent during the winter semester) or me going there half an hour earlier during the Spring semester to meet with my classmates and play children's games in the courtyard of the historic building of the "Institut Francais d'Athenes, Annexe du Piraie" (French accent signs omitted) (Spring is really nice in Piraeus), an activity which frequently caused the eruption of the French director, a great pedagogue no doubt.
The most pressing question that our sorry teachers had to answer to a bunch of 10-year-old monsters was "why do we have to learn French?" The obvious answer "to be able to appreciate first hand the glorious French civilization" did not work great at that age. It still does not work great for me. So, the most 'philosophical' of the teachers, usually the ones with more years in service and less idealism left, fell back to the obvious cliche "if you ever travel to France, how will you be able to ask for directions in the street? You want to visit France some day. Right?" At that point most discussions stopped because even 10-year-old boys can understand when stupidity has crossed a limit.
Curiously enough, such discussions infrequently come up during the English language classes (guess why :)) and particularly for students entering adolescence. Why? Because music enters their life! You know, that thing where suddenly, whoever you talk to seems to be talking about, e.g., this or the hair of these guys? And who can claim that he can appreciate music fully without understanding the lyrics? Can you imagine yourself listening to, e.g., "Listen to your heart" (the choice is NOT arbitrary :)) and singing out loud "Λιστεν το γιουρ χαρτ"; No way! You need to understand what you are singing! QED!
Long story short, regardless of me being a rather conservative, I did not go to any concerts, and atypical adolescent, I managed to learn a bit of French, English and even some German. But music was part of my life. And because I was atypical I listened to many different songs, e.g., like this one, or even that one.
Years have passed, and I have marched to the beat of my own drum which to many people may sound like noise but to me it has a mostly melodic sound. The current challenge is to adjust to life in Zurich and for that I have to put to good use my poor to pathetic knowledge of French and German. But my theory is still there to help me like a true Platonic idea, alive in its own world!
Trying to locate the central post office in Zurich in "Kasernenstrasse" (see an earlier post) my linguistic memory attracted me to the right direction to the old barracks (Kaserne = Barracks in German) remembering (I doubt it has anything to do with Plato's anamnesis) the beginning of the German lyrics.
My theory is so great that it applies even to the digital world! Trying to buy the necessary first household items for my new apartment, I chose the French version of a pathetic online site which supported only the "official" Swiss languages (German, French, and Italian.) The word "rabais" ('discount' in French) was prominently displayed. Spot on again!
Going back to the original question, foreign languages entered my life very early
(I will skip the infamous "cat/dog" story that my mother can narrate much better than I, remind me to explain more when we meet again in person.)
It must have been around 1984, I was ten years old, and my parents "encouraged" me (a mild expression) to take French lessons. The strongest memory I have from these days is a bipolar me either vehemently refusing to interrupt my early afternoon sleep to attend class (classes usually took place after school between 2pm and 8pm) (that was more frequent during the winter semester) or me going there half an hour earlier during the Spring semester to meet with my classmates and play children's games in the courtyard of the historic building of the "Institut Francais d'Athenes, Annexe du Piraie" (French accent signs omitted) (Spring is really nice in Piraeus), an activity which frequently caused the eruption of the French director, a great pedagogue no doubt.
The most pressing question that our sorry teachers had to answer to a bunch of 10-year-old monsters was "why do we have to learn French?" The obvious answer "to be able to appreciate first hand the glorious French civilization" did not work great at that age. It still does not work great for me. So, the most 'philosophical' of the teachers, usually the ones with more years in service and less idealism left, fell back to the obvious cliche "if you ever travel to France, how will you be able to ask for directions in the street? You want to visit France some day. Right?" At that point most discussions stopped because even 10-year-old boys can understand when stupidity has crossed a limit.
Curiously enough, such discussions infrequently come up during the English language classes (guess why :)) and particularly for students entering adolescence. Why? Because music enters their life! You know, that thing where suddenly, whoever you talk to seems to be talking about, e.g., this or the hair of these guys? And who can claim that he can appreciate music fully without understanding the lyrics? Can you imagine yourself listening to, e.g., "Listen to your heart" (the choice is NOT arbitrary :)) and singing out loud "Λιστεν το γιουρ χαρτ"; No way! You need to understand what you are singing! QED!
Long story short, regardless of me being a rather conservative, I did not go to any concerts, and atypical adolescent, I managed to learn a bit of French, English and even some German. But music was part of my life. And because I was atypical I listened to many different songs, e.g., like this one, or even that one.
Years have passed, and I have marched to the beat of my own drum which to many people may sound like noise but to me it has a mostly melodic sound. The current challenge is to adjust to life in Zurich and for that I have to put to good use my poor to pathetic knowledge of French and German. But my theory is still there to help me like a true Platonic idea, alive in its own world!
Trying to locate the central post office in Zurich in "Kasernenstrasse" (see an earlier post) my linguistic memory attracted me to the right direction to the old barracks (Kaserne = Barracks in German) remembering (I doubt it has anything to do with Plato's anamnesis) the beginning of the German lyrics.
Bei der Kaserne, vor dem grossen Tor
steht 'ne Laterne und steht sie nach davor
da wollen wir uns wiedersehen
bei der Laterne wollen wir stehen
wie einst Lili Marlen
My theory is so great that it applies even to the digital world! Trying to buy the necessary first household items for my new apartment, I chose the French version of a pathetic online site which supported only the "official" Swiss languages (German, French, and Italian.) The word "rabais" ('discount' in French) was prominently displayed. Spot on again!
Padam, padam, padam
Des "Je t'aime" de quatorze-Juillet
Padam, padam, padam
Des "Toujours" qu'on achete au rabais
What is the conclusion? You may be able to appreciate the big divas of music at the age of 14, quote Plato or even have your own original ideas on the purpose of language, but as the last lyric states (due to the financial crisis) you will always have to buy stuff on discount!
Shop online my friends!
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
The deep connection between Easter eating and famous theatrical plays
This post is not for anyone. You have to have gone through the crazy amount of eating casually taking place on Easter Sunday in Greece to understand what I mean. Alas, I recognize that I am addressing an international audience so a small digression is necessary. Furthermore, you have every right to wonder what is the deep connection between, e.g., a stake well done and a play written by Strindberg? Is it the necessary mastery involved in both processes? Could be, but this is not what I have in mind. How are the "passions" of an overloaded stomach related to the passions of a war stricken mother? Read on.
For most Christians in Greece, the celebrations for Holy Week, end on Holy Saturday around midnight. At that time Greeks flock the churches to hear the proclamation of Christ's resurrection (or as we say in Greek "Χριστός Ανέστη!".) It is a unique ceremony which takes place mostly outside the church's building and traditionally ends with people lighting firecrackers, fireworks or even firing weapons as a way to create as much "holy noise" as possible to celebrate the victory of Christ over death. The following video will give you an idea.
After the pious return to their homes, tradition calls for a sumptuous dinner to break the fasting period of Lent and prepare the stomach for what will follow. In most places the main dish takes the form of "μαγειρίτσα" a delicious soup made primarily by the liver, lungs and intestines of lamp. Easter eggs, various cheese and sausages usually complete the dinner. A wise decision if I may say so, as a stomach which has endured the whole period of Lent needs some transition period before it goes to the next day, Easter Sunday or "Λαμπρή".
The brightest day of the year, (this is what the word "Λαμπρή" means in English), calls for the best food of the year. That usually means an unhealthy amount of BBQ, for sure lamp, which contrary to what Sheldon and his friends think is mainly eaten on that day only and not throughout the year. To make things better (or worse depending on your point of view) usually you do not miss on the opportunity to taste some "κοκορέτσι", "κοντοσούβλι", "παϊδάκια", stakes, burgers, sausages or even more exotic treats based on meat. Spring enters the picture in the form of various salads, usually lettuce and tomato/cucumber. To ensure that people's appetite will go undiminished "τζατζίκι" an appetizer is served. And I forgot to mention that we eat even more eggs and cheese.
The above description might seem to be a bit of an exaggeration, but I assure you it is not.
My main point is that this is the day where the diet conscious are treated as a bit of freaks.
This is the day to go overboard with food.
Of course, as they say 'no good deed goes unpunished.'
In this case, punishment usually comes in the form of a bloated, aching stomach.
Short breaths, heart palpitations and an urgent need to get some relief by drinking loads of soda are not unheard of.
Well, I do not know about you but as far as I am concerned, in troubled times like those I get my deepest philosophical thoughts. I suspect this trait comes directly from my ancient ancestors discussing philosophy during their famous symposia. "Do other people celebrate like this?" (I am afraid not), "Are we a genuine member of Europe's nations?" (which as the legend has it, is the source of the highest form of civilization? Thank God, no!), "Why do I always have to eat like a pig?"(I still wonder.) This year post-lunch inspiration struck me in the form of questioning Greece's participation in the EU. To put it bluntly "should we stay or should we go?"
You might find it surprising to hear that despite the austerity measures imposed by the EU on Greece (which among others led a good part of the Greeks into poverty and increased the number of suicides) and making its people an international laughing stock, the majority of Greeks still support their country's membership in the EU. Furthermore, a lot of them claim that they "are looking forward to the country fulfilling its European perspective" (whatever that means. Even more poverty?)
The older among us, I count myself in that group as I approach the magical number 40 in years, still remember that at some point the EU was considering banning the consumption of animal intestines, more or less what the US already does, in order to prevent future incidents similar to the "mad cow" disease. That would have meant that a traditional Easter celebration like the one I described above would have been essentially ... illegal. I vividly remember, the verbal protests by people and the anger directed towards "Brussels bureaucrats" who like to boss us around. Thank God that legislation did not go through (hint: maybe we sent some portions towards their side and they changed their minds? Who knows?) Conclusion: apparently we take our "κοκορέτσι" more seriously than our national independence.
Sad thoughts like these were making my stomach heavier than a couple of meat dishes would suggest. I was desperate in need to go through the fourth stage of grief. I had already experienced denial, anger, and, resignation. The few blood going to my brain (most of it was sucked by my stomach) had to help to come up with an idea fast. Then, it came to me! Greeks are a nation famous for creating civilization out of the misfortunes of life. Seriously, would a brilliant tragedy like Medea be the first thing you would come up with upon encountering a case of infanticide? I guess not.
So here is my suggestion: you know how in modern, fashionable, restaurants they name the dishes to give them some identity (and increase the price on the menu)? Why not name the dishes based on famous theatrical plays? The name should be chosen in order to match the eater's feelings upon ordering and eating the dish. A few examples I came up with:
For most Christians in Greece, the celebrations for Holy Week, end on Holy Saturday around midnight. At that time Greeks flock the churches to hear the proclamation of Christ's resurrection (or as we say in Greek "Χριστός Ανέστη!".) It is a unique ceremony which takes place mostly outside the church's building and traditionally ends with people lighting firecrackers, fireworks or even firing weapons as a way to create as much "holy noise" as possible to celebrate the victory of Christ over death. The following video will give you an idea.
After the pious return to their homes, tradition calls for a sumptuous dinner to break the fasting period of Lent and prepare the stomach for what will follow. In most places the main dish takes the form of "μαγειρίτσα" a delicious soup made primarily by the liver, lungs and intestines of lamp. Easter eggs, various cheese and sausages usually complete the dinner. A wise decision if I may say so, as a stomach which has endured the whole period of Lent needs some transition period before it goes to the next day, Easter Sunday or "Λαμπρή".
The brightest day of the year, (this is what the word "Λαμπρή" means in English), calls for the best food of the year. That usually means an unhealthy amount of BBQ, for sure lamp, which contrary to what Sheldon and his friends think is mainly eaten on that day only and not throughout the year. To make things better (or worse depending on your point of view) usually you do not miss on the opportunity to taste some "κοκορέτσι", "κοντοσούβλι", "παϊδάκια", stakes, burgers, sausages or even more exotic treats based on meat. Spring enters the picture in the form of various salads, usually lettuce and tomato/cucumber. To ensure that people's appetite will go undiminished "τζατζίκι" an appetizer is served. And I forgot to mention that we eat even more eggs and cheese.
The above description might seem to be a bit of an exaggeration, but I assure you it is not.
My main point is that this is the day where the diet conscious are treated as a bit of freaks.
This is the day to go overboard with food.
Of course, as they say 'no good deed goes unpunished.'
In this case, punishment usually comes in the form of a bloated, aching stomach.
Short breaths, heart palpitations and an urgent need to get some relief by drinking loads of soda are not unheard of.
Well, I do not know about you but as far as I am concerned, in troubled times like those I get my deepest philosophical thoughts. I suspect this trait comes directly from my ancient ancestors discussing philosophy during their famous symposia. "Do other people celebrate like this?" (I am afraid not), "Are we a genuine member of Europe's nations?" (which as the legend has it, is the source of the highest form of civilization? Thank God, no!), "Why do I always have to eat like a pig?"(I still wonder.) This year post-lunch inspiration struck me in the form of questioning Greece's participation in the EU. To put it bluntly "should we stay or should we go?"
You might find it surprising to hear that despite the austerity measures imposed by the EU on Greece (which among others led a good part of the Greeks into poverty and increased the number of suicides) and making its people an international laughing stock, the majority of Greeks still support their country's membership in the EU. Furthermore, a lot of them claim that they "are looking forward to the country fulfilling its European perspective" (whatever that means. Even more poverty?)
The older among us, I count myself in that group as I approach the magical number 40 in years, still remember that at some point the EU was considering banning the consumption of animal intestines, more or less what the US already does, in order to prevent future incidents similar to the "mad cow" disease. That would have meant that a traditional Easter celebration like the one I described above would have been essentially ... illegal. I vividly remember, the verbal protests by people and the anger directed towards "Brussels bureaucrats" who like to boss us around. Thank God that legislation did not go through (hint: maybe we sent some portions towards their side and they changed their minds? Who knows?) Conclusion: apparently we take our "κοκορέτσι" more seriously than our national independence.
Sad thoughts like these were making my stomach heavier than a couple of meat dishes would suggest. I was desperate in need to go through the fourth stage of grief. I had already experienced denial, anger, and, resignation. The few blood going to my brain (most of it was sucked by my stomach) had to help to come up with an idea fast. Then, it came to me! Greeks are a nation famous for creating civilization out of the misfortunes of life. Seriously, would a brilliant tragedy like Medea be the first thing you would come up with upon encountering a case of infanticide? I guess not.
So here is my suggestion: you know how in modern, fashionable, restaurants they name the dishes to give them some identity (and increase the price on the menu)? Why not name the dishes based on famous theatrical plays? The name should be chosen in order to match the eater's feelings upon ordering and eating the dish. A few examples I came up with:
- prime rib steak: "The Father" (you can't go higher in the food chain than that)
- triple whopper: "Mother Courage" (you will certainly need it)
- watermelon and pancetta risotto: "Right you are (if you think so)" (after a person crosses a certain limit you should always agree with him. For your own good.)
- scallop tangerine gastrique "The madwoman of Chaillot" (I am still OK as long as you are sober enough to pay the bill)
- fig and goat cheese pizza with arugula "The importance of being earnest" (a real man would go for something with more meat but I still appreciate your honesty)
Bon appetit!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Week of 2014-03-30
As work is ramping up, most of my activity is geared towards it.
Tracking my activities on a daily basis is getting too much.
I should switch to a weekly report.
I finally opened an account with UBS in Rennweg as many colleagues have suggested.
It came as a surprise to me that depending on the bank and the branch (!!!) one tries, he gets totally different answers, i.e., denied to open an account due to being classified as a 'US person for tax purposes', considered a 'US person' but not denied, or even not considered a 'US person' at all!
The stuff was friendly but the whole picture looked a bit like a charade to me.
Try to picture me dressed more or less in my usual style, sitting face to face with a bunch of uptight Swiss bankers dressed in suits. I assume that the Google salary played its role but still I have trouble feeling easy with that picture. The best part (sarcasm) came at the end when the person opening the account was explaining to me the security measures taken by the bank in order to initialize the web banking access to my account. He concluded "but you are an IT(!!!) professional, so that should be easy for you". What???? 'IT' professional??? What next??? Will someone ever call me, e.g., "Web Support and Testing professional"??? I am a computer engineer, dude! IT is a utilitarian term as viewed by business people like you. Do you realize that "The purpose of computation is insight, not numbers"? OK. I should take my pills and relax. Anyway, it looks like the bank account has been successfully opened. Fingers crossed, Google payroll goes through successfully and I will be a happy man.
Tracking my activities on a daily basis is getting too much.
I should switch to a weekly report.
I finally opened an account with UBS in Rennweg as many colleagues have suggested.
It came as a surprise to me that depending on the bank and the branch (!!!) one tries, he gets totally different answers, i.e., denied to open an account due to being classified as a 'US person for tax purposes', considered a 'US person' but not denied, or even not considered a 'US person' at all!
The stuff was friendly but the whole picture looked a bit like a charade to me.
Try to picture me dressed more or less in my usual style, sitting face to face with a bunch of uptight Swiss bankers dressed in suits. I assume that the Google salary played its role but still I have trouble feeling easy with that picture. The best part (sarcasm) came at the end when the person opening the account was explaining to me the security measures taken by the bank in order to initialize the web banking access to my account. He concluded "but you are an IT(!!!) professional, so that should be easy for you". What???? 'IT' professional??? What next??? Will someone ever call me, e.g., "Web Support and Testing professional"??? I am a computer engineer, dude! IT is a utilitarian term as viewed by business people like you. Do you realize that "The purpose of computation is insight, not numbers"? OK. I should take my pills and relax. Anyway, it looks like the bank account has been successfully opened. Fingers crossed, Google payroll goes through successfully and I will be a happy man.
Change of topic. My efforts to practice my limited German are more or less a disaster up to now. Reason number one: people tend to judge from my face too hastily that I am Spanish and do not address me in German. I have been called "senor" and "caballero" too many times. Honey, if you knew me you would know that I am nothing close to a knight (an alternative translation of the word 'caballero') and moreover, I was very proud that people in the US recognized me as Greek just from my face. Do not spoil it for me please :) (A professor I TAed for, once left me in a Kinko's to make copies for the class. He later sent someone to pick-up me up with the following instructions: 'He looks like Greek'. I got back to class safely.)
Reason number two: someone claimed that Swiss people have such a strong antipathy for Germans that unless you can address them in Zurich-German, they prefer to speak in English. Way to go gov'! I will have my team at 5'o clock promptly :)
Fun facts for Swiss-German: the way to pronounce the word kitchen is something like 'hoohee', the verb to be in the third person instead of pronounced like 'isst' is pronounced more like 'isht'
It turns out Sunday is my kind of day.
Usually, I am so exhausted from the whole week's effort on Saturdays that I have the minimal energy required only to do my laundry and then I crash to bed sleeping all day.
But on Sunday afternoon I am determined to explore the city!
Today, I took the tram number 4 which crosses the "Bellevue" area, a posh area which starts from the foothills of ETH and extends along the right bank of the Zurich lake.
Pictures and more comments will follow in a subsequent post.
The tram goes through the Rathaus, the town hall of Zurich.
The astute observer will not face to observe that the external walls of the Rathaus are decorated with the busts of famous Greeks, I guess as examples of civic virtue.
I could not fail to think that if there were too much civic virtue around I would not be here right now :)
The area around the Rathaus is full of open air cafes.
As mentioned in a previous post, I love sitting outdoors late in the afternoon during the Spring months when the temperature is just right, the day grows longer and longer and there is people around.
My personal OKR (Objective and Key Result for the Google outsiders) for this quarter is to explore as many cafes as possible and eat as much chocolate, coffee and pastries there! Some beer would be fine too.
One thing one cannot fail to notice is the smoking in public spaces.
I was sitting at a restaurant outdoors enjoying my early dinner around 6pm.
Two tables away a young couple was smoking before and after their dinner.
The smell took me by the noise and the feeling was most disagreeable but nobody seemed to notice or complain.
Apparently smoking in Europe is common even among younger people and considered socially acceptable. Too bad.
(to be continued)
Thursday, April 3, 2014
2014/03/29
I need to resolve the banking situation. People are answering my question in the email list. They suggest visiting a branch in Rennweg. Another guy suggests visiting the main post office near HB (everything is near HB in Zurich.) I wake up early and go there but I cannot find any PostFinance branch. For sure, there is a UBS branch but it is closed. Will be back here on Monday. The day is sunny, the weather great and lots of people are all around. As good as it gets. I spot a Swisscom store but this is not my priority yet. Going back to the PostFinance branch near the HB. It is located in the “Kasernenstrasse”. The sound is familiar. I got it! The lyrics of the famous Lili Marlen song. Makes sense. In the old days there could be barracks there. Cool, but it does not solve my problem. To make things worse, there is scaffolding all around the building and it seems they are doing some renovation there. Cannot find the entrance. Have to go round the block twice to realize that they moved to a nearby location. I find the branch and enter for a fourth (!!!) time. In front of me there is a couple of Greeks (I can spot them effortlessly, even when they are silent) who are serviced by an employee there who is trying to help them in less than perfect English. The work gets done but come on guys!!! This is the busiest tourist spot of your country!!! Put someone who can speak perfect English there. The sight of a new generation of Greek immigrants gives me guilts for my good luck and I great the Greeks. A warm word never hurt anyone. My turn to get service. The lady at the desk announces to me that her shift is over and she calls a colleague to help me. She has a hawkish nose, perfect blue eyes and died blond hair. I get it. She is Turkish. The name on the tag in her uniform confirms my suspicions. Now, I get angry. I explain the problem to her and she calls up someone. She claims that this is normal because what I have is a temporary registration and not a work permit or something like that. The interesting part is that she says a letter from the bank with extra details to fill out should be on its way. I could get it as early as today. Nothing to do there so I go back to the HB to have lunch. Food looks delicious and the pastries even more. Plus it is so cool to be sitting in open air in Europe and get service. Tough luck. I am fasting for Lent so I end up getting some fries with ketchup in Burger King. The fries taste better than in the US but I have to pay for the ketchup. Cheap Europeans! :) I go back to the swisscom store I spotted earlier and buy a prepaid plan for data and voice for 50CHF. The sim card works immediately. RIP 512 206 6032, long live 41 797 1212 76 !!! You have been the most important cell phone number I ever had in my life. I got some of the best and worst news in my life so far through you. You graduated three handsets, an early motorola model, my first blackberry/smartphone and my first Android phone. I will miss you so much. I try to call home but nobody is answering. Back to my apartment with a stop to a close by super market. I buy a decent amount of stuff and a shopping bag and carry them with me to my apartment. No need for a car, what an upgrade from the US! I check my mailbox and find the letter from the bank indeed. Long story short they think I am a “US person” and ask me to fill out form W-9, essentially to renounce any confidentiality of my bank account. Switzerland is coming under huge fire from the US for being a bank heaven. Taking the form with me and going to visit a prospective apartment and then back to the city for some sightseeing. The apartment is close to Oerlikon but again Zurich public transportation is perfect and I get there pretty fast. The city looks wonderful on such a nice day. I can even see the Alps. I take pictures. After walking for a couple of hours, I stop at a Starbucks, get some hot tea, fill out a renting application and the reply to the bank and get some rest. Lots of young people around me. A lot of them smoke. Stupidity is universal! I find an Italian place to accommodate for my fasting needs. The place is full of Europeans dressed in casual smart style and I look like a filthy tourist. Still, money talks and I get service. Taking the tram back home. Can you believe I did so many things in a single day using public transportation?
2014/03/28
End of first week and the fatigue is taking a toll on me. Stopping at the PostFinance branch again. They give me the same non-sense but this time the teller calls up someone higher in the food chain to find out more. The verdict is that there seems to be some issue and asks me to call the contact person. Back to the office. First attempt to familiarize myself with the phone system in Switzerland. Cannot make the call go through. A Greek colleague suggest to add a 0 somewhere and it works! The person at the other end speaks decent English although she claims she does not and tells me that the account has to go through some compliance process. What????? Minor sense of panic. Sending an email to a list inside Google for more help. Doing some more work. Leaving the office around 6:30 pm and going to the Greek church which turns out to be surprisingly close to my place. Everything is so close in Zurich! The shape of the church viewed from the external is very unusual for an Orthodox church but the whole building is surprising large. A good sign. Means the Greeks here have money :). Entering the church to attend the service of the Akathist. The “athmosphere” is very warm, the choir good, and the old priest gives me a good feeling. An easy google search reveals that he is the founder of the community, originally from Crete. His face looks very “Cretan” to me and my wild imagination can easily place him in an El Greco painting. The service ends and he gives a tiny but meaningful sermon. Excellent! I like short sermons. The service and the composition of the crowd makes me feel like I am in Greece. I leave the church and take a tram to HB. I get there in zero time. Public transportation in Zurich is amazing. I find a mini-market, there is also a super market, buy some food and get a tram back to my place. Lots of people in the streets. That makes me happy. I arrive home and call my mom. I am raving from enthusiasm. I cannot imagine how I would be able to do all these things in such a short time in the US without a car and driving for 1-2 hours. Going to bed. Tomorrow is a big day.
2014/03/27
Waking up early again due to the jetlag and go to the main train station (Hauptbahnhof or HB) to get a monthly public transportation permit. They ask for my address (that should be none of their business) and give me a huge 70s style piece of paper. That will work too. Stopping at the PostFinance branch in Enge station to check my bank account. One more good trait I inherited from dad. Turns out I cannot deposit. The guy thinks that this is because the account is so fresh. I start to get nervous about it, because I need that for payroll. I realize that pretty soon I might need money e.g. to pay advance rents for an apartment and ask for a payment advance. No clue how things will work out with my banking problems. First day that I can do some real work for 3-4 hours. Studied some code thoroughly. Other than that the day has been rather uneventful.
2014/03/26
Checking out of the hotel. Arrive at work at 8am and mean to start working but a friendly Swiss colleague starts explaining to me the differences of Swiss German from ‘proper’ German. I want to laugh. We keep talking about other stuff. I have a meeting with the guys at the agency to get the keys for the temporary apartment. I got the keys and went straight to the apartment passing through Zurich’s most infamous street . It does not look frightening at all, just ugly. The apartment is old and not what you expect judging from the brochures but still cozy. The floor is squeaky made from wood but after 12 years in the US I find that charming. Back to Google to attend a 2 hour presentation from the HR on the pension system. Needless to say I do not understand a thing and feel inferior to the other, younger, colleagues who seem to understand everything and ask thoughtful questions about their future. Trying to suppress my feels of irritation against other Europeans. Von Neumann’s quote “There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about.” comes to mind. Good luck getting a pension in Europe after 35 years!!! Back to my desk for yet another meeting, with yet another team in the US, Seattle this time. Meetings tend to be late, to make up for the time difference.
2014/03/25
Greek national day. Trying to feel proud while I am having a job abroad. The goals of the day are to get registered to the local city office, Kreisburo, and open a bank account. It took me some time to find the place, it was relatively well hidden and my efforts to speak broken German were border line hillarious. Like all good bureaucrats the guy who handled my application was very serious and initially tried to find some excuse not to help me. His issue was that my temporary apartment booked for one month is not permanent enough to register me at that location. I argued that given the scarcity of apartments for rent in Zurich this is the best I can do and without much effort things ended smoothly. Not bad at all overall. Straight from there to the bank. An extremely helpful young guy opens an account for me and I am off to go. Overall, people are very friendly and helpful. Back to Google where I talk about work and participate in a meeting with a team in Chicago that works with us.
2014/03/24
Woke up at 2am due to jet lag. First day at the office. Breakfast at Google rocks!!! Great selection of breads and jams. Amazing view of the city of Zurich from the 6th floor where my office is. A colleague claims that on a clear day the Alps are visible. Met with manager and immediately started talking about work. The local guys had not set up my computer. Turned out they sent it to the wrong desk. Meetings with HR people. Had lunch with the rest of the team. Food is very ‘European’ and tastes great. Easily two cafeterias in Zurich compete with all the cafeterias in MtV.
2014/03/23
flew from Athens to Zurich in less than 3 hours. Themos Anastasiadis was sitting two seats away from me. Security inspections in the Athens airport were minimal and nobody stopped me at any point in Zurich. I entered the country like that. Yeah!!!!!!! Took a cab from the Zurich airport for CHF 46 and went to the hotel, where I crashed.
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