How often do you hear yourself saying: "I am finally free"?

I try. I really do. But then something deep inside compels me to take the pen and once more unravel my soul one last time and harness the satisfaction and inner peace that writing gives me. I must succumb. What are you waiting for?

I had never known peace in my life. I was borne and raised in the battlefield. Conflict and victory were my parents. I learned to run before I walked. And I ran a whole lot. When I recently began to have a goal, finally tasting victory and peace for the first time, you arrived. You arrived like the rising sun. My hidden passenger that I was taking for some time. And instead of letting go, we closed our eyes time and again, forgetting as we both dragged ourselves down. Yet we still took each other in.

We surrendered, again and again, thinking that this will take us towards the light. I was caught in your slow release but now my reflection will slowly fade into another time and become a distant memory. But even all these tarnished memories, all these memories that haunt us are cherished just the same.

When I was a young little boy I wanted to become a scientist. I wrote that in my school essay back when I was 10 years old. I wanted to change the world. As time passed I found it hard to change the world. I had to think about economics, relationships, power struggles. So I shifted my goal to do something and change my nation instead. I would become a scientist that would yield the power and determination to procure change and rock the foundations of the Earth.

But even that proved challenging as I walked outside the doors of the university with a piece of paper stating academic excellence, throwing me into the whirlpool of unemployment and increasing depression rates. I never gave up. I fought with both conflict and victory. I shrugged the weight that Atlas had off my shoulders each night when I went to sleep. The weight of the entire world.

Titanic strength and steely determination.

When I finally saw the cracks in my plan, I shifted focus once more. I could not change my nation. A nation of corruption and dark deeds oozing out of its core, out of its every pore. I focused on my town. A town of merely 50-60.000 inhabitants. I was shocked by how materialistic and individualistic our society is. I fought against hunters, killers and stray animal abusers. I bathed in their blood and swam in my tears as I tried to correct the injustice. It was unbearable. I fled my country to pastures new, arriving in Sweden as the dream destination.

I tried to form relationships and take that hidden passenger but at the age of 27, finally wiser and forged through the fire and flames I understood I cannot change others. It is wrong to do that, to force them. These days I finally realized what I want in my life. A plate of food, personal development, a roof over my head and a loving partner to hug and swim in the warmth of emotions and banish loneliness once and for all. I understood that if I change myself, if I change my mindset to become something unbreakable I can come out unscathed walking over hot coal and through the burning gates of hell. That my impact will be passed to my off-springs. And then together we will take that impact and change our city. And our nation. And the world. In the end, I can change the world.

When everything is said and done, why don't you stop looking for answers, if only there is one. And as I turn my back, finally the urge is gone, left with no reason, we come undone. And I am free. My chains are broken. As I crawled out of the bottomless pit I threw myself into I saw the light. And as I swim upwards I will see you, the individual that is doing the same and grab your hand while we walk towards the light. 

I have no strings on me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every story is important. Every pain or every joy. Stories are a very important part of our culture. Telling those stories is our way of coping with things. Maybe someone out there will identify themselves with this situation. Maybe not. But there is one thing that we can all agree about. Stories are memory aids, instruction manuals and moral compasses. It is a nice quote. They harden us, they make us think, sometimes they make us cautious and weary and some other times they make us smile and look on the bright side of things. And even if the storyteller does not intend to, ALL stories teach. They bind us together. What is your story?

Goodnight Sweden...For I am free.

Bonus post #2: Put your faith in the light

Don't be a prisoner! I am released!

A star cannot shine without darkness. After darkness the light always comes. The Earth and sky blend into one, shinning bright. It will banish your fears, it will send you only sweet peaceful dreams that are palpable and you can nearly touch them.

It is really easy to be consumed in darkness. I guess a bit more when you live in a place like Sweden! Apparently a one night stand can last for 6 months here! Joking aside, I seem not to be able to let go of these bonus posts, at least every once in a while.

I was lost in the dark for a few months now. Instead of watching the sun being plunged into the sea and splashing the waves with the most beautiful unique crimson red color I was watching it plummet and get devoured by the dark. But no more. This is my ascension. This is my story. My last post was about faith and compassion and love. This post is about being ruthless and selfish.

A few years ago I learned not to trust people. Trust for me is the building block of the human soul. It is like water and food for me. In order for something to be successful you need to base it on trust and with collaboration, love and caring this trust grows into a snowball, a wrecking ball that gathers momentum and can break the toughest of walls and blow them into a thousand tiny pieces.

During those 2 years from 2012-2014 I became a shadow of my former self. I was on a quest to find out who I was and what I wanted in life. Then I took the decision to move to Sweden, a decision that is the best I made in my life even though the honeymoon is over and I have my own problems. But as I rose from the ashes of my own fire I realized recently that if trust gets broken, if trust gets shattered then how do you rebuild it? How do you allow yourself to love or trust people again, merely because of your own memories? Do you still try? Or do you cut all ties with that memory like a rotten limb?

The difference with me and some other people is that I accept my past. It takes me a while but I embrace it. This time I took it much better than 3 years ago. I will not give my past the finger and forget, because that is what a fool does. A smart person will forgive but not forget and they will move on. Sometimes you cry a lot for a reason, but when that reason is over or that little hope you had is extinguished then you have no reason to cry anymore. Through difficult situations you also see who is next to you and who truly cares about you. No matter how far they are and no matter which distant land they reside in, be it Greece, Portugal or Finland and Cyprus they can still send you their positive energy.

When I was little I had this lust and passion for revenge when something bad happened. Some attribute this to my astrological sign, the scorpio. But not anymore. We have a saying back home: "Ρόδα είναι και γυρίζει" which translates to: "It is a wheel and it spins". That means that the wheel spins and it will lead us to new ways, new roads and new paths, because life is like that wheel, it makes its circle. But the fact that the wheel spins around does not mean that your cheating loved one will come back at your door one day or your backstabbing friend will get what he deserves. No, don't be a hater. Don't give them more value. Be the light in the darkness and do not wait for people that left you because you will spend a whole life waiting for them to return. Live for now, live for after. Put your faith in the light.

I have done mistakes in my life. But I always confronted my fears and tried to be completely honest about things, even though they could hurt me more. And I am damn proud of that. I am the shinning light and the heartbeat of a true heart. And when You, whoever you are, that has left me, treated me badly, treated me with disrespect or toyed with my feelings or trust decide to come back, to talk again, to apologize, I will forgive you. No, I have already forgiven you.

And I am already starting to shine.

Bonus post: I am the heartbeat of a true heart

I have a few different values in my life. I want to live a decent life. I want to work instead of studying. I want to have a nice family without crazy things. I am not your average party drinker. I will rather cuddle with my partner in the couch rather than getting those moves done on a dirty dancefloor. I learned to be honest even if it means my punishment. I learned to love unconditionally, even though I said I will never do that after my first heartbreak. I told my self that I will never cry for a woman before, yet I did it again and again, crying for months. For months i bled dry, both from my heart, from my soul, my mood and my eyes. But I did not care. For I rather be emotional and true to my self and not emotionally shallow.

I loved someone with all my heart. In the beginning I didn't show it, there were complications. So the person got psychologically tired while i plummeted into free-fall in the depths of depression day by day. In the end she had enough. She switched off at the point where I was about to make things right. To do what she asked me to do and live an eternal life of passion, love and caring with her. I started to think of a place for us to stay together and it almost came into fruition. Oh I felt so good that day! I was powered by love, the most gentle and pure sentiment. And she broke down. Torn apart from the weight of her own classes and the added weight of what she called love to me and inability to commit at that point she shut down. She shut down like a steel trap-door, trapping everything inside and leaving me in my own prison. These days I felt like I was Stanley in the Stanley Parable for all you game nerds. Living in an empty world where everything else has vanished.

The girl needed time. She said she could not make the choice. To be or not to be with me. The girl that unconditionally loved me had to make a choice if she would be with me. Staggered I started crying for days. Once we met and I gave her my heart on a plate along with some things. But nothing. That day I cried so much I could not breath, that my eyes were gushing red from pain, that my lips were so sore like I was in the desert for days. My stomach instead of butterflies was filled with rocks crushing the butterflies. My heart was being pierced every second. I prayed to god to give me strength. He didn't. I need to find my own strength.

When a girl you are ready to die for asks you for time it can mean a few things. It can mean she indeed has other problems. It can mean that she found someone else. It can mean that you destroyed her trust before. It can mean that she never loved you as much as she said. Don't make scenarios.

In my opinion you should give her time and move on with your own things. It is as a friend of mine said recently:

Always..fill your life with exclamation marks..!!

But..you can put a dot..where it is needed..!!

When there are many question-marks..leave a blank line..and move on!!

Put in a parenthesis..what you need..!!

And when a chapter ends...don't hesitate..

TO TURN THE PAGE..

What that means is simple. The girl asks for your time. If you are sure that your emotions and feelings towards her and you previously did everything you had to do, like say your feelings, be sincere and honest then you have nothing to fear. When she finally takes her time, if that is what she needs at least, she will come back. She will come back to the person that showed her unconditional love and passion. That felt freedom only in his tight hug. There is nothing to think after that. If she really loved you she will come back. Just be yourself and be happy. Move on and do other things to make you happy. Don't cling on to that hope. If your feelings are also genuine keep them somewhere close to your heart so if she comes back you can shower her with what she hopefully missed. Because you my dear reader. If you felt like I did and you identified yourself with this text. Then you are worth it. YOU ARE THE CATCH. And if she is a little diamond like my girl was, it will be like alchemy and turn everything into gold.

You will feel her passion coming out of her skin pores and she will feel yours. You will both transcend into a nirvana that was felt when I kissed her that day. It was the purest thing I had felt. The most important in life. When you kiss someone and you know that you want to grow old with him/her. I bled for weeks, but I would not change that feeling for anything in the world. For I have witnessed true love. Thankfully more than once.

But the saying also says one more thing. If she does not come back, or if she takes too long for you to handle my friend, do not be afraid to move forward. Life is short. You do your part. You give her the time, you grow personally and you focus on being happy. And if she is really the one you want, like how I wanted her she will come back. And you will love her forever. She will be the mother of your kids. You will be there to guard her every night in bed and keep her safe. If she doesn't..maybe her love was not strong enough, maybe she was unsure, maybe she had other things in her mind. Don't think about that. Think about what makes you happy. Sometimes the answer will be that SHE makes you happy. But there are more things than that. Focus on them for a bit.

A broken heart takes a while to mend. I once made a drawing about that. I gave it to her and it read "Everything is possible". It had a heart broke in half that was mended with stitches. Don't despair, who that reads these lines. Everything will be alright. I feel you. We can do it together. And when you are unshackled you will be happy that you lived through this. You will be happy that you tasted true love. And if she is chooses to live this dream with you, you will both explode and ride the rockets to the stars.

I promised I will be waiting NiSaKi. I remember that promise.

Goodnight Sweden, goodnight young and old lovers of the world. I love you all as well.

This is my story

This is it my friends. This is the end. Not for me, this is just the beginning here. Great things are looming on the horizon. A horizon and sunlight that becomes smaller and smaller here in Sweden. Winter is upon us and the morning and evening fogs cover my neighborhood like a mystic silent-hill velvet. 

One and a half year after opening this blog I went through constant up and downs. I suffered emotionally, I had great times, I grew as a person and a researcher. I wrote most of my feelings here, but many of them are still and shall remain unspoken. 30.000 views later it is time to put a dot and end this experience, as my "honeymoon" with Sweden has ended.

Let's make a quick recap of what happened the last 30-45 days first. I had a ton of assignments. Literally a ton. I managed to power through all of them. I went to a boat trip on the Aland islands in the Bothnian Gulf. I went to Finland for a week where I met my soon-to-be co-supervisor on my professional master thesis. I went through economic turmoil yet I remained strong. I had insomnia for a few days. I slept like a vampire. I watched twitch more than I should have. I also went to a Stockholm nightclub which was one of the most pathetic experiences I had in my recent life. Drunk people, rude people, tryhards and beta males and interestingly enough, greek music in the toilets.

Another interesting thing is the career fair I attended here a few days ago. I met all sorts of companies like Boliden and WSP. WSP seem interested in me and invited me for a meeting at their offices. I expect this to be a nice learning experience. In my opinion they had the best booth and people there.

I was completely disappointed in one of my courses and in particular the teaching. But I have written what has to be written in the course evaluation. I was stinging, but constructive and reasonable. I also finally managed to open my bank at SEB after months of trying. Tonight we went at Holger's place and we watched 6 hours of shitty youtube videos, which was a nice escape from the gloomy room chocking the life out of me at times. Remember, we built this city on rock n' roll.

I should thank anyone that supported my blog or at least my effort. I tried sharing, liking, begging, asking for help and sometimes it came, sometimes not. I could not make it grow the way I wanted to. I really wanted to be the voice of Uppsala. Of Sweden. Maybe why not the world. Don't get me wrong, 30000 views is a huge number. But after the first few months here I saw that the views went up only when I hanged out with exchange students and tagged them on Facebook. But that is not the way I wanted it anymore.

I want to thank Claire for being the awesome person that she is and always supported me. Jasper for his contributions in some posts. Jaime for laughing at my horrible jokes here. Even a certain individual that along with moments of joy has left my inner soul into tatters and ultimate confusion. I guess I should also thank all the perverts that have searched for ridiculous words and found my blog for some reason. Like the latest pervert from Russia last month that did a google search for "women sticking cow dicks in". I kid you not. I love you all. And many more.

But there is either no content, interesting thoughts or motivation to keep this up. People seem to prefer watching cat videos or photos taken in Greek nightclubs. And I don't blame them, I do it myself! (the first part)

This is my story. It will go the way I want. Outside the dream world, life can be harsh. Even cruel, but it is life. And I will deal with whatever she throws at me. Love is a strange thing as well. But I am not going to talk about that. You can all go read some of my few posts in the beginning that explain a lot. Oh, I forgot to thank Sandie Will and Sara Dolatshahi, two amazing women that gave me an interview on Nuclear Power and Geology. You can find them here as well.

If you have a message, by all means comment here or hit me up on my facebook. Just say that you read my blog!

So...I guess that's it...For a last time here, but not a last time in life....Goodnight Sweden!

The end of the World.

The Swedish Dream - Live your Myth in Sweden

Moi/Hej everyone.

It has been a while, whoever is left here might have been wondering what is happening. Well to be fair...not that much. I still have my moments, but the bubble of living the Swedish Dream is about to burst. Mostly because of reality checks, my uncertain future in many aspects, as well as my inability to force myself to learn the language yet.

My problem in writing in this blog is twofold. First of all I have studying and 5 courses running on the same time. This along with the economic factor impacts me greatly. I practically have no social life apart from eating ribs that have absolutely no meat from Jaime's barbecues and watching him die from zombies and the Gas-Masked Man in Dying Light while playing on about 2.5 FPS.

How about I write for once how things are going on in Sweden or what actually happened for a change?

One day a took a ferry. I took a ferry at 7:45 am from Stockholm, which meant I had to be there at 7 and wake up at 4:30. I decided to do that the previous night and before I could think about it I found myself in a Viking Line ferry to the Aland Islands and Turku. I felt intimidated in the beginning because I heard stories about dozens of drunk idiotic teenagers that caused mayhem. I ended up having to take a cab to the ferry but it was alright, now I know how to get there again.

The average age on the ship was not as expected. I expected something like 18-30. But it was more like 75ish. I kid you not. The moment those pesky tourist Bangladeshians got off the boat at the Alands the age just kept going up and up. Even the dog I met there was 11 years old (77 human years). Those tourists kept asking for weird info in the reception and I can only commend the poor Finnish guy at the helping desk for his calm as I would have thrown them overboard and yelled "Yarr".

I had my fun and solved a lot of cases in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney as 11 hours were too many at some point. And after a couple of days I returned. Same situation, better weather as I went outside and relaxed gazing at the beautiful Swedish archipelago. I took a bunch of pictures but the best one came in Stockholm as I was walking my way back to the Central station.

I absolutely love this city.

I also applied for 2 scholarships. I am about to visit a kennel of Irish Setters. I have 5 courses and 2 of them are really weird. One of them is actually run by students. Last time me and Ebba drew dead fishes there.

Things like this. Ebba was impressed.

I finally got things moving with my thesis. This is a big step for me and I am awaiting anxiously about further news from my Finnish connection in Turku. It has also been a topic of uncertainty and great personal stress to me for various reasons. The land of tears is mysterious and I keep finding myself there. In another course we were asked to split in groups and make a Wikipedia page. 40 people are in the class and 37 are Swedish. Me, Shahar and Fabian are the only internationals it seems. Guess who I got paired with because everyone has their own "favorites". Sweden's multiculturalism is a blatant lie and it is as easy as getting to Canada without a visa unless you speak the local language like a native. Even the teacher started giving the lectures in Swedish before I politely told him to speak English, in an ENGLISH speaking class.

I started eating healthy and not wasting food as much as I can. I am drinking milk, eating salads and trying a bunch of new things. I am also seeing a lot of weird posts by people on Facebook that are really creepy and makes me wonder how many psychopaths walk among us. Maybe I am one myself.

I am not sure if and when I will write again. I am done asking for shares, likes, comments as they have dried as much as my posts lately. I was thinking of transforming it or making a new one and actually be helpful, like making it into an actual hydrology teaching place. We will see what time brings.

Until next time...hyvää yötä, мы будем говорить, vi ses och vi hors, je vous aimes tous και όνειρα γλυκά. 6 languages in all their glory. Puss och kram.

Creating a sustainable future by educating the ones in power first?

 You can read the original publication on my LinkedIn profile.

Where do you begin when you want to talk about creating a sustainable future for everyone? One that involves applying the Doughnut strategy correctly and creating a fist of people that will strive towards a sustainable use of the planet’s resources, eradicating poverty and supplying social justice and a decent quality of life instead of going guns blazing with a new World War 3 being just a blink of an eye away from us?

The doughnut concept is fairly simple as a conception. There is the socially acceptable border, below which conditions are unacceptable for human beings and includes hunger, lack of water supply and sanitation etcetera and the environmental border, above which each and every available resource is stressed and leads to various catastrophic or irreversible actions. Between these two borders then lies the optimum spot for human and socio-economic growth, one that if achieved, humans will develop and prosper while caring for the environment as much as they do for each other and live a quality life.

I have seen a lot of things in my life. I have lived a life of deprivations, depression, civil war-like atmosphere and I can indeed tell you that when you live in conditions like these, when you cannot even cover the basics, you hardly care about the environment. You do not think about the environment. You just want water, you just want food. The only difference is that at that point you will not care about a fancy car or a private jet, or fancy clothes that were produced by hard-working underpaid children in a 3rd World country.

When you look at the articles, you see that they directly “blame” the lifestyle of the rich. And that is blatantly true to me. The real power lies in the rich and powerful people that influence decisions and have done so for centuries, maybe thousands of years. The truth is that with the global economic recession the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. There are too many factors affecting every decision that lie into politics and money, at least that is what I think.

Last semester I did a wonderful research paper regarding the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. It was tied to the expansion of various coal factories especially in the dreaded Abbot Point. The Australian government and the local government of Queensland has identified all the risks and has confirmed the incredible degradation of the GBR through publishing extensive and really detailed reports that underline the problems and propose solutions. On the same time though, they allow actions like these to go through because the economy is so fragile, they need to keep people employed and create opportunities (and whether we like it or not, these expansions create jobs in an already stressed economy). And then most of the coal is exported to the world’s biggest coal user, China. In the end, politics and money talk. I would rather not talk about the tobacco industry as well; a simple YouTube video on Phillip Morris is enough to open your eyes.

So is everything grim? Nothing can be done?

There are always solutions. The world needs to be a fist and led by some exceptional and inspirational people, such as the water laureate winner of the World Water Week 2015 Rajendra Singh, who brought water and sanitation to so many people in India and dedicated his life to battling poverty and eradicating social injustice. I quote him because I had the honor to meet him and his wife personally when I was volunteering there.

So while the rich people are getting richer and have “nested” in the rich parts of the world what happens to that huge percentage that are underfed, have no clean water or sanitation and barely hang on life with prehistoric traditions afraid of change?

I agree with the articles I read that poverty must be eradicated in order to create a sustainable future for everyone. However nobody talked about how this can be achieved. From the World Water Week (WWW) I have learned some important lessons.

First of all, building trust and integrity and establishing a connection between people and governments is vital to the success of this project. If the people have no trust in their own government and their life is full of suspicion how can they embrace change and believe that these changes will lead to a better life? And on the other hand, if the people in power sever that trust by acting dishonorably with their own private agendas how can someone expect them to eradicate social injustice?

Secondly and most importantly, I think the most important thing is education. I cannot stress enough how important it is for people to be educated and undergo careful behavioral change. In order to promote sanitation for people in Africa (for example), one has to take into account behavioral change. People in Nigeria have always lived in the “wild” and it is imprinted for them to defecate in the open instead of a toilet in the house, because they have the behavior that “one does not defecate where he lives”. There is no international guideline that universally works. Cultural and behavioral differences MUST be taken into account when applying actions or making decisions.

Thankfully there are wonderful organizations such as NIRAS, WaterAid and NGO’s all over the world that promote this kind of change and this has brought education about WASH in both Africa and Asia to many poverty stricken countries where social injustice and disparities between the upper and lower class are of titanic proportions.

My next comment is on inequality. Wow where do you even begin on this one? The status of women varies immeasurably all over the world and it is pathetic and sad to see the state we live in while we are in the 21st century. Talking about salary differences between women and men is ridiculous at this point, but also not a topic that needs to be neglected. I have met and seen many powerful women that drive change and are a grace for society. We will get there one day. I trust in humans and looking back just 100 years can show the leaps we have made in progress. From black people considered slaves, to women not being able to drive or vote, I believe that together we can slowly progress and be a unified equal society one day.

But the most blatant and unacceptable issues persist in uneducated, illiterate areas or countries with deep traditions that really need to change if we are to live in the doughnut. Women being considered only breeding material, unable to express themselves or being god forbid stoned to death, pushed off rooftops, having arranged marriages and having no social status is completely unacceptable.

I also don’t like fanatics. People of both sides like pro-green or anti-green, extreme rights or extreme lefts. There is nothing wrong in having passion in what you do but there is a point where you take it too far and then you forget about dialogue and diplomatic solutions. For example I remember last year when Green Peace went into Peru to protest about the energy summit they destroyed the Nazca lines by mistake, a sacred piece of Peruvian history created over 1500-2000 years ago because they did not know yet they did it.

I could go on and on after all the things I read in these articles. Everything that the author said was correct and the doughnut appears to be a distant utopia right now. However I want to leave you all with a question. Since the rich have the power and should be the driving force behind this change that will create a sustainable future much talk has been done regarding educating the poor developing countries. Instead, who says that they are not that ones in need of education? Why don’t they or their governments or whomever is in charge freeze for a second and think:

“Wait a minute, I have the power, I try to promote sustainability and eradicate poverty and injustice, yet I eat more than I need to, I spend more than I need to, I waste food and energy and I do all these activities that stress the environment and our planet.”

Source: Ramsworth, Kate (2012), 'A Safe and Just Space for Humanity,' Oxfam Discussion Paper
 

World Water Week 2015 summary - The Phantom Pain

Hej everyone!

Don't be tricked by The Phantom Pain mentions as I will not talk in detail about the latest Metal Gear game. It is about some of my own thoughts.

It has been a while since the latest post that featured my involvement in the amazing World Water Week 2015 as a volunteer. The last 2 days of that week were way more relaxed compared to the huge influx of people that flocked in the venue in the first 3 days. It still had a lot of standing still and smiling and being helpful and having an awesome time while people said hi on your way back to the train station while not on duty simply because they recognized your face.

On that last Friday i worked in the closing ceremony. I had prepared a small handwritten letter that was for everyone in the SIWI staff to read along with some greek pasteli, a very famous, healthy delight from Kalamata. I still remember how Sofia Widforss hugged me that day with a huge smile on her face. I want to personally thank Irina, Erik, Adrian, Darius, Gabriella, Yvonne for this awesome opportunity.

What was the result of all of this? Well for starters i don't think there is a better opportunity to meet and network with people than such a conference. I met important people from all over the world, CEOs from Sweco, i got invited to the Finnish Environment Institute and hopefully that will lead to work one day.

This past week has been a mixed bag. I started my new courses and that marks an important period in my life, since it is the last academic semester where i will have actual courses, not counting the master  thesis as one. Some of them have become increasingly weird and involve a lot of drawing and sketching.

Well, that is a course about sustainability.

On the positive note i had quite some fun, i met many new people, students that i have been contacting through the phone to welcome them in their new master's, working a bit in student nations wearing pink shirts, going out for amazing food and walks and a lot of shopping. A lot of shopping. I also visited Jaime's family and they invited me for dinner and they scared another certain individual that got scarred for life from over-socializing Mediterraneans :D

When it comes to the pain, i have actually been watching Big Boss's latest adventure. In fact i am watching the uknighted twitch stream right now with Drk whining about the conclusion to the series. Please support them if you like the series. They are running an awesome 500+ hour marathon which is completely insane!

Other than that i have had several internal conflicts i had to handle this past 2-3 weeks. I can only imagine how hard it is for the other affected people as well. It is that fragile point where you don't want to hurt anyone but it happens whether you like it or not. And then all that trust and integrity goes to hell and it all spirals down in a ghostly pain that eats you from the inside.

It will all be fine. I just wanted to keep writing a bit today. I am alone at home now. Hopefully now that i am starting to recover i will have more interesting things to say or do. I was hopping to make a tour of all the student nations and write a small review about them. That will depend on my workload and my mood really. I still wonder how i keep going but whether i like it or not this blog has survived for 1.5 year now.

Until next time, stay tuned! En stor kram dear friends!

World Water Week 2015 - Being the face of SIWI

Since i arrived in Sweden last Wednesday everything has been like a snowball, moving forward and gaining momentum like a fist ready to punch through concrete. I did not imagine in my wildest dreams on May 21st this year what would happen during the World Water Week 2015 where i was selected from the cream of the crop of applicants to be an ambassador for Sweden and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) from the 23rd of August until the 28th.

Norra Latin, one of the two main buildings of the conference.

As i arrived last Saturday for the meeting of the volunteers and the staff of SIWI i knew something special was brewing. We were briefed for 3 hours about our duties and given a quick look of the premises which consisted of two main buildings, Norra Latin and Folkets Hus. It is a change of venue from the previous years and a welcome change for the 25th anniversary of the World Water Week conference that has been held since 1991.

We would host important people like ministers from all over the world and Africa, the prime minister of the Marshall Islands and Jordan, the prime minister of Sweden and mayor of Stockholm and the Water Laurette Winner from India. Who is a fantastic person i might add.

The exhibition area with a lovely view near the fountain.

Sunday came and we got off on a flying start. I held my posts proudly and with an aura of positivity that accompanied my never ending beaming smile. I was strutting around assisting people, saying hi and chatting with them in every opportunity. 3500 people registered for the event and i have talked to most of them and it still staggers me that i can remember so many faces and names.

The volunteers are awesome people from all over the world. Africa, Mexico, USA, Spain, Germany, Sweden, the UK and other amazing countries. I have met and talked with most of them and everyone is so warm and receptive, though i probably look a little bit odd to them. But i am Mediterranean, that is what i am supposed to do right?!

Long story short until today i have been snowballing relentlessly with every day being better than the previous one. My confidence is building so much and i have made valuable friends everywhere. From my partner in crime in shitty jokes Amanda to Clair from the Australian Murray-Darling Basin and everyone in the Finnish Ministry booth. Today we had some wonderful chat with Nynke and special credit goes to Esther for the fancy outfit she wore today and the awesome pictures we took with important people.

Left to right - Yvonne, Amanda, AwesomeMe, Anna, Constantin and Nynke.

My most valuable memories are so many it would take me hours to write them all down. It has been an engrossing and immersing experience that i recommend to everyone. Not only you network and improve your visibility to the job market but you also assist in a great cause, whether it is for water, for land, for poverty or for sustainability.

I met a managing director in Sweco that sent me an SMS with her details, i got an invite to the Finnish Environment Institute and have won the affection of everyone and that makes me so unbelievably happy that i cannot express myself right now. A whirlwind of emotions has taken over me and even though i am tired from commuting every day from 5 am from Uppsala to Stockholm i am able to find the strength to power through and give my best self as the image of SIWI.

And i haven't even talked about the SIWI staff yet. The other day Gabriella, the woman in charge of the logistics came to me in the SIWI sofa booth and told me that everyone loves me, from staff to people. I felt such joy and pride that i completely forgot how sore my feet were. Irina, the project organizer is always so busy yet she approached me today and remembered i speak Russian and we had a wonderful exchange of words. Ingrid is a Duracell-Powered robot that never runs out of battery and she walks from end to end managing and fixing things. Erik, Adrian, Sofia are more busy people that we don't talk to them so often but they are always approachable and receptive. Lastly there is Yvonne, the event and volunteer coordinator who even though i know her for like 4 days i would stick my neck out for her blindfolded. She is awesome and deserves credit. WWW is her baby too.

Did someone say the city hall is made of PURE gold?!

I can go on and on and on. I can talk about the people i met from HSBC and their work with WWF, WaterAid and Earthwatch or about the wonderful Finnish lady Oona Rautiainen, a junior expert in the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Finland treating me with unprecedented respect and friendliness.

And the best thing of them all is i never asked them for anything. I just was myself, doing my job and always smiling. I seized my chance by the hair. You can do it too! Volunteer for anything you can! Volunteer for WWW 2016! In the meantime my flatmates have arrived, Dimitra with a lot of Tsipouro and Ruta with a lot of Harry Potter lizard jokes. Oh lets not forget Marta. Her memory is getting worse. Sort of like the Greek economy to quantify it.

I will go die now as i am in dire need of rest and as usual i work tomorrow. I will keep you updated!

Until next time, Goodnight Sverige, Goodnight World!

My job hunting experience as a new graduate

This is a post i wrote for LinkedIn and thought I should share it here too. Feel free to connect with me there too. Here is the original post.

 

Well first of all i want to say i love Sweden and Finland. Starting this new post invited me to bring it to life with a picture. I could not find a better picture than the one i took in Levi - Finland last Christmas.

Levi - Finnish Laplands.

Who am I? I am Kostas, an environmental engineer from Greece and a soon-to-be hydrogeologist. I moved to Sweden last year and it has been the best decision of my life. I have instilled in me the swedish values but i always keep that fiery Mediterranean personality within me.

I have been reading and reading posts around here about everything. From depression, to burnout, to mentors to how to land the job of your dreams. But most of them have been from the experienced person's perspective, one that has worked their way up the ladder for years, sometimes decades and share their stories with us. This is my take on job hunting, CVs and keeping that motivation high as a "new" graduate.

1. Know what you want.

This is the most fundamental advice I can give for someone that is starting or confused on how to proceed. You see, when you have a clear goal and you really want something your brain will automatically begin to formulate a plot and a plan how to achieve this target. We live in an age of great economic depression and I come from a country that the jobs are scarce and the salaries are not enough even for the basic needs of a family. However that does not mean that i will compromise and pick up any job that will not make me happy or just to get some experience. When i look at a position i always research the respective company to see if its values match mine and my aspirations for the future. This way they can get the most out of me and in return they will have a loyal, HAPPY productive and efficient worker.

2. Be a man/woman of action, not just a keyboard warrior or full of words.

When i decided i would move to Sweden to restart my life and kick-start my career it was a decision. I immediately put things into action. I didn't stall, I didn't think about it a lot, I just did what had to be done. Being decisive and taking action is a valuable quality that is also requested in many roles wherever you apply.

Fear of failure is hard to overcome sometimes, but it is the same such as approach anxiety for men. When a man hesitates to directly approach an interesting female for example approach anxiety creeps in and they don't do it, for the reason that they fear rejection and failure. Then they think about the possible scenarios and outcomes and even rehearse endless lines in their head. But in the end they just don't do it. This is a vague example but it could not be more real and comparable as when you have to make a really important life choice you think the same way. Or you could have the attitude of "What am I going to accomplish?".

Change your way of thinking. You are awesome. You are unique. And you can do everything you ever wanted.

3. Have the right attitude.
It is a fact that companies hire people on skills and fire them on attitude. Kudos to Rintu Basu for that phrase. Companies indeed dread to hire the wrong person as it involves so much problem to hire them, fire them, picking their replacement, paperwork and compensations. It is a nightmare. I have fired people in my own company, believe me I know very well.
Developing the right mindset is SO important. It begins with tip number 1 up there. And it continues to the job hunt, CV and later the interview stage. There are 3 types of attitude and 2 of them will not work for you. Period.

• The defeated candidate: So here enters a prospective candidate for the job. He slouches, he does not look you in the eye, he literally begs for the job. He is not confident and he just looks defeated from the moment he enters the door. Would you hire him and trust him with your valuable position?
• The arrogant candidate: Then the other type enters. He is overconfident with a big ego, thinks that he is king of the world and has a swagger about him that smells clash and tough exchanges. Remember, companies fire on attitude.
• The well balanced, confident candidate: Here is the real "meat" as we say in Greece. Imagine if someone enters the room and breathes enough confidence but not arrogance, he does not think that the interview is about himself and offers explanation, logical reasoning and answers based on facts about everything you throw at him using his CV and confident oral skills to take you by storm. Even if there are other people more qualified or experienced than him, I would give him a slight advantage. The interview is not about you or the interviewer. It is about the company and an exchange of values.

4. Research your target and blow their mind.

Step in the recruiters boots for a second. There is a fancy entry level job, or maybe a senior management role somewhere. There are 1000 applicants including you. The recruiter has to go through them, cut them to 100 tomorrow, then to the last 10 or 5 and then pick just 1 for one position. That is a 0.0001 chance for you to get the position. More like zero though with a generic CV or resume. Not only the applicants are many, but a lot of people will have better experience or grades than you. Here is where you can research properly and increase your chances exponentially. It might not land you the job, but believe me it WILL pay off dividends.

Say I am applying for that position in the company "I like turtles". I have been an avid turtle fan for years and this amazing position is what i wanted in life. To support, breed, love turtles. But so do another 999 people.

I immediately go in Google and type "I like turtles". The company website shows up. I look at that section that is called "About Us", or "Company Values". This is the key right here. You analyze what they say and keep all those "buzz words", like "creative, technically minded, gifted, experienced, humanitarian". Then  you incorporate them in your CV/resume and cover letter. It is a form of NLP that will immediately get them to notice you and maybe review your qualifications again. To make them stop in their tracks and believe that this job was meant for you. A recruiter will hardly look at an application for more than half a minute. They will look at yours.

5. The interview is not your enemy, it is your greatest ally.

Remember what we said about attitude and about what is the interview. It is about the company and how you can show them that you have everything they ask for. They are not in power of the interview, don't be mistaken. You can shift the balance of power with a simple question. "Why should I work for I like turtles? What do you provide that will make me select your company?".

Something along these lines. It is a fantastic type of question that puts the interviewer in the back foot trying to explain himself. You can pick up more buzz words here and use them later. Do not leave holes in your CV they will show up here. Be prepared and if you can, have facts and numbers. They love facts and numbers. It shows you are prepared and that you can back up your outrageous claims.

6. You have more experience than you think.

For the last part it is another thing that has picked my curiosity. Everyone asks for experience, but how can you get that experience if nobody will hire you in the first place. This is where you need to look in your past life. They ask for leadership and management but you were unemployed for 2 years? Maybe you ran that dog shelter or the local school band. Maybe you managed a football team or juggled between many hobbies while assisting the community and volunteered to do things others didn't.

On the same page is the next tip. When you are inexperienced in the required work-field it can actually be an advantage. You start of as a clean slate and you can be moulded into the company's values much easier. Once I started boxing at the same time with a guy that had training for 2 years prior to me. After another year I was in a higher level than him. I asked the coach why. And he replied:

"Because you started with nothing while he had been coached by someone else before that taught him wrong. It takes time to fix this. But you where a clean slate, pristine and it is much easier to teach someone like that".

So look in your past and try to come up with key achievements that match the job requests. Be prepared and use the buzz words and believe me with the right mindset you will ooze confidence and positivity and people will notice that.

Repeat after me: I can do everything!

5 Ways to Become A Better Writer - by Candice Larson

 Since i started blogging i always wanted to either interview other people or share their thoughts along with mine. It turns out i am luckier with women rather than men as most of my posts/interviews are with women! And that said, today i have another guest poster! Candice Larson decided to contact me as she does not have her own blog but she wanted to contribute and let her voice heard for people like you and me. Maybe you have hit a writer's block or a motivational dead end and she is here with 5 tips to keep you going. Because blogging is love, blogging is life! She also asked me to share her passion with the Australian Journalist Lisa Wilkinson. You can read more about here in her wikipedia page or simply visit her Twitter account!

5 Suggested Activities to Become A Better Writer

As a writer, it's only natural to get stuck every once in a while. You're likely to start feeling like you're just not cut out for the job, and you gradually back away until you realize that you're not even taking the time to write anymore. Well, how do you expect to get better at what you do that way? Before you start chucking out all your hard work, pause and decide if you still want to pursue writing. Once you've realized that yes, you do, then it's time to take the steps to becoming a better writer:

Keep writing.

Don't just quit writing, regardless of how bad you think your work is. Don't throw out the fruits of your labor, either. I'm not saying that you should hold on to what you believe is junk – you just need to think of all that as stepping stones to you as a better writer. Remember that sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better – and don't forget, it will get better eventually, as long as you keep practicing.

Proofread everything.

They say that you're a writer if you proofread every message you send or post – and the ones you receive or read as well. I don't know about you, but this is certainly true for me. I can hardly keep myself from correcting people whenever they make grammar mistakes. Instead of commenting on people's posts, you can simply take note of the errors that other people make. Find something to practice your editing skills on a blog piece of someone you know. Blog is a trending activity online and it’s easier if you start on that.

Start a journal for those private thoughts.

Keeping a journal is a great way to practice your writing skills. Jot down those innermost thoughts, describe your day, let out those pent-up feelings – use your journal to write whatever you want. Anything goes; it's still writing practice, after all.

Make reading a habit.

This may sound cliche but before becoming a writer, one starts to be a reader - not just a reader but a voracious one. I started reading a lot when I reached my 5th grade. I think that was when I had the chance to read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Right then and there, I realized that I love reading and I want to tell my story too. You see, reading makes one rich in terms of imagination, style, and vocabulary. As I constantly write, I have somehow develop my own style of writing to convey my message. Try reading now and you will be amazed how it can change your writing style.

Find time to relax and enjoy.

Writing is not about writing every minute or so, it requires a time to relax. It helps to freshen up your mind. If I feel like I don’t have anything helpful on my mind, I leave whatever I am writing and find something else that makes me relax and enjoy. Our mind needs to relax in able to regain more creative juices. I value relaxation so much for my writing activities, and fortunately, I think I am being more productive after doing something else. One of my favorite activities outside writing is watching news, sports, and entertainment. One of my favorite journalists is the Australian presenter Lisa Wilkinson, who is hosting the show Today. I just love how she presents the news or whatever is on her plate, and that I called an enjoyment outside writing.

So, you want to become a better writer, I suggest that you take time to these suggestions.

About the author:

Candice Larson is an occasional writer for The Fordham Company and other blogs, and juggles her time between working and attending graduate school. She likes to read, travel and write. Candice is also a coffee lover.

A state of decay

Stand up and take notice for a little bit. Look yourself in the mirror. Repeat after me:

"What are my goals in life? What is it that binds and defines me? Where do i see myself in 5-10 years and what is my purpose?"

Can you answer any of these questions? Most likely not. I was lucky to answer most of those questions early in my life however some where changing as life is a dynamic event. And here another question arises:

"Are we even remotely free?"

Countless of people around the globe would argue that we are not. What is democracy? What is freedom after all? To grow up, pay your taxes, go to school, work, work some more, retire and die? How democratic is it for people to state their opinions and let others decide what is better for you even if you are against that decision? And then they double cross you or they serve their own political agenda?

It is easy to get carried away and many of those things are most likely true. From the moment a human is conceived the sperm that fertilizes the egg effectively leads to the death of the others. Does that make us accomplishes to murder before we are even borne? We get thrown into this new world, this new age of technology and madness, where every human questions (or not) their own existance and battles for his own place in society while facing a monumental, daunting task for survival and reproduction.

In the end many of us have limitless abilities. But when you are raised poor, you self-suggest to yourself that you are destined to grow and die poor. Our subconsious is the most powerful tool we have or the most destructive one. It can lead men and women to madness, pain and eternal mental suffering. When you are faced with situations like these, such as domestic violence, poverty, war and famine it is too easy to get carried away and simply go with the flow, because this "feels normal".

Humans in such perilous situations have usually a crossroad. The first one is to stay in that endless long road like those american routes that you see in the movies that go as far as the eye can see. You live your normal life, satisfied or not with what you have, living in the routine enforced to you by your society, your family and your peers. And most of the times that life can be miserable. There are exceptions, some people love to work with their dad or the family business or they don't really have any dreams. Or maybe they do but when it is time to have a serious talk with yourself in order to achieve it they go like "nahhh i will do it another time" or "there is no way i can do it".

The other road is the one that leads somewhere. It has a start, a journey and then sometime you arrive in the fountain, the city, the clouds, have your pick. It is the one that you decide that you had enough and that you will be a man of action. That you are not the failure that your father or mother thinks you to be. That you can produce good and make a difference. Sometimes it means that you have to make sacrifices along the way but if it is your dream nobody should ever stand in your way. It is yours for a reason and you should pursue it with a burning desire. But here also lays a trap. Never forget your morals and ethics. Never cause harm to your fellow peers. Do more good than you are expected to do and more things and one day someone will recognize your good work and pay you back handsomely. The point is, because you were borne poor, you don't have to be poor for the rest of your life. Because your dad hit you and your mother you don't have to be a rapist, a murderer or a horrible father. Be the change. Do not fear them. Do not loathe them or hate them. Feel sorry for them instead.

Be a real man for a change not an asshole.

A few days ago my own father told us that he had raised up "two failures". I don't know if he meant that. I don't care if he meant that. All i know is that i have eluded the trap of taking it seriously and taking even a chunk out of my battle armor. It is so easy though. For example when you grow up as a youngling and you see your dad swearing at your mom or sister or others and physically abusing people it is engraved into your brain and DNA to behave like that. It feels "normal".

So instead of feeling that you have inherited the wrong, recessive genes embrace your DNA and your true self and let it shine. Last year i rebelled and took my life in my own hands even at the age of 26. I spread my wings. And this year i am going to take off and soar like an eagle as slowly everything clicks into gear. I will not tell you what my life plans are as i take it one step at a time.

In the meantime let me rott and die from the heatwave that amongst other things is hitting Greece like a sledgehammer right now while you enjoy your amazing rain and cold in Sweden and Finland <3

Until next time, goonight Sweden!

Hanging in there - Halfway home

Well there are two things that float inside my head for the past weeks.

First of all: I am indestructible. I was built to endure anything in this life and nothing will ever break me. Sure you might bend me at times, but i am made of memory shape alloy and i will return to my former self slowly. I have progressed so much this year. I found a job to keep me floating around, i found another one as well in Norwegian Air.  so that means i am taking the correct steps, or that i am doing things correctly and it is being recognized. I am destined for success and when the opportunity arrives i will seize it. Overconfidence? Maybe. Inner belief? Definitely.

Secondly: I was correct about everything in my last post. Like everything. But if you are not thick headed and you look at things from a wider perspective putting fanaticism aside what would you conclude anyways? The Greek government decided to bend over and take the new incredibly strict financial measures that the Europeans requested and now they are fighting internally with elections looming over our heads on September. And all i can think off is leaving for my beloved Sweden on August 19th again. Not only that but as i said if you go through my post, you will see that the new measures are double as harsh as the ones before the public voting. Instead of 8 billion regulations we ended up with 15. In the end the public voting was a NO to the "easier" measures and YES to stricter ones.

And as a parenthesis here, i have to thank Jaime and his family for feeding me a lot of rice during the year and his mom that had just kind words to say about me.

Where do we go from here? I can share some stories about the things that go around in Greece which i most likely will do until i move back to Sweden again. I think i might also start writing a book that could be called "A Mediterranean's guide to survival and blending in in Sweden". Regarding the future of this blog i am still looking for guest posters of course. Let's make it a global voice and a multinational multicultural place where everyone can share their stories. When i am financially more independent i want to be able to cover more events in Uppsala and show once more the vibrant fantastic nightlife that was evident during my first months there. Because lately, this has become something more, something personal. But i guess its the true quest for happiness and inner searching.

On to what i have been going through the past 3 weeks. Well apart from working all day i decided last week to reopen a new chapter in my life. I started going to the gym again and in boxing classes. I want to get my former self back and i hope i can continue this in Uppsala. I am going there daily and pressuring myself and i already feel more energetic physically but also a bit more stressed due to the extreme workouts. Today i took a day off to reinvigorate my body and soul. It is strange how people "forget" you over the years though right?...After training for a few days i realized how weak i feel compared to the previous years where i could go for rounds and rounds of moving and dancing and punching and kicking relentlessly. But i will persevere and get there again. Impossible is nothing, repeat that.

On Friday i decided to visit Vangelis in Athens for a few days. We originally met in the army and we usually went out on our days off to have fun and talk to women. I slept a bit in the afternoon and begun my journey to meet him outside the metro station in Euangelismos. We met and started to catch up a bit talking about things and how life has changed over the past year that i am gone. We went to Xalandri to meet some of his friends in this gourmet eating place located in a yard with all different kinds of stuff to eat and try. They were alright but a bit too "cultural" for me. I remember when i asked him if he wants water while pouring a lot of white wine in his glass. It was transparent and when i tried to taste it i understood i might have made a mistake. In any case we shared a huge laugh. Another nice guy Alexandros was there with a girl and another older couple. We had our fun for some hours and we decided to go out later in a real shithole called Gazi. The first night clubbing was a disappointment both in music and people perspective. Around 4 am i felt like my energy completely evaporated, i felt old and i went back home. We met an irritating girl called Xristina who i tried to avoid like the plague and her friend was dancing relentlessly like a Duracell battery.

Let the good times roll.

The second day was funny. It was a boys night out. Me, Vangelis, Alexandros and a crazy russian greek guy Pavlos went out around 11:30 in a nice bar called Tranzistor close to Monastiraki. It was full of people of different kinds and looks and the music was not too shabby either. Two girls were sitting next to us and i thought of making a move for my friends there but they did it later by themselves. In the process i also met a nice girl from France called Emily. I asked him where is she from and she replied "from everywhere". She travels and makes documentaries about things in her blog Travel and Film. If you know french or can go through Google translate it is worth checking it out.

That is all really. I just want to write about a last thing that irritates me greatly. During my stay in Athens there was supposed to be the vote for the new measures and reforming of the government. "Suddenly" wildfires started to sprout like mushrooms all over the country and in the usual mountain of Ymmitos. With my innocent mind i just think that maybe "cough" some nice people did it on purpose to take our minds off the political scene and think about something else. This country is rotten to the backbone and eats itself from the inside. I might sound cruel, but i urge all new young people that are trying to find their place in the world to leave and go study and work somewhere were they will respected instead of bash by their own homeland. Harsh isn't it? That is what has been going on though for the past decade and i do not think it will slow down any soon as there is a massive exodus of people like me.

Until next time, goodnight Sweden, We will meet again soon.

 

Greece time zero - Ελλάδα ώρα μηδέν

For the first 20 years of my life i was living in a normal, casual corrupted country ready to burst at any time. But nobody cared, because money and jobs existed and everyone was happy enough. We did complain, but that's what we always do even when things are going our way. Jaime knows well about it as it is the Portuguese way too.

For the next 5 years between my 20th and 25th birthday things deteriorated greatly with the World economic crisis hitting markets all over the world hard like the hammer of the gods. Economies like Germany, the USA, Australia, the magnificent island of Iceland (though it is more complicated than that) endured or recovered, while countries in the Balcans, Greece, Spain, Portugal or any country with good weather left behind charred ground, ashes and flesh and bones. Until 2010 things were grim and the looked to get worse but nothing could prepare us for what was about to come.

2010 is the landmark, a monumental year that set the pace for what was about to follow. What was that? It was said on tv the other day and i was thinking about it for a long time now. We were beginning to become the first African country in Europe. And finally we succeeded this past week. Back then our amazing president of PASOK (Hellenic Socialistic Movement or short for sticking a pineapple without lubrication in your anus) Andreas Papandreou, a fossil with a mustache that succeeded the other beach whale of a prime minister we had after some assassination plan decided that in order to recover from this nightmare was to make everyone unemployed, cut salaries to a bare minimum and more by agreeing with the IMF (International Moneytary Fund) for massive loans of billions of euros that had a renewable agreement and payments or installments had to be met in specific deadlines every few months. So these cuts and strict measures were vital according to the bald mouthpiece that everyone over 40 voted for prime minister as you know, 1.6 billion euros have to be gathered by the people that receive 400 euros per month, not the lunatics and troglodytes that have been bleeding this country since 1827 that earn 2.000+ per month.

M for Malakas.

Of course people started to be extremely angry and as a premature ejaculator Mr. Papandreou called for premature national elections. And he took the boulo*. For the meaning of the phrases with an asterisk refer to the Appendix in the end of the page, as today i am also going to educate you in greek phrases that make no sense to other people, but mean a lot for us.

Still following? Great. He was overthrown with a significant amount of people that were also usually over 50 by this interesting idiot from a village 30 minutes from me. His name is Antonios Samaras and he resigned yesterday. He was the newly elected member of the previous government's political party Nea Dimokratia which literaly means "New Democracy". If democracy is like that then i am a chechen autonomist. He was responsible for managing the transition to becoming Zimbambwe until 2015 and he did great. He also promised free wi-fi to everyone but when he resigned he forgot to give us the WEP keys. What a pity. In any case he agreed with the IMF for more strict measures, though in some cases you could say that even though we had that pineapple in our ass everyday at least some things were stable, like the banks were working and there was decent cash flow running around the veins of this country.

"I really tried and i managed to bring a smaller cucumber.."

And finally from January of 2015 until last week in June 2015 the transition to Zimbambwe was complete. The Greek people had enough and felt a change was needed. This change was brewing since 2012 from the previous elections with the leftist party Syriza*. And finally there was time for change in this January. What followed is unprecedented in so many levels i can't even begin to describe them all while not being biased.

To clarify myself, i do not support any party. This country has been rotten from the insides and the maggots are eating it since 1827 and one could argue that this happens since the Golden Age of Athens and Pericles around 400 B.C. The first problem lies in the situation that this country has been thrown into since 2010. Greece borrowed a LOT of money and the debt is around 1 Trillion euros. A trillion. So when the new government comes into play with all those promises that they will accept no new measures and wage/budget cuts a problem arrises. The common people that are mostly plagued by these issues are the ones that initiate this change hoping that everything else will change as well but that is not possible, and certainly not within the 5 months that Syriza is ruling. So when you owe that much money and you require way more to just exist, rather than grow you don't go to the people that you ask money from (in this case the rest of Europe, such as Germany) with thrasos* and magkia* and ignorance to enforce your own terms.

Don't get me wrong. The debt is insurmountable and unbearable and in the end what they pursue is a more viable settlement that will not make the people yield even more. But their actions in many areas, maybe based on their inexperience in ruling coupled with the fact that they got thrown into this tornado that has made bone and sinew clash daily leaving nothing but charred ground were catastrophic. And it is very interesting how many overlook these problems and praise them for being different even if the end product will make them suffer more.

Debt.

So what about the debt? How many of you actually know that we are in debt pretty much since 1827 with the forming of the first free Greek government? The newly formed government that was created after the incredible Revolution of 1821 against the Turks and they asked the UK government for a loan in gold or golden coins i am not sure. It was a pretty substantial amount back then and during the transport most of the money got lost/stolen and never made it back home. With no funds to begin with, the state was already in debt. The economy was dire also after the first and second World War but then the civil war followed up, the Hounda* in the 70's and then the relentless feasting of the previous governments that eventually led us to today's situation.

Greeks are known for standing together during difficult times and making heroic exits or brave feats that are almost unmatched in World History. A country that small defeated Persians, Italians, German Nazi's and the Turks with sheer thrasos and determination. They said OXI* to slavery multiple times, but many don't understand that in this current state we are enslaved forever with this debt. But we also tend to forget the wars in the inside of the country. Wars that spanned from Ancient Greece to the Civil War, to Hounda and even in Greek Football. And when they realize they need to join forces and work for a common cause often everything is lost, decimated or a Pyrrhic Victory*.

An image is equal to a thousand words.

So until now i discussed what went on until now but i haven't discussed what our government did, only that they used true grit and aggressive tactics thinking they will get a better negotiation and deal. But usually when you are in a situation like this you end up usually taking my arxidia*. And we took them. And now they are hanging. Like low fruit. But how did we get there. How? It was supposed to be an era of change, not the same damn issues hidden and masked behind people likeable from the general public?

Mr. Tsipras, the prime minister talked about change, no more cuts in wages or retirement funds, more jobs and more viable negotiation with the IMF as well as growth. That all looked good in paper and theory. Remember the word theory because it will come up soon. He created his government nice and easy but the important choice was in the all important ministry of economics.

There he appointed Yannis Varoufakis, a rich biker boy with too much academia on his head and a pointy nose that resembles a cult greek pornstar of the 70's. This man is a professor in economics and apparently very smart at that with a lot of theories. However he never had practice and he swam directly into the deep waters. He was instantly adored by the common people for his "normal" and down to earth approach as well as his behavior outside the parliament. But he is outspoken and with a dose of too much magkia and full of contradictions. For the past 5 months of his tenure until he resigned today (and we will get back to that later) he made only mistakes. Blatant mistakes that were recognized from his own political party until he took the boulo today and Twitter is going crazy over the minister of awesome. My dick is awesome too, should i flash it to everyone?

Wanna ride on my bike honey?

The negotiations with the IMF and the Troika went sour from the first meetings. All the big heads loathed him and in the crucial negotiations of last week demanded his absence until ultimately asking for his head today. And the prime minister stood souza* as the command came from Wolfgang Shauble.

To clarify things, Greece was supposed to pay the money to the IMF by the 30th of June. That amount was 1.6 billion euros. The last week the government and the powerful people of europe were discussing about the newest prolonging of the settlement and the loan of more money that is vital for the proper function of this country. The IMF asked for more harsh measures and the government said no. What happened? Tsipras said that a public voting would be cast to give the power to the people to choose. Yes to the measures or no to the measures. Yes would mean instant cash flow and a big cucumber in your ass, but no would mean a giant one. What a nice option. There was another party that chose to say no to no and no to yes if that makes any sense. If you think about it morally and ethically it looks like the proper solution but it is not viable.

The problem here was that europe and economists said that if No prevailed a settlement and an agreement would be very hard and could lead to a potential Grexit* very soon. What followed was mayhem. Total chaos and annihilation. Massive propagandas from the media, pathetic statistics and analysis from idiots. Amazing fights for the hall of fame in Jerry Springer's show between politicians and scenarios. When the public voting was announced people flocked into the ATM machines and managed to withdraw 1 billion euros in 24 hours. A billion. So Tsipras closed the banks for a week with a withdraw limit of 60 euros per day. People panicked and bought supplies for a war such as rice, pasta and gas. Endless lines outside the ATMs for 70 year old people trying to get just a piece of their retirement money.

Amazing, even through the downpour.

But the worst thing, the absolute disaster comes into play now. Closed banks means that there is no more cash flow, that companies cannot buy primary products to process and sell, everything is on hiatus for indefinite time until a new agreement is set and with the capital control looming over our heads for at least two years now it is going to be really hard to stand on our feet. And that billion of cash is not going back in for sure. You should have seen how the members of Syriza also flocked to the ATM's to withdraw their millions. Capitalist leftists my ass. But i don't blame them it is their fortune i would have done the same.

Closed banks and withdraw limits impacts tourism too. People are scared to visit our country and their homelands inform them that they will run into issues if they visit Greece. For a country that lives only on tourism that is an incredible hit since people such as myself are waiting for these 3 summer months to take a breather from the yearly crisis. Now July is almost halfway here and the tourist destinations and cancels are soaring day by day. And we still have no agreement.

Varoufakis vouched that there will be no capital control, the banks won't close, that they will not accept such a tough settlement again. But he lied. He is a fool and an ignorant one as well. My ass a man of the people with his massive fortune. He almost single handily threw us out of europe with one foot inside the grave as everything he said happened. "No" won with a 61% but what did that mean? Absolutely nothing. Most people think that it is a revolution or rebelling against the unbearable debts and disgusting settlements of 8 billion euros proposed by the IMF. However now he resigned and took the easy way out. But what does that mean? It means that europe is willing to negotiate with their own terms which rendered this public voting insignificant and useless in the first place. And now that we have no negotiating power we will take the arxidia and both the cucumbers and put them you know where since probably the new settlement will be more strict.

I sound negative don't i? Who can blame me, we have seen corruption, promises and more promises and in the end everything went to hell. I just want the best for this country, my family and my peers. But i am just cautious and i sincerely hope i am wrong and that everyone can make a heroic return as in our proud history. Varoufakis thought he can fuck europe. But he forgot one important thing. In Greek mythology Europe was a very beautiful woman. Zeus, the god of thunder and leader of everything deceived her and fucked her until she made 3 kids. Such an asshole and sexist dinosaur he was. But people forget that after doing that to Europe he tossed her away and abandoned her...Do not fuck with europe. We are a part of it.

To conclude all this i wanted to talk about something else too. First of all i hear that people say that we are slobs that do nothing all day sitting at the beach drinking frappe* and saying Opa a lot. It is not like that. I work daily from 5 am to 5 pm and sometimes more just to exist. We live to work and pay. Only Portugal comes close to the weekly hours of work

That ain't falco.

Lastly a message to the Greek people that i see around too. Do not be divided and work for a common cause. Also do not badmouth the people that have fed you for years such as the endless waves of german tourists. You call them horrible names yet they choose to come here every year and spend their money because they love our country. You hate Merkel ok i understand, but is it their fault too? I was walking in stores i supply and heard people shouting that europeans are the devil and they should be put down like dogs, or other drunk greek slobs shouting fuck germans. You know what, if you gave your own money to someone (more importantly if it was such a big amount) you would be strict and interested in getting them back. Are they the sole reason we are in debt or in this situation? How about yourselves? Did you think about it when you tax-evaded? Or when you used your connection to eat someone else's place in a government operation? Or did the Germans do that too? We should account for our own mistakes instead of blaming just others and take full responsibility. But we are also not sheep so you also need to think rationally and for the common good instead of trying to save your own skin first.

I am not pro-German, or a right wing fan, or a left wing fan. I am just trying to survive and i see all those beautiful amazing young minds unemployed or flocking to europe where they are sheltered, respected and thrive, because we are amazing intelligent people that will always find ways to persevere. And this is what we should do here. Instead of fighting we should unite and try to find a common viable solution for the country and the people. This has been already a huge post that i have been writing for hours so i will drop it here. I wonder if anyone will bother to read it or just focus on the "negatives". I hope for the former.

Goodnight Sweden. Goodnight Greece.

Appendix

1) The boulo (τον πούλο) = slang greek phrase for someone that got kicked out from somewhere in a hurry, usually with a kick in his ass. "Kostas took the boulo today because he was an icompetent baboon that i would not sell even a virus to."

2) Syriza (Σύριζα) = Leftist political party currently governing the country. Interesting fact, most of its members are former members of PASOK, the right wing party...Also called "tsiriza" which means shouting with a shriek to make fun of them.
3) Thrasos (θράσος) = Thrasos could be defined as grit. It is used when someone uses guts and tries to make his/her opinion heard with courage determination but can also mean that he/she is having a bad attitude thinking they are the best or above others. "Kostas is a scumbag and thrasys he is always badmouthing others and never lets anyone speak".
4) Μagkia (μαγκιά) = Quite the interesting word. It means that you have guts or that you try to look nice, interesting and awesome to other people, while you are just an average joe or a simple bully. "Yannis tried to sell some magkia to that other guy just because he is more muscular but he has the brain of a dinosaur."
5) Hounda (Χούντα) = After a coup d'etat around 1967 that culminated with the Turks invading Cyprus in 1974 the country was in strict military state for 7 years that torn the country in half and halted all potential growth.
6) Oxi (Όχι) = Τhe word for No, famously said against the Turks and Italians in Greek History. Now it was also said during the public voting of the 5th of July 2015.
7) Pyrrhic Victory (Πύρρειος Νίκη) =  A victory but with great casualties, that is almost a loss.
8) Take my arxidia (Πάρε τ'αρχίδια μου) = Literally means "take my testicles" but is a phrase used to indicate that someone will not give you what you asked for but something way worse. "Kostas asked me for money but told me he will pay me in 128 months so i told him to take my arxidia".
9) Kathomai Souza (Kάθομαι σούζα) = When someone, usually a dog sits immobilized in front of someone usually higher in the hierarchy and shows total discipline and fear. "After behaving like a mongrel, Jaime made Sandra sit souza in front of him in total fear".
10) Frappe (φραπέ) = Simple cool type of coffee that is usually enjoyed in the beach or a cafeteria.