Showing posts with label Athens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Athens. Show all posts

Monday, January 26, 2015

I am not hurting people, they just make me do it

Why do people hurt each other? Is it in our genes? A desire to say and do things that make others lose their temper and say extraordinary words they would not say in any parallel universe?

Maybe it is like a virus, like an alien, hidden dormant within us and waits for the moment to crawl its way out of your mouth and poison your thoughts, your imagination, your judgement and turn you into a savage beast that hungers for revenge.

Or maybe it is purpose. Cause and effect. Purpose defines us, binds us, guides us. Cause and effect is everywhere as well. You say something that you didn't give much thought, or phrased it wrong, or maybe someone transferred your words wrongly and paraphrased them and now the angry pack of wolves is out to hunt you down, make you cower in a hellish corner and wait for the impending doom.

Choice. Talk about that. What is democracy? A way for some others to enforce their opinion in the end? Or is it the choice of many? It is always about choice. Someone will always be dissatisfied. As i looked outside my frozen window today i saw choice. The choice to be where i want to be, struggling for existence but under my own rules. And nobody will ever take that away from me.

It is my choice to make whom i trust and where i share my secrets. Until Saturday that was around 5 people. Today it is only 3. When i do something wrong i realize it and accept it. However there are times when you know that trying to present your arguments even if they are valid will not make a difference. Watch out who you share your thoughts with. It is like a broken telephone and in the end, you will be fixing both the line and the device.

This reminded me of a story i was involved with back when i was around 10 years old. As a little child i had to conjure a lot of lies in order to keep secrets or fool my father. That however followed me in my life outside our house, as i tended not to keep secrets, fabricate stories and spread rumors in order to hide my own insecurities and have a false hope of at least appearing popular to the rest in class.

I had that really good friend Stavros with whom i seldom talk once every year now during his birthday. We lost each other after i went to university. His father's passing affected him greatly and he was caught in a spiral of self conflict for years. I am glad to see that now he is a straight A scholarship student in Athens and is very passionate about public speaking and his political beliefs.

So our moms were very close too. I overheard something on the phone and i thought i heard the words Kalashnikov and chase. I presumed that his dad had chased his mom with a gun like this.
I told many people in class and school. And you know that especially in these ages and those environments rumors spread quite easily. It was a Friday night when we were all outside in the center playing. I miss those days. I learned that he was looking for me and then i realized what i had done. I was so afraid to face him and so ashamed as well. So i went to another friend's printing press building and he hid me there. Stavros arrived and i was hidden right behind him under a desk. My friend did not rat me out.

The outcome? A memory and shame that i will carry with me for the rest of my life. It took him years to talk to me again. And you know how we talked again? In a computer class outside school. Through Pokemon. He said "No matter what you did i could never hold a grudge against you". I will remember that day until i die.

Since then i tried not to hurt other people and tried to be overcautious with things i say. But thinking too much sometimes makes things worse. Sometimes you just care for someone and you ask them what are their plans for the future and it sounds so bad like you are judging them. I am not judgmental. I am not a sinner nor a saint.

This is simply some food for thought. And i am fairly sure that if this is read by the wrong people it will sound equally bad. But that is not my intention. I just want to get this out of my system. For i have clear conscience and i explained my points, even though apparently they never reached the target.

And remember, people will fail you. They will always do. Even the ones that you consider closest to you. But when you find that person that sticks by you in the hard times and instead of bashing you relentlessly when you do a mistake he holds your hand, criticizes you with justified arguments and then picks you up and gives you a pat on the back, keep him/her. It is funny how i wrote that article about friendship a few days ago and now i have to write this. I will still give my left arm and leg for some people. That number just got lower that's all.

I will leave you with a beautiful picture a friend of mine took from the Canaries.

Goodnight Sweden. I would like to hear your thoughts or stories down below in the comment section.

I wish i was there right now.


Monday, July 7, 2014

Wine and dine Mr. Freeman. Wine and dine...

Friday, 4 July 2014 - 12:30
 
Just another day at work.
Woke up with a headache at 5 am as usual, packed my bag because tomorrow I had my first exams for the diploma in Russian. God it was hot today, even more in the truck where there is no a/C. Argued some more with my father and some angry customers, sold our overpriced products and started the trip to tripoli to load up with new merchandise. Took a few photos on the way. Mostly stores I service and a couple from the local countryside. In a few hours I begin my trip to Athens. My destiny is always in a bus or truck it seems!

Friday, 4 July 2014 - 12:35
 
What i do for a living until Sweden calls.
Imagine the chaos with 500 similar products. But hey, I'm the best!

Friday, 4 July 2014 - 12:35
 
Just a local supermarket i service.
My friend Vassilis cutting slices of cheese. Dream life huh?

Friday, 4 July 2014 - 14:07
 
Inside my truck. It's pretty empty right now.

Lucky me!
Having to load all these in the truck is pretty time consuming every time. This is how the loading centre of FAGE dairy products in tripoli looks like. Every three days I drive there to receive new merchandise and restock. Had some friendly banter with the supervisor and the employees and I was on my way to the bus station.
 
Friday, 4 July 2014 - 14:57
 
Tripoli's bus station.
Crowdy as usual. This is becoming overly familiar for me as I have to travel to Athens time and again. Sort of drains my energy plus I forgot my headphones today which sucks. Waiting to see who will sit next to me and keep me company this time. Hopefully he/she
does not suck!

Friday, 4 July 2014 - 18:32
 
Finally at the metro station.
 Tourists everywhere!

You would not over-exaggerate if you called Athens the sea of concrete.
Saturday, 5 July 2014 - 14:23
 
Русские экзамены.
In hotel Amalia for my russian exams we met father George and his russian teacher as well as the girl from Kws island. She is a flight attendant and hopes to fly to Saint-Petersburg. Father George is a cleric at Errikos Dinan and a confessions expert. And a really good guy, he even invited me to go clubbing with him!
 
Saturday, 5 July 2014 - 16:27

Aggeliki trying her 538th shoe.
After finishing the russian exams my friends took me to buy shoes somewhere in the streets of Ermou downtown. They bought like 2 shoes each and pairs of earrings. Eventually they wore them later I'm the night club. Man what a tiresome day, from 9:30 am till 6pm non stop russian.
 
Woah Carrie Bradshaw, slow down..
Saturday, 5 July 2014 - 19:30
 
Now this is what i call a meat variety.
Then we went at mikrolimano near Peiraias at the Karaiskakis stadium in a tavern called Vosporos. Now that's what I call a meat and poultry variety. Katerina's friend Antonis who is a policeman picked us up in his trusty skoda Fabia. He is a really cool guy we had incredible fun later that night with the others. He also brought Sofia, a cheeky fiery young lady with a very interesting personality that I fancied a lot. I wish I had a picture because she is really cute.
 
Katerina in a spontaneous pose.
The view from our table.
So this is what i have been up to from my latest post. It's been all fun and games and now that my russian classes are finished i can finally relax a bit more. Oh wait i cannot. I work 15 hours a day ;) Take care!

 

Monday, May 26, 2014

Welcome to Uppsala Universitet!

Sometimes in a man's life, comes the time when he is about to do something life-changing and a tiny little thing occurs that reminds him that it is actually happening.

I had just returned on Sunday from a trip to Athens with my friend (hence my 3 day hiatus of posts) when i saw a nice tidy looking fat letter on my desk. Talk about excitement!

Welcome to Uppsala University Mr. Mandilaris!
I carefully opened the envelop to find a map, a sticker, a personal letter from the Vice-Chancellor and an International Student Guide for next season. Standard procedure that shows the fantastic organization of this country.

The letter was printed on slick, high quality paper and had my address and name on it. There was also a sticker that made you easily identifiable from the welcome group when you arrive in Arlanda Airport. This year they will wait for students in August (Dates: 22/08 and 23/08).

A little sticker to put on your suitcase!
The map is folded and has a detailed map in the centre with red numbers on the important buildings of the university, dividing it into each faculty. Mine is the Geocentrum, the faculty of earth sciences.
Trying to absorb every ounce of information!
Last is the Student Guide. I am still reading it while i am typing looking for interesting things that i may research and blog about in future posts. It has the smell of a freshly printed book, like freshly baked bread coming out of the oven. It begins with a personal statement and goes on to tell the reader about the history of this great institution. It talks about Uppsala and Campus Gotland, the climate and the language. It has a short text on Vikings (!) and a cool timeline of the history of the university since it's inception.

Swedish traditions follow, divided by season and follows up with the educational system in Sweden, the grading, the syllabus, the teaching methods and the different kinds of diplomas. Basically this booklet is a compilation-collection of all the information found in the University website. And all that into 63 pages.
They care about their students.
So this is it for tonight, just some random thoughts to keep the flow going. Plus i wanted to express my enthusiasm about the letter. I am beginning to realize that in less than 3 months i will be in a new country, a new culture, a new life. So for YOU, the person that maybe stumbles upon my blog, or the future student that considers Sweden and Uppsala as his destination, give it a read along with my previous material. After all one of the Laws of Success is the Habit of Doing More Than Paid For.

Goodnight and have a great new week! May is almost over and the summer is upon us!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Talking to sheep and random stuff

"Buy me 5 euros worth of phone credit so i can talk to my sheep", he said.

Picture it. 57 years old man, big white beard, unshaved from World War 2, massive beer belly, ludicrously dressed talking to his son (?) calm like talking to sheep is the most natural thing in the world.

Yup, just keep calm. Darwin would be proud.
This sums up Greece. People living in a different dimension, oblivious. Let's all shag a sheep. It will help. Or you maybe have loads of $$ in a country with 300 euro salaries.

Let's move on. I made a promise and i will keep it. I met a cherry-picking, cute young lady with fire-red hair. We can call her Marilena. Or maybe Tanya Fluffytails.

Aw, such a cutie you are Marilena <3.
I like her so much that actually makes me sad i am leaving for Sweden. Sadface :-(((( She is a wonderful person that deserves to be loved and needs someone to be by her side to support her and shower her with passion and hugs. We will be huggy buddies soon!

I will be your huggy buddy my love.
So, i found a roommate. She is from Estonia and her name is Madle. She is very cool and soon will take the boat to Sweden to find us a place to stay. Otherwise we will stay in a caravan, drink water from a bucket, i will hunt wild bunnies and we will die soon.

I also played a lot of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft lately. I am bored of traditional games and this is fast and easy to play so time passes if you have nothing to do. I also found an old WoW pal that lives in Sweden through my battlenet.eu account which is pretty cool knowing i can have someone to meet and talk there. Thanks Chris, enjoy your new home!

Yesterday there was a misunderstanding with my fluffy-tailed girlfriend and i was feeling bad. However we sorted everything out, i got a haircut evolving to a human from the man of Kro-Manion, went to work today and now i am in Athens @ my sister's house.

Which also reminds me of a tv-game show we watched today. Two people needed to hit the buzzer as quick as possible and reply to the following question:

"Name an Asian Country".

Well he said Tynisia. The other team had a Hagrid-like looking man with a nice silver Sylvestro tie from the looney toons, all dressed in black. Tsirkoliki.

I took a break from writing because i was bored. And because i love Ms. Fluffytails and i talk about her all the time, i talk with her all the time, i think about her all the time. And i also needed a break from my Swedish preparations. That recent barrage of posts drained me along with work. And Eva Mitsou and her incredible amount of spamming with videos and Nigerians/Pakistani people adding her. Oh she also won a lot of food from a competition too. Spam her some more <3.

You can clearly see Eva on the left and her 3 recent husbands.
That's it for today. Depending on my adventures and experiences in the jungle of Athens i will maybe write tomorrow or on Sunday. Most likely it will be something ridiculous, over the top and funny.

Take care!