What a period it was! Here can read some of our Corona Updates from Greece, written between 202o and 2022 and listen to a Greek Song About… Staying At Home!
In the meantime, 2022 started with some sunny days here in Greece, as well as some snow as well…
Our daily walks in the Athens streets and parks continued, just like in 2020 and 2021. However, since now there is no corona curfew anymore and we are allowed to go further than our municipality, we can also go for daily trips towards the snowy mountains again…something which was not possible last winter.
In the meantime, the world news seems once again taken over by ‘corona’, or « omikron ». The positive news; we are honored Greek letters are used for a pandemic :-), and the entire world gets the chance to learn the Greek alphabet. We realized many non-Greeks have no clue that the viruses are named after letters of the Greek alphabet, but fortunately, our dear students are very well aware 🙂 .
Do you remember the days you were learning the Greek alphabet? Do you remember how many Greek letters come before the omikron, and what is the difference between omikron and omega?
In 2021 we already heard of the « alpha » (referring to the « British » variant), the « beta » ( « South African » variant), the « gamma »( the Brazilian variant), and the « delta » (the « Indian » variant).
But how did we get to « omikron », and why 10 letters of the alphabet are left out?
Staying at home is still very important given the COVID-19 circumstances but it doesn’t have to feel dull. This is why we would like to introduce you to a funny and upbeat Greek song about – what else? – staying at home and relaxing!
#menoumespiti – #westayathome
The song Θα Κάτσω Σπίτι
Even though the song Θα Κάτσω Σπίτι (Tha Katso Spiti – “ I’ll stay at home”) was first aired in 1986, nowadays it feels more relevant than ever. Originally, it was written and performed by Greek singer-songwriter Loukianos Kilaidonis, whereas the version you can listen to here is a remake that is sung by numerous contemporary Greek singers (order of appearance): Violeta Ikari, Giorgia Kefala, Maria Kilaidoni, Christos Mastoras, Panos Mouzourakis, Dimitris Basis, Miltos Pashalidis, Nikos Portokaloglou and Mariza Rizou.
It’s a well-meaning initiative to spread the message that people need to stay home (#menoumespiti) whilst looking at the bright side: staying safe and healthy, maintaining a positive attitude, and making the most of these days spent indoors.
Click below to listen to the new version of Θα Κάτσω Σπίτι and sing along with the help of the lyrics below!
| Θα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι λοιπόν απόψε δεν πρόκειται να βγω Θα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι κι άμα πεινάσω τηγανίζω καν’ αυγό Και όταν ακούω να χτυπάει το τηλέφωνο θα το κοιτάζω και δε θα απαντώ γιατί όταν χτυπάει το τηλέφωνο εννιά φορές στις δέκα είναι για κακό γι’ αυτόΘα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι οχυρωμένος κι από μέσα το κλειδί Θα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι γιατί αυτό το έργο το ‘χω ξαναδείΘα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι σεισμός να γίνει, δεν πρόκειται να βγωΘα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι κι ας με ξεγράψουν τα ρεμάλια απ’ αρχηγόΓιατί άν βγω θα προκύψει κανά μπλέξιμο κι ένας Θεός ξέρει που θα κοιμηθώ και όπως λεν κι οι ινδιάνοι για το μπλέξιμο εννιά φορές στις δέκα είναι για κακό γι’ αυτόΘα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι και δε σκοπεύω από δω να κουνηθώΘα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι θα βάλω βίντεο και θ’ αποβλακωθώΚαι όταν ακούω να χτυπάει το τηλέφωνο θα το μουτζώνω[1] και δε θα απαντώ γιατί όταν χτυπάει το τηλέφωνο εννιά φορές στις δέκα είναι για κακό γι’ αυτόΘα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι από δω μέσα δεν πρόκειται να βγω Θα κάτσω σπίτι, θ’ αράξω σπίτι άμα με δεις στο δρόμο πέτα μου έν’ αυγόάμα με δεις στο δρόμο πέτα μου έν’ αυγό |
I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home Today I’m not going out at all I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home And if I get hungry, I’ll fry an egg And when I hear the phone ring I’ll stare at it and not pick up Because when the phone rings Nine times out of ten is for bad news So…I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home Entrench myself and leave the key on the door I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home Because I’ve seen that play before I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home Even if an earthquake happens, I won’t go outI’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home Even if my friends write me off Because if I go out, I might get in trouble again And God knows where I’ll sleep afterward And as the Indians say about trouble Nine times out of ten it’s for worse So…I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home And I’m not planning to move from hereI’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home I’ll watch videos until I’m brain-dead. And when I hear the phone ring I’ll make a gesture of insult and not pick up Because when the phone rings Nine times out of ten is for bad news So…I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home There’s no chance that I’ll go out I’ll stay home, I’ll chill out at home And if you see me on the street, [feel free to] throw an egg at me. And if you see me on the street, [feel free to] throw an egg at me |
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[1] « mountza » or faskeloma is a very common gesture of insult among Greeks that consists of extending all fingers of one or both hands and presenting the palm or palms towards the to-be-insulted person in a forward motion. It is often coupled with the expletives « να », « παρ’τα » or « όρσε », meaning « here », « take these » and « there you go », respectively. The closer the gesture is to the other person’s face, the more threatening it’s considered. An even more offensive version is achieved by using both hands to double the gesture, smacking the palm of one hand against the back of the other, in the direction of the intended recipient.
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Working in Greece, Omilo updates, during Corona-times
Omilo regularly writes updates about how we proceed and adapt to a new reality.
Here below are the CORONA updates of the last 2 years…
March 17th 2020 – 1st lockdown
Χαίρετε!
First of all, and most importantly, we wish you very good health! Υγεία να υπάρχει!
We have gotten many emails over the past few weeks asking us what we are doing about the whole Coronavirus crisis, and how we deal with it, so we thought to write an article about it.
Since Omilo was founded in 1996, we have been through some major dramatic events, the first one was 9-11 in the USA (2001), another was the SARS-associated coronavirus in 2003, the bank-sector crash of 2008, the Greek (financial) crisis, terrorist attacks all over the world,…
And now the Coronavirus, which to us seems like a more serious crisis than the ones mentioned above, but of course, we don’t know…many others or also the refugees stuck in Greece might think differently about it…
But what we see is also what you see: borders being closed, flights being canceled, schools being closed, stock markets dropping, a record amount of debts …….a world gripped in fear.
So what is Omilo doing at the moment?
Basically, we follow the health regulations of the Greek government, we had to cancel our Intensive 2-week March 2020 course (the first time ever we cancel a course in 23 years), we stay in touch with our students that have booked courses within the next months, we answer our emails every day with all kinds of questions, we feed our social media channels with materials and articles to keep you informed about Greek Language and Culture, etc…
In a few days, we will send our 2nd update to our students of the Easter Course in Nafplion, starting on April 12th.
For all the other planned courses, later on, we hope for the best, and personal updates will follow when we will know more about the months of May and June..
But most of it, we are brainstorming how to continue our work during the next months, making more online materials to learn Greek, teaching Greek lessons through Skype, making plans for our summer courses in Syros, etc…
We will be working on our YouTube Channel, we make new materials for our Instagram and Facebook pages, and we are constantly working to provide you with our services for the difficult months to come.
The most important is to stay healthy of course and support all those that need to continue working in the health sector, supermarkets, transport, etc…
In the meantime, Omilo also continues working from home. Why?
Because …
A: We hope in a few months things will get back to normal, and we will be able to welcome our students in a virus-safe Greece again.
B: If things get worse and the world falls into a global economic collapse, we will stay in contact with online lessons, or online materials through our e-Shop masaresi.com and look for new ways to teach you Greek.
When you have some free time because you need to stay at home, then it might be a good time to focus on learning Greek, so you will be more fluent by the time you can visit Greece again.
We are constantly adding more online materials to our e-Shop masaresi.com, to help you learn Greek.
All materials are made by the Omilo-team. Check it out at https://masaresi.com/shop/
We wish you all, from every corner in the world, good health, best of luck and inspiration on how to use this period creatively.
Maya and Dimitris Andreadis
April 2nd, 2020 : We wish you a good health and continue working
For the time being, Greeks seem to be rather happy with their government and its policies regarding the Corona crisis. Measures were taken early and remain strict. In Greece, there is not a lot of financial support, but compared to other European countries, it is still rather calm here, and as we all know very well, good health and being safe is the most important at this moment. We keep our fingers crossed for the entire world and wish we can all go “back to normal” soon again!
If you have registered for a 2020 course, you will be always updated with personal messages, at least 1 month before your course.
This week it was announced that hotels need to stay closed until April 30th but there are no announcements yet beyond that date.
In the meantime, let’s make the best of it, keep some humor, sing and dance…It is all possible in your living room while learning Greek 🙂
If you need more videos, songs, etc…to keep you in a good mood, then follow our social media channels…We do our best to keep your and our spirits up!
May 2nd, 2020 : Kalo mina and update from Athens
Τι κάνετε; Καλό μήνα! We wish you a nice, as well as healthy, month of May.
Six “corona weeks” have passed…and even in corona-times, time flies!
The Omilo-team is well and continues working as before.
The teachers are teaching online Skype or Zoom lessons to several students and making more online materials, Maya is taking care of answering emails, dealing with all the cancellations, social media posts, newsletters, updating the websites (omilo.com as well as masaresi.com), and Dimitris is busy with managing and organizing the new online group courses, as well as making the financial plans of “saving” the business! Omilo always operated as a “team”, and remains a”team” 🙂
In the meantime, unfortunately, also the students of the Lefkada course are not able to travel to or within Greece or stay in a hotel on the island, so our 4th intensive 2020 course, can not take place in Greece. We are heartbroken, but we stay optimistic and adapt; we are proud that we are now also ready to offer the “Online Greek Language and Culture course”, online! It will be different, but fun, and as educational as ever.
Life is too beautiful, even in those days…
We truly hope you did not experience something very traumatic in the last weeks…for all of you and us, things are difficult, but in this update, we try to focus on the positive side.
Now the month of May has started, we smell and see flowers everywhere, there is less pollution, less traffic-jams, Greeks started walking every day, etc… May 1st was a sunny National Holiday. As the annual tradition, also this year Greeks were picking wildflowers along the streets, in some fields (the parks are still closed for the public), and make flower wreaths to hang on their doors.
Here above (on the photo) some flowers and a flower wreath from Greece, especially for you 🙂
Greece did amazingly well in containing the corona-virus and has far lower people who lost their lives compared to other countries. At least, it is nice to hear that this year Greece is mentioned in a positive way in foreign media…
Because governmental financial support is nearly non-existent in Greece, it seems Greeks got used to “survive” for many years with limited income. Of course, they also realize they are still far better off than the thousands of refugees in the country, so try not to complain but make the best of it. In general, most Greeks might hope for ( but do not expect) financial support from the government, they stay calm, obey the rules, are happy to be healthy, and try to make things work within an entire family.
On April 28th, the prime minister announced further regulations for the next two months, many similar to other European countries.
If you want to read more, you can find many articles on the internet
So from Monday, May 4th, we will enjoy more freedom again; no need to send an SMS anymore to the Greek government, declaring why we leave our house! It is funny how fast we got used to this daily SMS to the Greek state, who always answered and “approved” :). Now, we are allowed to move (outside) again without SMS, given we are cautious, keep our distance, wear masks in public transportation, and only move around in our “province”! So yes, wherever you live in Greece, every Greek province has roads leading to mountains and sea …hooray 🙂
Taverns, bars, seasonal hotels remain closed but the Greek tourism minister recently said that Greece is preparing to gradually open its doors to travelers in July after health experts give the go-ahead and relevant Covid-19 safety protocols are in place. We are waiting for further announcements related to tourism, and hope we will soon know if we can start welcoming our students for the summer courses in Syros.
June 12, 2020 : We will start our summer courses in Syros,
Τι κάνετε; Καλό Καλοκαίρι!
How are you? Hope all is OK and we wish you a nice, sunny as well as healthy, summer.
Maybe this year it will be not a “Greek summer” for many of you, because of too many travel complications? We understand!
For those that did decide to travel to Greece, even when it is not that comfortable as other years, we wish you a great Greek holiday.
For those that registered for an Omilo course in Syros, we are looking forward to welcoming you soon.
After our update of a month ago, we have received several essays about your “corona story”, from all over the world. They are now all added to one blog article, and corrected (although there were very minor mistakes, so congratulations to all of you for the beautiful writing!)
We hope the stories will now soon change, and you will get a break from the corona measures.
So how things are organized in Greece?
A lot of students are wondering how we survive, and others think we can write positive newsletters because they believe we get financial support. (we wish! 🙂 )
So a small update on how the situation is in Greece:
As we have mentioned before, there is no financial support from the Greek State to Omilo, which seems to be something a lot of students from abroad can not believe…
We guess Greece is not the only country, where you have to be creative in order to survive, but once again, with this corona crisis, it became again very clear that the differences related to “financial support”, between North European countries, and South European countries are huge….(We only mention Europe at this stage, since we get mostly feedback from European students.)
In Greece, for employees that were “fired” due to closure of the companies they are working for, or due to “not enough work”, the government gave a 600-800 euro support, and hopefully, they will be hired again when the companies can start operating normally from July. But nobody knows… and unemployment benefits are very limited. Public employees were probably in the best position this time, and fortunately, also pensioners were paid on a monthly basis.
For businesses like Omilo, falling under “education”, where it is expected that you can also teach online, the government apparently decided there was no support needed, since also public schools and universities were teaching online, and public teachers are paid their normal salaries. Unfortunately, the Greek government has no clue that our students are not living in Greece….and most of them prefer to have their lessons in Greece with sea view….and not online from their living room. (We are also not a public school or university, where lessons are “obliged to follow”, or needed in order to succeed for exams… so students can easily postpone their registrations for a later date.
As mentioned in a previous update, most Greeks never complain about not getting support, since nobody expects to get anything. After a Greek financial crisis, they have seen it all, and nothing comes as a surprise anymore.
Simply, everybody is super happy, that Greece managed not to have big problems with corona, and are now able to return to a “close to normal life” again.
After all, health is above everything else 🙂
As for Omilo, we decided that “we will survive”, and continue our 24th year of operation.
a. Fortunately, several students decided to continue learning Greek with private ONLINE lessons, which means four teachers could continue teaching online, and for the last 3 months, they “married” their computer screens.
We are really grateful we have so many devoted students, all working very hard to keep improving their Greek, and happy to support us.
And we are happy teachers could keep up, smiling, and teaching at the same time. Ευχαριστούμε.
However, online private lessons are not enough to support the fixed expenses of what ” a private business/ school” needs to pay on a monthly basis, so we hope we can catch up with our group courses in the following months.
b. We have organized three times an “online cultural week”, where normally all our returning students got an invitation for. It was so nice to see our students online and stay in touch while teaching them about various aspects of Greek culture. The feedback was very positive, so we will most likely continue those events from the Autumn onwards…
c. The omilo-team worked hard to come up with an entire online weekly course, as we do in Greece: Greek lessons in the morning, and cultural activities in the afternoon. This scenario was ready by the end of May and was proposed to the 30 students who had registered for the Lefkada course…But unfortunately, only 1 out of 30 students, wanted to participate in an online course! Well, it seems nobody can beat the “Greek feeling”…everybody preferred to have lessons next to the sea, instead of on their computer screen. We understand.
In the meantime, we have learned a lot in the process of creating online group courses and will be ready for an unwelcome next crisis.
d. Dimitris is now busy with managing and organizing the new courses coming up in Syros, as well as making the financial survival plans and talking to the accounting office every day! For “the school as a business”, we will be happy if we can make it in 2020 to be “break-even”, meaning that we hope we will be able to pay off all our fixed expenses for running a business for the year 2020.
Of course, this is not the first time…when we started back in 1996, we (founders Maya and Dimitris) were working 3 years on a “break-even basis”, before we could make any income at all.
So history repeats itself, with this time a new “online chapter”. And as our parents had wisely advised us, when you decide to become “self-employed”, you know you will need to be creative and prepared for the unknown. There will be good and bad years…which you need to be able to deal with. Fortunately, Dimitris is taking care of this, so we can sleep on both ears…
e. Maya continues answering (endless) emails every day, as well as dealing with all the cancellations, new registrations, social media posts, newsletters, updating the website, organizing the online events…Also, Maya is creating as well as uploading more eBooks and courses, which also gave a small income to cover a part of the monthly expenses. We hope you are enjoying our eBooks and online courses. More info below.
Take a look at our new PUBLICATIONS page on the website 🙂
Two things on that page are completely new and created during the month of May:
Greece : Ultimate Listening Comprehension eBook
and
Advanced Workbooks Numbers 6 and 7.
More materials will soon be published for the beginner’s levels as well.
A sunny Greek summer is ahead of us, on the island of Syros…
Good news! We are now allowed to travel within Greece again and will start the first 2020 course on the island of Syros from July 12th.
Due to the corona regulations, we had to decide to make smaller groups, so for the July courses we can only accept 15 students per group (instead of the normal number being between 25-30)
Classes will be smaller, tavern meals will be different, it will be strange not to hug and kiss….but we will manage!
If you have not been yet to a course at Omilo, then listen here to one of our students of last year, and her experience of Omilo. The video is taken in Azolimnos, at the course location.
November 8, 2020: the 2nd Greek lockdown from November,
Τι κάνετε; ‘Oλα καλά;
We hope you are fine, healthy, and safe, after the last 8 “corona months”, or how should we call them?
Our last “general corona update #4” was sent in June 2020, with the happy announcement that we would start our first 2020 courses in Greece, from July onward.
And indeed, that is what happened…Omilo students were welcomed on the island of Syros during the months of July and September as well as in Athens at the end of October.
We would like to thank all our students that traveled to Greece this period and joined an Omilo language course. We could not have done it without you.
At the same time, we also thank all the students taking online lessons with the Omilo teachers this school year, or buying one of the Omilo publications.
Your support is necessary for the existence of Omilo, and we really appreciate it. ευχαριστούμε πολύ!
In the meantime it is November, and from this weekend onward, Greece started its 2nd corona lockdown of 2020, for the coming 3 weeks.
The Omilo-team is well and safe, but sad we cannot welcome any students in Greece now.
It is so much nicer to teach “live” and being able to show the beauties of Greece.
However, we started working online again, it’s as good as it gets…Τι να κάνούμε!
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So let’s start with the most recent news,
just in case you are in Greece at the moment, or if you had planned a trip during the following weeks:
2nd Lockdown as of November 7th, 2020
Although the summer went well and everybody was hoping it could be avoided,
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that Greece will enter a second national lockdown on November 7 for three weeks.
“In the last 5 days, we have seen an exponential increase in cases,” said the Prime Minister while addressing the Greek people in a national broadcast.
Because of the rise in hospitalizations, incubations, and the number of patients in Intensive Care Units. doctors and the Greek government are asking people to stay at home and to remember that the situation is critical. (as of today, 715 people died of corona in Greece, which is of course much less than other European countries, but a significant rise compared to the summer)
Individuals who plan to go out of the house or hotel, are required to carry an ID or passport with them,
and inform the authorities by SMS or with a printed form, with the reason for leaving their house.
But do not worry, you can still have a “normal life” 🙂 It sounds more difficult than it is…
All the info and regulations can be found at the government website gov.gr. (in Greek).
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How did we spent the last 4 months and managed to charge our batteries?
Some recent Omilo history from July till November 2020.
From July onward, we finally were allowed again to organize our 1- and 2-week Greek Language and Culture courses, and welcome our beloved students!
The summer courses took place on the island of Syros between July and September, and the October course took place in Athens.
We thank Andrea for her nice comment, which was addressed to Omilo, but also to all Omilo students 🙂 See below
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Life is too beautiful, even in those days…stay positive!
We truly hope you, or any of your friends/family, did not experience something very traumatic during the last months…
for all of you and us, things are difficult, but in our updates, we try to focus on the positive side.
Now the month of November has started and…
- we enjoy the beautiful sunny Autumn weather,
- we go for our daily walks (writing number 6 in the SMS!) and discover small little things in our neighborhoods we had never observed before,
- we observe the olive trees and the olives getting bigger every day,
- we cannot buy melons or figs anymore, but now taste the Autumn fruits such as grapes, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, apples, lotus, mandarins…
- we are happy we have peace around us, and no war…
- we are getting ready, “siga-siga”, for the Christmas decorations, and the so many typical Christmas sweets… already showing up in the thousands of bakeries and pastry shops (all staying open till late evening hours)
- we listen to Greek music at home, read a book we otherwise never have time for…
Or watch some YouYube videos to fix our mood 🙂
For example, here a video of a Greek street concert, on the square of Maroussi, one day before the lockdown.
The students of the Athens course could enjoy this little concert while taking out their concert during the breaks of their Greek Language Lessons.
Note: This song is Τα βεγγαλικά σου μάτια, which you can also find on YouTube, performed by many other Greek singers.
Or if you prefer to learn more Greek with Greek Language videos, then here is such an example:)
After watching this video, maybe you can now use this Greek expression during your next lockdown:
Δεν χάλασε ο κόσμος! = It is not the end of the world!
Do you need more videos, songs, blog articles, photos, to keep you in a good mood, and dream of your next holiday in Greece?
Then follow our social media channels. You can find the links in the footer of this website
If you are in need, we do our best to keep your and our spirits up!
March 28th, 2021 : Upcoming summer courses in Greece and online cultural events
We hope you are fine, healthy and safe, and keeping up with all the corona changes in your country, legal measures, vaccines, etc…
Since our dear students are coming from all over the world and we regularly hear updates and stories, it keeps amazing us how differently every country is dealing with this health crisis.We hope you, or any of your friends/family, did not experience something very traumatic during the last months…
for all of you and us, things are difficult, but let’s try to stay positive, and keep up. The summer is nearly there, …and Greece will be always there 🙂
When the 2nd lockdown started in November, we were optimistic that we would start our 2021 courses again from Easter onward. Unfortunately, last week we had to cancel our popular Easter course for the 2nd year in a row. Τι να κάνουμε!
However, the Omilo-team is well and safe, teaching mostly online, keeping up with the lockdown regulations in Greece and the digital inventions of those times.
1- and 2-week course on the island of Lefkada, from May 30th.
We also added more course dates to our Syros season, between June and September.
At this moment, we are in the period of the “sarrakosti”, the 40 days between carnival and Easter.
Many of you probably celebrate Easter next week, so we wish you already a “Happy Easter” – Καλό Πάσχα!
Greek Easter is late this year and will be celebrated on Sunday, May 2nd. We do not know yet, what will be possible and how we will celebrate it, but for sure there will be a way to “celebrate” and eat that Easter lamb, or other delicious traditional Easter dishes and products. And who knows, maybe we can even go to the beach and celebrate Greek Easter with a lot of fresh air and a sea-breeze.
Also, this week, on March 25th, to be precise, Greece celebrated the special anniversary of its 200 Υears Οf Ιndependence!
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Online Greek Cultural Event
Before we start welcoming students in Greece again, we would love to see you and we are happy to announce that we start again with the online Greek Cultural Event + Omilo cafe!, which will be organized three times during the month of April.
With this Live Event, each time for 3 evenings, the Omilo-team intends to motivate you to continue learning Greek, learn more about Greece, and get to know more enthusiastic Greek learners, from all over the world.
Omilo believes Language and Culture are going “hand in hand” (not allowed anymore, but you know what we mean…the one does not exist without the other ) And the Greek Culture is something we would like to share with you.
Each event will be for 3 evenings (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 21.00 – 22.15 pm GREEK TIME)|
Note: this is not a Greek Language lesson since this is something you can register for with our one-to-one online Skype or Zoom lessons.
However, you will be able to improve your Greek listening skills, learn new things about Greece, and, if you would like to, socialize with other friends of Greece.
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November 1st, 2021 : Greek Language tips, and News
Τι κάνετε; ‘Oλα καλά;
We hope you are fine, healthy, and safe, after nearly 2 “corona years”. But even in those difficult years, time flew…
We also would like to wish you a nice month of November and a beautiful Autumn.
Ελπίζουμε να είστε καλά, υγιείς και ασφαλείς μετά από σχεδόν 2 “χρόνια κορωνοϊού”. Ωστόσο, ακόμα και σε αυτά τα δύσκολα χρόνια, ο καιρός πέρασε πολύ γρήγορα… Θα θέλαμε επίσης να σας ευχηθούμε να έχετε έναν καλό Νοέμβριο και ένα όμορφο φθινόπωρο.
καλό μήνα! – καλό Φθινόπωρο!
Greece celebrated its National Holiday and Oxi day celebration on October 28th, the time changed again to wintertime, we used our heating at home for the first time in 6 months, all the fruits on the weekly markets look very different from the summer (no melons or figs anymore, but now pomegranates, oranges, lemons, apples, mandarins…), so we now realized we are in the full Autumn season.;-)
Η Ελλάδα γιόρτασε την εθνική της επέτειο και την ημέρα του Όχι στις 28 Οκτωβρίου, η ώρα άλλαξε πάλι σε χειμερινή, ανάψαμε τη θέρμανση στο σπίτι μας για πρώτη φορά μετά από 6 μήνες, όλα τα φρούτα στις λαϊκές είναι πολύ διαφορετικά από το καλοκαίρι (δεν υπάρχουν πεπόνια ή σύκα πια, αλλά τώρα έχουμε ρόδια, πορτοκάλια, λεμόνια, μήλα, μανταρίνια…), οπότε τώρα συνειδητοποιήσαμε ότι είμαστε στην καρδιά του φθινοπώρου! 😉
Because also for Omilo a new season starts again, in Athens, we just wanted to give you a small update.Our last “general corona update #6” was written in April 2021, announcing that we finally were allowed to start the 2021 intensive courses in Greece, from May onward.
And indeed, that is what happened…
Επειδή και για το Ομιλώ ξεκινά μια νέα σεζόν πάλι στην Αθήνα, θέλαμε να σας κάνουμε μια μικρή ενημέρωση. Η τελευταία μας “γενική ενημέρωση για τον κορωνοϊό #6” γράφτηκε τον Απρίλιο του 2021 και σε αυτή ανακοινώσαμε ότι μπορούσαμε πλέον να αρχίσουμε τα εντατικά μαθήματα για το 2021 στην Ελλάδα, από τον Μάιο κι εξής. Έτσι κι έγινε!
Of course, if you are subscribed to our ‘MONTHLY DOSE OF SUNSHINE’, you are updated about everything we have done over the summer, and probably also saw many pictures.
But just in case you do not really know what the Omilo-team was doing recently, here below is a summary of the last 6 months.
Φυσικά, αν είστε εγγεγραμμένοι στο ‘MONTHLY DOSE OF SUNSHINE’, έχετε ενημερωθεί για όλα όσα έχουμε κάνει το καλοκαίρι και ίσως έχετε δει πολλές φωτογραφίες. Ωστόσο, σε περίπτωση που δεν ξέρετε τι έκανε η ομάδα του Ομιλώ πρόσφατα, παρακάτω θα βρείτε μια σύνοψη των τελευταίων 6 μηνών.
How did we spend the last 6 months?
Some recent Omilo history from May till November 2021.
Πώς περάσαμε τους τελευταίους 6 μήνες; Μερικά πρόσφατα νέα του Ομιλώ από τον Μάιο έως τον Νοέμβριο του 2021.
‘Omilo Greek Language and Culture courses’ took place in Lefkada and Syros, between May 30th and September 27th, 2021
Students were welcomed on the island of Lefkada on May 30th, followed by courses on the island of Syros between June 20th and September 27th.
For Omilo, the 2021 summer was very similar to the 2020 summer, with the difference that most students now were vaccinated and everybody needed to be updated about all the travel regulations and needed papers for the covid certificates or covid tests. The needed paperwork for traveling was actually more difficult than in 2020, but once going through this and arriving at their destination in Greece, students quickly got into the Greek atmosphere and could have a close to worry less holiday, on a Greek island.
The Omilo-team was very happy to be able to welcome one group after the other, and most importantly, we, as well as the students, had fun…Once arriving on Syros or Lefkada island, things looked very close to normal, and the sun accompanied us all day. This year, it seemed the sun was even more shining than normal, and it was a really hot Greek summer! Fortunately, our course locations are always next to the beach and sea, so after a refreshing dive before or after the lessons, students were able to deal with the heatwaves.
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We wish you a safe autumn season, from Greece with love.
Marina, Konstantinos, Dimitris, Maya, Myrto, Eva
How Omilo students witnessed the Corona months
On May 2nd, 2020, we wrote an update email, on how Omilo is dealing with the corona crisis, as well as the situation in Greece. We also suggested to our students, from all over the world, to write their “story”, on how they deal with the corona months, at home.
We are happy many students wrote to us, in Greek or English. Here below you find the (corrected) Greek stories that were sent to us, as well as some English versions:
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Γεια σας, φίλοι από το Omilo,
Εγώ είμαι στην Βαρκελώνη, στην Καταλονία, και είμαι κλεισμένος στο σπίτι μου από τα μέσα Μαρτίου περίπου. Πολύς καιρός, ναι, αλλά από χτες μπορούμε να περπατήσουμε έξω από 6:00 το πρωί μέχρι 10:00 και από 20:00 μέχρι 23:00 (τα άτομα που είναι 14 ως 70 χρονών).
Χτες μπόρεσα λοιπόν να πάω έξω απρόσκοπα και αισθάνθηκα ελεύθερος. Μετά από πολύ καιρό είδα τους δρόμους που έβλεπα συχνά. Δρόμοι που ήταν ζωντανοί, χτες τους είδα χαλαρούς και αυτό ήταν περίεργο για μένα.
Χθες περπάτησα γύρω στην μια ώρα με μια μάσκα. Ίσως επειδή δεν είμαι συνηθισμένος σε αυτήν την κατάσταση, ο λαιμός μου πονάει λίγο (δεν είναι σοβαρό, πιστεύω). Σήμερα δεν έχω βγει ακόμα έξω, αλλά η καραντίνα φτάνει στο τέλος της.
Τα λέμε,
Marc – Spain/ Barcelona
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Αγαπητέ μου Δημήτρη,
Ελπίζω ότι εσύ και η γυναίκα σου είστε καλά !
Εδώ η ζωή είναι πάντα ήρεμη…. Δεν υπάρχει θόρυβος στην γειτονιά. Μόνο τα πουλιά τραγουδούν. Η εξοχή είναι όμορφη. Πράσινο παντού…
Κανένα αυτοκίνητο … Μόνο, πού και πού, ακούμε τον θόρυβο του εξοπλισμού του κήπου. Κανένα αεροπλάνο στον ουρανό.
Καμιά φορά αναρωτιόμαστε αν είμαστε σε διακοπές ! Δυστυχώς όχι…
Όταν δεν έχω τρόφιμα στο σπίτι, βγαίνω να ψωνίσω. Αλλά δεν μ’ αρέσει. Είμαι χαρούμενη όταν τέλειωνω και γυρίζω στο σπίτι μας…
Όταν μένω σπίτι, διαβάζω, τηλεφωνώ στους φίλους μου, ή επίσης φτιάχνω μάσκες για τον άνδρα μου και τους εγγονούς μου…!
Αλλά πότε θα έρθει ξανά ο καιρός που θα πίνω, θα τρώω και θα γελάω με τους φίλους μου;…
Φιλάκια
Μισελλε _ France
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Dear friends, thank you for updating us about Greece.
I’m glad that Greeks didn’t have so many dead people like other European countries.
On the contrary Northern Italy, especially Lombardia included Milano, where I’m living,
had a huge number of infected and dead people.
At the middle of March our normally good hospitals weren’t ready nor able to receive and cure
so many sicks every day. In a few weeks, a new hospital for treatments of covid 19 has been organized
in the building of Milan Fair and field hospitals have been built in other towns by the Alpine corps and
volunteers. Pandemic took by surprise and doctors and nurses weren’t properly equipped to defend
themselves. More than 200 doctors and nurses died.
It was forbidden to visit people recovered in the intensive care units and held funerals.
Old people, the most of the deaths, died alone and were buried without relatives.
Now it is better: even if there are still new infected every day, most people are cured
and there are fewer deaths every day.
As for me, I spent the first month totally at home. My sons carried to me food and medicaments.
Anyway, I had no special distress, because I have a nice terrace with trees and flowers and
birds singing and the spring is mild and sunny . During the day I have been reading books and
listening music on the radio, in the morning reading papers online, included Greek papers.
I have seen also by streaming concerts and performances held at KPISN and at Megaron from Athens.
In the late afternoon, I chatted with my nephews, who are at home with their parents. Now I can meet
them again in a public garden near my home.
Luisa Acerbi, Italy
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Ευχαριστώ πολύ – εδώ είναι η ιστορία το δικό μου…..
Το όνομά μου είναι Ανίτα και είμαι από την Αγγλία. Ο άντρας μου κι εγώ είμαστε σε καραντίνα ακόμα στην Αγγλία. Η καραντίνα ξεκίνησε 23 Μαρτίου. Αν και είναι δύσκολη, είμαστε πολύ τυχεροί, επειδή ο καιρός στην Αγγλία ήταν πολύ καλός. Έχουμε έναν μεγάλο κήπο και πάλι είμαστε πολύ τυχεροί, γιατί μπορούμε να καθαρίζουμε τον κήπο μας.
Μπορούμε να πάμε μία βόλτα για μία ώρα κάθε μέρα, αλλά πρέπει να περπατάμε με δύο μέτρα απόσταση ανάμεσά μας.
Τα γενέθλιά μου ήταν τον Απρίλιο. Αν και ήταν ήσυχα στο σπίτι μας, ήταν πολύ χαλαρωτικά με τον άντρα μου. Ήταν διαφορετικά, αλλά ήταν υπέροχα.
Η καραντίνα μού δίνει περισσότερο χρόνο για να μάθω ελληνικά έτσι και πάλι είμαι πολύ τυχερή, αν και η ζωή είναι πολύ παράξενη τώρα!
Anita, UK
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Hello, here is my small essay:
Καλημέρα σε όλους, με λένε Μαρία Ροζαρια και είμαι από την Σικελία. Είμαι καθηγήτρια και είμαι παντρεμένη αλλά δεν έχω παιδιά.
Όταν η καραντίνα άρχισε, πριν δύο μήνες, ένιωθα απελπισμένη γιατί δεν είχα πια την ζωή μου. Πάντως δεν σταμάτησα να δουλεύω και από την αρχή έκανα μαθήματα με τους μαθητές μου από το σκάιπ αλλά δεν μπορούσα να πάω στο γυμναστήριο και μπορούσα να βγω μόνο για τα ψώνια. Μου έλειπαν όλα τα άτομα και τα σημαντικά πράγματα της ζωής μου και ένιωθα φυλακισμένη μέσα στο ίδιο μου το σπίτι. Μετά περίπου από ένα μήνα κάτι άλλαξε και συνήθισα στις καινούριες συνθήκες της ζωής. Η δασκάλα της γυμναστικής και η δασκάλα των Ελληνικών άρχισαν να κάνουν μαθήματα από το ίντερνετ, έτσι, κατά κάποιο τρόπο, οι μέρες μου είναι γεμάτες. Στο σπίτι έχω τον άνδρα μου και τα δύο γατάκια μου: τον Τομμυ και την Χλοη. Έτσι νομίζω πως θα μπορώ να πολεμώ τον κορονοιό!
That’s all
Good bye, Maria Rosaria, Sicily
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ΧΑΙΡΕΤΕ, ΟΜΙΛΩ.
Πώς είστε; Εγώ είμαι καλά μέσα στο σπίτι εξαιτίας του παγκόσμιου προβλήματος. Όπως ξέρετε, διδάσκω Αρχαία Ελληνικά στο Εθνικό Πανεπιστήμιο του Μεξικού. Από 23 Μαρτίου κάνω τη δουλειά μου μέσω Microsoft teams. Τώρα θα σας παρουσιάσω πώς είμαστε στο Μεξικό με τον covid19.
Αυτό το πρόβλημα άρχισε 28 Φεβρουαρίου. Μέχρι σήμερα οι νεκροί είναι 3160 και θετικοί 31522. Σύμφωνα με κυβερνητικές πληροφορίες, το αποκορύφωμα θα είναι αυτό το σαββατοκύριακο (9-11Μαίου ). Τρία προβλήματα έχουμε να αντιμετωπίσουμε: της υγείας, της οικονομίας και το πολιτικό. Πολιτικό γιατί πολοί πολιτικοί δεν συμφωνούν με το πολίτευμα του Λόπεζ Οβαδόρ.
Τώρα θα αναφέρω κάτι σχετικά με το Eθνικό Πανεπιστήμιο του Μεξικού (UNAM), την Alma mater, όπου δουλέυω. Το UNAM είναι το μεγαλύτερο πανεπιστήμιο Αμερικής. Δείτε κάποιες λεπτομέρειες. Το σχολικό έτος 2019/2020: Φοιτητές, 36 883, Ακαδημαϊκοί, 41 332, πανεπιστημιακἐς σπουδές 129, εκπαιδευτήρια, 110.
Τώρα, οι διακοπές μου. Τον Ιούλιο 2018 ο γιος μου και εγώ πήγαμε στην Ιταλία, Σικελἰα, Μεγάλη Ελλάδα, Λονδίνο, Πράγα και Βουδαπέστη. Το 2019, ο γιος μου και δύο συνάδελφοι πήγαμε στην Ελλάδα. Διατρέξαμε την Πελοπόννησο με αυτοκίνητο, πήγαμε στους Δελφούς, στα Μετέωρα. Πετάξαμε στο Βερλίνο να δούμε το μουσείο της Περγάμου, έπειτα πήγαμε μέχρι Βρυξέλλες, Ρώμη, Μεξικὀ. Το επόμενο έτος, «αν Ζευς επιτρέψει μοι», θα πάω στην Ελλάδα και θα μπορέσω να επισκεφτώ την οδό Τσαλδάρη. Σας ευχαριστώ πάρα πολύ, για το μήνυμα και τις ωραίες φωτογραφίες.
Χαιρετίσματα, από το Μεξικό, ΟΜΙΛΩ, Μάγια, Δημήτρη, Κώστα, Μαρίνα…; Χουάν.
Juan, Mexico
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The effects of COVID 19 on a rural English community
Τα αποτελέσματα του COVID 19 σε μία εξοχική αγγλική κοινότητα
Είμαι τύχερη που ζω σ’ένα μικρό χωριό, με εβδομήντα άτομα, στην ακτή του Suffolk (μία περιοχή βορειοανατολικά του Λονδίνου). Πριν από το ‘Lockdown’ πολλοί επισκέπτες ήρθαν στο χωριό μας να απολαύσουν την εξοχή και την παραλία. Τώρα επιτρέπεται να πάμε έξω, μόνο κοντά τα σπίτια μας για να ψωνίσουμε ή να κάνουμε γυμναστική (μία φόρα τη μέρα), έτσι το πάρκιν είναι κλειστό και όλα είναι πολύ ήσυχα. Για μας αυτό είναι θαυμάσιο!
Παντού στην Αγγλία οι δρόμοι είναι ήσυχοι, ο ουρανός είναι γαλάζιος και περισσότεροι άνθρωποι περπατάνε ή κάνουν ποδήλατο. Εμείς έχουμε ένα σκύλο που θέλει να περπατάει δυο φορές τη μέρα, έτσι κάνουμε βόλτα μαζί και εγώ και ο σύζυγός μου.
Καθώς είμαστε εβδομήντα χρονών, δεν μπορούμε να συναντήσουμε τα παιδιά ή τα εγγόνια μας αλλά τους βλέπουμε και μιλάμε μαζί στο Zoυμ. Εγώ έχω ένα μάθημα γαλλικής μαγειρικής κάθε μήνα και πίνω καφέ με μερικούς φίλους στο Ζουμ.
Στην αρχή τα ψώνια ήταν λίγο δύσκολα διότι όλοι ανησυχούσαν και αγόραζαν πάρα πολλά, ιδιαιτέρως χαρτί τουαλέτας το όποιο ήταν αδύνατο να βρούμε!! Τώρα τα μικρά τοπικά καταστήματα και τα μεγάλα σουπερμάρκετ παραδίδουν στα σπίτια.
Ο κήπος μας είναι αρκετά μεγάλος και πρέπει να δουλεύουμε εκεί που μας αρέσει. Επίσης έχουμε ένα παιχνίδι συναρμολογήσεως του Sistine Chapel το οποίο έχει 6,000 κομμάτια. Mας πήρε επτά εβδομάδες μέχρι τώρα, πιστεύουμε ότι θα το ολοκληρώσουμε σε άλλες δύο εβδομάδες. Τότε ίσως η ζωή θα είναι λίγο πιο κανονική.
Μου αρέσει να λαμβάνω όλα τα email από ΟΜΙΛΩ με τόσες πολλές πληροφορίες και ασκήσεις.
Σας ευχαριστώ.
Angela, UK
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Εξαιρετική πρόταση να γράψω στα ελληνικά! 🙂
Χρειάζομαι το λεξικό… Το ομολογώ 😉
Αυτές οι εβδομάδες ήταν οδυνηρές για μένα, αν και στην Ελβετία μπορούσαμε να βγούμε έξω.
Τραγουδάω σε μερικές χορωδίες. Είχαμε προγραμματίσει συναυλίες τον Μάρτιο και τον Ιούνιο… Επίσης κάνω ελληνικούς χορούς. Όλα σταμάτησαν!
Ξέρω.. η κατάσταση ήταν χειρότερη στην Ελλάδα. Τουλάχιστον, εδώ, μπορούσαμε να περπατήσουμε ή να κάνουμε ποδήλατο. Το έκανα με τους γιούς μου.
Στο σπίτι, μένω μόνη με τη γάτα μου, Sila.
Έμαθα πώς να φτιάχνω ψωμί και μπισκότα. Είχα χρόνο να διαβάσω, να καλέσω τους φίλους μου στο τηλέφωνο και να μάθω ελληνικά. Έβαλα πολλά λουλούδια στο μπαλκόνι μου.
Στην Ελβετία, τα σχολεία, εστιατόρια και τα καταστήματα ανοίγουν τη Δευτέρα 11 Μαΐου, με τα απαραίτητα μέτρα.
Ελπίζω να ταξιδέψω ξανά στην Ελλάδα φέτος αλλά.. δεν ξέρω αν θα είναι δυνατό.
Έτσι κι αλλιώς, ανυπομονώ να σας ξαναδώ το επόμενο έτος.
Χαιρετισμούς από το Νeuchâtel
Φιλιά σε όλους
Marie-Claude, Switzerland
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We thank our students for their beautiful letters and for staying in touch. We hope soon to be able to welcome you all again in Greece
Stay safe, and many greetings from Athens.
Χαιρετίσματα από την Αθήνα
