10 Things I Learned Abroad

1. I am still allergic to cats

    

This one is unfortunate as Athens is crawling with stray cats. Most of them are pretty dirty so I'm not missing much from not being able to pet them, but I did find out early on my allergies travel with me.

2. If you miss your Ethics final your teacher will pity you and let you take it at a different time

Happened to my buddy Eric, not me. 

3. Greeks and Turks are not friends

Can I call Turkish people Turks? Either way, I found out that they do not get along well. Greece became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1829l. 

4. People from Turkey do not typically get offended by "Turk."

According to a Quora question and answer thread, I am in the clear. 

5. 16 inches of snow in Athens is enough to shut the city down for days

It was like the world was going to end. I was stuck in an airport with thousands of people for like 14 hours. I will post a blog going into further detail.

6. You are a lame excuse for an American if you are not from New York City or Los Angeles

I disappointed so many people. 

7. It is so much easier to order delivery

Ordering food on Wolt will definitely be one of the things I miss most about living in Greece. You don't have to pay absurd service fees, there is rarely a delivery fee, and you don't have to tip the driver. Ordering food back home on DoorDash will also result in an extra 7-8 dollars being spent. In Athens, I essentially only paid for the food I ordered. Not having to tip drivers or waiters is a nice cultural change. 

8. Giannis Antetokounmpo is not repped nearly as much as he should be

Coming to Greece I thought I would see Giannis jerseys or Bucks merch worn by everyone. After four months I can confidently say I did not see a single Giannis jersey or shirt outside of the ones in stores. That is by far the most surprising thing about being abroad. On an international level, Giannis and his brothers are literally the only prominent Greek athletes. He is literally the most dominant basketball player in the world and the people in Athens simply do not care. One of my RAs, a Greek man named Kostas, even said he "hates" Giannis. "Hates" him. What? How? He's probably the most likable elite athlete in the world. Apparently, Kostas was upset he left the Greek league to play in the NBA. Selfish selfish Kostas.

9. If your dorm smells like the sewage pipes in the basement burst open, flooding the laundry room with what you would expect to be in sewage pipes, they probably did

This was really gross.

10. Bacon is a condiment

I actually learned this years ago but I couldn't think of a good 10th.