The Calm After the Storm

One of the things i love about having moved to Greece is being able to experience it in every season. I have spent my life coming to Greece during the summers and the longest I have ever stayed before was 3 months when I was 17. The latest in the year I have ever stayed is until early October in 2018, so being here into the winter months will be very interesting. To start, it’s colder than I expected in Crete during November. I expected maybe I would still be swimming in the sea. Instead, I find myself on shopping sprees looking for winter clothes because I suddenly realized I was not prepared for this. Ok I won’t be dramatic, Alaska where I’m from, has had full on snow since October. Today in Crete is a gorgeous, sunny day. I took a walk through the village and just enjoyed the beauty and peacefulness of Autumn.

There is a stark contrast between the summer months and the winter months here in Crete. Summer is buzzing with tourists and foreigners. Towns are packed, beaches are full. Restaurants, cafes and tavernas are buzzing with life everywhere. These days, you will be lucky to find a shop open at all in many tourist villages. I definitely don’t hate it though. To be honest, after the craziness of summer I have needed some time to relax and unwind. I walked through a popular seaside village the other day that is usually bustling during the summer, and every shop was closed. Chairs were removed and put away. The sea was so wild with waves coming up over the side. It was almost like it was recovering after the craziness of summer. I found one supermarket open, and one coffee shop. That’s it. The main town of Rethymno is still buzzing with locals and students here for the school year, and when I was in Heraklion yesterday, which is the biggest city on the island, I noticed the bustle was still going and now they have started to decorate with Christmas decorations and it is just lovely.

Village life is quiet. Very quiet. But I find myself with enough things to keep occupied and I actually love it.. The best part of my days are waking up and just taking in the beauty around me. I feel like I need about a month to recover from the craziness of the summer season. I am starting to begin to understand life here. There doesn’t seem to be much balance. Year round work is difficult to find. The summers are crazy busy and you work, work, work to no end and then it all comes to a sudden halt in November. It feels strange. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Sure, I had show contracts that ended, and that was always hard but even then, life around me kept going. Here, it’s like everyone goes into hibernation during the winter months ahead. Some teach English, some pick olives. No job is too menial when it comes to making an income to get by until the next summer season. I think that is what I like about being in Greece. In America it is all about work and career, and yes, while we do make more money in the US there is also so much stress to find the best career, have the nicest things, a big house, a big car. Here, everyone just does what they need to do to get by and it is refreshing to see educated, cultured people living so simply and just doing what they must until next year.

Life is not easy in Greece. I’m definitely not saying that. People work very hard. Extremely hard. I was talking to a friend yesterday about why there is this misconception that Greeks don’t work, because to be honest they may work harder than Americans (at least for the months there is work). I’ve started to realize the difference is that Greeks enjoy their down time. Like really enjoy it. The afternoon break that they may close their shop, they may take a rest or just sit in their garden and enjoy a nice meal with family or go for coffee for 2 hours with friends. The difference is that Greeks know how to relax and enjoy their downtime where as Americans are constantly running around doing something during theirs. Running to a workout class or errands.. Greeks choose during their breaks to just sit, relax, catch up with friends or rest, and then they go back to work until the evening hours. Everything here is in waves. It gets busy and then you come down, you get crazy and then you relax. To be honest, I’ve never worked well this way. I need balance. But I’m also realizing that in life nothing is ever going to be perfectly balanced so you have to decide what you have to do to live the life you want. For me, right now, it’s Crete. In this sleepy village. This is the life I want right now. Relaxing and recovering. Maybe I’ll get bored in a month, and I’ll be ready for life to get busy again, but for now, it’s just me and the goats and I am enjoying it tremendously.