October 2013 OMILO Newsletter

7/27/2019 October 2013 OMILO Newsletter

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- The OMILO Newsletter

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Dear OMILO friends,

After a long summer, here our Newsletter again. Although this is our Fall Newsletter, we are stillin a late-summer mood, for the simple reason that we did not need any warm cloths until today.Temperatures in most parts of Greece are still above 20C, sunshine every day, no need for ajacket neither socks and we still prefer the cappuccino fredo above the warm version! Wecannot complain!

In this Newsletter we will write about:1. OMILO News2. The new book of Petros Markaris3. Playing Tavli4. Future professions5. The magic of Greek music

1. OMILO NewsWhat the OMILO-team was doing during the long summer?Most importantly, from July till September we took care of our students during the intensive Greekcourses on the islands of Andros and Syros. As usual, we had the honor to work with so manyenthusiastic and motivated students of all ages. It was

so nice to see so many known faces as well as newstudents. The end of September the OMILO team leftthe islands and returned to Athens, where we organizecourses during the entire Greek school year. We reallylike our job!

Apart from teaching and organizing cultural activities,a lot of work was also done behind the scenes! Anew website was born and we hope you like it. Morephotos, videos, social media, new photos, a blog andnew programs. The website will be updated regularly

with new blog articles, new videos, photos, etc. If anybody would like to send us some articles forthe blog, new photos or useful feedback, you are very welcome.

As you probably already noticed, the 2014 program is online. For all dates and prices for theGreek courses in Greece, have a look at:http://www.omilo.com/dates-prices-2014/

In case you are interested in learning Greek back home or you would like to learn more aboutGreek culture, do not forget to look at the other options as well.In a nutshell, you fill find all the Greek courses, the cultural activities, as well as the cultural weekat

http://www.omilo.com/overview/

Some more words about the Cultural Week! This year the Cultural Week will take place on theisland of Syros from Sunday 27/7 till Friday 1/8/2014. We offer various cultural lessons
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throughout the day.Are you interested in Mythology, Etymology or you are wondering how Greeks live today? You justwant to have an easy-going holiday with Greek dancing lessons every night? You would love tocontinue learning Greek, but without a course book? All this is possible with OMILO during theCultural Week. Have a look athttp://www.omilo.com/cultural-week/. On top of that, you will have alot of opportunities to visit festivals, expositions, concerts and much more in Ermoupolis, thebeautiful capital of Syros!

We would like to end the OMILO news with one of the students comments we got recently:Dear Om ilo team,What can I say.. only nice words come to my mind when I think of the classes, level of teaching,activities, students, teachers and of course also Maya. It was a great atmosphere in general. InMarch I came to Athens and had my first experience with Omilo. This summer I booked yourcourses in Andros and Syros, for three weeks in a row. I watched people come and go and evenfelt like a small part of your Omilo team, its like family. Athens, Andros and Syros were perfect butI fell in love with Syros. The people, the food and the great offer of cultural activities inErmoupoli. From the first day I came back home I was thinking about returning to Greece and toOmilo. So for the third time this year I will! I look forward to seeing you all again in Athens this fall,as well as some of the other Omilo-students I met this year who I know will be there as well. !Sabine

The OMILO-team hopes to welcome many of you again in our future courses.

2. The new book of Petros Markaris

A book about Athens.Athens has many faces. The tourists who visit the cityfor a few days have a different view from the Atheniansthemselves or from the international media, which seesAthens as the center of the crisis. A good way to find outmore about Athens, is through the eyes of a novelist.

Peter Markaris, famous for his trilogy "The CrisisTrilogy," recently published a book showing Athens in aspecial way. Title of the book is "Athens in one journey."The journey refers to the route of the electric railwayfor nearly 100 years: Piraeus-Kifissia. (The first part ofthe line, as we know it today was realized in 1926, whilethe line Piraeus-Thissio dates back to 1869). For yourinformation, the OMILO school is located at 300 metersfrom this electric railway, the Maroussi station.

Taking the oldest subway line, known as the " elektriko "(or Green metro line), you can see the whole of Athensand its inhabitants in less than an hour. This route isintertwined with the life of the Athenians and penetrates all key districts of the capital and all social
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classes: it starts at the districts of Faliro and Moschato, goes to middle class Kallithea, throughthe old quarters of the glorious center with its modern day problems, it continues to Nea Ionia(Greek refugee area) and reaches the upper-class districts of Maroussi and Kifissia. It is a bookthat helps us to learn more about Athens, covering beautiful and ugly, poor and rich,etc. From thewindows of the train we can see all aspects of the Greek capital. Surely, after reading this bookyou will want to make the trip to look at the city from a new perspective!Any OMILO-student that has followed or will follow a course in our Maroussi school, will surely beable to recognize many things!The book is published in Greek by Gabrielides .First published in German in 2010 from the publisher Hanser.

3. Playing TavliPlaying tavli or backgammon is a very popular Greek habit.Almost every Greek has enjoyed a sunny morning withcold coffee (preferably a frappe) and a round of portes ora summer afternoon with a glass of ouzo accompanied bya meze and a round of plakoto.Backgammon is a board game for 2 players. It consists ofone board, twelve checkers for each player and two dice.Backgammon has different ways of playing. The main

games are: portes (doors), plakoto (crash down) andfevga (leaves). All games combine luck with strategy. Theresult depends on the dice and the player's ability to movethe checkers. The duration of each game is not very long,so the suspense and interest is always very high.Backgammon is known since Antiquity and has severalvarieties. In Mesopotamia and in Egypt, a game similar tothe modern backgammon already existed. Later, we find itin Greece with the name Pessoi and in the RomanEmpire with the name Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum (gameof 12 letters). Also in the Middle Ages it was popular,

although the church prohibited playing backgammon. When it was banned in England, the Englishplayers made a board which looked like a book sothey were able to carry it without fear. Backgammonowes its current appearance to this construction.In modern Greece, backgammon is popular withinevery age. In the beginning, you could find it inmens cafes (kafeneia). Men who used to frequentthe cafes were playing cards and backgammon.Gradually everyone loved it and tavli even endedup being a student habit. Today, you can seepeople playing backgammon everywhere: on the

beach, on the boat, in the caf, in the park, and atOMILO!During one of our Greek courses on the island ofSyros, the OMILO teachers were teaching the


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OMILO students how to play portes (doors) or how to improve their scores. It seemed to bepopular, since many bought a backgammon before returning home! So what do you think? Maybea good idea to ask for a Christmas Present!

4. Professions of the Future

The crisis in Greece is a reality and has a large impact on the labor market. Unemployment rateshave risen particularly high and mainly young people are the ones affected.

Professions which some time ago were very popular and prestigious, such as engineers, doctorsand lawyers are currently among the many unemployed. Artists, journalists and teachers are

considered among the most saturated professions. After many years of studies and obtainingmany degrees, students specialized in various fields have no work and are forced to go to othercountries.

With Greece going through a crisis, people, in order tosurvive, become more creative, turning to new areas,implementing innovative ideas. Professions related tomedicine may be oversaturated, but health careprofessions, such as special education or speechtherapy open new roads. Renewable energy is also anarea that has not been exploited in Greece, althoughthe country offers all the required elements (sun,

wind). Consequently, engineers and electricians focuson these areas as the construction sector has died.For those involved in IT, there plenty of opportunities,like creating applications for smart phones or tablets,developing social networks, or even designing

educational programs based on computers.

Finally, many young people are turning back to the primary production sector: animal farming andagriculture. Specialized agronomists, nutrition experts and herbalists are in high demand. There is

also a profound interest in organic crop production and the use of herbs. More than 3.000 differentherbs and plants grow in Greece, which, up to today were not used or widely known.

Overall, the crisis in Greece is an opportunity to rebuild and find new ways to ensure a betterquality of life. The new created jobs do not only combat unemployment, but also improve theservices and products available to consumers. What we need in these difficult times, is creativity,insight and optimism! The OMILO-team totally agrees!

5. The magic of Greek music

I consider myself very lucky today to sing in a Greek choir in Stockholm, Sweden. Orfeas is anamateur choir consisting of about 40 first and second generation Greeks, Swedish lovers ofGreece (like me) and a few non-Greek speaking singers who love music. See our website whereyoull find information in Greek, Swedish and English:http://grekiskakorenorfeas.hemsida24.se/My story of the choir begins on a cold, grey and dark winters day in Stockholm in 2012. Mydaughter Amy had just left for Australia on a work-travel visa. Sad and lonely, I spotted a cafnamed Amys Caf near my home, and it became my hangout. One Sunday two women there
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were speaking Greek and I joined them. Sofia and Kicki said they sang in a Greek choir inStockholm, and I was welcome to come along. I was certainly in the right place at the right time.My first trip to Greece was to Crete in 1982. My knowledge of Greek music then was pretty muchlimited to Zorba the Greek and Never on a Sunday. Little did I know then that my love affair withGreek music was just beginning.

On Crete I then purchased an LP withMikis Theodorakis. It was an instrumentalrecording called Fun in Greece with themusic of THEODORAKIS ( ...) and Iplayed it over and over again afterreturning home to Sweden. I cant explainthe magic of the bouzouki sounds, but Iwas spellbound by the haunting melodies.Perhaps I just wanted to savor the sweetsummer memories of Crete at the time. Buttoday I know there was much more thanZorba for me to discover in the way ofGreek music.Years passed until my next visits toGreece, which began again in 1995 with

my then 5 year old daughter. We would spend three or four weeks every summer island-hoppingin the Cycladic islands. As a single mother I always felt very safe in Greece, we have met manywonderful people and have heard a lot more Greek music. Our favorite island became Naxos,where we would return every year. But no matter where we were, the music was always with us: inthe tavernas, cafs and even on the buses. In fact we named the bus on Naxos disco busbecause the driver constantly played the laika (popular music) with the volume way up it was ahappy and festive atmosphere. Of course we didnt know what they were singing about, but weliked it and that was enough then.Greek language barriers in music have been broken in Sweden by excellent interpretations of thetexts of Greek Nobel Literature Prize laureates Giorgos Seferis (prize 1963) and Odysseas Elytis(prize 1979), whose lyrics have been put into music by Mikis Theodorakis. Therefore many people

in Sweden have enjoyed Greek music without always knowing it was Greek. Perhaps the mostpopular is O Kaimos sung by among others Swedish-Finnish singer Arja Saajonmaa. She sang itat the 1986 funeral of Swedens prime minister Olof Palme, and children learn to sing it in Swedishschools.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-PZXEKReVQ.It is of course good that these famouspoets can be appreciated in otherlanguages, but by learning some Greeka new world of music and understandingof the culture opens up. OMILO providesa wonderful opportunity to learn theGreek language and culture through its

intensive courses and to have fun at thesame time. Every summer the OMILOteachers present a brilliant introductionto Greek music, and put together a super
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CD with a variety of songs and lyrics in Greek and even translated into English for those of us whoare not so advanced yet. I have studied at OMILO for four summers now, and I am alwaysamazed that I have hardly ever heard any of the OMILO songs before. There is such a wealth ofGreek music!After singing in Greek with the Orfeas Choir for over one year now Ive learned so many songsfrom different parts of Greece as well as Cyprus, sometimes folk songs in dialects that even Greekchoir members find hard to understand. One such example is Seranda mila kokkina (Forty redapples) in the Pontian Greek dialect. Its always exciting for me to see the many Greek wordsand verb constructions that Im familiar with pop up in the songs over and over again. Ourrepertoire is close to 60 songs now, all in Greek. Besides the compositions of Mikis Theodorakiswe sing lyrics to music by composers such as Manos Hadzidakis, Manos Loizos and StavrosKougioumtzis. But many of the songs are traditional folk songs from different parts of Greece.Performing in front of an audience is rather daunting at first, but easier in a choir when so manyothers can back you up. Nevertheless we must all work hard and do our best. That means learningour parts (we sing in four-part harmony) as well as learning the lyrics. For those who dont readGreek, the lyrics are written in the Latin alphabet in phonetic Swedish. I think its much easier ifyou can read Greek and understand at least some of the lyrics. Meanwhile we have the excellentleadership of Rolando Pomo from Argentina who does not speak Greek but is a professionalchoral director. Hes strict with us, but is also sensitive to the Greek mentality (which I would sayis similar to the lively Latin one!).Orfeas recently performed together in Stockholm with our Norwegian counterpart the Arkadia

Choir from Oslo. Among other things, the talented choral director Marilena Zlatanou specializes inByzantine music and is also a gifted composer. Read about her here:http://zlatanou.net/home-english/And all you Norwegian songbirds can apply here:http://www.arkadiakoret.no/Last but not least, I would like to tell you about Orfeas prime annual performance held this year on

November 23, 2013 in Stockholm at Klara Church. Its a popular event with a fullhouse, so let me know if you would like me to reserve you a ticket! (about 10euros).

A note about the writer:Gail Ricksecker is a Swedish-American born in 1951 and has lived in Stockholmsince 1975. She has studied with OMILO since 2010. Gail works as a translator

from Swedish to English. You can contact her via e-mail:[email protected].

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The OMILO-team also loves Greek music and was happy to see so many enthusiastic singers thissummer. Have a look at this small video, where the students sing along with Antonis Remos.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-u1aAVTJQ(For the original version, click: , http://youtu.be/-x6hf9ka8zc)

On Monday 28/10 we will start our Intensive Greek Course in Athens again and also witness somedifferent music : Greek students marching for the October 28thNational Holiday : the Oxi day!The Greek youth amusing themselves! The video is taken from the balcony of the OMILO schoolon March 25th. The same parades take place on October 28th, in all neighborhoods and all overGreece.
http://zlatanou.net/home-english/http://zlatanou.net/home-english/http://zlatanou.net/home-english/http://zlatanou.net/home-english/http://www.arkadiakoret.no/http://www.arkadiakoret.no/http://www.arkadiakoret.no/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-u1aAVTJQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-u1aAVTJQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-u1aAVTJQhttp://youtu.be/-x6hf9ka8zchttp://youtu.be/-x6hf9ka8zchttp://youtu.be/-x6hf9ka8zchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-u1aAVTJQmailto:[email protected]://www.arkadiakoret.no/http://zlatanou.net/home-english/http://zlatanou.net/home-english/


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https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=570648482968705&set=vb.113515072015384&type=3&theater

Now that we reached the end of October and BeginningNovember, it is time to wish you a nice winter or kaloxeimona! Enjoy this nice season, with chestnuts, warmcoffees, family moments and some time to start booking yournext holiday to Greece! Hope to hear from you soon.

Sunny greetings from the OMILO-team.

.

OMILO

Visiting: Pan. Tsaldari 13, 15122 Maroussi, Athens (GREECE) P.O. box 61070, 15101 Maroussi, Athens (GREECE)Tel. (00 30) 210-6122896 Fax. (00 30) 210-6122706 Email:[email protected]
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October 2013 OMILO Newsletter