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www.omilo.com
Greek Language and Culture
June /July 2010 OMILO Newsletter
Dear friends,
The summer is there, the intensive courses in Syros started. We
are few left in the Maroussi officeand from July 5th the whole
OMILO team will be in Syros. Therefor, here the last newsletter for
this "schoolyear". The next one will be sent in October.
1. OMILO news :
Group courses in Maroussi finished on June 18. Most of those
participants live permanently in Athens andlooking forward to a
summer break..: just enjoy thesummer festivals in Athens, heading
for the beaches or leave for holidays. Greek schools also finished
on June15th, so all families will have to keep their children
busytill September 10th, when the schools will re-openagain. A long
holiday indeed!Athens has a lot to offer during summer, with
festivals in every municipality (there are about 40municipalities
in the Attica area!). A good time to explore all the hidden secrets
of the city, learnabout Greek music and theatre and enjoy foreign
performances as well.
More and more foreigners seem to enjoy those festivals and
combine it with Greek private lessonsin the Maroussi office during
the mornings. An excellent way to have a cultural and active
holiday.
The OMILO first course on the island of ANDROS took place from
May 23 till May 29, withsuccess! A nice island, sunny weather,
smart participants and fantastic teachers.. This four ingredients
matched well together and made Andros a great experience. Have a
look at the new
photo-album on facebook at www.facebook.com/omilohellas .
2. News from Athens:
Since mid-May Athens calmed down, but strikes in the public
sector are still organized frequently.In the meantime, the
Government keeps struggling with new laws and financial issues.A
wide-range of programme privatisations of state enterprises -
covering rail and road transport,airports and ports, utilities,
gaming and public real estate holdings - was discussed at a
cabinetmeeting, chaired by Prime Minister George Papandreou."The
governments decision is to step up privatisation proceduresin order
to extract value frommajor state assets," Finance minister George
Papaconstantinou said at a press conference.Under the scheme
discussed, the government plans to sell off a 49% stake of
TRAINOSE, asubsidiary of the Hellenic Railways (OSE), a 10% stake
in the Athens water utility (EYDAP) and a23% stake in the
Thessaloniki water company (EYATH) and a 39% stake of Hellenic Post
(ELTA).It also plans to fully privatise casinos and extend its
highly successful public-private partnerships toconcessions for new
infrastructure projects.
http://server01.arathra.eu/~omiloco/cms/http://www.facebook.com/omilohellashttp://www.facebook.com/omilohellashttp://server01.arathra.eu/~omiloco/cms/
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Many changesand life goes on.The 2010 Greek Festival (
www.greekfestival.gr ) opened the
beginning of June and offers a variety of artistic
expressions.The festival spans from June to mid August with old and
newvenues hosting the events, such as the Herodus Attikus theatre,
the
Benaki Museum ( www.benaki.gr ) , and the Building H at
thePeiraios 260 complex.
3. News from Greece :
The Non Governmental Organisation ELIX organises newsummer
voluntary work camps in Greece between June and
September 2010.
They are also available online. ( www.elix.org.gr )
The main activity of ELIX is the launch of several international
programmes involving voluntarywork for adults and youth
exchange.ELIX organises international voluntary work camps of
short, medium and long duration in Greeceand abroad, aiming to
protect the environment, preserve cultural heritage and promote
cooperation
between young people.If you have some of your precious time
left, taking part in such a program offers you theopportunity to
make friends from all the world, see different areas in Greece,
practice your Greek every day with the locals, and experience
different ways of living.Greece would be an ideal destination for
walking holidays, but lacks a lot of organisation and mosttrails
are difficult to find or not marked. Some of those summer camps,
f.ex. on the islands of Andros and Tinos, also clean up and mark
the walking trails. We are very grateful for that!
Greece to ban smoking in all indoor public places Since Greece
belongs to the EU, there is no other way than also follow the
smoking ban in indoor
places. Not an easy thing, in a country where more than 40% of
the population smoke, making themthe heaviest smokers in Europe.
Also, nearly as many are exposed to smoking at work, accordingto a
European Union poll. There is a lot of discussion aboutsmoking the
last 2 years, and now once more......Greece will bansmoking in all
indoor public places from September 1st. After thefailure of a
partial ban last July, the Government will do an effort
again to stop the habit of smoking in public areas. Last year's
banwas largely ignored because of exemptions for small bars
andrestaurants, complex rules and the failure to crack down
onoffenders. Lets see what will happen next!
Bar and restaurant owners had complained last year's law was too
complicated and was hurting business. Some restaurant owners who
had originally implemented the law put ashtrays back on thetable
after losing customers.
Smoking is also becoming more expensive in Greece.The government
agreed in talks with the EU and the IMF earlier this month to
increase excise taxon cigarettes by 10%. (as well as on
alcohol)
In the meantime, summer started, with temperatures between 25
and 35C day and night.... for smokers there is really no problem in
Greece to simply sit outside or on a balcony... (in thesummer!)
http://www.greekfestival.gr/http://www.benaki.gr/http://www.elix.org.gr/http://www.greekfestival.gr/http://www.benaki.gr/http://www.elix.org.gr/
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4. Letters, stories and experiences from OMILO students
a new section for the Newsletter, started in May 2010! Anybody
wishing to participate in thissection, you are very welcome! Write
down your Greek experiences, whether you are living inGreece/Cyprus
or you are spending your holidays there. Comedies, tragedies or
just your thoughtsabout Greece , the Greek language or culture why
not share it with other Greek students? You can write in English,
German, French, Dutch, Spanish or Greek. (thelanguages of our Omilo
web-page).(The stories will not be translated to Greek/English by
OMILO.)
Erik and Anne-Marie of Belgium ( [email protected] ) are the
Number 2 to continue this section!We hope many of you will follow.
They are living permanently in Belgium where they followGreek
lessons for many years, as well as Greek dance seminars. This
summer they will attend their 4th summer course with OMILO. Enjoy
their story, written in excellent Greek (OMILO only didvery minor
corrections).Subject : The island Gavdos (south of Crete), where
they have spent many holidays and made a lot
of friendships.
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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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, , . . . , . , ,
. .
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After this very positive note about this small island in
Greeceand Greek life, we are now full motivation to welcome all
the
participants in our Syros summer courses.
Also Syros is a great island, still very Greek, with a lot
of
culture as well.For those staying some days in Athens this
summer, do notforget to visit a performance in one of the many
local festivals,or visit an outdoor summer movie-theatre!
We wish you a very nice summer , KALO KALOKAIRI
The OMILO team.
OMILO, PO Box 61070, 15101 MAROUSSI, ATHENSTel.
(0030)210-612.28.96
email: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
