OK, I'm still up to my eyeballs in Greek, so I'm gonna keep this short:
I'm fascinated by the various cultural differences. There are tons of them (I'm still getting used to a backward tilt of the head and/or a raise of the eyebrows meaning "no"), but since my time is limited, here are two:
1) They have never heard of 3x5 cards here. It's a bit difficult finding blank cardstock at all, but they do have it. On the other hand, if you're interested in erasers they have them in spades. One store I went to must have had at least 20 different kinds to choose from, including pen erasers and the latest in German eraser technology. In case you're wondering, the best brand is Staedtler rasoplast; I'll be happy to post a pic if you ask nicely. But I still need to post pix of my last major outing which was ... erm ... two weeks ago?
2) No one has toasters here, but they do eat something called «τοστ» (pronounced exactly the same way). In Seattle, what they call τοστ in Greece would be called a ham & cheese panini, and no Greek kitchen would be complete without a panini press. So there you have it.
And now back to the Greek (ελληνικά)!
I'm fascinated by the various cultural differences. There are tons of them (I'm still getting used to a backward tilt of the head and/or a raise of the eyebrows meaning "no"), but since my time is limited, here are two:
1) They have never heard of 3x5 cards here. It's a bit difficult finding blank cardstock at all, but they do have it. On the other hand, if you're interested in erasers they have them in spades. One store I went to must have had at least 20 different kinds to choose from, including pen erasers and the latest in German eraser technology. In case you're wondering, the best brand is Staedtler rasoplast; I'll be happy to post a pic if you ask nicely. But I still need to post pix of my last major outing which was ... erm ... two weeks ago?
2) No one has toasters here, but they do eat something called «τοστ» (pronounced exactly the same way). In Seattle, what they call τοστ in Greece would be called a ham & cheese panini, and no Greek kitchen would be complete without a panini press. So there you have it.
And now back to the Greek (ελληνικά)!
In Kentucky there is country ham and "city" ham. And of course there is Italian ham - prosciutto. Country ham is very salty and a bit dry. What is Greek ham like? And what kind of cheese is used? Swiss? Us Ammeters like our cheese!
ReplyDeleteThe ham is ordinary lunchmeat, and the cheese ... ordinary lunchcheese. :-) Near as I can tell, it's mozzarella, colby, or monterey jack. Greek "tost" is a quotidian sort of snack for when you just want a quick bite to eat.
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