Large Continent - Small Island

Large Continent –> Small Island

 Takis once pointed out to me that though Victoria is the smallest state on the mainland of Australia the whole of Greece, England and Denmark could fit inside it. And as one paper pointed out when another state, New South Wales, had floods, the area covered by the floods was as large as France. And today's paper tells that Western Australia is applying for an area the size of England to be declared a national park. Yep, its a large continent alright!

We have now booked our trip back to the ‘small island’ of Lemnos, a dot in the Aegean. Life there is very different and again we have begun our process of ‘re’  - return and re-indigenization; a process of re-connecting and re-adjusting. 

As I say to friends I don’t know how much longer this back-and-forth life can continue but while it does I will continue to be challenged, and learn from this continuously peripatetic lifestyle. 

Weather

Lemnos has a great flux of climate, from months of heat and dry, to snow. The continent of Australia has a wide variety of climates but mostly with less variation in individual locations.

Australia - Victoria Early Spring

We are now in late summer in Australia. This is the time when we have to be most on the alert for bush fires. This summer has been cooler in our part of the continent, but that also means there has been more growth. Right now the grasses have dried out, the undergrowth in the forests is brittle. And the current weather report tells us that we are going to have a week with temperatures in the 30’s.

Lemnos – Early Spring

Right now in Greece the cycle moves towards spring but winter still lingers. Last week Takis was thrilled to see the temperatures rising in Lemnos to 15, but this week its back to zero and snow again. We are going earlier than usual and I think I’ll need a warm coat for Easter in Athens, but who knows? 

Summer in Lemnos 

Summer 2013

And Winter in Lemnos

Culture

Immigration is important for the culture one finds in Australia and Emigration has saved Lemnos at time, and also brought it wealth. 

Australia – Victoria 

Melbourne has a particular culture centered on early colonial money coming arising from gold mining, and more recently from banking centered in this state capital. As a result it has many large Victorian building built by these wealthy miners, and large parks as the establishment in Victorian time set up its institutions.

Compared with the number of illegal immigrants arriving in Europe, especially in Italy and Greece, the number arriving in Australia is miniscule. However they have a hard time when picked up, being sent to offshore island and interred there for months if not years.

Greece – Lemnos

Greece's current  problem with iIlegal immigrants

Lemnos has a history of emigration, those leaving to make money elsewhere mostly going towns on the shores of the Black Sea or to Egypt. These merchants sent back money to their hometowns and island, and so many large houses, schools and other public buildings were erected in the late 1800s. It is said that 25% of illegal immigrants come through Greece. Some arrive in Lemnos by boat; most of these come from Turkey and thinking they have already reached the mainland get a nasty shock. They are so easily spotted on our small island and are soon picked up. 

In addition, the place of the Church is very different in each  country. In Greece church traditions shape the social events all year long,  not so in Australia, with the exception of Xmas and Easter, which are not kept as religious occasions by most people.

History

In both countries tradition adds its own gloss to defeats

Australia

Anzac Day is one of the biggest memorials. It is when so many Allies, and Turks, lost their lives when the Allies in the First World War decided to attack the Turkish coast at Gallipoli.

Greece

Oxi day is a similar memorial in Greece. Again a wartime memorial, and not one marking a victory as after the Greek prime minister said no to the Italians in the Second World War they still invaded, alongside the Germans.

Sport and Politics

All Australians seem to be sport fans, and interested in individual politicians. In Greece sport is a young person’s preoccupation (basket ball excepted) and politics is a national sport.

Marches, Protest, Flag waving, Speeches -- its all good fun!

But it does have its serious side, in how all this impacts on the nation.

Australia

We’ve just had tennis tournament in Melbourne, the Australian Open. And the TV is full of cricket and the Asian soccer games. Politics here is also filling the papers and the current prime minister may be challenged for his position. While in Australia on the whole we do not worry about the running of the country as its going pretty well, but we can't help, like others getting involved in personal politics. Its a relief to go to Greece to get away from this!

Greece

In Greece Takis and his brother get involved in basketball as they both played it as youth. At the moment however Greece has involved the whole of Europe in its game of politics. It is my resolution not to discuss the recent election results when I reach there! 

This will be difficult, as I can see everyone will be talking about it. But, usually when in Greece Takis and I do not know enough about the persons in politics, and we skip the news broadcasts, though we can't help getting incensed by the country’s lack of organization.

This can all seem a bit confusing, but, after a while, when we have lived there a week or so, we get back into the Greek swing of things. 

And always, but particularly as we are going earlier, I’m looking forward to getting to the island a little earlier this year and seeing some of the spring flowers in the Garden.