Listening to the Next Generation >> Kim

To me, what it means to be Greek is to have keep a really cool heritage. We should be proud of where we came from and why people know us as being Greek. And why people know Greek people as the way we are seen. There’s a reason for that. It’s not just because we are loud and we have lots of family. But it’s because we have done really cool things in the past that have really influenced the infrastructure of our entire system. And that to me is really cool to be a part of that and to have that be my history.

Got Greek? interviews Kim K. from University of Oregon

My father is of Greek descent. He was born and raised in Athens. He lived there until he was 19. Then, he came over to the United States and has been here ever since.

Q: What prompted your dad to come to the United States?

A: He always wanted to come here. His father had been in and out of the United States because he had a business here. He ran a restaurant. And so my dad was always curious about the States and traveling and trying something new. So after he graduated high school, he felt that was the perfect opportunity to come over here to see what it was like… He was already a U.S. citizen by default because my grandpa was an American citizen.

Q: Did your father go directly from Greece to Oregon?

A: No. He started out in New York City and attended an English immersion school at Columbia University. After that finished, he went to Michigan and worked there for awhile. He did some more schooling. Then, he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to get a degree if he didn’t know what he wanted to pursue. So he joined the army. He ended up being in Germany for two years. Then, he was discharged and came back to New York for a little while. He then went to California and ended up settling there for about 25 years.

Q: Is that where he met your mother?

A: Yes. He and my mom met in Southern California. I grew up there until I was six. Then, my dad retired and they decided Oregon might be a nicer place to raise a family. A little bit more calm. So that’s how we ended up here in Oregon.

Q: What about your mom’s side?

A: My mom is 100% Hungarian. She was born in Germany and raised in Pennsylvania. She’s lived around the world here and there with different jobs. She ended up in California because she wanted to see the West Coast.

Q: What was that like growing up in your household with your dad being Greek on his side and your mom being Hungarian on her side?

A: It seemed normal to me because I didn’t know any other way. It was fine. Definitely got a perspective from both sides. But I guess the core values of those cultures were the same for my parents. It didn’t seem weird to me at all.

Q: When you say they shared some core values, what might some of those be?

A: I would say hard work. Being proud of what we do. Our heritage. Just being respectable and responsible. Having a reason for doing everything and always trying to do a little bit better than what we’ve done before.

Q: What Greek memories do you have from your childhood?

A: My sister and I had to go to Greek school when we were little. We didn’t really want to, just because my friends weren’t going. But it was really fun. My dad spoke Greek to us a lot, so we understood more than we spoke. It was a really open community. But our Greek school was a bit of ways from where we grew up because we didn’t have a huge Greek community in our town.  It was present but only really once a week when we went to Greek school, and the bits and pieces we got from home and my dad… When we were in Southern California, we went to a Greek church and I took classes at Greek church. We’ve attended a number of services.  My dad was raised Greek Orthodox but I was not baptized in the church…When I moved here to Oregon, which has been for the majority of my life, there was not a Greek church in Salem. So we took lessons from a woman who’s Greek. We just went to her house, my sister and I, and took lessons. We weren’t really into it at the time, which was unfortunate because now we are. But I think we were just busy with other things. Because it wasn’t a huge part of the rest of our life. It wasn’t something we thought was high on the priority list. Not because we didn’t think it was important. Just because there were other things taking our time. But we went up to a few Greek events and churches in Portland. But Portland is an hour or so away. So it wasn’t a consistent thing.

Q: In some ways, your father was really your immediate connection to Greek culture.

A: He definitely instilled in us as much as he could with the resources he had. We know everything about our history, culture-wise and country-wise. For the resources we had, I think we got a pretty good upbringing…It’s kind of funny because I get a lot of recognition for my distinctly Greek last name. But I think a lot of it is because people associate it with the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It’s kind of representative. But if you think about it on a deeper level, I think the reason why Greek people are the way they are in the movie, even though that is an extreme, is because of our history and our accomplishments we have made in terms of medicine, architecture, art, music, science, philosophy. If you think about our core, the infrastructure of the Greek culture, I think that’s the reason why we’re so prideful and so excited to be Greek. We have something to be excited about and want to share that with other people.

Q: Speaking of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, what did you think of that movie?

A: It’s funny because my family is like that in Greece. So when we go to visit them, I kind of feel like I’m part of the movie and I feel really uncomfortable. I almost feel like the non-Greek family [the one associated with the lead male in the movie] who’s coming to visit the Greek family. Because my family here is really small, we don’t have the giant parties and loud cousins. All that family is in Greece. So I can relate when I’m there in Greece. But here, it’s kind of funny because that’s not how my American Greek family is.

Q: Do you have any Greek relatives here in the United States?

A: We do have a handful. Most of them are on the East Coast. So we get to see them here and there. My sister and I went to New York last year and so we got to see my cousins. But it isn’t on a consistent basis. It’s just kind of like every year, we get to see them.  But it isn’t like the hardcore Greek family that makes meals and plans crazy weddings together.

Q: You mentioned that the movie reminds you of your relatives in Greece. Any specific character traits from the movie you can identify in your own family?

A: Extremely passionate about everything and anything. Wanting to know everyone’s personal life and home life. Talking over each other. It’s very animated and emotionally-oriented, and the hand movements. There’s always something going on. There are always five people talking at once. And the thing about eating is true. It is offensive that if you don’t eat no matter what.

Q: How old were you when you went to Greece for the first time?

A: I was a baby when I went there for the first time. So I don’t remember much of that trip.  The second time, I was in kindergarten and I had the chicken pox the entire time. I got the chicken pox going over, so that was kind of a different trip. But it was so fun to see people and meet my cousins in my family. Then most recently, I went in the summer of 2007 when I was 19. So that was the most meaningful for me.

Q: Tell me about that experience. What was that trip like?

A: We went to visit my family in Athens. Just to catch up since I hadn’t seen them since I was five. It was definitely surreal because the last time I had seen them I was younger, and now they all have families.  It was a really a cool experience…We did not stay with them. But we stayed nearby and we were able to spend a lot of time with them. My dad grew up there and of course had friends. So we just spent a lot of time with the immediate family, the extended family and my dad’s friends. Just visiting people and seeing the sites that are important to know about our history, which we hadn’t yet seen or appreciate as much as we could.

Q: What did you take away from the trip?

A: I’ve always known about my culture and thought about it. I’ve seen pictures and talked about it. But it’s different when you’re actually in the place and you’re experiencing things firsthand. That was huge for me, and of course I wish that I was fluent in Greek. I wish I could spend more time there. And I definitely wish I could be more connected to that side because it is a huge part of my history and my culture. Even for why I do things now, I understand it better.  Even if I wasn’t Greek, just going there and seeing the progression of what things were and how they are now. And how Greeks thought, and how their inventions have influenced what we have today is a huge learning lesson for anyone, even if you’re Greek or not.

Q: So you have a familial connection to Greece and then a broader connection to the history.

A: Definitely. I had revelations on a micro and macro level. Because what was produced there, what was created there is huge if you think about it on a large scale in terms of time and in terms of the progress we’ve made with inventions and ideas and medicine and what not.

Q: While you’re in college, to what extent are you connected to the Greek culture? Do you go online at all to find Greek-related things?

A: Yes. I downloaded a learning Greek podcast for beginners. So when I go on walks and what not, I listen to that. I also listen to the Greek news sometimes but not as much as I wish I had time for. But definitely, I try to keep up with as much as I can and talk to my dad.  He’s very much connected to the Greek culture through AHEPA and just through his own interest. Of course, if there are festivals or Greek events usually in Portland, we’ll drive up to Portland. I’m two hours away now that I’m in Eugene for school. But it’s not that far away.

Q: In terms of your cultural identity, do you use terms to describe yourself like Greek, Greek American, American of Greek background, American, Hungarian or something else?

A: I think it depends on what context.  If someone asked me what my heritage is, I say I’m half Greek and I’m half Hungarian. If someone is asking me about my last name, I just say  “Yes. I’m Greek.” I don’t really say Greek American, and I don’t really say I’m an American of Greek descent or whatever. I usually just say I’m half Greek and half Hungarian.

Q: Before the interview,  you mentioned you are also Jewish on your mom’s side and will be visiting Israel at some point as part of the Birthright to Israel program.

A: Yes. The purpose of Birthright to Israel is to give students of Jewish descent who haven’t necessarily had an opportunity to explore their Jewish heritage. It’s a10 day trip to Israel that is paid, and you are toured around with other Jewish heritage students. It’s just a really good opportunity to learn about your heritage, your past and help you learn about where you came from and why things are the way they are. So I am 100% Jewish on my mother’s side according to my heritage, and I don’t have that strong of a background in it because I don’t have a huge Jewish community where I live. So I’m planning to go on one of the trips. I was supposed to go in December but the airport got shut where I was flying out of because we had a snow storm. So I’m rescheduled to go at a later point, and it’s a really exciting opportunity. This would be really cool for Greek students, too, because of the rich heritage that Greece has and how we should all know about where we came from. So it would be really cool if Greece had a similar opportunity as Birthright Israel.

Q: As you make decisions about relationship choices, to what extent does the Greek thing factor in? Even when thinking about possibly choosing a life partner?

A: I think it does, but indirectly. I don’t need to choose someone who is Greek. But I need to have someone who has the same values as me. I feel that falls into the Greek philosophy of things at least from my eyes. So the title doesn’t need to be there, but the core values and the philosophy needs to be the same…I would just say having the same perspective of being proud about something, and not forgetting where you came from in your past. Just always looking for something new, something better and trying to be curious, interested and interesting.  Never necessarily settling for something if it’s not the best.

Q: What does being Greek mean to you?

A: I thought about that actually. I was talking to my dad because that’s a pretty deep question, what it means to be Greek? I was thinking about what I would say if I’m French, this is what it means to be French. Or I’m American, this is what it means to be American. To me, what it means to be Greek is to have keep a really cool heritage. We should be proud of where we came from and why people know us as being Greek. And why people know Greek people as the way we are seen. There’s a reason for that. It’s not just because we are loud and we have lots of family. But it’s because we have done really cool things in the past that have really influenced the infrastructure of our entire system. And that to me is really cool to be a part of that and to have that be my history.

Q: So you feel a part of that legacy?

A: I do, even though it’s not active sometimes. But when it comes down to it, that is why I’m proud of being Greek. It’s not because I have a cool last name. Or because we had a really funny movie made about us. But it’s because of what all that stuff originated from. And that’s what most important.

Q: How do you see yourself in the future being connected to your Greek heritage?

A: I see myself being connected on a cultural level. That’s pretty much it, just learning about the culture and people. Connecting with people. Sharing ideas. Talking about the past and the future. Not necessarily on religious level or political level. But at this point, I see myself as part of the cultural level.

Q: Where you live right now on campus, do you have any objects that you associate with your Greek heritage?

A: I have a ton of pictures up of Greece. They’re pictures that we took over there on the last trip to Greece. Of course, I have a tee shirt that says Greece and it’s a picture of the country. I also have a tee shirt with the Parthenon on it. So just a random Greek pride things. I have a neighbor who lives in the apartment complex across the way. Whoever lives there has a giant Greek flag hanging off the balcony. I always smile when I see it.

Q: Thank you for the interview.

A: Thank you.