Listening to the Next Generation >> Peter

When I talk about my cultural background, I’m American first. I was born here, grew up here in this country that gave my family everything. We owe a lot to the United States of America. But second off, I’m Greek. So I am a Greek American, born and raised. When I was taking the S.A.T., there was an option for Caucasian. But that really doesn’t define who I am. So I got to talking with a couple friends, and I started filling out all my applications with Southern European under the “Other” option. I feel that Southern European describes my heritage better and the area where my ancestors are from. I don’t feel like the French, the Spanish, or the English, who are Caucasian in my eyes.

Got Greek? interviews Peter V. from Cal State Long Beach

Both sides of my family are of Greek descent. One of my great-great grandfathers was born in Los Angeles. So that would make me a fifth generation Greek American on my father’s side. Then on my mother’s side, I’m only third generation because my grandparents came over from Cyprus.

Q: Where did your relatives settle?

A: My mother’s family is rooted in Michigan. They ended up in the area around Detroit and own a bar and a small liquor store. My grandparents have done fairly well for themselves and were able to put my mom, her brother and sister through college…My dad’s side of the family settled on the West Coast. My grandfather is actually writing a book about it. It’s partially a historical fiction about the trip that his father, my great-grandfather, had coming over to the United States from Greece. He had quite a difficult time finding work when he came over. Basically it happened to be because of the racial tensions at the time. There was some discrimination here against Greeks in the early 20^th century. So at first, my great-grandfather started out doing menial labor. He eventually established himself and ended up providing a home for his family in Hermosa Beach. That’s where my grandfather really grew up.

Q: What did your great-grandfather end up doing to earn a living?

A: He established a small grocery store. Then as far as we can go back, we think he also had like a confectionary shop. But the grocer was really what established him here as his own business. That really gave him a foothold in the United States and allowed him to kind of set up a financial foundation here.

Q: Did your great-grandmother work as well with him?

A: I don’t know that much about my great-grandmother. Neither does my grandfather. He says that his father didn’t like to talk about what he had done and wasn’t very open about what events had happened and transpired in his life. So because of that, we don’t really have too much of a family record as to the events. That’s why he’s writing a book that’s historical fiction and not a non-fiction book. What we have is basically what my grandfather could squeeze out of him. We really don’t know where our family on my father’s side is truly from. Because we have no record with cousins or anything past my great-grandfather.

Q: How about your grandparents? What did they do to earn a living?

A: My grandfather, the one writing the book, started out of high school working for a beer distributor. Eventually he became partners with the distributor, and took over when the original distributor died. My grandfather sold the beer distributorship, but the corporation is still active.

Q: Before we started the interview, you mentioned your grandfather helped start St. Katherine’s Greek Orthodox Church in Redondo Beach.

A: That’s one of the most interesting things I enjoy hearing from my grandfather. He was one of the founding members of Saint Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church. It was him and a few other families…There was no Greek Orthodox church in the area. Saint Sophia in Los Angeles was pretty much it. So the people in the Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach area felt they needed a Greek Orthodox church here. They broke ground on Saint Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church with a lot of fundraising. One interesting fact about the church. It’s built in a very generic church style. That’s because they weren’t sure that the church was going to do well enough and that they would be able to sustain it. So they had built a generic style in case they needed to go ahead and sell it to another Christian denomination or religious institution to take it over. And that way, it would still be profitable for the market.

Q: But as you mentioned before, the church has persisted.

A: My grandfather is still very active in the church. He remains on the auditing committee for the church and helps keep track of the finances. There’s nobody in the church who doesn’t know my grandfather. So at one point at another, people in the church have either met my grandfather, gone out to lunch with him, or even have had an argument or some sort of discussion with him…My grandfather is also active in the Marmaraninon Society. Like some of the other families at the church, my grandfather’s family came from Marmara: an island off the Turkish coast that was once Greek. There’s barely anyone left from Marmara who’s still living. I’ve started going to the Marmaraninon Society meetings, too. But year after year, less people attend. I don’t know if it’s the children’s loss in interest in maintaining their cultural heritage.

Q: Being Greek on both sides of your family, what was your experience growing up with the culture?

A: There was so much national pride and there still is in my house of being Greek. Just being Greek American and having roots here that run back over 100 years. It’s really nice to have our family acknowledged in that we have withstood the test of time, at least in the Redondo Beach community and in the general area. Our family is looked upon for guidance in the community and to help with decisions… As far as growing up in my household, it was hectic and it still is. We have family get-togethers with 20 or 30 people. My yiayia [grandmother] always cooks enough food for the entire Greek army and then wonders why nobody is eating. She cooks basically anything with the classic Greek seasoning: would be lemon, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil. You can have a steak with oregano, lemon, a little salt and pepper and olive oil on top- and there you’ve got a Greek steak…I really enjoyed growing up Greek here. The community is probably the best thing. It’s really shown through actually with the last couple of years where I’ve gone off to college. The support from the community has just been great. I’ve been able to turn to the adults I grew up with and looked up to for advice.

Q: How did you explain your heritage to your friends who weren’t of Greek descent?

A: Usually, it was just by having them over to the house. They would end up eating dinner with us, and then I’d have to explain all the food that was on the table. Even my sister does the same thing. She brings her friends to all of the Greek festivals. She brings her friends to FDF, the Folkdance Festival that we have every year on the West Coast… With your friends who aren’t Greek, it’s almost the same thing as when a Greek gets married to a non-Greek. Whatever friend a Greek young adult makes, they end up bringing that friend into the fold. It’s almost like indoctrinating a Greek for life. You teach them how to Greek dance. You teach them a couple words in Greek, at least the words you don’t want people calling them. I really haven’t ever had a problem with having my friends accept my Greek heritage and likewise, for me to do the same to their heritage.

Q: As far as your cultural identity, do you use terms like Greek, Greek American, American of Greek background?

A: When I talk about my cultural background, I’m American first. I was born here, grew up here in this country that gave my family everything. We owe a lot to the United States of America. But second off, I’m Greek. So I am a Greek American, born and raised. When I was taking the S.A.T., there was an option for Caucasian. But that really doesn’t define who I am. So I got to talking with a couple friends, and I started filling out all my applications with Southern European under the “Other” option. I feel that Southern European describes my heritage better and the area where my ancestors are from. I don’t feel like the French, the Spanish, or the English, who are Caucasian in my eyes.

Q: My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Did you see the movie?

A: I have. When I went to Cyprus and sat down with my cousins there, my cousin George pulled out of the oven a big souvla [long skewer with big pieces of grilled meat; popular on Cyprus] and threw it down on the table. There were people screaming at each other and talking loudly. It was a lot of fun. It reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Q: In the movie, one of the central themes is about relationships. The main character marries someone not of Greek descent. In terms of your own relationships, and possibly thinking about a life partner down the road—how does your Greek heritage play a role?

A: I did date someone connected to my local Greek community. And I have to say that I would not look to date another Greek girl probably until I decided to get serious about what I wanted to do with my life. For settling down, I would definitely think about it. But right now, I’m looking more for a low-key relationship. I really do enjoy having a specialness, and I don’t enjoy having people know all of my business, which is what happened last time I dated someone Greek. You lose the specialness of the relationship almost immediately because everybody knows. It’s like lighting a trail of black powder. It burns, gets around really quick, and there’s really no way to stop it once it gets going.

Q: You mentioned earlier that you visited relatives in Cyprus. Have you also ever been to Greece?

A: I’ve been to Greece twice on the AHEPA Journey to Greece program, once as a participant and then as a correspondent, which the Next Generation Initiative sponsored. Both times are experiences that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Q: Did you feel any sort of connection being in Greece?

A: I didn’t really feel it until we actually had traveled outside of Athens to some of the islands. We got to see both Roman and Greek ruins, and walk through them. I felt connected on that level because I was seeing all these things I had read about in terms of ancient history. It was really interesting to see what kind of technology they had at the time and the sophistication of the buildings they had at the time for what materials they had available, and the amazing use of marble in almost everything. Marble isn’t quite honestly the easiest thing to cut. The architecture at the Acropolis and the Parthenon was really interesting to see in terms of the craftsmanship it took to build these things. I don’t know maybe if you live there long enough, you kind of look up at the Parthenon and dismiss it. But for people like me who hadn’t been there before, you just wonder how long it took and what effort went into building these monuments.

Q: Do you see yourself maintaining a connection with Greece?

A: After being there twice, I can’t stand Athens anymore. It really reminds me of the United States. I would rather travel to some of the islands like Santorini, go back to my grandmother’s home island of Kefalonia to relax, and go through on my own to look at different archaeological sites. When I go to another country, I really want to feel like I’m in another place. I enjoyed Piraeus, which is really interesting, because I got to visit with a man who sells shipping insurance there. It was quite interesting to speak with him because he really had the business side of Athens and Piraeus and what was going on in the ports. So it was really interesting to hear about that: just to feel how alive the sense of prosperity was in that area. All in all, I would probably have to go to the islands to really feel connected to the Greece that I’ve come to love.

Q: What’s your relationship to the Greek language?

A: I honestly speak very little Greek. As a small child, my grandmother used to speak Greek to me. But she stopped at some point and then I stopped. I ended up taking Spanish in high school. But in college, I was looking around for Greek and only found ancient Greek. As much as I love Greece, ancient Greek isn’t really practical.

Q: Do you listen to Greek music at all?

A: I have to say after Greek dancing for 10 years, I can’t stand Greek music anymore. It’s not a genre of music I enjoy. If you put on some classic rock like Led Zeppelin or a good Doobie Brothers’ album, I’m very happy.

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

A: I actually have a Greek flag strapped to the back of my door. I have icons all over my room. I actually wear my cross every day. So I try to keep my Greek heritage and my Greek Orthodox religious heritage with me at all times.

Q: What does being Greek mean to you?

A: There’s certain levels of being Greek. I’m more in favor of anything the United States has to do rather than what Greece has to do. This is just because I live here and my family has gotten a lot from the United States. So I really cherish the United States. But being Greek, I think, means embracing the culture and not so much the nationalism. Although it does go hand in hand. What I mean is you go to Greek festivals, you know how to Greek dance, you know different types of Greek music. You enjoy spending time with other Greek people and you’re active in your church community. I don’t believe being Greek includes advocating certain positions, or being opposed to certain positions the United States has in relation to Greece…I’m all for the removal of Turkish troops in Cyprus just due to the fact that my relatives haven’t been able to go back to their hometown there. But at the end of the day, the United States is its own country. We don’t have to look out for everybody else. We’re not the policeman of the world anymore. But for many things, I’m more pro-United States at least on a nationalistic level. But on a cultural level, I’m very rooted with my Greek heritage.

Q: Now that you are in college, to what extent are you connected to Greek culture?

A: The first thing is that I don’t have to go to church every week anymore. But I still help organize the altar boys at my church and set up the schedules. I’m also involved in the Sons of Pericles, which is the junior order of AHEPA. We have a chapter here at our church in Redondo Beach, which we formed last year. So my ties to my Greek Orthodox heritage and Greek heritage are still very strong. It’s just my schedule is a lot busier. I commute to college. That takes 40 minutes each way. I also work on campus besides going to classes. So the biggest thing is when I get home, on the weekends or on Fridays, I don’t look to go to church unless I need to, or I so choose to. But most of the time, I make the conscious choice to come to church and do participate in any activities the church has going on.

Q: Going forward, how do you see yourself staying connected to the culture?

A: I will probably continue my membership in AHEPA. I really feel strongly that AHEPA is working to keep the Greek heritage alive. Right now, with Sons of Pericles, we’re trying to get young people involved in their heritage. We’re trying to get other Sons of Pericles chapters set up on the West Coast as well as Maids of Athena chapters, which is our sister chapter. We’re trying to get those set up so we can have group functions and do group fundraising. For example, we held a fundraiser around Oxi Day [October 28- National Greek Holiday commemorating Greece’s opposition to Italian invasion in World War II]. We pulled in a decent amount of money. Our plan is to donate $1,000 to the Plant Your Roots in Greece campaign, and have a grove named after our Sons of Pericles chapter and our Maids of Athena chapter here in the Redondo Beach area. What we’re really looking at is to build that network of young Greek Americans that you know you can count on in the future to help you out when you need it. We’re looking to build ourselves up. Just because we are younger does not necessarily mean we’re not going to have an influence in politics, in charitable organizations, different causes. We’re here really to serve the community and also to serve the greater population. It’s part of our charter and that’s what we’re trying to do.

Q: Thank you for the interview.

A: You’re very welcome.