butterfli1473girl In reply to LukaFawn [2018-02-18 19:19:38 +0000 UTC]

youre welcome. i'm trying to be more active on here again. its been a few years since i was really a member.

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butterfli1473girl In reply to TheMitmit [2014-06-21 23:10:44 +0000 UTC]

No problem. I found a piece of your literature and can't wait to read more.

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TheMitmit In reply to butterfli1473girl [2014-06-21 23:24:30 +0000 UTC]

Why thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed my piece!

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butterfli1473girl In reply to AkumaRyoshi [2013-12-09 00:40:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-07-15 03:12:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you Sophie!!!!

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-19 18:49:52 +0000 UTC]

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butterfli1473girl In reply to AleciaMaria [2013-07-15 03:47:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!!! Happy belated birthday to also

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AleciaMaria In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-15 04:09:31 +0000 UTC]

Welcome!

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-06-13 04:09:20 +0000 UTC]

I've been good! How did your hiatus for school go? I missed you!!!!!

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-06-13 13:46:22 +0000 UTC]

Well, the whole year was definitely not what I expected. There was too much pressure and I didn't do as well as I hoped to. There's absolutely no way I can become a psychologist now. I've been dreaming of this for 6 years now but after all I went through this school year I don't think I even care. I'll probably study archaeology and go live with my brother at Volos (he's a student there, I don't know if you remember it ) The grades will be out in 6 days from now and at August it will be anounced who passed...
(Sorry, haven't really practiced my English for months, I hope what I write makes sense...)

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-06-15 16:32:25 +0000 UTC]

How do you know you didn't do as well if the grades aren't out yet?
Do you want to talk about what happened this year? I'm here to listen and can offer advice as best I can if you want. Is Volos the place with the waterfall?
Your writing makes perfect sense, still way better than some native english speakers.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-06-16 23:33:09 +0000 UTC]

I sort of know how I did, actually. Not exactly, but still I know I didn't do that well. Psychology department is one of the most difficult universities in Greece, so you have to be one of the best students in order to be accepted there. I'm not
Thank you, I appreciate it No, Edessa is the town with the watefall. It's my hometown. Volos is a different city, about 4 hours from where I live.
Good then, but if I don't make sense sometimes, please correct me if you want xD

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-06-17 01:31:06 +0000 UTC]

Can you explain how you know how you did without getting grades? I get that you had a feeling while taking the test, but feelings can be wrong. I believe that you did better than you think you did.
Is archaeology something you're interested in at least?
Can I ask what happened this year? Or do you want me to leave it alone?
So Volos is where your brother is and the archaeology school?
Is 4 hours a long travel time for you? I know to get to my college campus it takes us almost 5 hours, and to see all my family it takes 7 hours.
I usually don't correct people for how they speak/type. I might question your words if I can't understand what you were trying to say at all.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-06-17 13:27:13 +0000 UTC]

Well, at Mathematics there were 4 problems you needed to solve. The first was just theoretical, so you had to know by heart some paragraphs from the book. That was easy, it took me about 10 minutes. The second had to do with possibilities (I don't know if they teach it over there in high school). I actually enjoyed solving it The third was about statistics. It was really difficult, so I think I got right only half of the things I wrote. The fourth and final.. well I didn't even get was it was about... Only a few students knew what to do, but the majority didn't write anything.
Then, at literature, there are 4 proses and 6 poems, and each one has about 100 pages of analyzing. Of course you have to know by heart all of it, including the writers' life and influences. At the exams you are tested only in one of these 10, whichever the ones who make the tests decide. One of them is "Kritikos" (Cretan, someone from Crete) and it's the most difficult to understand. I didn't know the analysis well, actually I didn't know it AT ALL, so I guess I pretty much wrote whatever I could remember and some other stuff I made up on the spot.
At History I didn't know only 5 pages from the 100 of the book, and a paragraph from these 5 pages was asked in the test, which consisted 25% of the grade. At that point I really started to think I was cursed or something... The ones I didn't know were the ones that we were tested in the end.
Ancient Greek. I already knew I wouldn't do well, because it's the most difficult subject. There are about 300 pages of analysis that, of course, don't make sense (about philosophical stuff) and you have to know everything by heart.
Finally, at Latin I think I did well, not great, but still... That's how I know it didn't go good enough to be accepted at the psychology department. Thank you, I really hope so

Yeah, archaeology and history is something like an obsession to me. I wanna know everything that happened, how and exactly when. It's weird, I know, but it fascinates me Even if I did get to become a psychologist, I'd still read history books every day.
A lot happened this year. It mostly has to do with my confidence. You see, last September when the school year started, we were told "You have to study 10-12 hours every day for 9 months, if you want to succeed." My reaction was "no freaking way, I can't do that"! So when Christmas arrived, I wanted to give up, just finish school and then who knows. I didn't want to go to university, because I knew I couldn't study that much. There were many times like this. There were days I studied hard, and days I spent lying on the couch, wasting my time. The whole year was stressful, not just for me, for every student that is concerned about their future. I also stopped talking to some friends, because they were proven to be the worst friends I ever had. Then I was concerned about my weight. I don't think I'm fat, but I need to lose some pounds to be at my normal weight. This year I gained around 10 kilos. Most of the students gained weight cause you sit at home and study and you don't have time for anything else. So you eat. Right now I'm trying to lose these 10 kilos. I exercise and eat less, I don't eat at all at night and I drink a lot of water. I honestly feel very uncomfortable with my weight, so sometimes I couldn't study, I would lose all concentration and stare at the walls.

Actually there are 8 archaeology universities in Greece, but since one of them is in Volos and my family can't financially support another house, my brother and I are gonna rent a house in Volos and live together. His university takes 6-7 years to graduate, and mine 4 years. So basically we're going to graduate together, since he's 3 years older than me
4 hours isn't such a long time travel, not really. Where does your family live? I think you had mentioned something about Virginia... My whole family lives in my hometown and my grandma lives in a village nearby, about a 10 minute drive from my house.

Ok then. I want to improve my English, that's all. Thank you again

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-06-23 05:20:03 +0000 UTC]

That sounds like a really hard test. Can you retake it to do better? It sounds like you studied for it a lot though. I'm sure you did better than you thought you did.
We have a math class here called probabilities. It has all to do with the chances of something happening. It's really simple if you can understand fractions. At least I thought it was, I know a lot of people have a lot of trouble with it.

The way you describe it, archaeology sounds really interesting, and I have no interest in it. I can see how passionate you are about it, which is really cool. Most people I know who think they know what they want to do with their lives are still more dull about it.

Honey. There is nothing wrong with your weight. NOTHING! What you put on was probably mostly stress related, and now that you're free from that stress it should go away fairly quickly. And 10 kilos really isn't a lot for a year. Here we have a thing called "freshman 15" as in freshman year of college it's almost expected to gain 15 pounds or more (7 kilos) just from having the freedom of being on your own and choosing your own diet. Please don't go overboard with trying to lose weight. You are so much more than a number on a scale. You are smart, and creative, and sweet, and empathetic, and over all a completely amazing friend. Don't be so hard on yourself about a number.

If you don't mind me asking, why does his university take so much longer to graduate than yours? and do you mean the actual school, or the program of study in that school?

My dad, sisters and I live in Williamsburg Virginia. It's a really nice colonial city. We have an amusement park (busch gardens) about 20 minutes from the house. My aunts and uncles live on Long Island, New York(7+ hours depending on traffic). My grandparents live in North Carolina (about 3 hours from home)

I honestly don't know if you can improve on your already perfect English. I mean other than a few saying and such, you really do type better than most people who speak it as a first language. There's so much slang in every day English, it's nice talking to someone who speaks like a normal educated person. Even if they are all the way in Greece

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-06-23 19:24:56 +0000 UTC]

It is a really hard test. Every senior student in Greece takes the exact same test. That’s why we call it “Panelladikes” (which somehow translates to national exams). I can retake it next year, but I’d rather not. You see, they say that after someone takes these exams and gets in to a university, their studies seem really easy compared to these exams, which is actually true. But to retake the tests is something few students want to do, because it’s so hard and stressful. I didn’t study that much, compared to the rest of the seniors. The grades were announced the day before yesterday, I did as I expected to do. But unexpectedly the majority of the students didn’t do well this year, so I’m at an average level right now.
That’s it, probabilities! It’s really easy, the easiest chapter of the school book. Fractions aren’t really that hard. I think that understanding math also has to do with the teacher. I had the best math teacher ever, he can make things sound so easy and explains it really good.

I hadn’t realized I was so passionate about it either until last Christmas. My cousin (he studies archaeology too) told me about his classes, and then last April we seniors went on a 6-day-school-trip to Serbia, Hungary and Austria. Budapest was AMAZING, everywhere I looked there were statues and old huge beautiful buildings. We visited the castle and at some point I could almost see ancient princes learning how to fight with their master (my imagination is wild, I know ) And then in Vienna we visited the museum of natural history and I was like “I’m so going to cry of happiness right now!”
What about you? What are you passionate about? Also, was it your dream to become a teacher? (if I remember correctly, that’s what you’re studying, right?)

Thank you thank you thank you!! I really appreciate how you think of me, thank you It is mostly stress related, but I don’t lose weight easily. It doesn’t worry me much right now though, I know I will eventually lose the extra weight until the end of the summer, and of course I won’t go overboard, I know better than this. One of my classmates got anorexic last year and now that she has somehow recovered from it, her voice is lower and she seems like she hasn’t got any energy left in her. “Freshman 15”? Wow… Most of the students I know have actually lost weight because they had the time to exercise and eat more balanced. I remember my neighbor telling me that when her best friend was a freshman, she kept forgetting to eat. She lost too much weight, and had to gain some of it again before things got serious. Of course there are the ones that gain weight when they leave, mostly boys, who also grow a beard thinking they are Gandalf or something.

My brothers’ university is one of the most difficult ones in Greece. I don’t really get what they’re doing over there, I just know it has to do with computers, mechanical engineering, telecommunication and electrician stuff. There are many things the students need to know and all this stuff cannot be covered within 4 years, so it takes 5 years to graduate. But no one can graduate after only 5 years in this university because, as I said, it’s one of the most difficult ones in the country. Normally it would take someone 6 years to do so. I know, it’s complicated for someone who doesn’t know this messed up educational system. It is said that my university is one of the easiest ones in Greece, so it takes 4 years to graduate. It’s true, but if you stop there, just get the certificate and then get a job, you can only work as a teacher. Since the public sector is closed (economic crisis and too much employees) it’s almost impossible to be assigned somewhere. Also, I don’t want to be a teacher. I hate it. I want to get a master degree and study abroad. It’s a really big dream, but I’m gonna give it a shot.
I meant the program of study, sorry. There are 3 more programs that take 4 years to graduate and the fourth is my brother’s.

You live near an amusement park? That’s so cool! Whenever we want to go to an amusement park it takes us nearly 2 hours to get there. It’s in another city, Thessaloniki. Wow, I really can’t imagine how it would be like to have to travel 7 hours to see my aunt, or 3 hours to visit my grandma. Do you travel a lot? I mean, how often do you visit your family? Don’t you miss them?

Thank you again It’s just that some of my friends speak better English than I do, and sometimes it bothers me because I’ve studied really hard to be able to speak the English I speak now. I guess I’m kind of competitive when it comes to English… >.>
When you say slang, you mean all these things that I read on the internet? Or is there more?

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-07-10 01:42:38 +0000 UTC]

I'm sorry if I offended you. That was not my intention at all. I had just found a thing saying stuff and couldn't find any actual facts to back it up. I was just wondering if you knew anything since it's a thing supposedly happening in your country. I'm sorry and won't mention it again if it upset you.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-10 13:49:26 +0000 UTC]

What are you talking about? Of course you didn't offend me silly. It's just that these days I help my parents in their work and then there's the university applications and I don't have much time to write back. You shouldn't worry about it, I'm not the kind of person who just stops talking to someone. I should be the one apologizing for the late reply... Also, we're friends, so if you want to ask anything, just do it
And no, there are no mass killings over here. This is Greece, no one really cares about what you do and whether you're gay or straight. I like to believe that as a people, we're more accepting than most of the other countries. Of course there are some who think otherwise, but killing is something no one would consider. As I said, maybe they will laugh at queers, but after a moment they'll let it go.

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-07-11 19:27:02 +0000 UTC]

I wasn't sure. Gay people is a really sensitive topic over here, and I've lost friends just because of my stance on Gay Rights, and been rejected because of my sexuality. Add to that that you were responding faster before I asked the sensitive question. I just wanted to make sure I didn't offend you.
I'm glad you feel that way. I wouldn't want to lose a friend over something I consider more a topic of interest than anything else.
That's such a relief to hear. There's been articles going around tumblr saying trans* were being massacred. Actually there was a list of things going wrong with the world, and Greece was on there. Just thought it'd be better to ask someone and get a first hand opinion on it than blindly follow the one article that wasn't very clear and didn't have a date.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-12 00:17:31 +0000 UTC]

I understand and I’m sorry if I made you worry. Wow, these friends of yours who rejected you have some serious problems. I find this behavior narrow-minded and immature. People are who they are, and since they’re not hurting anyone no one has the right to judge them and tell them who they’re supposed to be.
If you ever want to ask anything about anything, I’ll be happy to answer. Don’t worry if it’s sensitive or not, we’re friends after all, right?

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-07-13 02:38:29 +0000 UTC]

Yea, there were several other problems between us anyway. But these were the same people from last year who I was going to room with until they suddenly decided I wasn't worthy of their friendship. It was just a lot of drama I didn't want to put up with.
Thank you for being an awesome open minded friend. It really means a lot to me to have your friendship. And you can ask me anything too. I'm rarely offended, even by things that by all reasons should offend me.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-19 21:08:37 +0000 UTC]

I don't like drama either. Although I like fighting and yelling, I don't usually do it. I'm patient but when someone crosses the line, they get what they deserve. I remember a guy who wouldn’t stop kicking my backpack for about a week (he was a friend then, we don't hang out anymore but we still talk). Every time I told him to stop, he would laugh and mock me and do it again. One day I snapped and I started screaming at him. He was scared as hell and another guy who was with us is still afraid of me xD I have a loud voice and a LOUD laugh, it's not like I can help it, it's my nature. But when I shout and I'm serious most of them are smart enough to back off. I don't know why I'm telling you this actually, sorry about my blabber ^^"

And it also means a lot to me to have your friendship                    

I think I understand when someone is trying to offend me. Sometimes I ignore them, sometimes I talk back. Depends on how bored I am xD
How about you? 

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-07-24 01:02:49 +0000 UTC]

That is awesome!!! I tend to get quiet and slow when I'm angry. I scared some of my friends in high school with it. I would just walk towards them calmly after they did something to me. One guy spilled orange juice on me once. I made him get me paper towels to dry my clothes, and he continued to apologize for the next month. I never raised my voice and even asked nicely. He was one of "bad kids" in school, and I was always the nice preppy girl. His friend thought I was the devil for it.

I don't mind. I find it interesting to know the little details of my friends lives. I'm just weird like that. 

I usually can't tell and just take everything at face value. If it's obvious I'll either ask about it if it's the first time, or if keeps happening I'll snap. Unless it's something I provoked on purpose, or it's a running joke. My sister and I tend to make fun of each other, so I don't get too offended by her anymore.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-08-30 14:11:18 +0000 UTC]

This is so cool! You’re awesome! I imagine the whole scene and laugh!

Well then, we’re weird together ^^

If it’s a running joke of course I won’t get mad. I’ll fake it, you know, for the fun of it, but my friends know I’m not really angry at them. I fight everyday with my brother. Sometimes we yell, or sometimes we try to push each other away but we’re always serious when we fight. After a couple of hours we either forget about it and be nicer or start fighting again. Usually we end up yelling and screaming again xD

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-10-09 18:04:33 +0000 UTC]

Yay! laughter! I don't know how, but I tended to be friends with the "bad" kids in high school. I never did anything against the rules, but if I asked for help with anything or was having a bad day they would help. I was semi close to the drug dealer of our school (I never did drugs but everyone knew to go to him for anything). He had a migraine in class one day and I had headache drugs on me since I get migraines often. A few weeks later one of the obnoxious kids was annoying me and he made him go away. The obnoxious kid didn't come near me for weeks. I don't know what was said, but I like the result.

My boyfriend tend to mock fight. We've never had a serious fight *knock on wood* but I don't like being called nice, so I'll tickle him until he can't breathe when he does. My sister and I used to get into very physical fights with punching, and kicking. We knew the limits though. As soon as tears or an ow we stopped. I tend to forgive and forget fights pretty easily. Unless it's about something serious. Like my roommate two years ago said she never wanted to see me again towards the end of the year. I was fine with that and didn't plan on talking to her ever again. Out of sight out of mind I forgot about her and wasn't angry or anything. This year she's been hanging out with my group of friends. I don't really mind, but I'd prefer not to have to be alone with her. 

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-10-14 17:50:50 +0000 UTC]

Okay then, it’s a relief that you’re not mad at me, I was really worried. I understand How’s your ‘semi-social life’ and classes going?

Respect from the bad guys, sounds really cool! Also, I know I shouldn't be surprised, but there was a drug dealer in your school???

You've never talked to me about your boyfriend, you know Actually, I don't even know his name xD

I remember I sent my brother to the hospital once. It wasn't on purpose though! I was around 10 years old and we were fighting and I kicked him in the nuts, but thank God it wasn't something serious. I was little and didn’t know how dangerous it could be. He also has a huge scar on his right arm, but that wasn't completely my fault. He slipped and fell on some pointy bars >.> But the good thing is that we're really close and we don't hold anything against each other. And now that I moved in with him we've stopped fighting this much.

Sounds like a really mean roommate. Can I ask what happened between you two? Also, what you do is one of the coolest things I've ever known. If I was in your place, I don't think I could stand her acting like nothing is wrong.

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-10-16 16:40:01 +0000 UTC]

I'm sorry that I worried you. I've just been under so much stress I haven't had time. I'm lucky if I get an hour a day of fun now. My semi social life is going pretty good. I can wave at a bunch of people and they wave back. Classes are going well, so far. I'm still amazed at how stupid some of the students are, but it just means that I have an easier time in class than they do. I took a midterm for my history class, which was the third grade sol (standardized test given to 8 year olds here). I had to find a few countries including Greece. For no reason in particular I found it fun knowing a little bit extra than I needed just from talking with you. 

yup. There were drug dealers and a lot of students did drugs, most of it was prescription stuff for ADHD or mood enhancers, and a lot of pot. I've never done any recreational drugs, but I always knew that if I wanted to I could easily get some. 

I guess I've been too busy talking with you about everything else that he just slipped through the cracks in conversation. Oops. Anyway his name is Nate and he's adorable and sweet and perfect and I love him so much. He followed me around a lot last year and around Christmas we started dating, it's been almost a year and only feels like a few months, which I guess is good news. He really supports me and is sweet when he's not accidentally abusing me. 

Oh wow. Thank gods for luck. My family usually doesn't go to the hospital unless it's a last resort. My sister slammed a car door shut on my head and I should have gotten stitches, but my dad got something from the pharmacy and we got the blood to stop. I couldn't see for a few minutes. I pushed my sister down the stairs when she was a baby, like just learning how to walk baby. It wasn't totally my fault, I was young too and it was an accident. She didn't get hurt, but there was a huge dent in the wall where her walker hit the wall. My sister and I are really close now, and we usually just verbally fight and finish each others thoughts. My other little sister and I don't get along well, probably because we never really interacted much. She's six years younger than me and always acted like the baby. 

We were okay for a while and then she invited me to eat with her friends. After hanging out with them for a few months I started to call them my friends too. They had a weird sense of humor though, it mostly relied on gay bashing and racist remarks, which I disagree with. Since I considered them my friends I only stood up to them a few times, and politely asked them to stop. They decided that since I didn't like their sense of humor they couldn't be my friends anymore. My roommate also had a problem with my dirty dishes laying on my desk for a day or two before I'd wash them. They were on my side of the room, never smelled, but she had a problem with it. At the end of the year she went into a tirade about how she never wants to see or hear from me again. I was fine with that. I've had friends drop from my life for years. It just takes too much effort to hate someone. I'd rather do nothing and watch as they struggle and fail than try to go out of my way to be mean and have it backfire. She can mess up her own life as much as she wants. It bothered me at first, but if she wants to pretend nothing happened I can too. It's easier to leave problems in the past and move on, but if she wants to start another friendship with me she's going to have to take the first step, and the second. 

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-06-26 16:17:17 +0000 UTC]

Hey, so I know this seems a lot weird, but I've read online that there's some horrible things going on in Greece, like mass killings of transgender/queer people... I know the internet gets carried away with things, so I'm just wondering if this is true and what your thoughts on it are.

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-06-26 16:13:31 +0000 UTC]

Yay!!!! At least you're not pressured to retake the exams to do better then. Here we have a thing called SATs (I can't remember what they stand for right now) and basically it's a standardized test with reading, math, and writing sections, and it's the test all colleges look at to decide to accept you or not. You can also get scholarships and stuff based on scores. But you're also expected to retake it until you have the best score possible, and each test costs about $75. So taking it once isn't too bad, but I know some people took it five times so thats $375 before any costs actually connected to tuition or applying.
With an average score could you go into psychology? Or have you already decided on archaeology?
Probabilities really is so easy. Just have to remember a few formulas and everything good.

Is archaeology a big thing in Greece? Like can you make a living off of it? I don't know anyone here that's interested in it or even of a university that specializes in that as a major. Oh wow, your imagination sounds wonderfully awesome!
I guess I'm kinda passionate about teaching, but here actually showing an interest in anything gets you ridiculed for being obsessed and creepy. I want to change the world and make a difference, and I know the best way to do that is to impact the future generations, and that they are most moldable (that's not a real world but I can't remember the word I'm looking for) at younger ages. So following that train of thought elementary teacher makes sense. And while I'm brainwashing them for the better I'm also keeping them interested in learning and school and helping the students go on to be interested in things themselves.

Of course I think of you like that. You're an amazing person I'm so happy I get to know you. Most people here only eat healthy if it's forced on them. We have junk food and fast food marketed to us so heavily, and our portion sizes are ridiculous. Some people will go away for school and can maintain their diets, others go extremes in losing weight or exploring new foods and things they just don't notice it's a problem. That is so weird that the boys do that, I mean I guess some do here, but most of the behaviors are about the girls. They're the ones who suddenly have weight problems, or will completely change who they are. Lots of people say that the "good" girls are the ones who have the most sex once they get to a college. It's more of a time to remake yourself without any parental influence. So of course some people go a little crazy with independence, but most just become more aware of themselves and the world around them. And then there are some who go home every weekend and are still very heavily influenced by parents.

That does make some sense actually. Here we have associates degree, which takes two years and you can get from any community college, and then we have a variety of bachelor degrees which are supposed to take 4 years each, but changing your major or minor, or failing classes, more people are taking five years or longer now. And then we have higher degrees, like masters, that require even more years in school. Does it matter that your university is easier than your brothers? Like will it effect where you can work or anything? Here it sometimes matters, like if you just go to community college it's assumed you aren't as smart as someone who went to a sleep away college. How long will it take you to get your masters degree?

I don't really travel that much, just cause everything is so expensive. So I see them about once or twice a year with my dad and sisters, and sometimes I go once more by myself to see my aunt and my bestest friend. I do miss my aunt and best friend sometimes, but I can talk to them on the phone when I need to, so it's okay.

I don't know how you speak English, but you write beautifully. I sometimes have to go back to correct myself. I mostly mean like what you read on the internet, but then we also have some that are just verbal. Like "what's up?" means how are you/what's new with you. And then some people slip curse words into almost every sentence.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-10 14:32:27 +0000 UTC]

Why would you retake the test until you have the best score possible? And why do you have to pay for it? I mean, does the system make you retake it or is it your decision? It seems complicated. Over here you just have to take the national exam in order to get in a university, but the only criteria is your grade. It doesn’t even matter what’s your graduation grade or what your achievements are while you were a student. I know this stuff is a big deal in your country, but in Greece they are not even worth mentioning. All that matters is how well you will do in that one test, and that’s why everyone is so anxious and kids faint or have breakdowns every year, sometimes during the senior year, sometimes during the exams. I have a friend who was on special medication for 2 years, not something serious, she just had to take anti-depressing pills or something… I know it sounds crazy to you, trust me, it’s just as crazy for us, knowing that your whole future depends on a test.
I can’t go to psychology, no. You have to be one the best to go there and I’m not. So I guess archaeology is like a plan B for me.

Actually, today you can’t make a living off of anything in Greece. It is a little harsh but this is the truth. Well, unless you know someone important who can pull some strings and get you a job. That’s the way things work now. There’s no way I’m staying in Greece after I finish university, I want to go abroad. Don’t get me wrong, I love Greece and I really like everything about it, but the future isn’t looking good and I don’t like the idea of being stuck in just one country. Seriously there’s no university where you can study archaeology? That’s weird…

That’s really nice of you, how you want to make a difference! I like the idea, I could’ve never thought of teaching that way. Personally I think real teachers are really hard to find, but I think you will be a great elementary teacher. I’m not saying this because you’re my friend, I’m saying it because of all the things we’ve talked about. You’re smart and mature, logical and really caring, and of course you always know what to say and when to say it

Actually it doesn’t matter at all whether a university is easier than another. On the contrary, lately you have better chances to get hired if you’ve finished a university of lower level, because they pay you less to do the same work someone with a certificate of a higher leveled university would do. I don’t know anything about my masters degree. It’s still an idea in my head so I haven’t really looked into it yet. So what’s the difference between a community and a sleep away college? In Greece, when you leave to study you just rent a small apartment. Few universities have dorms and if they’re not covered in complete dirt their rooms are taken by junkies and such. It’s a really different college life comparing to the one in the US.

When you say they slip curse words, you mean like in the movies where they talk and they say “fucking” all the time?

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-07-11 21:56:05 +0000 UTC]

You retake the test until you have the best score because it's a major factor in which college accepts you. You apply to multiple colleges (which costs money) and they look at your gpa and the level of your classes and how you scored on the test to determine whether they'll accept you and then what kind of financial aid they'll give you. So the better you do in every aspect the better your chances of getting into a better college. And the application has it's own components, usually a few short answer questions and two or three essays so that they can judge your writing skills for themselves. A lot of it seems redundant. I'm sorry so much pressure is on you for this one test.
I'm sorry about psychology not working out for you, at least you have a back up plan. If teaching doesn't work out for me I have no idea what I'm going to do.

What are your parents doing? Are they working in Greece? I'm sorry you feel you have to leave to be successful, but at least you know what you have to do to be happy in your future.
I'm sure you can find one that has archaeology as a minor or major, but none that I know of off the top of my head.

Thank you. It's really sweet of you to say so. I hope I can.
The main difference is the cost, and reputation. Community colleges are way way cheaper. Don't have to pay for meal plan, or housing, and tuition is cheaper. But most community colleges only have associates degrees, and you can't really do much with that. Sleep away colleges offer a wider range of programs and graduating from one comes with the reputation of being educated, while even community college means you're a poor uneducated and lazy. It doesn't make much sense to me, but that's how it is. Most dorms are really nice, more like apartments owned by the school and rented out at crazy prices to the students.

Yea, I suppose movies do portray the US pretty well. I keep forgetting that you're not as ignorant of my culture as I am of yours. The only thing I know about Greece is what I learned about it in history class, and that's all ancient history. And of course what you share with me.

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-11 23:45:13 +0000 UTC]

So, in other words, you pay for EVERYTHING? Wow, I now see why the whole world thinks we’re slackers xD (Which we are not, by the way) Over here it’s all about this one test. But you don’t pay to apply and no one actually looks at your grades. Every university has a grade base (I have no idea how else to explain this) which is different every year, according to how many students apply and what their grades are. If your grade is higher than the base, you get in. Most of the teachers in the universities don’t even know their students, but it’s really not strange since there is not someone who accepted them by personally looking into their grades. And then there is the other type of teacher-student relationship, in which they become friends and even go out for a coffee together. Actually this is a guaranteed way that the teacher will pass you, even if you score an F.
Now that I’m thinking about it, it must be really weird for you to read all of this. If someone were to tell me all this, I would think they were lying… But I swear I’m not making it up, in case you think I am xD
Nah, don’t be sorry. I don’t know, after I realized that I had totally failed the exams, compared to what I was aiming for, I also realized that maybe psychology is just a dream and it should stay as one. It sounds pessimistic I guess, but it’s not. Who knows, maybe I didn’t want it as badly as I thought I did, because if I did, I would have studied 10 hours a day for the last 9 months. Have you thought about it? Or is it that you don’t want to become anything but a teacher?

My parents own a grill restaurant. It’s just them, my brother and I and usually one of us siblings go and help them out as waiters. Today it was me, we closed up about 2 hours ago (right now it’s 2.30 am).
Sometimes I’m also sad that I have to leave Greece but then I think about everything I will see and everything I will experience and I can’t wait to get out of here. Mostly I think I’ll miss this Greek attitude, the fact that wherever you go in Greece people are friendly and act like they’ve known you for years, the culture in general.

Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense to me either, the whole reputation thing… And you also pay for tuition? That’s absurd.

Are people really that ignorant? I mean, most of us here know a thing or two about foreign cultures, especially of the US. It’s pretty much impossible to be ignorant over here, with all the media and the internet and their influence on people. I’m curious, what kinds of things do they teach you about Greece? And what kind of ancient history?

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butterfli1473girl In reply to HeliosCaeli [2013-07-13 03:48:07 +0000 UTC]

Exactly. We pay for every little thing. If they can find a way to charge us for something they do it. And then they complain that no one is getting a higher education. It's all really crazy. How do you apply then? Like here most colleges you need to pay to submit the application, and some you need to pay to even get the application. When you say most teachers don't know their students do you mean like not every professor knows every student? or more like even in individual classes professors won't know their students? I know you're not making it up, we have the same kind of thing here, just to a lesser extent. Here it depends on the size of the school, and the individual students. Like I make the effort to know my professors so that if I ever need an extension on an assignment or advice on homework they'll be more likely to help. And it helps with later getting recommendation letters. I have a professor I had first semester who will still say hi if we pass each other on campus.

Would it be possible for you to go back to school in the future to learn psychology? If you still wanted to? I used to want to be a vet when I was little, but I don't think I could handle putting the animals to sleep. So for a while I had no idea and was just being a good student to keep my options open. Then I had to help my little sister with her homework and things just clicked. I like teaching things to people and I like feeling important.

I was just wondering since you say no one can get a job in Greece and yet you live there, which I assume means your parents live there, and adults usually won't stay somewhere if they can't afford it. It's just my dad and two sisters here, he's a government postal worker with seniority so even though so many people are being fired and businesses are shrinking his job is secure, which is a very important thing here. He just works long hours and has two side jobs to make ends meet. (it's midnight here)

The reputation is a way for those in power to shame those who are have lower incomes. It's ridiculous and yet they don't see the problem. It's like if you drop out of high school you're scum of the earth and will end up on welfare and never have a successful life. If you don't go to college but graduate high school you're extremely stupid and can't amount to anything in your life. If you go to community college and get an associates degree you're doomed to a life of mediocrity and care more about your social life than your education. If you go to a not very well known sleep away four year college (like I am) you clearly don't value your future but if you're lucky will have a nice life. And if you go to a well known (large) university your future is set and you will have a nice life. That's not even counting getting higher degrees. It really don't make sense since you can be successful from any level, and everyone's idea of success is different. And we also have success stories of people who dropped out and are now insanely rich.

We were told that we are the only country that matters and that we control the world so there's no reason to learn about anywhere else. Sure if you learn another language they focus some on that culture... but it's optional to learn another language, and most people only know English. And of course there are some that get interested in where certain things come from, mostly Great Britain and Asian countries, specifically Japan.

From what I was taught in school Greece used to be the center of the world with Athens as it's capital. Something about Spartacus and a little bit about the polytheistic gods like Zeus and Athena. But I only know that much because I took Latin for three semesters and one teacher couldn't stay focused on just Rome and Italy. From a chick flick movie geared towards younger teenagers I know that it's a fishing country and that the houses are beautiful, and everything is colorful. I don't actually know if any of that is true. In my college level world history type class (it was human geography) which I took around when the economy collapsed I learned that Greece is one of the countries that's been hit the hardest and that they are trying to reach out to other countries for aid, but that's not going well. Most of my knowledge is pieced together from a variety of places and hardly any of it is verified. Could you tell me if I was even close with anything I said?

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HeliosCaeli In reply to butterfli1473girl [2013-07-19 20:49:17 +0000 UTC]

Well, I’m not sure I can explain it good enough, but I’ll try. According to your grades in the 6 subjects you are tested, they multiply and do math stuff and finally convert the grades on a scale of 1000-20000. Of course no one can score 20000, because your grades in all 6 subjects must be 20 (which is A, the excellent of the excellent, unless if there’s something higher than A over there and I don’t know about it xD) The average student scores 14000-15000. This year the tests were the hardest of the decade (that’s what they said), but there were students (all friends of mine yay~!) that scored 19000-19400. With a grade like that, you can become a doctor or go to law school. I scored 12925, not my greatest grade yet, but I didn’t really try so I guess I’m satisfied. Psychology has a base of 18000, a grade I can only dream about. Anyway, the application process is simple. You go to the Ministry of Education’s site and download a program. The program contains every university and its base. You give your special password and then choose as many universities as you want and include them to your list. There isn’t really an English word for it, but the whole process is called “μηχανογραφικό” (mihanografiko). Normally you put the universities which have a higher base first, but you can do whatever you like and of course list from 1 to 100 universities. Then you send it and that’s pretty much it. The hardest part is deciding which universities you’ll list and in what order. Oh, I forgot to mention that the bases change from year to year, depending on how many students will be applying and how many freshmen each university’s authorities will be accepting.  So, at the end of August the bases are officially announced. If you couldn’t get in at your first choice because your grade was lower than the base, you get in your second choice in your “list”. Of course if your grade is again lower, you get in your third chosen university etc. That’s how you apply. It must be complicated for someone who hasn’t grown up with this system, but I hope I explained the general idea well enough. Yep, that was only the basics, I didn’t get into crazy details, because there’s more to it xD
Yes, sorry, I meant not every professor knows every one of their students. It makes sense if you think that every class has 100+ students (Most universities have amphitheater classes). On the other hand, there are professors who are real jerks (I don’t wanna write the other word). They don’t really care if their lesson is done, or if you understood anything at all, or even grade tests. You’re completely on your own. Actually most of the professors are like this, they simply don’t care. Few of them are cool and good at their job. And we’re still wondering why and how did we end up where we are now…

I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it. But I don’t think I would do it… I too wanted to be a vet when I was in grade school But then I forgot about it, who knows when and why. I’m sure you will be a great teacher!

So many people are getting fired here. Just the other day it was announced that the community policing will be shut down and the policemen who worked there couldn’t join the police force. Last November they also announced to all schools in Greece that whoever wanted to become a cop should wait until 2015, because there are no positions left. Your dad is lucky that he doesn’t have to worry about getting fired. My parents don’t either, because they own the grill restaurant, but of course the bills and the fact that the majority of people don’t go out anymore to eat, this does put them under great stress. I wouldn’t say we’re poor though, but I can’t say we have a comfortable life.

Over here there’s no such big deal about reputation. If you drop out of high school, you’ve simply decided that this isn’t working out for you and even if people say “it’s a shame” they don’t really discuss it anymore. If you don’t go to college people assume you’re going to take up your dad’s business or something. If you go to college they just say “congratulations”. I think the reason people don’t really pay attention to such things is because everyone knows that either you do or don’t go to college, the opportunities to get a job are about the same. Those with a university certificate hold an advantage but that’s about it. This is my opinion of course, I’m sure there are some who think exactly like the way you described. I totally agree with you. Someone can consider becoming a mechanical as a success, but some other may say that if you can’t be a doctor, you are a scum.

Wow… We were told that every country has its own culture and that we should respect it, that we shouldn’t talk if we don’t know the facts and that even if we’re a small country, we’re of great significance because of our history and our will to fight for what we want. Right now all this sounds like a joke to me, especially if you consider that we’re like sheep waiting to be slaughtered. They make sure we know some stuff about other countries. At grade school we were taught English. Until you are 16 you should know the language and be able to have a typical conversation. Few know the English language like I do (I still want to improve it, yet I do know better English than the majority of the students) but most of us understand at least the basics. At the same time, you’re expected to learn a second foreign language, either French or German. I picked German, but after 1 year I dropped out. It was really hard and I couldn’t learn it.

I have to say that they don’t teach you enough about Greece. The economy is based partially in fishing, but mostly we’re an agriculture country. Not everything is colorful, but there are many beautiful places. You know, the beaches and the islands and the ancient ruins. I believe that my hometown is one of these beautiful places. There are the waterfalls and an old town quarter from the 1920s, the river that’s named after the town, the view from various places down to the landscape (the town is built on a huge cliff).
Yes, Greece is in this tough economic situation for 4 years now, and it will be for many years to come.

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