It's All Greek to Me!

by HUGer Abby Gail Fair and Loren Beason

​This semester at HUG, we’ve been with people.  Sure, we’ve seen ancient sites and have toured six different countries; we have stood in front of art and architecture that would normally be in textbooks, but we have also been given the opportunity to tie those academic subjects with people of these lands, and we are blessed because of it.  Our Egyptian guide asked us into his home and shared a meal that his wife prepared for us; we sang together, and the experience encouraged all of us.  Our Israeli guide asked us into the home of his brother; there, we shared music together, and the experience made the land of Israel, which had already come to life for us, even more tangible.  We visited Albania this semester, the land claimed as her home by our sweet laundry lady Yianna who gives us daily hugs here at our home-away-from-home.  We have regularly attended church in Athens with people who speak Greek, Russian, Korean, Arabic, Farsi, and English.  And also here in Greece, we’ll experienced olive harvesting (this week!) and will share a meal at the home of our guide who lives with three generations in the same house on his olive grove with his uncle’s land a stone’s throw away.  Of course we’ve had individual reflection time and a lot of special time with just our HUG family, but being with and learning from different people has been an outward focus of our semester.

​In high school, my Spanish class was asked to present a certain subject in front of Spanish-speaking students at a school nearby.  These kids were ages nine and ten and they, obviously, spoke better Spanish than we did.  The most intimidating part for me, was the fact that not only were they better than me at Spanish, they were really good at English, too!  This past week, our HUG group had the opportunity to sit down with some Greek 11-13 year olds and just talk.  The Greek students have been taking English classes while we have been in our Greek language class.

​HUG students were invited to the house of a private English teacher in Greece.  Since the lady is friends with Vicky, our Greek teacher, everything was arranged for us before our arrival.  Upon entering the house, we were greeted with a kiss from the teacher and were excited to meet the handful of students that had gathered to talk with us.  All of these students had been taking the private English class for around five years and are still young.  We spent a bit of time with them corresponding in English and Greek, as our ability would allow.  Many of their questions revolved around American customs, food, and culture.  We were given quite a few treats as the conversation carried on - from mint tea and sugared grapes to bean soup that was sent back to the Artemis with us, we were hosted with hospitality, a trademark of the Greek culture.  The time flew by as we learned more about these students and Greece through their own eyes.

The experience was similar to what we did in my Spanish class in high school, but it had a different impact on me because we actually held meaningful conversations.  In high school we did a presentation; it was an assignment - something that had to be done.  But this was more about making friends and learning about the culture that we have been living in all semester.  

We all enjoyed each other very much, so we invited the Greek students to come to the Artemis and hosted them for an additional language lesson!  We wanted to continue to practice our Greek, and they wanted to continue to practice their English.  We also served sweets, and both of our teachers were proud of our efforts in our conversations!  There is just something meaningful about entering someone’s home or inviting them into your own and beginning relationships.  The staff at HUG plans to make these language exchange evenings a tradition with the local English teacher and her students, since both parties benefit by sharing of themselves.  Yes, Harding’s international programs are about learning about what we’ve seen in history books and have dreamt about seeing in person.  But studying abroad is also about meeting people from the place that becomes your home for a while and about learning about them - their families, their histories, their hopes and dreams.  Certainly, we have different views because of our different influences, but in the end, people are people.  We share the same love of life, of learning, and of relationships.  Turning our eyes outward to learn about others helps us learn more about ourselves and is an important part of the HUG experience.  I am better because of the people with whom I’ve shared my life this semester and because of the people who have shared their lives with me.