'Ενας χρόνος......

Πέρασε κιόλας ένας χρόνος.
'Ενας χρόνος χωρίς την αγάπη σου, την αγκαλιά σου, την γλυκιά σου φωνή. Ένας χρόνος χωρίς εσένα.

Μου λείπεις....

"Προσδοκώ ανάστασιν νεκρών....."


Today marks the year anniversary of my mother's passing...

Pizza and a movie

Once again, pizza at TH yesterday with the usual suspects: Émile, Raph, Yukio, Moti and (after a long time) Tobin and Josh. And yes, Josh, for us "damn Greeks", only the times you eat and drink count :) ..... Glad you joined us guys!
The pizza was good, and as always, we had lots of fun and (most of us) lots of beer. I guess I was a bit dizzy afterwards but anyway..... So , after the pizza me, Émile, Raph and Moti decided to go to see a movie. (Coincidently (?) , we caught up Tobin and Josh on the bus to AMC. )
At AMC we saw Andrew (that was pleasant surprise) while Moti and Émile (a first timer) tested their skills in Dance Dance Revolution, just before the movie started.
So we ended up watching Breakfast on Pluto. The movie was O.K, and, at certain times, really funny, but I did not enjoy it much. It's not that I didn't like it, but for the most part I was trying to understand what was going on, with all that Irish accent AND keep myself awake (I guess, I was really tired).
Overall, I had a great time and it was good to spend some time in the company of good friends...

Weird weather, exagerrated reactions (part 2!!)

While temperatures are getting back to normal for the season in Montreal, in Greece people still fight the icy weather conditions. So, what happens when temperature drops to -5° C in some northern suburbs of Athens or even to -24° C (yes, that is not a typo, and windchill factor is not estimated) in northern areas of the country?:

• Parts of the country experience electricity shortage problems (even in Athens) and some islands like Ithaca and Kefalonia are without power for the third day today!
• Schools are closed in Attica (that includes the greater area of Athens) and in many parts of northern Greece, especially in south-west Macedonia. That includes Universities of course, with the exception of Athens Law School, The Medicine School and the Sports Academy (I REALLY do not know why they decided to continue with courses while other schools did not.)
• Courts are in business, but it's up to the judges to determine whether cases will be tried.
• Since today ships disembark for the islands since the really strong winds started to subside
• And of course, there are still problems in highways because of snow and ice accumulation.

I guess many of you will find these reactions a bit exaggerated and, honestly, so do I. (I think I might have been in this country for too long!) In fact, this is what I told my brother yesterday when he told me that people didn't show up for work, especially in Athens where they are not accustomed to below zero temperatures.

As for the power shortages, the blocked roads (even in Athens!) etc, well , I would really not want to comment on the efficiency of our (conservative) government....

Crazy weather

I do not know what is more weird:

That we have 1°C in Montreal or that right now it is -0.3°C in Athens.
Yes, it is true that this is stangely warm January and it is also true that Europe and the Balkans face a severe cold wave coming from Russia) but still....

Dinner and a movie

So how did I celebrate my name day?
Well, I got to the department for a TA meeting. After that, I just stayed at the computer room where I chatted a bit with Raph, Gustavo and Moti. At around 5.30, I, Moti and Raph left. (I have to say that walking down Peel was not as frightening as I thought it would be; you know, with all that ice....We did though go by the road and not by the sidewalk!)
I walked with them west on St. Catherine's (although I live at the opposite direction) since I had made plans to meet my friend Andonis at Guy/Concordia. You see he had his name day yesterday but since he was working we decided instead to do something today for both his and mine name day.
So, we went for dinner to Bangong (one of the best Thai food places, if you ask me) and while still there we started discussing about a possible movie we would like to watch.
Strangely enough we ended up to AMC and saw Brokeback Mountain. I have to say I have been a bit curious about that movie (let's not discuss the famous saying about the unpleasant results of curiosity for now) and we thought that since it had received so many good reviews (and Golden Globes recently), well, it had to be good.

So, impressions (kind of the "straight" eye for the "gay" movie)

• Definately an Ang Lee movie. Superb direction; period. And the scenery, it was just breath-taking.
• The acting was great. I have to shamefully admit that I know little about the actors who starred. In any case, great (and, at least for me, convincing) performance from almost everybody (including the non-leading characters).
• I do not really like labels and I do try to avoid using them. It's interesting this movie is mostly referred to as a "gay romance" one, since I find that characterization superficial. I believe that the best description of the movie comes from its director. In the words of Ang Lee: "You can never categorise or stereotype a region or a place. People fall in love, period. This is a universal story ... I just wanted to make a love story." And, I believe this is why the movie wins the spectator at the end. It is a love story, but not only that. Love, is explored directly and indirectly in so many levels and forms. So you have the love between the two main characters, the love between them and their wives, the love between them and their children, the love between them (as children ) with their own parents (this is so prominent in one of the last scenes of the movie).
• Overall, it was a movie about human emotions and passions and how people deal a) with them, b) with the other people around them and c) crucially, with themselves. I guess, the only way one could find that movie offensive in any way would be not to share any form of any of these emotions, in a way not to share what makes us all human.
• When the movie finished and lights came on I saw that the room was even more packed than it was before the movie started. If you consider that it has being on for some weeks now and also that this was a week day, you can see how good that movie is.
• Just one bad thing: For the first 25 minutes of the movie, the audio was really low and people sitting in the back rows could hardly hear anything. In fact, the distinct accent of the main actors made understanding kind of a challenge for the non-native speakers. Then, suddenly, the volume increased and the dialogues were clear. After the end, we asked some of the theater people about it, but they said that this is how the movie was filmed. Now, I might be wrong, but this looks so BS!
  
  
  

Celebrating a.... name

For those that may find it interesting, today is my name day (i.e., the feast day when the saint after whom I got my name is celebrated).
So, there was a Saint Athanasius and in fact he is considered a great figure in the Church, both the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox. (In fact, St. Athanasius is called "The Great".)

Athanasius is mostly known from defending the faith, and in particular defending the divinity of the Lord in the early 4th century A.D., when the heresy of Arianism appeared. (Arianism claimed that Jesus is not full God (and therefore, He is not equal with the Father, in contrast with the Trinitarian dogma of Christian theology). More information about this can be found here and here . In the Orthodox Church his feast is celebrated twice a year, on May 2nd (like in the Roman Catholic Church) and on January 18th with St. Cyril of Alexandria.
Name days are celebrated in Greece like birthdays (but usually there is no cake!) and in fact ,until the early 20th century, people used to observe only their name day (at least those who were baptized Orthodox Christians) and not their birthdays.
So, I got some phone calls and e-mails from Greece wishing me "χρόνια πολλά" and I sent some e-mails myself to my friends that celebrate today.
And a cultural detail: In Greece, people do not usually invite over friends for name day's celebrations. Rephrase: People do not need to be invited for a name day celebration. They just drop by the place of the person. The idea is that since everybody knows when your name day is, you do not have to make any invitations. People will just drop by and apparently you are expected to have something planned. On the contrary, for birthdays invitations must be made.

Back with a vengeance

Winter is back!
After endless pleas, we finally got “normal” temperatures for the season. (-17°C).
I mean, this is Montréal, right?

Too bad to be true...

Once again, the my TA evaluation turned to a disaster. I have to say, I was surprised that ALL I got was negative remarks about my English (again) and my ability to answer/explain things.
Now, that should get me really frustrated but it didn' t. Honestly, it is not because I am irresponsible or I do not care.
It is just that I cannot believe people found nothing good in my teaching. Especially after some positive input I had throughout the semester. I guess it is always understandable when people "old enough" are not fond of being treated as if they were still "primary school" students. The catch, of course, is to stop behaving as such!
That's all...

Stressed Saturday...

I am still struggling with this abstract. (It's still too long)

Anyway, in other news, Happy name day to my dad (John, named after John the Baptist, click here for a more Orthodox Christian perspective ) and Happy Birthday to Josh.

An afternoon that could have been much better (or worse)

After a very alarming chest paint event that fortunately lacked the rest of the unwanted symptoms (like shortness of breath and extension of the pain to the back and/or the left arm) I rushed myself to Royal Victoria Hospital, just to be sure. After 2 hours of waiting and 3 hours of testing I was relieved to know that both my EKG and chest x-ray results turned out O.K.
So now I am kind of relieved that I do not have a heart condition, however, I am worried because I do not know what caused this thing (it happened 6 months ago also) and whether is going to happen again. Somehow, the words of the nurse that if I feel again any discomfort, I should have it checked and especially her view that this might be because of stress, are not very reassuring....
And then you tell me I am not getting old.....

Το λακωνίζειν εστί φιλοσοφείν*

*Acting like a Laconian (Spartan), i.e., being terse/concise/laconic, is philosophy.

Unfortunately, I am not Laconian, I am Athenian. And like my predecessors, I can't put limits on my words or/and thoughts.
Now, can somebody please tell me how to submit a successful abstract of just 300 words? (EVERYTHING included)

Happy New Year

To all my friends out there:

May you have a trully Happy and joyful New Year.

So, here it goes:

Happy New Year, Bonne Année, Feliz Año Nuevo, Buon Anno, Μanigong Βagong Τaon, שנה טובה, and of course, Καλή Χρονιά