Exile Expats.
(I made this video for my blog about 10,000 hours of Happiness jus10k.tumblr.com. Please visit my blog for more 360 stories about what makes me and other happy, or unhappy.)
Yesterday, Thursday the 20th, a protester died during the anti-austerity demostrations in the Greek capital, hours before lawmakers were to vote on deeply unpopular new cutbacks demanded by creditors to keep Greece afloat.
The day before, October the 19th, the first large protest since spring took place in Greece. I was informed by my Greek friends about the marches and clashes, not long after they started. I have been following the Greek news closely, and have filmed gatherings of young, worried Greek's here in Amsterdam that are part of Occupy Amsterdam and Occupy Brussels. Some of them were in my previous video, Occupy Unhappiness.
Note: The first lady in the interviewed uses the word 'riot' often instead of 'protest'. This is a mix up. She doesn't mean a violent protest, but a march or peaceful demostration.
Also, I will not use any of the names of the people I interviewed, just to be sure, for their protection.
The words they spoke during my interviews now seem rather prophetic to me, with riots getting worse and a person dying. After speaking to them, I do not nessecairily believe what the media in the rest of the world seemingly copies from the Greek State media: that it were the protesters fighting among themselves. Possible, but I wonder if it were not police force provocateurs dressed as civilians.
I see the Greek Expats in The Netherlands as a sort of group in exile. They have their lives and friends here in Holland where there's more work opportunities, but their families and dreamed future often are in their Homeland. A land where their future and even safety, is unsure. I met some Greek friends and aquintances at Beursplein, which is occupied by Occupy Amsterdam. A cause that many Greeks in Holland are involved with, as both causes are entangled.
Some of my best friends in Amsterdam, where I live, are Greek. Being close to them also means being close to the Greek crisis. Sharing good and bad times with these friends means seeing how the turmoil in Greece affects them. And so, affects me.
I've noticed my Greek friends getting frustrated about the way their country and it's people are being portayed in the media here. With my positive experience with them here in my homeland The Netherlands, I also get irritated when Dutch people stereotype Greeks as being 'lazy', 'agressive' and 'are themselves to fully blame for this crisis'.
A much heard sentiment in The Netherlands is "Why should my hard earned tax money be spend to solve their self-imposed mess while we have enough of our own?". Understandble. But I believe things are not as black and white as some would like to believe. If only it was that simple...
In my opinion the human factor isn't highlighted well enough. I feel as if the Greek's aren't given enough voice, eventhough that is just exactly what they are fighting for now.
I personally have come to know the Greek's as warm, fun loving and hospitable people. Offcourse I am well aware that my outlook is tainted by friendship, which makes me subjective. But it also gives me more of an insider's look on what's going on in the hearts and minds, and land, of these people.
This video is a lengthy look at what's going on in Greece, seen from the Greek's perspective abroad. Filmed by a, Dutch journalist, friend.
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Occupy Unhappiness - jus10k.tumblr.comby JustineGraceSwaab198 views
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