» Read the Greek version of this story

Author: Anna Patrinos
Storyteller: Sotirios Patrinos
Community Language School: Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Afternoon School
Main School: Keiraville Public School

A comparison of life in Greece and Wollongong.

Q.1 Where do you come from?
I come from Katastari in Zakynthos in Greece.

Q.2 Describe the place where you lived.
My village was very beautiful. It had nice beaches, lots of farms and paddocks, beautiful mountains, nice churches, schools, police stations and shops!

Q.3 What was your house like?
My house was small but nice and I liked it. It was white with green windows and doors. It had three bedrooms and a small garage.

Q.4 Describe a typical day for your family.
We all got up and had breakfast before we went to work. I used to work on the farm from morning to night.

Q.5 What work did your parents do?
My dad worked on the farm with my brothers and me. My mum stayed home and looked after the house.

Q.6 Describe a celebration or special day for your family.
We only used to celebrate name days. Our friends and family came to our house. We had lots of food and drinks.

Q.7 What kind of food did you eat?
We used to eat fish, meat, potatoes, vegetables and cheese.

WEATHER

Q1. Was it cold in your village?
Yes in winter it was.
Q2. In winter did it snow?
Sometimes it did sometimes it didn’t.

Q3. Was it hot in summer all the time or did it rain sometimes?
Most of the time it was hot but it rained as well.

Q4. What was your favourite season in Greece and what is it now?
It was summer there and it is summer here.

SCHOOL

Q1. Did you go to school?
Yes I did.
Q2. How many years did you go there?
3 years because of the war.

Q3. Did you like it?
Yes it was fun.

Q4. Did you go to High school or Primary school?
I didn’t go to High school only Primary school.

Q5. Are the schools in Australia the same as the schools in Greece?
Yes they are the same. The only difference is the language.

FAMILY

Q1. Did you have a lot of people in your family?
Ye,s you could say there were.
Q2. How many people were in your family?
There were seven.

Q3. How many brothers and sisters did you have?
I had 3 sisters and 1 brother.

Q4. Do you get to see your family often?
I see my son’s family more often but my daughters live Sydney.

WHY DID YOU LEAVE

Q1. Why did you leave your country?
Because of an earthquake
Q2. Why did you pick Australia to come to?
Because in the newspaper it said Australia needed more people to make it a stronger nation.

Q3. Why do you now live in Wollongong?
Because it reminded us of Greece and I got a job at BHP.

Q4. Did you want to leave?
Yes I did because of the situation and we had no place to live.