The life of my grandmother, Anna
Read the Greek version of this story

Author: Joanne Adam
Storyteller: Anna Adam
Community Language School: Hellenic Orthodox Community of Bexley North and Districts
Main School: Kingsgrove Public School

My grandmother's memories of Greece.

Today I would like to talk to you about how my grandmother Anna came to live in Australia. My grandmother Anna is my maternal grandmother. My name is Joanna. I have the same name as my grandmother, because her name is actually Joanna, but she is known as Anna.

Life in Greece

Well, I would like to begin by telling you that my grandmother was born and lived in a village in Greece named Skopi, Tripoli. Back then it was a very small village with only a few houses. My great grandparents did not own a car. However they did own horses and donkeys. They would use them as the mode of transportation. They would also use the horses to help them plough the fields. Motor driven ploughs as we know them today, did not exist back then.
There was a lot of manual labour. My grandmother did not have a small backyard as we have nowadays. They had a reasonable sized farm with pigs, rabbits, goats, lambs and chickens. These animals were either bred to be eaten or to get milk from. They planted wheat and corn, once again so they could eat. You see, if they did not have a corner store, where they could get goods if they ran out?

School

My grandmother Ann only went to school up to the age of twelve years. The whole family including my grandmother had to help in the fields. Money was not plentiful. It was times of war and life was very difficult. They went to school in the morning. At lunchtime they went home for a couple of hours and then they returned to school till approximately 5.00pm. There was also school on Saturdays but this was only for half the day. My grandmother recalls all the children going to school on Sundays and then the teachers taking them to church.

My great grandparents would work in the fields all day and often come home later in the evening, well after the children. In this case it was up to the children to start dinner. They did not have the luxury of television or radio.

My grandmother was often asked to stay at home with her older brother and look after her grandmother who was sick, because her parents had to work in the fields. Because of this it was very difficult to get a proper education.

They would have special celebrations such as Easter, Christmas and her father's name day- they would celebrate this by having a get together with family and friends at home.

Migration

Because life was not great in Greece, when my grandmother was 19 years old, she decided to make a better life for herself in Australia. Her father pleaded with her not to go. He also told her that if she didn't like life in Australia, not to be afraid to return. This was an extremely sad moment for everyone. They did not know if they would ever see each other again or what sort of life my grandmother would have in Australia. My grandmother already had a couple of cousins living in Australia and decided to come and stay with them. In 1959 she travelled 28 days by ship to Australia. The journey was very tiring. The seas were very rough and there was a lot of seasickness.

Culture shock

First my grandmother lived in Redfern with her cousin. At the beginning she cried a lot because she was homesick and she found things to be much different in Australia. The buildings were different, houses were segregated by fences, there were footpaths, automobiles etc.

To us, these might seem as normal everyday things. We're used to seeing them everyday. But to someone who came from a different country and different lifestyle, it was a major culture shock. Also the cuisine that my grandmother was used to was totally different.

There was also a language barrier. My grandmother did not understand the English language, which made it hard for her to communicate with other people. Also the currency was different which took a lot of getting used to. They had to go to the store for food and other products. They could not get it from the farm, like they had been used to. There were many new and different things she had to get used to. Even though things were extremely different and she was homesick, she still didn't want to return home. The desire for a better life was enough incentive for her to stay in Australia.

Settling in Australia

Her cousin helped her to find her first job at an ETA factory. Back then all she had to do was to go around and ask if there was a job vacancy. Eventually she got married and settled down in Australia with her own family. Of course it was very sad that her parents could not be here to join in her happiness.
It took a while to adjust as to the weather patterns as well. In summer for example it would be rainy and cold, but in Greece if it was summer you knew that you would have nice sunny weather.

From memory, my grandmother remembers there only being three Greek Orthodox churches in Sydney.

Today

Obviously life is better here now. She has settled in Australia, and has her own children and grandchildren. She feels at home here because she has spent 43 years of her life here as opposed to 19 years in Greece. Even though she feels at home in Australia, Greece is always in the back of her mind calling her to go back home. As much as she'd like to go and stay, it is not possible because her life is here now.
However, who knows, maybe one day, I will be lucky enough to visit Greece with my grandmother and get to see her beautiful homeland.

Joanna Adams