Saturday, December 31, 2011

It's Almost 2012! Καλή Χρονιά! Kali Hronia to Everyone in our Global Greek World!!! Happy New Year!!!


Our traditional Greek New Year goodies

2012 looks like it is going to go well..
Our daughter and her friends did the rounds of the neighbourhood this morning and sang the traditional New Year carol, Arximinia ki'Arxixronia
Despite the economic crisis in Greece, the children were rewarded handsomely for their efforts... a great omen.

In the photo above you can see that we have gathered all our traditional New Year goodies ...  GREEK made bubbly wine for us this year, 
a pomegranate which will be thrown to the ground at midnight,  
and the traditional gouri - plant which will adorn the door!

Our euros are ready for the traditional card game and we are ready to greet the New Year full of hope and optimism 

We hope that 2012 will be a pivotal year for us all - a year full of Health,Happiness, Love, Peace and Prosperity!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Ευχόμαστε ότι το 2012 θα είναι χρονιά σταθμός για όλους μας 
Χρονιά γεμάτη Υγεία, Ευτυχία, Αγάπη, Ειρήνη και Ευημερία!

ΚΑΛΗ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ! 




Saturday, December 24, 2011

Καλά Χριστούγεννα - Καλή Χρονιά! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Καλά Χριστούγεννα -Καλή Χρονιά!
Kala Christougenna-Kali Chronia!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our friends!
From Greece to every corner of our Global Greek World
from our house to yours,
we're sending you Greece's traditional Christmas symbol - a boat - loaded with love, good wishes and hope for a better 2012 for all!
Thank you for your support...
CHRONIA POLLA kai KALA!!!
Από την Ελλάδα σας στέλνουμε το παραδοσιακό μας καραβάκι φορτωμένο με αγάπη και ευχές και με την ελπίδα ότι το 2012 θα είναι καλύτερο για όλους μας!


ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΠΟΛΛΑ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΛΑ!!! 

Η Παρθένος Σήμερον

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Buy GREEK for Christmas This Year Campaign! Let's ALL Buy GREEK!


Buy Greek for Christmas...
Share the page - Share the passion - share the thought! 
 it doesn't have to be big, a chocolate, a card, a book is fine...
just make sure it is Greek!

All those who have been following our blog and our Global Greek World Facebook Page know it as a blog which is for and about Greeks all over the world.

Global Greek World, or GGW as most of us call it, aims at bringing Greeks together, while promoting the best and brightest that Greece has to offer at home and abroad, uniting them all under the Global Greek World umbrella. 

Let's not forget that each and every Greek, wherever he or she is in the world, is a walking, talking and sometimes even singing Ambassador for Greece. We need to harness and project the enormous potential this dynamic gives us as much as we can for Greece's benefit, especially today.

One of our traditional Greek sayings goes... Άν δεν παινέψεις το σπίτι σου θα πέσει να σε πλακώσει.... if you don't praise your home it will fall and crush you... what else is Greece but our collective home and one of the most beautiful in the world! 

If only we knew how blessed we are!

Greece has so much to offer - at every level. Greek products are world class in many sectors yet, until recently, Greece has never really promoted them as such.

Take our excellent, top of the tops, pure, extra-virgin olive oil, or Greek Yoghurt, as examples of products which have taken off with just a little work...ultimately they sell themselves because their quality is so good.

The concept of Buy GREEK was something I was thinking of for a while as a way to make people aware of the significance of supporting Greece's 'producers' as a move away from the crazy and indiscriminate consumerism of all things imported that has prevailed in the last few years in Greece. I had already done the necessary back office work, the domain, the email and the Buy GREEK page but I was working on the direction it should take...  

However life has a way of taking over one's plans: Christmas and a question from a friend on facebook actually acted as a catalyst to get it going earlier than planned...so voila, the Buy GREEK for Christmas This Year Campaign event was launched at the end of November...


We see Buy GREEK as

a)  a movement which will make people at home and abroad show their confidence in all things Greek similar to the O ΕΠΙΜΕΝΩN ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ movement of the 80's

b) a 'meeting place' for Greek producers and consumers in Greece and around the world,

c) a way to provide a shot in the arm for all products and services which are also part of a much bigger picture -  the image Greece presents to the world - Brand Greece if you like, a brand which has taken a lot of  knocks in the last few years and which needs to be rebuilt, yesterday!!!

d) a generic term that refers to all the things available in Greece  - from physical products to Greece's rich and unique cultural heritage, and everything in between, on land or sea... the sky's the limit when it comes to showcasing the best!

There hasn't been any contact with any of the producers or the companies either 'liked' on the page or as direct links as yet, but that will come as we develop our strategy ... right now we are happy for people to post suggestions for Greek products, which as you can see they are doing, both on the actual page and on the event.

Buy GREEK is a concept which ultimately can be applied to all Greek products, businesses and services all over the world. We are thrilled to see that people themselves are not restricting it to Greek in the geographical sense and are including the diaspora Greek businesses which promote Greek products and services as well. 


The feedback so far has been very positive, but confirmation that it is a good idea and one that everybody will try to embrace will come with an increase in 'likes' or attendance for the Buy Greek for Christmas event itself, so please get 'like-ing'! 

There's been a great response following publication of the article by Nelly Abravanel in Kathimerini tis Kyriakis and on Skai as well as the English edition of Kathimerini - a much appreciated gesture, and a big thank you to Nelly for getting in touch!

 

You can read Nelly's article in Greek  - on Skai or in the Kathimerini  or in English in the English Edition Kathimerini.

As a result of that interview, the number of guests for the event are multiplying fast as are the 'likes' on the Buy GREEK page. Not bad at all, but we would love it to go viral of course! Ιf we can get those numbers high it means that we increase people's awareness of Greek products and services and show them that it is quite easy to Buy GREEK, wherever we may be.

Along with all the rest of our diaspora Greeks, I grew up and studied abroad, very much involved in all things Greek in our small Greek Community, bridging and bringing together the two worlds I belonged to.  Now living, working and raising a family in Greece, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of one of the best things Greece did in the course of her modern history - Athens' Magic Olympic Games - ATHENS 2004!







The amazing things Greece was able to show the world during those unforgettable days in August of 2004 was a result of the fact that as a nation, both at home and abroad, WE worked together as ONE, united and focused on the noble cause - the homecoming of the Olympic Games,  one of Greece's many legacies to the world. 

Unfortunately our political leaders didn't take the golden opportunity that presented itself after Athens' magical Olympics and they didn't run with it at all. Quite the opposite in fact...

The often undeserved battering Greece has had on the world stage because of the economic crisis has helped many people take a good long look at what has gone wrong in Greece. 

We now need to get to work again and fix it all for the good of Greece and the future generations. 

We need to start working for the common good again rather than just that of our immediate circle... and Buy GREEK is an initiative in that direction. 

We need YOUR  help to get the news of this initiative out there. 

We need to make people passionate about the cause. 

Share the page - Share the passion - share the thought! Buy Greek for Christmas... it doesn't have to be big, a chocolate, a card, a book is fine...just make sure it is Greek!

If you love Greece, it's simple...

Buy GREEK!


Join us 

On Facebook: Buy GREEK for Christmas This Year 3rd Annual Campaign 2013
                     Buy GREEK 
                     Global Greek World

On Twitter:   Buy GREEK 
                   Global Greek World

PS  Just found out that the Dutch central bank has given its 2,000 staff a Greek hamper this Christmas, containing cheese, olives, wine, a travel guide and a book about Greek myths...  so...Let's start a trend! 

If the Dutch Central Bank can do it so can WE, wherever we are in the world!
 

GREEK Christmas Hampers for all! 

 Buy GREEK!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Photo of the Day: Anyone For a Mc....Makis?

 Photo Source: Unknown - received by email
Location: somewhere in Greece...

We Greeks are pretty enterprising with a good sense of humour...
 Hope the Golden Arches trademark police give Mr McMakis a bonus!

ΤΥΡΟΠΙΤΕΣ  = CHEESE PIES
ΜΠΟΥΓΑΤΣΕΣ = CREAM PIES 
ΠΙΤΣΕΣ = PIZZA

Anyone for a Mc ...Makis? 
:)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Greece and the Bailout Package: How it works!

 A gentle reminder to our friends at the EU summit meeting which starts tonight...


It is a slow day in a little village in Crete...
 
The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted.

Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

On this particular day, a rich German tourist is driving through the
village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk,
telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to
pick one to spend the night.

The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked
upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his
debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt
to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the
supplier of feed and fuel.

The guy at the Farmers' Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his
drinks bill at the taverna.

The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the
bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him
"services" on credit.

The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the
hotel owner with the €100 note.

The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the
foreign visitor will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100
note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and
leaves town.

No one produced anything.
No one earned anything.
However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future
with a lot more optimism.

And that, dear friends, is how the bailout package works...


Monday, December 5, 2011

US Vice President Joe Biden in Athens. Who's Next? President Obama Maybe?

Joe Biden - Vice President - USA
Photo Source: Wikipedia

Yesterday, US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Athens after  visiting Turkey, where he  attended an international conference on entrepreneurship.

Of great significance we believe is his two hour visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate which included a one hour meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew, stressing the importance the US government puts on the issue of religious freedoms in Turkey.

Greek-American relations, issues of Greek interest such as the Cyprus problem, the naming issue of FYROM, religious freedom and the Ecumenical Patriarchate are on the agenda of Biden's discussions in Athens, as well as the  dire economic crisis and problems in the wider region.
 
VP Biden was met at the airport by Deputy Prime Minister of Greece Theodoros Pangalos and today will be received by the President of the Republic, Karolos Papoulias. He will also meet separately with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, PASOK leader and former PM George Papandreou, and New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras.

VP Biden's wife, Jill, also visited Greece for the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics held in Athens earlier this year.

It is interesting to note that first, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Athens in July this year, now Vice President Biden visits. 

At this rate, maybe Greece should start making plans for a visit by President Obama himself in the summer...   

Source: AMNA

Friday, December 2, 2011

Greece - A New Beginning: 7 December 2011 - 13th New York Capital Link Investor Forum



Greece - "A New Beginning"

Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Metropolitan Club • 1 E 60th Street • New York City
7:45 AM - 5:30 PM
Followed by a Networking Cocktail Reception

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC

 and 

IN COOPERATION WITH

NYSE Euronext, The Athens Exchange


Luncheon Keynote Speech will be given by


 Professor  Evangelos Venizelos,
Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance of the Hellenic Republic
 
with
Introductory Remarks by
 


Ms. Arianna Huffington,
President & Editor-in-Chief
The Huffington Post Media Group 



Mr. Jay Collins,
Vice Chairman of Global Banking & Managing Director of the Public Sector Group
Citi



MORNING PRESENTATION SESSIONS: GREECE - A NEW BEGINNING 
The forum’s morning sessions will focus on new economic, political, and financial developments in Greece.


  • European Sovereign Debt Crisis: Searching for the End Game
  • Greece’s Economic Adjustment Program: The Restructuring of State-Owned Enterprises Privatization Program
  • The Legal Aspects of the Upcoming Privatization Program
  • Hellenic Exchanges & the Greek Stock Market
  • Investment Opportunities for Foreign Investors in the Greek Stock Market
  • Restructuring as an Investment Opportunity
  • Telecommunications
  • Banking Sector
  • Gaming & Sports Betting

AFTERNOON ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS: 5TH ANNUAL GLOBAL SHIPPING MARKET 
The afternoon sessions will focus on the global shipping markets, which depend on the state of the global energy and commodity markets.
  • The Global Energy & Tanker Shipping Markets
  • The Global Commodities & Dry Bulk Shipping Markets
  • The Global Container Shipping Markets
  • Analyst Panel

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
 
>> VIEW AGENDA
 
There is no charge to attend the morning or afternoon sessions but if you wish to attend the luncheon there will be a fee of $125.00. 
For further information and to register, please call Eleni Bej at 212-661-7566 or  
email Eleni
 

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