Hi! My name is Giannis, and even if we don’t know each other, we still live the same time in the same world, we both have access to the unlimited Internet and we speak the same language. If you like, I could find more things that connect us, but one is my very favorite; we don’t give up!
For sure, this diary is named after me but this luckily does not necessarily mean that it’s mine… and although I‘d rather not dictate what future will bring, I would be grateful if this diary will become something valuable from which we could extract hope and courage from.
Back to the Commons now; I would hope we had one more: that we like to celebrate good times with the people around us and be next to them in times of need.
But let’s get into the essence of things now… It seems so close and at the same time so far in memory. Greece and we: Greeks in the front line of worldwide publicity. All eyes on us; the spreads, the national debt to GDP ratio, the budget deficit, and multiple other financial indicators, became new words in our everyday dictionary.
Every one of us going through different phases, in different places, facing different images, sharing different feelings, but still all of us are on the same side. A strange feeling, sometimes exciting, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes enjoying, but always very real. I hope you start to understand that this diary is not about today or about someone in particular. It is selective and different. It is Gianni’s diary through someone else’s eyes or your diary through my eyes, full of short, everyday stories of Greeks abroad, edited by me.
So now that we got to know each other, let’s breathe new life into this diary and start writing and contributing! But most important, even from distance, start connecting and communicating!
Yours,
Giannis
Send me your stories at ioannis@newdiaspora.com
The New Diaspora Diary: stories of Greeks who moved abroad from 2010 until now
When:
- Every 1st day of the month
The reason?
- To share experiences
- To bond with each other, and
- To inform Greeks back home about our reality abroad
The diary:
- Takes you three minutes to read each story.
- Is a mix of positive and negative experiences abroad.
Will my name be public?
- Not necessarily, but if you’d like, yes!
How does it work?
- You share your story with me, we communicate in an open questionnaire style, I write the story in my own words, an expert reads it, you read it and it is uploaded!
The editing team
Giánnis
Giannis Kyriazis was born and raised in Thessaloniki and lives abroad since July 1999. Professionally, his passion lies with translating data into information for strategic decision making. He is responsible for managing Master Data and Systems in a tax effective supply chain department of a well-known bio-technology company.
In politics, he is mainly interested and more actively involved in issues concerning education and culture, entrepreneurship and repatriating of Greeks abroad. In his free time he enjoys running middle and long distances, playing golf, traveling, practicing yoga and reading.
Vasilikí
Vasiliki Magoula was born in Thessaloniki and lives abroad since 1999. After her studies, she worked on the coordination of clinical trials in international pharmaceutical companies. A clinical trial is the necessary experimental procedure needed before a new medicine is approved to be distributed in the market.
Next to this, she is interested in reading, walking, travelling and learning foreign languages, but also about the history and culture of each country. She is also interested, and is planning to start additional education on bioethics, in which she would like to work on the ethical questions of subjects like euthanasia and assisted reproduction.
Vivian
Vivian Chiona is the founder and director of Expat Nest, a site that provides emotional support to expats and their families through online counselling services. Having spent most of her developmental years in Greece, she has been living in the Netherlands for the past ten years.
A bicultural, multilingual expat with family all over the world, Vivian is familiar with the blessings and challenges of a mobile life.
