My Greek Olympics: The beginning of my life as an expat

A view towards where my apartment is from the Acropolis.

I saw Greece from the plane's window as we pasted the southern tip of Italy. We had just crossed to the south of the "heel of the boot" and I was able to see some of the islands on the south-western coast of the Peloponnese. I wasn’t sure which islands they were and at first and I wasn’t quite sure if it was Greece, but I soon realized that it was indeed Greece. As we made the approach to the new airport of Athens, we descended over the Saronic Gulf and the intense blue water was a wonderful sight. After the long flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt, then to Greece and after a six hour layover, I was extremely tired.

From the plane the view was of deep blue water and Attica and southern Athens. Even though it was from a distance, it was exiting to finally see my destination. The countryside around the airport is a bit spares and a large marble quarry is visible on the descent. We touch down and make our way to the gate, as I am soon to find out, the Greeks don't always follow the rules. Before the plane stopped, people are up getting bags of all sizes and getting ready to push to the door. The German flight attendants on the Lufthansa flight try to keep people in their seats, but they never truly succeed. I eventually get off the plane and make my way through the customs area, but since we are coming from Germany, there is no inspection and I just walk right in.

The airport is only a few years old, but it seems older. I do see a lot of debris around and from what I could see out of the windows, the place still looked as if it was in a somewhat of a "construction" mode. I found out that this is normal for Greece, a kind of not quite finished look. I assumed it was because of the Olympics and they are still doing improvements, but it always looked that way.

I follow the crowd to the luggage area and find the carousel.  My bags are one of the first ones and I am glad I don't have to wait around, I am very tired and only the excitement of arriving is keeping me going. I walk out through the double doors and I see Vic and the driver waiting. A big hug and a hand shake, I am introduced to the driver, Peter. We walk out and across the street to the parking lot, get in the van and off we go. I arrived in the late afternoon and it was still winter, but the weather was nice and not to cold, a nice change from cool and rainy Frankfurt. It is nice to see the open sky again.

Some small talk with Vic about the trip and what is happening, I am surprised at what he tells me. This is still when there are only a few of us there since the big SAIC flood is yet to come. Things are in flux and David will fill me in later, I wasn't too sure of what I would have to do. I assumed we would all work together and that David and Jay would be the lead, Vic being the advisor to the customer and me being the SME on modeling and simulation and training.

We make our way onto the highway and I see the construction of the rail link to the airport, still not there yet. The countryside is already turning brown, but still with spots of green here and there. Lots of olive trees and small farms are along the road and a small village/town to the left (Peania) and some house to the right. Driving is interesting, speed is king and lanes are made to be changed. We work our way through the late afternoon traffic once we get off the highway. Lots of construction everywhere and Vic points out a few interesting things, we are on the road to Marathon (but going the other way), this will be the marathon route and they are working on improvements.

It takes more time than I thought it would because of construction. Athens is very dense, but this outer area it is still somewhat open. Once we enter the city things change, the buildings are uniform in color and design, more people too. We slowly work our way to the center of town, lots of changes and construction is everywhere. We pass the US embassy and other points of interest, the Hilton etc. Athens has no highways like the US, just main roads that are clogged with traffic.

We make our way to the center and I see the police with machine guns on the street. Vic says there was a protest that day, I will see this many times to come. We pass the Parliament and I see the Acropolis above the central square. It stands above the buildings and is all lit up, very dramatic. Then down and around the square and to a small street (Metropolis), I am almost to the hotel. This will be our home for the next several weeks, our plan is to get apartments which will be our permanent home while we are working here.

Our group consisted of Jay, David, Vic, George and Ron. A few other people who we worked with and were OK were Chris, Rick, and Eric. Most other people were corporate types and we tried to avoid them as much as possible. The only people with Olympic experience were David, Jay, Vic, George and myself. Everyone else didn't have any idea of what we were doing or why.