As an American, Moving to Greece Changed My Lifestyle and Habits | Invesloan.com

After more than four years of living in Athens, Greece, I’ve still retained a few very American habits.

For instance, I love sleeping with my AC on at 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, and waking up to make a big breakfast of waffles with maple syrup. I still don’t take a two-week vacation in August, although I dream of doing it someday.

I grew up in Boston and lived in the US for the first 33 years of my life, so it makes sense that I’ve stuck with a few American tendencies despite my years abroad. But whenever I visit back home, I realize how much I’ve adjusted to many Greek-inspired habits.

These are the ones that have become an integral part of my lifestyle now.

The way I dress has changed

In the US, I’d think nothing of leaving my house in athleisure clothes to run errands — stretchy leggings, a zip-up sweatshirt, hair scraped into a messy bun.

Here in Greece, however, I don’t even go to the grocery store dressed like that anymore. I pull on a proper pair of jeans and a top, tie up my leopard-print Converse sneakers or step into my pink Birkenstock sandals, and arrange my hair into a French twist if it’s too messy to wear it down.

I also take at least a minute or two to pull my face together before I go — brushing my eyebrows into place and slicking on a little lip color to look a bit more presentable.

In my experience, it’s very uncommon here to see people outside their homes looking unpolished or untidy. This doesn’t mean everyone runs errands in formal attire (hence my Converse and jeans), but it’s seen as bad manners to leave the house looking like you just rolled out of bed.

Now, the only time I wear gym clothes is when I’m actually on my way to the gym.

My grocery shopping routine looks very different

When I lived in downtown Boston, I had a routine: I’d walk a mile to the nearest Whole Foods and buy everything I needed for the week ahead, lugging my overstuffed backpack home.

Now, in Athens, I shop quite differently. On Friday mornings I go to the laiki agora, or farmers market, which is much more extensive (and chaotic!) than the ones I used to see in the US.

I can buy everything there, from the freshest seasonal produce to fish, nuts and legumes, olive oil and homemade wine, while the vendors shout out compliments and offer different prices.

I head to the bakery on my street weekly for bread and treats like orange pie or spanakopita, and sometimes to the greengrocer, too. When I need a specific meat product, like a Thanksgiving turkey, I go to my neighborhood butcher shop.

I also have multiple small grocery stores within a few blocks of my apartment, and I’ll usually swing by these on my way home from the gym when I need just one or two things for dinner.

Although I still haven’t dropped the habit of trekking to a larger grocery store every week for essentials, that trip feels less intense because I don’t need to stock up on everything I’ll need in an entire week at once.

I’ve adjusted to the Greek way of eating and drinking

Back in the US, most people my age would eat dinner around 6 or 7 p.m. Now that I live in Greece, though, I typically eat dinner around 8 or 9 p.m. — or even as late as 10 p.m. in the summer, when it’s too hot to meet up with my friends earlier.

I’ve found it’s actually quite lovely to be up and out late on a summer night, when the temperature has dropped and the breeze is soft.

I’ve shifted my lunchtime a bit later as well, and usually eat between 2 and 3 p.m. these days. (I still like a heartier breakfast, even though Greeks tend to eat lightly in the morning!)

Restaurant culture is different, too. Here, it’s very common to spend three hours over dinner with friends. I never feel rushed to get out the door so they can turn over the table, so I tend to relax and chill out when I have the time, people-watching and catching up with my friends.

Life in Greece has different rhythms and habits than my life in the US did — slower meals, more single-item grocery stops, and my chaotic but fun weekly market visit — plus a slightly upgraded dress code.

Now when I visit the US, the early dinner times, fast meals, and enormous grocery shops feel like culture shock in reverse. But I do still look forward to my enormous diner breakfasts (usually eaten while wearing some comfy leggings!) whenever I go back.