Anna-Maria
I first moved to the US as a student from 1987 to 1996. When I graduated from the architecture department in Greece, my mother asked me, "So that's it?" I told her that I was going to start my job. All the people from my family continued their studies to go for a master's degree and so on to become doctors or lawyers, but I hadn't thought about that. I was working at the time at the Planning Department of Greece, and I had a colleague who had a friend who was the first landscape architect who returned to Greece from the US. I was talking to that colleague, who asked, “Couldn't you go to do a master's degree in landscape architecture?” and I said, "Landscape architecture?"
I started looking for colleges or universities that were offering the degree. Back then, it was different because online applications were not established. We had to mail a request to the different departments, and then they sent a brochure with the application. I had found a number of universities, but I didn't have time to apply to all of them, so I applied only to the University of Pennsylvania. I said, “That's life.” I decided that if they accepted me, I would go, and if they didn’t, I wouldn't go. In the end, I was accepted, and I had a good scholarship. It worked out with my one application.
Coming to the United States was the first time that I traveled by plane. I was 22 or 23. My mother helped pack my suitcase, and my parents took me to the airport. I didn’t know anyone before I came to the United States, but I had a good feeling that everything would work out. I don't think that I was very aware of what I was doing when I moved here. I had seen movies and had this idea of the US as a place that had lots of ideas and as a place people could go to be very well educated. They could practice their skills, and they could make a good life by being honest and truthful to themselves. That's what I had in my mind, and I think it proved to be true.
It was a Friday when I arrived. The chair of the department, a very famous landscape architect named Ian McHarg, who did a lot of good things for America and the world, greeted me and asked if I wanted to call my mom. I said yes, and he took me to his office, and I called her, speaking in Greek. I told her that I had arrived. I couldn't believe it because we didn't have personal phones, and my parents had been waiting for me to find a way to communicate. It took about a month until I got a land phone. After that call, we had a welcome party at the department.
There were about 30 students, American and international, from France, Spain, Greece, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and everywhere. We had a wonderful night, but as the night progressed, the Americans started talking about different things, and I could speak English, but they started talking about places and people that I didn’t understand. I got depressed, and when I left, I went to my room and cried all night. In the middle of the night, I remembered that I had a return ticket home. What is funny is that when I left nine years later, I was also crying, but I was crying because I was leaving. I knew that I had a good life here, but I was going back to Greece to start a new life, and I didn't know what was going to happen.
I ended up staying, and it took me until around Christmas to adjust, although I was having a good time. I was just not adjusted to the culture. For the first couple of months, I didn't have a radio. One day in the fall, I woke up to a lot of snow, so I didn't go to class. It was not only me but also other students who didn't make it to our classes. We were scolded by our professor who said that we needed to get a radio and be aware of what was happening. They wouldn’t allow any more absences and excuses, so after the snow melted, I went and bought a nice heavy coat and boots, and then it didn't snow until March. Now, I like the snow, even though everybody complains in Fargo. I like the freshness of the air. I think it helps clear my mind.
When I was a student here, there was a schedule and a program. Every day, I knew exactly what I was doing, and I got time for myself on the weekends. I would have time to go to places, do things to relax, and also enjoy the fact that I had accomplished quite a few things during the week. That's a feeling that I didn't have in Greece. In the US, you never have to go to the IRS, you file everything online, you never have to wait in long queues to go to the bank, to pay for electricity bills, or to go to the post office. You don't have everyday small things that really distract you from everything. When you wake up Monday morning in Athens, you have to go to different places to do this and that. Finally, by noon, you could go to your office and start your work day, but you are already exhausted.
Those things distracted me from focusing on my work. That difference was the major reason that I came, and it follows through until now. The way Americans live is very close to my identity. I like to wake up early. I like to do my work, to be honest about my work. I like to go to sleep early. I don't know if America today is the same as it used to be, but nowadays, it's not only America. It's everywhere. I think that Greece is not the place that I once knew.
In 1996, I went back to Greece, and I had a good job and a good life, but nothing would compare to what I had experienced while I was a student. I was dreaming of an academic career that would be different, and I could not pursue that type of academic career in Greece, no matter how hard I tried.
The moment I decided that I had reached my limit and exhausted everything I could do to really have the life I was dreaming of, I started looking for job positions in the US in September 2017. I was quite lucky because there were about 20 open positions that I applied for. I had about 10 Skype meetings for the first round of interviews and five in-person calls. After those five, I had another two scheduled, but by the time I had the other two, I had already signed the contract for NDSU.
It was stressful. In the beginning, you applied, then you checked your email, and when you don't see anything you get depressed. Soon, I started having some communication with the schools, and then I could see a light ahead. I became quite optimistic that something would work out in the end.
NDSU was the first offer that I got. I had been waiting for other places to give me offers. I only got a few days to think about it, so I reached out to the other schools. They couldn’t offer me more information because they had more applicants to interview. I figured that it was destiny. I had a good feeling from my interview at NDSU. The feeling was good from the department, and I had a very good connection with my colleagues. I didn't have any other preference for all of the other places because they also looked good.
When I came back in 2018, it was like I was only away for the summer, for vacation, and it was an instant adjustment back into the culture. The people here are nice and smiling, and everybody wanted to share stories and show me things.
I miss my family and friends. I miss some everyday things that I used to do, like going to my favorite market, which smells nice, and going to nice places, and my apartment, and the neighborhood. Then, when I think about real life and work, I come back to my senses that in daily life there, you don’t really enjoy what you enjoy when you go for vacation. I have realized from early on that my ideal situation is to work in the US and go for long vacations in Greece.
For holidays, I go back to Greece. The only holiday that I don't do anything for is Easter. In Philadelphia for Easter, we had a professor at the Regional Planning Department who was great. He would perform all the traditions for Easter, so I never missed a single Easter. Now, Easter time is kind of depressing. I miss it.
I don't cook almost anything Greek because all the ingredients I find are not of the quality that I am used to, so it turns out to be something Greek, but not as Greek as I like it. I have only met one Greek in the whole area, and she works at NDSU. We met, and we go for lunch and do some things.
My next goal is to make good progress in my academic career. I got my tenure, but I would like to go for professor, as right now I am an associate professor. I feel like I'm behind.
I find that we live in a bubble in the United States. Americans are very happy and very generous people, but they think that every place else is either the same or even better. A lot of people, because they haven't been to Europe, really admire it, and I do admire Europe and the culture, but I find that Americans do not appreciate how great America is.