Greek Holidays: The Day of NO

Today is one of the two largest national holidays here in Greece, Όχι (Oh-hee) Day.  It commemorates Greece's rejection of Mussolini's demand for Axis troops to occupy parts of Greece.  More information can be found on the Wiki page.

 Our kids had their Όχι Day celebrations yesterday, and we were excited that they bore a striking resemblance to the celebrations we had attended at our Greek School stateside.  M's class sang songs, recited poems and marched in a very small parade.  M didn't get to yell "Ζήτω το Ὀχι"(Long live the No!) this year, to my disappointment.


After M's class was dismissed, he and I made our way to the auditorium where the elementary school was having a performance.  The fourth grade gave the presentations for Z's school, and I suppose she sat through it with pleasure.  She told me that there was a really funny part, but M and I only caught the tail end of the performance.  After the hour-long γιορτή (party), the kids were off from school.


Today we slept a little later (if you can call 6:45 later).  The kids worked hard to make a Greek flag, which we hung on our balcony so we could look like everyone else. We tried to watch the parade in Thessaloniki over TV, but it was cancelled because of protests.  Z and M spent the rest of the day humming and singing the Greek national anthem, which is pretty catchy.

Is it strange that our kids know far more about Greek history and holidays than American ones?

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