It was started in July 2016 by two women, Maria Ohilebo and Nadina Christopoulou, for refugee women arriving in Athens. Melissa, meaning ‘honey bee’ in Greek, is one of a few organizations in Athens helping refugee women learn skills like empowerment, coding, Greek language, and leadership. The doors to Melissa are always open, easing the transition for these women and giving them the resources they need to be successful in a new country. The Independent further describes some of the challenges these women face and how Melissa is helping them along the way.

“You see women coming in here with broken wings. They have faced so many challenges. But within the span of one or two weeks here you start to see new personalities emerging,” the organisation co-founder says.

One woman, who fled violence in Laos and arrived in Athens almost exactly one year ago says Melissa has been a lifeline.

To read this article in full, please visit: The Independent

Max Novak, a 22-year old student from USC Dornsife, was in Thebes, Greece when he was participating in an archaeological dig where there was a sanctuary of Poseidon. He was working for 5 hours when he found a B.C.-era bronze sword. As USC Dornsife reports:

“As I was digging in the periphery, I noticed the tip of this thing,” said Novak, who graduated in the spring. “I tapped on it and it had a metallic sound.” It was a bronze sword, likely from the Hellenic period, fourth-third century B.C.

Novak used brushes and a small stick to scrape away sediment, then slowly lifted it out.

This summer trip was possible due to the Kallins Hellenic Studies Summer Fellowship, a new opportunity for undergraduate and graduate research and travel through the Classics Department at USC Dornsife. Novak, who studied classics and art history, was one of three students receiving the fellowship for the first time.

To read this article in full, please visit: USC Dornsife

Did you know that about 150.000 English words derive from ancient Greek? It shouldn't surprise you then, that many idioms and sayings also originate from ancient Greek.

Your Achilles Heel literally means your weak spot. According to Greek Mythology, Achilles was invincible all over his body except for his heel because when his mother dipped him in the River Styx, she held him by one of his heels. During the Trojan War, Paris shot an arrow and struck the only vulnerable spot on Achilles' body: his heel.

Between a rock and a hard place

Between a rock and a hard place, means having to choose between two evils. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus had to pass between two sea monsters, Scylla and Charybdis, who dwelled on opposite sides of the strait of Messina. Odysseus chose to pass by Scylla, the lesser of the two evils, thinking he would lose fewer men, than passing through Charybdis, the whirlpool.

Knock On Wood

The habit of touching/knocking on wood, to avoid bad luck, or to bring good luck, goes back to ancient Greece, where it was believed that wood nymphs called dryads lived inside trees. The ancient Greeks would touch a tree, hoping to invoke good luck or protection from the wood nymphs dwelling within.

 

To read this article in full, please visit: Greeker Than The Greeks

 

Great news for education in Greece! The academic community will surely be proud that NTUA has been voted a Top-10 University worldwide and that a school from the small town of Trikala, is paving the way for a better future for children in terms of nutritional and environmental practices! Also, how would you like to take part in two amazing giveaways? Check this week's newsletter for more information!

A competitive salary alone is no longer enough to attract and retain top staff. Instead, workers now expect companies to offer packages which support their wellbeing and lifestyle requirements too.

 

According to the Workplace Culture Trends report for 2018, 86% of millennials said they would consider taking a pay cut in order to work at a company that offers packages which suit their values and lifestyle. Such perks include access to healthcare, gym memberships and parental leave. And companies are listening.

 

The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans report that more than nine in ten companies around the world offer staff at least one form of wellness benefit, and more than three in five have an allocated ‘wellness budgets’. What’s more, these budgets are expected to increase by 7.8% in the coming years and, according to Deloitte, the corporate wellbeing market as a whole will be worth $11.3 billion in 2021.

 

The term ‘wellbeing’ is a broad one and can cover just about any aspect of an employee’s life. So, which specific areas are companies focusing on in 2020?

Already a hot topic, the mental health of employees will continue to dominate wellbeing agendas. It’s estimated that stress and lack of work-life balance support costs the EU €20bn per year, Australia ($30bn), Canada ($12bn) and US ($300bn) through reduced productivity. Furthermore, a study by the Britain’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 80% of employees with mental ill health in the UK struggle to concentrate, 50% are potentially less likely to be patient with clients or customers and 37% are more likely to get into conflict with colleagues. It’s also estimated that in the UK alone, mental ill health costs employers between £33bn-£42bn per year, so it’s clear to see why businesses will continue to address these issues in 2020.

 

A good example of an organisation tackling mental health among its workforce is Transport for London (TFL), the government body responsible for transport links in the UK capital. An employer of around 27,000 people, TFL offers tailored metal health support in the form of counselling, trauma services and a telephone helpline offering emotional support to employees.

Financial Support

Employers are also set to offer more financial wellness support in 2020. According to research carried out by Salary Finance, in the US, almost half of US employees are worried about money. What’s more, the PWC Employee Fit and Wellness Survey also  revealed that employees stressed about their finances are absent from work for twice as many days as those who were not stressed, again impacting productivity and a company’s ability to operate at full capacity.

This is an issue that businesses have begun to address in recent years, with figures from Bank of America’s 2019 Workplace Benefits Report showing that twice as many companies offer financial wellbeing support today (53%) compared to four years ago (24%). However, according to research done by Thomsons Online Benefits, there are still a number of barriers preventing businesses from offering financial wellbeing programmes to employees. For example, almost one in four companies are concerned about the risk of getting too involved in their employees’ financial lives, 20% think that it’s not their role to do so and 24% worry about the costs of offering such support.

Despite these concerns, there’s been a clear upward trend of businesses offering financial wellbeing packages to their employees as they continue to recognise the impact financial worry has on their wellbeing.

Flexible Working

As employees look to achieve greater work-life balance, they are increasingly seeking work with businesses that offer flexibility. This has become so important to employees that the latest IWG Global Workspace Survey found 83% of workers around the world would turn down a job that didn’t offer flexible working, with 54% saying that having a choice of work location is more important to them than working for a prestigious company.

As a result of this demand, in the past ten years, 85% of businesses have introduced a flexible workspace policy, or are planning to adopt one. However, a number of companies still have reservations about flexible working with 60% saying that changing the organisational culture is the main barrier to implementing a flexible workspace policy and over a third (41%) say that fear of how flexible working may impact the overall company culture is the biggest obstacle.  

Employee Wellbeing In 2020

The employee wellbeing market has grown significantly in recent years with HR departments continuing to identify effective ways of building a happy and motivated workforce. This growth shows no signs of slowing up in 2020 with employee mental health, financial wellbeing and flexible working all expected to become integral parts of staff wellbeing packages.

 

For more information on how flexible working could benefit your business, please visit IWG.

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This content has been sponsored by IWG - an XpatAthens Brand Partner.
Originally published at IWG

Every year on the anniversary of moving to Greece, Lynn Roulo, an American expat and a good friend of XpatAthens puts together a list of reasons why she loves living in Greece. Nine years ago, she left her job and life in San Francisco and decided to make the move to Athens, Greece. She has never looked back!

Here are this year's top 10–plus an extra reason–why she loves living in Greece:

 

 

 

1. The Region Of Mani

Since international travel was unpredictable, local travel became more attractive, and I went on a road trip to Mani, a part of south mainland Greece in the Peloponnese. In Mani, you can easily spend weeks going from village to village and ancient site to ancient site. The landscape is beautiful and rugged, the beaches unspoiled, the tavernas offer inexpensive and amazing Greek dishes, and there are lots of hidden surprises in the area. My favorite was the shipwreck in Valtaki named Dimitrios. It is like straight out of a movie…

2. Use of “oula”

In the Greek language, it is considered rude to be too direct so Greeks add “oula” to the end of a word to soften the delivery. If you want to ask for the price of something, “timi” (price) becomes “timoula?” (sweet, little price). Need a favor? “Hari” becomes “haroula” as in “I need a sweet, little favor.” I got good at that one this year…

3. Outdoor Everything

As the pandemic unfolded, and it became clear that transmission was less likely in outdoor environments, I was very grateful to be in Greece. From outdoor cinemas, to beach bars and outside dining, everything is done outdoors anyway in the warmer weather. For the months we weren’t in lockdown, it was easy to keep our social lives moving along. The outdoor theatres (called theorion) are my favorite, and you’ll find them all over Greece, from tiny villages in Ikaria to the famous Thission Outdoor Summer Cinema in Athens where you can see the Acropolis from the seating area. It’s magical watching a movie under the stars on a hot Greek summer night.

4. Athens Is Cleaning Up

Omonia Square used to be a really rough part of Athens where prostitutes and drug dealers hung out. Even in the daylight and with my dog, I never felt comfortable walking through the neighborhood. But this year, they’ve cleaned up the square by installing an elegant water fountain in the center, planting green grass all around, adding better lighting, and having police on patrol during the evening hours. I won’t say it’s like Union Square in San Francisco, but it’s starting to have that feel. Nice!

5. The Food Delivery People

E-food and Wolt delivery people were my unsung heroes during the pandemic and in the first lockdown, I saw them more often than I saw my own friends. Fast, reliable, and supporting lots of restaurants and food establishments, they became small symbols of resilience. I love watching them whiz through Athens on their scooters and bikes. Wolt also became a verb when I had to ask my friend “Can you Wolt me a burrito? I lost my wallet…” I like them so much, I even acquired my own Wolt jacket. Fashion circa 2020…

6. I Became A Greek Correspondant

Like many of you, the pandemic changed the way I earn money. With Airbnb and yoga income collapsing, I changed my focus, and 2020 is the year I became a freelance writer and the Greek correspondent for International Living, a site that helps people move abroad. It is almost like a small miracle because now I get paid to write about and promote the country I love.

7. Ertflix

ERT, the Greek national television station, started a free online movie service called Erflix, and I started watching a series called “Our Best Years” (Τα καλύτερα χρόνια μας). It’s the rough equivalent of the US show “The Wonder Years” and is set in Greece around the time of the dictatorship (early seventies). I love watching life in Greece during a different era, when things moved at a slower pace. And as another benefit, it’s helping my Greek. Thanks Ertflix.

8. Hidden Neighborhoods

To relieve the monotony of being housebound during lockdown, I take my dog Andromeda on long walks most days. This was the year I explored Dafni, Exarchia, Kallithea, Gazi, Mets, Metaxiougio, Petralona, Tavros the list goes on. There are hidden corners everywhere, and our long daily strolls keep life interesting during Lockdown 2. I’ve found haute couture dress shops in Kallithea, modern lofts in Gazi, the organic food stores in Petralona, and even an ancient Aqueduct I had never heard of in Kolonaki. Athens has lots of secrets to uncover when you go off the beaten path.

9. The Greek Government’s Response To The Pandemic

It’s a tremendously difficult situation and no country nailed it 100%, but Greece is doing a pretty good job. The administration follows science, takes measured actions, communicates clearly and regularly, and offers rational explanations for their decisions. They even came up with innovative ideas like “click away” when the holidays were approaching but the virus case numbers didn’t support a reopening of the shops. It hasn’t become “us against them” and instead the response felt like a mature approach to an international crisis.

10. The Holiday Decorations Throughout Athens In December 2020

In April of 2019, I was baptized Greek Orthodox with the name Evangelia/Ευαγγέλια and as part of the process, I formed a relationship with a church and a Greek Orthodox priest. I love my church–it is called the Ragavas Church in Plaka, and it is where the revolution in 1821 started in Athens. They have a special bell-ringing ceremony on March 25th to commemorate the revolution, which works out well for me since that’s also my name day.

11. The Greek Attitude In The Face Of Crisis

The pandemic has been hard for the entire world, but as Greece was just coming out of a decade long economic crisis, it has been really difficult here. Over 20 percent of the country’s GDP is based on tourism, and the country has a very large elderly population, making the situation even more precarious. But the country came together, and phrases like “kali dinami” (good strength) and “ipomoni” (patience) became our daily mantras. This isn’t a pandemic thing though. I saw this same resilience during the 2015 referendum crisis. There was one week in July of 2015 when we didn’t know if we’d leave the euro zone or stay. Everyone was tense and stressed. In the middle of all this I overheard a taxi driver say to his friends “A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman whether we spend drachmas or euros.…we’ll be fine.” Yeah, we will...Thanks for the reminder Greece. Love you.

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Lynn is an American Kundalini yoga and Enneagram instructor teaching a unique combination of the two systems, combining the physical benefits of Kundalini yoga with the psychological growth tools of the Enneagram.

 

Most of her adult life has been as a Certified Public Accountant (US CPA) working in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco technology start up and venture capital industries. In 2012, she decided to move to Athens, Greece for purely intuitive reasons.  She's not Greek by heritage, she did not have a job here, she didn’t speak any Greek (at the time), and there wasn't a Greek man in the picture either! She simply had a really clear feeling that she should go to Greece. And so she did.

 

“I remember getting on the plane to leave San Francisco. My dog and two cats were in cargo below and I had packed a suitcase full of clothes. Almost everything else I had sold or given away. There wasn’t anyone to meet me in Athens because I didn’t know anyone. But it was one of the calmest moments of my life. I was totally sure I was making the right choice.  And I haven’t regretted it at all. I love Greece.”

We're thrilled to collaborate with Lynn as an official XpatAthens Content Contributor! To learn more about her and all the great things she does in Athens please click here.

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Greece is a vibrant hub for digital professionals—a place where remote workers, solopreneurs, freelancers, and business owners come together to create, grow, and thrive. Although finding a great workspace and the right support can be challenging—that’s where we come in!

Created by XpatAthens, on Virtual Office Greece you can explore a variety of workspaces that match your unique needs—from professional offices and co-working spaces to welcoming cafés where creativity flows. Whether you prefer structure, collaboration, or a quiet corner to focus, there’s a space waiting for you.