The laws in Greece are different from those in the Netherlands, the language is obviously an additional difficulty. But above all: the public life, the customs, the way of dealing with each other. In short: the living culture.
And that is exactly why we, Anne and Hans Bentvelzen, felt attracted to Greece and the Greeks: stress-avoiding work, a nature and a climate that invite to live ‘outdoors’. No time pressure and a lot of being together in the “cafeterias” and “estiatorios”.
But if you buy land in a tangerine orchard like we did and start to build yourself, then you expect, as a real Dutchman, a tight planning, clear agreements and good consultation, especially when something deviates from the drawings or the time runs out.
The tension between the Greek lifestyle and the Dutch stress culture is inescapable.
With a few mistakes, HELLAS quickly becomes HELAAS.
In the first instance, we turned to Elxis for translation and legal assistance in drawing up the contracts: authorisations, purchase of land, building contracts and all the necessary actions at the notary’s office (for example, each party must bring its own lawyer!).
But the fact that Giorgos is a Greek himself who knows the Greek living culture by nature, and has become Dutch enough in the last 25 years to know our stress culture, has contributed a lot to the success of our Greek dream: a beautiful house, within budget (not within time frame of course!) on a perfect spot on the Peloponnese.
Giorgos, thanks for your humour and indeed: in Greece you solve more problems with a smile and a “kafedaki” than with getting angry. Sorry that we sometimes called you from Greece on Saturdays. Thanks for the advice and the pleasant cooperation.
