Working in Greece by the numbers
Today will be one of those shorter blogs as I left it until this morning to write it and now I want to get on with other things. Yesterday went a little awry as we went to Yialos to try and get some ‘starting work’ papers organised. Starting a job in Greece is not as straightforward as it is in, say, the UK.

To start with you need certain numbers from the tax office, you need to register and you need to be passed medically fit for work (if working in a taverna or bar etc.). So, we started (with George, my nephew) at the doctor’s surgery which was, as usual, quite popular on a Monday morning. We wanted to ask the doctors to stamp his medical book so that we could then go to the KEP office and ask about an Amka number. We waited, and waited until our turn was up and then went in, showed the doctor the book and asked what to do and were told that there isn’t a doctor on the island who can stamp these books, not at the moment. Our old doctor has just left, he was qualified to do this but now we will have to go to Rhodes to get the book stamped. Okay, so that’s going to mean a day off work (at least one) and a trip to Rhodes next week. Next stop, the KEP office.

KEP is rather like the CAB in the UK, as we’re talking in acronyms, and the ladies there are very helpful. He needs to have an AFIMI (ΑΦΜ) number from the tax office in Rhodes, once they have that then the KEP office can organise his AMKA number (your health insurance number) which will then be needed to pay and claim from IKA (like your N.I. subscriptions, health service etc.), so off to see the accountant at the bottom of the Kali Strata.

A quick chat with our friend there and yes, he needs to go to the Tax office in Rhodes to get an AFIMI number and then also get an Amka number. This we know, but can you arrange this for us? Yes, this Wednesday, but the accountant needs to take his passport, only the original will do and we need to sign some papers back at KEP to start the ball rolling. Back to the Town Hall and papers duly signed and stamped there, and then back to the accountant to hand them in, and that’s all fine he will sort out the numbers later this week. Meanwhile the health book is still to be done and now we can’t go to Rhodes to get that done on Wednesday this week as the accountant has the passport, and we can’t go on Friday as it’s Easter week and Good Friday, so it will have to wait until next week, meanwhile you can’t (legally) work as you’ve not got your health book stamped or your IKA numbers in and up to date and…

So, one day next week, probably Wednesday, one of us will go to Rhodes with George and find a doctor/heath clinic that can check the tests and stamp the book. Meanwhile, I’m off to Rhodes for the day tomorrow (again, I know!) and yes, we are in Easter Week here in Greece, visitors have started to arrive for holidays, bangers and dynamite is and will be going off, and we had some rain last night which the plants must have loved.

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Olympic Holiday rep job, interested?
I was contacted by Olympic Holidays on Saturday asking if I could publicise their Symi rep job. Happy as always to oblige my friends and neighbours (as the Beadle says in Sweeny Todd) here’s their email and contact details:

I wondered if you may be able to help me.  I’m looking to employ a full time rep for Olympic Holidays who lives on Symi for the 2016 summer season.  The position would be 8 hours per day, 6 days per week and we would need someone to start at the beginning of May until the middle of October – the job role includes:

• Providing excellent customer service to our customers on holiday
• Liaising with hoteliers/accommodation owners and agent (Symi Tours) to ensure accommodation standards are as expected
• Providing an informative welcome meeting to all arrivals on the island, taking excursion sales and booking them with the agent
• Weekly accounts for all excursion sales taken
• Visiting Rhodes on a Wednesday each week to escort departing guests and welcome and escort arrivals over to Symi
• Completing company paperwork as per company procedures
• Ensuring that company branding is in place on the island in all of our accommodations
• Problem solving for guests, ensuring an appropriate solution is found
• Possible other duties including: assisting when a guest may be ill or injured

The basic salary for this position would be: 410 GBP per month (must be paid into a UK bank account)

Commission:  6% of total excursion sales (paid monthly into UK account) + 2% held commission to be paid at the end of the season based on targets given and completion of the season.

If you know anyone who may be interested or it would be a possibility to advertise on any of your social media, I would really appreciate your help.

Should you need any further details, please let me know and I will respond accordingly.

We would prefer the candidate to have their own accommodation however, that is negotiable so would be interested to speak to anyone interested in the first instance as we may be able to help out.

Many thanks in advance

Rho Olympic Manager

[Click that title and you should be able to send a direct email]

I’d suggest my nephew but he has already started working for the summer; landed on Wednesday, first shift on Friday – we don’t hang about on Symi!

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And back to Symi, again
I thought I would share the hundreds of images I took in Rhodes last week, and then realised I only took five, and two of them were on Symi. Ah well; here are five images I took earlier this week.

And as for getting back to Symi: Since Wednesday night I’ve seen the harbour, as I walked around it, the village square and the inside of Georgio’s taverna, oh, and the supermarket. That’s about it. I have no idea what’s going on out there or down there but I can tell you that it’s still warm, though a little cloudy, and there is a wind from the northwest (I believe) that has a little bit of a bite to it. But only a kind of pre-teething bite, nothing that actually does any damage.

There have been boats though; some more sailing boats and private yachts, you know, the large ones. The ones that no-one really admits to liking but secretly wants to be invited on, or even better, own. ‘I hate those super-yachts,’ says One. ‘That’s a shame,’ says the other. A look passes between the two, One questioning, Two half-smiling in the pre-glow of a good putdown. ‘I was going to invite you aboard for dinner.’ ‘Well,’ One counters, ‘I didn’t mean yours of course.’

And so, into the weekend and what does that hold in store? Just writing for me, at the moment. Some housework no doubt and the thrill of some repotting in the courtyard perhaps. I am popping back to Rhodes on Wednesday for the day, so that will give me a day out. The Wednesday boat is popular for shoppers. You can save the price of your ticket by spending only one hour in Lidl and, if you spend two hours in Carrefour, you can also afford a hire car. It’s one of those eccentric mathematical figurings where they manage to make the term ‘the more you spend the more you save’ sound logical. Never works for me. If you wanted to save you wouldn’t spend at all. But you know what I mean.

It’s not just for the savings though, the reason the boats are treated like a local bus on shopping day. On Wednesday, with the boat on time, you actually get the right amount of shopping time. Leave here at 8.00, arrive just after 9.00 (this is with the punctual and fast Paros) and then you have five hours to do your stuff before being safely back on board with half an hour to spare. You can do the same on Friday but you have an extra four hours there. Perfect for a shop and a very long lunch but you’re not always guaranteed to leave on time if the weather is bad, as the boat goes down to Kastelorizo after Rhodes.

But yes, we have been having more boats including the Sea Dreams trips and some extra Dodekanisos coming for the day. I still advise you check the boat sites before you make your travel plans though as it’s still possible to not get back and forth conveniently on some days, and over-nigh stays in Rhodes are still possible.

There, that’s it from me. It’s been a busy week, what with work and wiring, beeps and books, arsenic and old lace. (No idea why, just came out; great film, must find it again.) And so I am off for a quiet weekend now, I hope. You never know what lies in store when you get back to Symi.

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Off topic with no matching photos
I hope you found the ideas for summer reading of interest. I am now back from a few fun days in Rhodes; I was over there to have another of my routine check-ups organised by my health insurance company, Axa. This was a follow on visit and involved a 24-hour blood pressure monitor. Actually, as I write, it’s still not finished as I am still in my hotel in Rhodes, on Wednesday morning, filling in time by getting this post ready in advance. I know I will be rushed when I get back so I thought it best to have some text noted down to save time later. (No appropriate photos today, though they were taken in Rhodes.)

Here’s the story so far: I turned up at the cardiologist at the appointed time, or ten minutes early as that’s how I am. I took a seat on the leather sofas, the place was much quieter this time, and very soon I was called in to be fitted out. The doctor wired me up with an arm band and digital recorder of some sort that hung around my neck and fixed across my ‘Empire Line’ with a belt. It did take a little getting used to but I was more concerned about what I looked like than how it felt. It went under my shirt but stuck out a little bit at chest level, giving me the appearance of being barrel chested; not a great look, especially when your shirt won’t tuck in. I felt a couple of feet deep, as it were, when in fact it hardly showed at all. Anyway, that set up, and with instruction’s like something out of Gremlins, ‘don’t get it wet,’ and a phone number in case I had any troubles, off I went.

The instructions, basically, were: when you hear two beeps, stand still and let your arm dangle if standing, or rest on a chair arm, or table, or at night, lie it flat. The arm band will then tighten and do its thing and then undo its thing and the box will beep again. If you’re moving and you miss it, it will try again after two minutes. And so on, every 20 minutes until around midnight when it would become once per hour until seven in the morning. Clever little thing. So, off I go and, as I pass the Plaza Hotel, staring in the windows to see what I look like, I think I hear a beep, but don’t realise what it is until my arm starts to be squeezed. Ah ha! That’s how it goes, but it was too late and the reading was not taken. Two minutes later, I am self-consciously crossing the foyer at the Lydia hotel when I hear the beep. What to do? I reach the lift in time and press the button and then stand stock still, hoping the doors won’t open until the thing is done. I read the notice about checkout times diligently for a full minute, and the lift doors open just as I get the confirmation beep and I’m okay.

Before my visit I had done the other things I needed to do, get new glasses, return the old Ote router, etc. and so, after viewing myself every which way but loose-fitting in the mirror, I decide that there’s nothing to be done except go for a wander. I was just passing a ladies’ fashion shop when the beeps went. I stopped and admired some startling gold creation, several pairs of kitten heels and some alarming underwear for a minute, hoping the shop assistant didn’t come out and move me on, and then the second beep gave the okay to move on. Sitting at the Plaza for a mineral water while deciding where to lunch, I wondered how noisy I was going to be; there were other people sitting quite close by. The machine not only beeps but then it vibrates and rumbles slightly and, as it lets the air out of its arm band, it makes a controlled farting noise in nine puffs. This was of some concern until I realised that everyone’s phones, tablets, computers, iThings and even the people themselves were also beeping and vibrating and, no doubt, silently parping along with my machine. Anyway, there was music was playing (some lift-music compilation with pop songs sung by the girl from Ipanema, it sounded like, – imagine Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ sung huskily by Astrud Gilberto to a bossa nova rhythm. Odd enough, but then try ‘Where the streets have no name.’)

So, off to the Chinese place up the road as a) it was hot and I didn’t want to walk too far with my halter-neck, low-cut accessory and b) I know I can get simple chicken and vegetables there and not have to have anything with chips. I beeped and vibrated my way through a basic dish and a beer, thinking ‘Ha! Take that you BP monitor,’ and then wandered back to my hotel, stopping here and there to spontaneously sit with dodgy looking old men on walls opposite the college and not move for a minute, apparently for no good reason. I am surprised no one threw small change at me, or called the authorities. Later, after a rest in my room, I did some more walking, impromptu menu studying, sudden arresting on traffic islands, some rather stalkish behaviour on the seafront, and the occasional pause to deeply admire a tree. It took me a long while to realise that, in order to look normal, all you need to do in this circumstance is to stand still anywhere and stare at your mobile phone. No one bats an eyelid at static strangers staring at screens, so that became my modus operandi for the rest of the day.

Night-time came, after a very pleasant and cheap dinner at the Plaza, and I put my ear plugs in to guard against the beeping and air-expulsion noises and tried to sleep on my back. I’m usually a sleep-on-front kind of guy but that was out of the question. How does Iron Man do it? I wondered. I fell asleep once the once-an-hour routine kicked in and that was fine. Didn’t hear the beeps at all. But I did wake up with the feeling that someone was gripping my arm; gave me a bit of a shock the first time round, then I got used to that too. But it was a bit of a rough night to say the least. I finally gave up and got up when my nephew sent me a message from Gatwick to let me know he was about to get on the plane. I wrote back. He replied, ‘You’re up early.’ I replied, ‘Well, I am now,’ and so the day started.

Blimey, that was a long post. It’s now nearly time for me to take my accessory back to the doctor for the verdict, after which I am meeting said Nephew and heading home.

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A good Greek read

I mentioned that I might talk about books for a couple of days, while I am away. Well, I’ve been doing some searching around and I thought I would mention three Greece/book related items each day for the next three days. I will be starting with my own, of course – I mean, what else is the point of these pages? I know many regular readers have this already, or the kindle version, but for those who don’t, you might be interested in ‘Symi 85600.’

This is an honest account of our arriving on Symi back in 2002 and the five years following. it’s made up of actual diary entries and emails, letters and some articles that I wrote at that time.

I remember speaking to Faith Warn, who wrote ‘The Bitter Sea’ a book about sponge diving on Kalymnos and she asked if I was writing a diary about our experiences. This was within a few months of living here. I was, actually, and she told me that this (then) was the best time to do so as you are open and fresh and things are not clouded by experience as they might be later when you start to have opinions on what you see around you. So, Symi 85600 is just that. It’s also got a ‘How to’ guide at the end (How to move to a Greek island), there are some jottings from Neil and a few black and white doodles from me. You can find ‘Symi 85600’ here.

The Messenger Of Athens – Anne Zouroudi
You can’t talk about any ‘Symi based’ book without talking about this wonderfully evocative novel from Anne. Regular visitors to the island will recognise Symi places and people in the inspiration behind this book and anyone who loves Greece will love this book, and the others in the series. I mention this one particularly as it’s the first in the series and I know that it uses Symi as its backdrop. Follow this link, and then search around for other Anne Zouroudi titles, including her new short stories, here.

And the third item to consider is for Facebook users. A Good Greek Read is a group set up by John Manuel in Rhodes. John write the Ramblings From Rhodes blog where you can also find a link to his official author site. John writes novels as well as blog posts and on his Facebook group page he publicises the work of other writers who have set their novels in Greece, of which have a Greek theme. It’s a handy resource for finding good books and features on authors, and anyone who is a member can post their own thoughts and suggestions about, well, about good Greek reads.

There, there’s three or more ideas for you and I am sure you will find some extra holiday reading among the list of links above. I’ll be back tomorrow with three other Greek/Greece related ideas for summer (or winter) reading. I won’t actually be back, I’m writing this last Sunday as today I am not here; such is the wonder of time travel, or rather, scheduled blog posting. Enjoy your reading.

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