{"id":2143,"date":"2012-03-07T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2012-03-07T17:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.studyabroad101.com\/?p=2143"},"modified":"2012-03-07T12:00:11","modified_gmt":"2012-03-07T17:00:11","slug":"misconceptions-greece-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyabroad101.com\/blog\/2012\/03\/misconceptions-greece-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Misconceptions Of Greece As Seen On The Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abroad101 is please to introduce Monica, a study abroad student with College Year in Athens.<\/a> Here’s what she has to say about studying in a destination that has some negative press: <\/em><\/p>\n

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Demonstrations in Syntagma Square<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It can be difficult to decide where you want to study abroad when numerous destinations await you. It gets even harder when you weigh in political, cultural, economic and many other factors. Greece is an amazing, historical and picturesque country. However, when families and students in America see Greece portrayed as a dangerous and economically unstable country, it can be one of the first to be crossed off the list of study abroad options. After being here a little over a month, I quickly realized how skewed the media portrays the situation here.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, February 12th, an important decision was being made about the bailout plan for Greece in a meeting with the Parliament and European Union members. Demonstrations were taking place throughout the day in Syntagma Square where the parliament building is located, and Greek citizens and political parties cordially made sure their voices were heard in the square. Two friends and I decided to standby and witness history in the making. My fellow student, Karen Seif, had an overwhelming look on her face of astonishment and sadness. \u201cThe looks on their faces\u2026 They care so much about their country,\u201d she said, as she glanced around at all of the people protesting.\u00a0\tWe had a feeling things might get out of hand, since we were warned by our school not to attend the protests in the first place.<\/p>\n

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Demonstrators in Syntagma Square, Greece<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All it took was what Greeks here denote as \u201cthe hooded Anarchists\u201d to come and turn a calm scenario into a horrifying one. In a matter of minutes tear gas was thrown, chaos broke out and I was out of Syntagma Square before I could count to ten. \u00a0The destructive rioters set a bank on fire, destroyed ATM\u2019s and put an ancient theatre up in flames that meant a great deal to the people here. \u00a0I\u2019m not going to glamorize the situation and make it seem like nothing dangerous happened, because if I stayed there was a chance something bad could have happened. \u00a0However, what I want to say is the danger didn\u2019t leave the vicinity of Syntagma Square, and as long as harmless citizens weren\u2019t in the area they would be perfectly okay.<\/p>\n

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I woke up the next morning and went back to life as normal. I was overwhelmed with the Emails and Facebook messages I received asking, \u201cAre you okay?!\u201d I was confused. \u201cYes, I\u2019m okay, why?\u201d I asked. I was told that my friends were seeing horrible things on the news about what was going on in Greece. I quickly turned to CNN and NBC News in Chicago, two stations which I receive most of my updates from. I was shocked and utterly dismayed at the videos I saw.\tI was upset because the media portrayed Greece as if everybody is mentally unstable and the whole entire country is up in chaos.<\/p>\n

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Demonstrators in Syntagma Square, Greece<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To make things clear, it was only one night where things got out of hand. The people in Greece as a whole are not crazy and it is by no means an unsafe environment for me to be here studying in.\tI was emotionally affected because my Greek professor, a woman who is optimistic and always smiling, was furious that a group of people would do something like this to make their country look delusional. Demonstrations are a way of life and part of the culture here. It\u2019s normal to voice an opinion. But, being violent and dangerous is taboo and unacceptable to most of this society.<\/p>\n

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Demonstrators in Syntagma Square, Greece<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pictures modify the emotions of Greeks while protesting. I\u2019d like to give credit to Jonathon Churchin for two of the pictures.\u00a0\tYou can\u2019t believe everything you watch in the media. Don\u2019t let misconceptions keep you from studying abroad in any country. Make sure you do your research and ask people and students currently in the study abroad program about the country\u2019s circumstances. If it wasn\u2019t safe for you to be there, it probably wouldn\u2019t be an option in the first place. I aspire to be a journalist and I am here telling you that the media can sometimes be deceiving. You can\u2019t believe everything you hear on the news and read on the Internet. Studying abroad is an amazing experience, and I would hate for something like the media to sway your decision about where you want to go.<\/p>\n

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About Me:<\/strong>
\nMy name is Monica Kucera, I am a junior at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. I\u2019m double majoring in Journalism and Public Relations\/Advertising. I’m currently studying abroad in Greece with\u00a0College Year in Athens<\/a><\/strong>. My goal is to work in online journalism specializing in fitness health or sports. Check out my personal blog at http:\/\/GoalsForGals.wordpress.com.
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Monica Kucera in Greece<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


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Abroad101 is please to introduce Monica, a study abroad student with College Year in Athens. Here’s what she has to say about studying in a destination that has some negative press: It can be difficult to decide where you want to study abroad when numerous destinations await you. It gets even harder when you weigh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[682],"class_list":["post-2143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories-from-abroad","author-pwpadmin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t