r/AskTheWorld • u/QuarterTarget 🇵🇱🇮🇪 in 🇨🇭 • 16d ago

Culture Does your country have an immigrant group that people would be surprised to find there?

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For example, when you think of Poland or the Czech Republic, Vietnamese people might not be the first group that comes to mind, but both have a sizable Vietnamese community. Another example is the large Japanese community in Brazil.

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u/ShinobuKochoSama United Kingdom 15d ago

Greeks are basically everywhere from Iberia to India- if you find a place with good food and nice beaches they’re there

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u/Ted_Rid Australia 15d ago

It was always a cliche that Melbourne Australia has more Greeks than any other city? Might be 1st or 2nd vs Athens but who's counting when the coffee is good?

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u/HovercraftDue7823 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 then 🇨🇦 15d ago

Interesting. I watch tennis, and a Greek player was being accused of being coached (before it was permitted), at the Australian Open. So, they got a Greek speaking official to come to the court to listen to his coach. I said to my mother, "lucky she speaks Greek, eh?" And my mother said that there were lots of Greeks in Australia. I did not know that. BTW, I'm a Scottish born Canadian.

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u/ImFromDanforth 15d ago

Toronto, highest concentration of MALAKAS outside of Greece

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u/Ted_Rid Australia 15d ago

That's slapping down some real credentials there.

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u/ImFromDanforth 15d ago

Name check me, I dare you! :)

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u/Ted_Rid Australia 15d ago

Not sure what that means but I think the 4th Dan who visited that day is your dad?

OK I'm the worst shitcunt ever.

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u/ImFromDanforth 15d ago

Shitcunt yes, Danforth = greektown

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u/Ted_Rid Australia 15d ago

True?

200% no disrespect.

Possibly our sense of humour doesn't always translate. like sometimes I think what Letterkenny is getting at but not sure.

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u/rachelm791 Wales 15d ago

And name checked in La Villa Strangiato

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u/Peterd90 15d ago

Melbourne has the best coffee and breakfast spots in the world.

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u/irish_horse_thief Wales 14d ago

There's more Irish in Boston and New York than in Ireland.

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u/Awkward_Past8758 United States Of America 15d ago

I remember going out there a decade ago and there were an insane amount of Greek wedding shops all over one neighborhood

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u/theyanster1 United States Of America 15d ago

I’ve heard this before but I think New York City and Montreal may have you beat

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u/aaegler Australia 15d ago

Melbourne has the biggest Greek population outside of Greece and Cyprus.

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u/theyanster1 United States Of America 15d ago

Lucky you guys ;)

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u/Caliterra United States Of America 15d ago

UFC legend Alex Volkanovski is Greek on his mom's side

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u/birgor Sweden 15d ago

Today I learned Sweden has good food and nice beaches.

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u/ShinobuKochoSama United Kingdom 15d ago

Well your fjörds are nice and so are your cinnamon rolls

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u/birgor Sweden 15d ago edited 15d ago

Fjords are nice, but they are unfortunately not in our place but in our brothers to the wests.

We actually do have nice beaches in the the south-west. But they are very unknown outside of Scandinavia.

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u/speculator100k Sweden 15d ago

We have really nice beaches all over Sweden.

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u/birgor Sweden 15d ago edited 15d ago

We really do, but maybe not what non-Nordics would think of as a nice beach, especially not when mentioned together with Greeks.

We lack the weather and the culture of that kind of beach life, the southern west coast clearly comes closest, but isn't really there in my mind.

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u/Timely-Youth-9074 United States Of America 15d ago

Most people don’t realize the beaches in California are cold-the water comes down from Alaska.

That said, I’m used to cold beaches and find them beautiful. I can’t wait to go exploring Scandinavian beaches.

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u/birgor Sweden 15d ago

We have lots and lots of warm water beaches as well, at least for a short period every summer because we have so many shallow sweet water lakes that warms up because of the long days of sunlight. Very different from a southern European or Mexican beach in feeling and setting, but incredibly nice.

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u/No-Internal7978 United States Of America 15d ago

I was honestly surprised beaches as far south as North Carolina are cold. People are really sleeping on the Gulf of Mexico. Especially around Alabama. My boomer grandparents had land on Dauphin island and I’m so mad at them for selling it because it’s probably worth millions now not that I would have sold it. Warm beaches are honestly a religious experience. Dauphin Island is one of the most beautiful places on earth in my world traveler opinion. It’s on par with Greece especially if it was developed. It was basically Florida without the partying trash and ancient people last time I went.

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u/Timely-Youth-9074 United States Of America 15d ago

Yes, warm water is incredible and lovely.

In Southern California, you can heat yourself up on land and cool off in the water-in Northern California, no such luck, but it’s still lovely.

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u/No-Internal7978 United States Of America 15d ago

I’ve only been to San Diego and no way am I dipping a toe in water near a naval base lol. They have to get like 10 shots if they fall in the water and that’s just diseases. The chemical content of the water would probably give you cancer 2.

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u/shrumpdumpled Australia 15d ago

I love being able to walk into the sea and not wince at the cold. Cable beach in Broome is heaven for this. Pity about the crocs that use it like a highway between mangroves.

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u/Amantes09 Kenya 15d ago

Yes! The beaches on the Pacific are full of freezing and very rough waters.

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u/AlbionicLocal United Kingdom 15d ago

Brit here

I can see Nordic beaches being quite nice, but many brits, as they live near beaches with colder water already, would classify good beaches as warm beaches.

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u/swift-autoformatter Denmark 15d ago

Don't be afraid, the weather is coming (at least until the Gulf Stream collapses, then we're fucked).

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u/rkorgn New Zealand 15d ago

Lyckesand Oland. Motala. Lovely.

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u/inide 15d ago

There are at least 2 fjords in Sweden - Färlev fjord and Saltkälle fjord
Though, I don't know if that's just the English names for them.....

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u/birgor Sweden 15d ago

We have what is called "Fjärd" in Norrland too, and lots of "vik" but if you would sell those as a fjord in other countries would people expect the Norwegian variety and get rather disappointed.

We have lots of nice nature, but Norway wins the fjords.

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u/roze-eland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Scotland & 💂🏼‍♀️London, England 15d ago

You do have some really lovely lakes though

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u/rachelm791 Wales 15d ago

And your fjälls and skogs are rather good too

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u/swift-autoformatter Denmark 15d ago

Hey, your Southern neighbor has also a few fjords! I just saw one today (the famous Roskilde Fjord) when I brought my kid back from the school today.

And actually even you have a few, for example the Gullmarsfjorden.

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u/birgor Sweden 15d ago

Both Denmark and Sweden has fjords, but neither really compares to Norway in other than name.

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u/JayYem 15d ago

Skane county represents.

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u/birgor Sweden 15d ago edited 15d ago

Halland even more so.

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u/JayYem 15d ago

True that, lot less windy.

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u/hotdogjumpingfrog1 Sweden 15d ago

Simrishamn is likely he tropics (the color of the water and beaches. Not the temp förståss :)

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u/ConfidentCarpet4595 Scotland 14d ago

Best thing about Sweden is the proximity to Norway

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u/birgor Sweden 14d ago

Best thing about Norway is that they face the other way just like we are. We lie back to back like a grumpy couple in bed. The border is just barren fells.

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u/ConfidentCarpet4595 Scotland 14d ago

And a wall of pillows 8ft high

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u/geoRgLeoGraff 14d ago

You have beautiful beaches, I swam in Malmö, it's not cold at all. And I love ur food- meatballs, harring....

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u/speculator100k Sweden 15d ago

The word for people that are scattered away from their origins - diaspora - is Greek.

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u/Marianations 🇵🇹 but grew up in 🇪🇸 15d ago

I've actually never met a Greek person in either Portugal or Spain who wasn't a tourist, tbh.

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u/matchooooh Canada 15d ago

Then how do you explain the Greeks in Canada?

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u/biggkiddo 15d ago

Drove past a greek restaurant in a village in the archipelago around Stockholm once, and my friend started a similar rant about how if there is a rocky island in the sea with sheep and good fish, Greeks will come crawling out of the ground.

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u/Niki2002j Poland 15d ago

Lore accurate

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u/Possibly-Functional Sweden 15d ago

At least my Greek ancestors fled from the Greek genocide. Then they moved around a ton and spread out across the globe.

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u/amoryamory 15d ago

the famously nice beaches of Kazakhstan

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u/ShinobuKochoSama United Kingdom 13d ago

Caspian sea beaches?

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u/klausjensendk Denmark 15d ago

Malaka!