When Michael Kazan, the Hellenic Club of Canberra’s Cultural Advisor, migrated to Australia, he thought Australia’s capital would be the perfect place for him – for in his head, Canberra was as big as the Big Apple itself, New York. He didn’t ask anyone what Canberra was like, and he wasn’t given any advice on what to expect. He just boarded the plane.
“I arrived in Australia in 1970 under the Assisted Migration Program. I was on the Patris and disembarked in Melbourne,” Michael starts his story.
“I didn’t like Melbourne at all – it was the end of May and it was foggy and cold. I bought a ticket to Canberra, my friend took me to the airport, and off I went.”
On the plane and unable to speak a word of English, Michael noticed that it was time to land by the flashing seatbelt lights. But unlike his fellow passengers, he was confused. He thought to himself, we have to be making an emergency landing – why else would the plane be landing in a tiny village instead of Canberra?
“I remember looking at the other passengers and no one looked concerned so I thought, well, maybe it’s a stop,” he says with a slight chuckle.
“All the passengers had disembarked, but I sat on the place thinking, surely we must be taking off again, and then I will arrive in Canberra.”
The plane didn’t. He was approached by a stewardess to make his way off the plane. Still confused, Michael walked around the tiny airport that he described as a “tin shed” until he heard someone speaking Greek. He found an old couple, and made his way over and asked, “I want to go to Canberra, what am I doing in this village?”
“The lady took me by the hand and directed me to a big sign that said Canberra and said to me, ‘look darling, you are in Canberra!'”
As Canberra celebrates its 100th year of existence, Michael takes time to reminisce about his 43 years in a city that has evolved and been shaped by many communities, including the Greek community. To celebrate, the Greek embassy is putting on an exhibition by eight Greek Australian artists who are asked to create works which symbolise their impressions of Canberra.
The Windows to the World program is an initiative of open days by Embassies and High Commissions in the Capital to celebrate Canberra’s Centenary, with an event held at the Greek Embassy today. The artwork used in this event will then appear in an exhibition entitled ‘Celebrating Canberra’s Centenary with a spark of Hellenicity’ at the Hellenic Club of Canberra from 11 October to 3 November.
The Hellenic Club in Canberra is one of the most significant meeting places for Greeks of the diaspora, and as Michael says, “there is no place like it in the world”.
It was born as a place for early Greek migrants to congregrate. Before that, they would meet at a function room in a hotel, and would be served food prepared by the hotel and had to leave by 12 o’clock.
“The idea was to build something so we could eat what we wanted to eat and stay for as long as we wanted. It started in a very small way.”
But Michael credits the fact that the Greek community worked closely together in Canberra – no matter what region you were from.
“The [Greek community in Canberra] became a great support for compatriates, especially with people who came from certain parts of Greece, because there was a need for people from the same place to get together and reminisce about their region or island, so many associations and brotherhoods began developing. But when it came to build or buy the Hellenic Club, everybody worked together, and that’s why we have something you can’t find anywhere else.”
When Michael first arrived in Canberra, he didn’t know anyone. He couldn’t speak the language, had no money and was desperate for work. He went to the unemployment office and was told by the Greek interpreter to come back the next day – but he persisted, saying there must be something available. He mentioned that, in Greece, he had used the newspaper to find a job, so the interpreter grabbed a copy of the Canberra Times, showed Michael the jobs page, and told him to look for his own job.
“The only thing I could see and read was Post Office,” remembers Michael with his then-limited knowledge of English. He asked if he wouldn’t mind calling and making an appointment for him there and then, and he got an interview with the post office.
“When I got there… the Post Master had a kind face, so I looked him straight in his eyes and said, look, I just arrived; I don’t have any money; I am desperate and I [don’t] speak English, but I lived in Italy for six years so I told him I was at least familiar with the alphabet; and I said, ‘give me a job for a week, and if I can’t do it, then you can ask me to leave’.”
To Michael’s amazement the Post Master said ‘you can start tomorrow’.
This was to mark the first of his many ventures in Canberra. The next was to come on his first visit to the Greek Orthodox church. Michael – like many migrants – said his first point of contact to connect with fellow Greeks was through church. When the service finished, Michael was approached by a committee member of the Greek Orthodox community of Canberra to teach Greek to the youngsters. He remembers the young students being enthusiastic about learning the language and culture, and to this day, says it contributes to their well-rounded attitude regarding their identity and culture.
And now that is even more enhanced with the contribution of the Hellenic Club of Canberra which not only gives Greek Australians a cultural home, but also encourages the Hellenic culture and language to the wider Australian community.
“There is a great acceptance of the contribution of the Greek community in Canberra,” says Michael, adding that the Greeks have “shaped and developed Canberra into the city it is today”.
Celebrating Canberra’s Centenary with a spark of Hellenicity is being exhibited at the gallery of the Hellenic Club of Canberra from 11 October to 3 December.