Some people are born into a culture, while others choose it. Carol Fraser is one such person—an Australian who embraced Hellenism so deeply that it became an inseparable part of her identity. Her journey, rooted in childhood friendship and fueled by unwavering passion, led her to become an active and beloved member of Melbourne’s Greek community.

Childhood and teenage connections, the gateway to Greek culture

Carol’s story begins in the early 1960s in Melbourne, a time when Greek migration to Australia was at its peak. At the age of eight, she formed a close friendship with a Greek girl whose family had recently arrived from Florina. Their bond extended beyond the schoolyard, as Carol became a regular guest at her friend’s home, immersing herself in the sounds, flavours, and traditions of Greek life.

“I still remember the taste of my first Greek meal and the words I learned from my friend’s father,” Carol recalls.

“It was in that small migrant home that my love for Greece was born.”

However, her enthusiasm for Greek culture was not met with enthusiasm at home. Her parents, of Scottish and Australian descent, were baffled by her growing fascination.

“Are you more Greek than the Greeks themselves?” they would ask, but Carol was undeterred.

As a teenager, Carol’s connection to the Greek community deepened. She attended Greek cinemas, watched Greek theatre, and made a determined effort to learn the language. At 14, she met a young Greek man, and their relationship further motivated her to master Greek. By the time they were engaged two years later, she had taught herself to read and write in Greek.

Her fiancé’s mother, originally from Skafidia in the Peloponnese, was illiterate and relied on letters from family back home to stay connected.

Carol took it upon herself to read the letters to her and write responses every two weeks. Years later, when Carol visited the village, she learned that her letters had been eagerly awaited by family members who would run to the postman in anticipation of news from abroad.

Embracing Greek Orthodoxy and marriage

At 16, Carol made a life-changing decision—she converted to Greek Orthodoxy. The baptism took place at St Basil’s Church in Brunswick, but her family did not attend, unable to understand her deep devotion to Greece and its culture.

“My Christian name is Ekaterini, Katerina,” she says with pride.

Two years later, in 1967, she married her fiancé and moved into his family home, where she fully experienced the migrant lifestyle. “Three families living under one roof, everyone speaking only Greek—I had to adapt,” she recalls.

As the only English speaker in the household, she played a crucial role, translating documents, handling family finances, and acting as the bridge between her new family and Australian society.

Never one to settle, Carol pursued formal studies in Greek language and culture at the University of Melbourne. Competing with native Greek speakers, she initially struggled but was determined to succeed.

“I studied tirelessly, and in the end, I graduated with honors,” she tells Neos Kosmos. “I fell in love with Greek history, culture, and above all, its philosophy.”

She speaks with admiration about Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, her eyes lighting up as she discusses their ideas. “Their wisdom shaped not only Greece but the entire world.”

Carol nurtured an emotional connection to a land she had never seen for many years. It wasn’t until much later in life that she finally visited Greece for the first time.

Since then, she has traveled there multiple times, each visit reaffirming her deep bond with the country.

“I have roots in Greece,” she says, surprising those who hear her story. “Even though I was not born there, my heart belongs to it.”