GEORGE GIAN THIS IS YOUR LIFE
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
George Giannikas (1946 -),born in Kapsia,a remote farming village in Greece.The eldest of three children. Married (now widowed) and father of three daughters and grandfather of six grandchildren. Attended primary school to grade 6, but was not provided the opportunity to attend high school.This is primarily because of living in a poor village and a lack of quality education and income available. During his working life, George started his own security door business.He was self taught and successfully ran this business for 40 years,before retiring at 60 years of age.During his retirement,George decided to work part time as a General Manager for the Department of Education. He is nicknamed Pappou (Grandfather in Greek) by his grandchildren.In his free time,George’s hobbies include flying model airplanes, as well as gardening, attending to his chickens and repairing and making new tools in his garden shed. Pappou always has created special tools and refuses to call tradespeople for broken or damaged items, instead he thoroughly enjoys the challenge of fixing things himself.He also has an interest in the video game called Zelda, as it requires great patience and problem solving skills.
FAMILY LIFE FAMILY CHALLENGES
Growing up, George’s parental and sibling relationships were stable, loving and happy. George lived in a very remote village in Greece, with both sets of his grandparents living very close nearby. He spent time with his siblings by playing with sticks, homemade games, colourful balloons and a football gifted from relatives visiting from America. At a very young age, George was assisting his parents with farm life, shepherding sheep and goats from different paddocks, milking goats and attending to crops like potatoes and onions to help financially support his family.
Celebrations were rarely acknowledged, however being of faith, Christmas and Greek Orthodox Easter was always observed. During Christmas, George and his siblings were given fruit and nuts and they decorated their Christmas tree with cotton buds to replicate snow. They ate lamb for their Christmas lunch (which was farmed on their paddock) and prior to this they attended a Christmas liturgy. For Greek Orthodox Easter, George and his family visited the church for a midnight service and celebrated with cracking coloured eggs with red dye to represent the blood of Christ. He didn’t celebrate birthdays - as traditionally Greek custom acknowledges Saint Name Day as more significant. For example St George Day was celebrated by also attending a church service. When the family gathered, they would cut pita bread and eat lamb for a meal and enjoy one another's company.
Challenges George’s family encountered while growing up were mainly related to the lack of food and water available, due to living in a less fortunate, remote village. His parents argued very little, however, financial concerns were usually the reason for any tension between them. George remembers arguments between his siblings, usually over negotiating who would wear the warmest jacket during winter, who would have the last piece of bread or an extra meal served at dinner.At 17 years of age, George learnt he could find himself a better life in Australia, where it was a safer and a more secure country with greater job opportunities. When George decided to immigrate to Australia in 1964,left his parents and siblings behind and had to travel 6 weeks on a boat.Leaving his family behind, caused significant emotional pain as he did not know anyone in Australia at that time, did not speak English, had minimal skills and very little money to support him. The only form of communication with his parents was via post. George watched the nightly news reports to help him learn the English language and once he gained employment at a local tyre factory, he began to send any extra money back home to his parents to help support them financially.George settled in Sydney where he met and married my grandmother in 1969. They lived a very modest life, both working full time and saving money to purchase their first home together in preparation of raising their own family.
REFLECTION THE QUALITIES I SHARE WITH GEORGE
There are so many things I have discovered after writingthisbiographyof mygrandfather.Ihavelearnt how difficult life was for him at a young age. I found this interesting to know because he often mentions stories about his life as a kid, when he was living in Greece, but doesn’t really talk about the struggle he and his family faced.I also found it interesting how he was resilient and coped with going to bed some nights onanemptystomach.
This strongly connects to the person he is today,as he can stay in a positive mindset and is consistently grateful for the wonderful life he is enjoying in Australia. He remains a hard worker and very selfreliant. Not having many basic necessities as a child has made George very grateful for his possessions now andtakesgoodcareof allhisbelongings.Ihavelearnt that this is because he didn’t have much growing up,so he takes good care of his things now because he knows how difficult life could be without them.George also has a very creative and innovative personality, as he had to entertain himself and his siblings with home made toys at a young age.His creativity threads through to the person he is today because he creates his own entertainment, for example, learns and presents magic tricks,crafts new things and refuses to call a specialised tradesperson for broken items as he would prefer to fix things himself.Therefore,living in a remote, poor village has developed a sense of creativity,mentalstrengthandgratitudewithinhim.
George and I share a very loving and caring relationship that is built on mutual respect and a genuine interest in one another's daily life. He is very reliable and trustworthy and always takes good care of my brother andI,andmyparents.
George has a passion for being present in my life, by being curious of my interactions in my school and sporting life. He offers encouragement and guidance when I need it and always helps celebrate important events in my life like birthdays and religious milestones. He enjoys spending valuable time with me and likes to involve me in his interests by teaching me fascinating magic tricks,telling me riddles and funny jokes,sharing stories of his own childhood and how to overcome villainsincomputergames.
Our relationship is relaxed and stable.I always feel safe and loved when I am with my Pappou. He will always help my family with jobs around the house and likes to be proactive by fixing things for my family before they evenbreak.
