Day #8: 8 July 2013

Today in class we learned how to say key phrases in Greek. I liked the style in which we learned where we went around the room and were asked if there were any words or phrases that we wanted to learn. This was very effective because we all had words or phrases that we wanted to learn such as “excuse me” or “I like your food.” We also learned how to count to ten in Greek and the days of the week. We then moved on to terms for shopping such as “How much is this?” “cash or card?” and adjectives to describe items like “pricy.”

We then started to learn about the government and legal system as it exists in Greece. Greece has a parliamentary democracy with three branches: government, parliament and judiciary. The government has the executive power. The parliament has the legislative power which is comprised of thirty cabinet members, fifteen deputies and one prime minister. There are also three courts: local, second rank and supreme court. Each court has specific responsibilities that range from administration to appeals. 

This government style is very different from the US. The US has a presidential democracy where the president is elected separately by the people. There is also greater potential for standstills in the government because the parties can more easily disagree.