Name: 【TEDx】Stereotypes -- funny because they are true | Katerina Vrana | TEDxThessaloniki
Uploaded: 2017-01-01T21:59:59.000Z
Duration: 15 min 41 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

I am Greek, I live in the UK, I live in London,

As far as the power to create goes, I am stand-up comedian.

I've got two brothers, one is 30 the other is 14;

the 30 years old is a drummer and a photographer.

In fact, he is the drummer of the band that's going to be closing

So our Greek parents are very proud of our professional choices.

My hair is like this because this is how it is, OK?

In Greece, this doesn't stand out that much.

It's big, but it's not that extraordinary.

In the UK, it's become a sightseeing thing.

People stop me in the street, people touch it without asking me.

And then, there's teachers that bring little children out

of the classrooms and go, "Look, look at the lady who looks like a tree!"

I was born here, I was raised here, both my parents are Greek,

I have no idea why I speak English like this.

The rest of my family doesn't speak English like this,

"How come when I speak English I sound awesome?

And the rest of the family sounds like bloody foreigners."

"Ah, darling, when you were born, you were so very, very ugly!"

Your father and I thought, "This one will need personality, and language helps.

I wanted French and maybe piano, your father wanted English."

"Yes Katerina, I wanted English," - that is my father -

"I will tell you why: because British royalty marries very ugly women.

No! No. William is already married, and Harry has very red hair.

And I haven't got anything against red hair, right?

It's because I would totally have the sex with Harry.

I just, I wouldn't do it in the sun, I'd do it in the shade.

If you have sex with Harry in the sun, he'll explode, "Aaa!"

The thing is that I've been living in London as I said, for about a decade,

and what's happened is, over there I feel definitely Greek,

but what happens is when I come back home

there's been a bit of a shift in my identity, and suddenly,

"Why can't the Greeks form orderly queues? God damn it!"

I am trying to balance out the things to not feel foreign in two countries.

One of the things I've really come to find endearing about the British,

When a British person gets angry, they write you a strongly-worded letter,

"Dear Sir..., regret to inform..., ... most upset!"

An English friend of mine was in a train.

The train got stuck, they stopped in the middle of nowhere between two stations,

and they left them there for an hour and a half;

they didn't explain why, they just kept apologizing.

My friend's telling me this story said, "Katerina, I was so angry, I was livid.

I was so livid, I was tempted to complain!"

there is no strongly-worded letter, there wouldn't have been a train."

You keep the Greeks five minutes longer than they need to be anywhere,

you know, like in the boat at the time of "disembarkation"

and it's like, "What? What you keep us here like animals, like animals?

You call this an European country? This is not Europe, I don't understand!"

"Where is the manager? I want to speak to the manager!"

"Please sir, please sit down, you are becoming hysterical!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do? Who are you?"

It takes five seconds to escalate that level.

the "Screw your mother!" It makes no sense!

Subtitles ListPlay Video

【TEDx】Stereotypes -- funny because they are true | Katerina Vrana | TEDxThessaloniki

applause

regret

slightly

screw