The Blind Date Marathon: Date 7: Nick the Greek

Who set me up this time

Chloe
I worked with Chloe as a waitress/bartender at age 19. Those who know me know that I am a bit clumsy. I was an awful waitress and bartender! We used to have several laughs at work. I spent most of my time struggling and Chloe spent an awful lot of time trying to teach me to hold 8 hot plates on my arm and laughing at my failure. I hope that I am a better date than I am a waitress.

What do I know about him

Nick lives in Southgate. Like most people from Southgate that I’ve met, he is Greek Cypriot. His mum owns a beauty salon and he and his dad work in property development. Now that’s stereotypical!

First impressions

When I asked where I should meet Nick he insisted on picking me up and driving into London. I think I prefer to be on my feet and catch a train but it is nice and cushy going in a plush BMW. Nick asked me if I wanted to go for a drink before setting off. I think this was just because he wanted to make sure I was comfortable. As I already felt at ease with him and I was confident in Chloe’s choice of date we skipped the introductory drink and went straight to the city.

What happened?

Nick was taking me to a Greek restaurant where they dance and smash plates. As several of my school friends were Greek, I am familiar with this sort of evening. Nick described the entertainment as ‘a bit like Stavros Flatly' (so basically top quality). I had a feeling that Nick might be doing the classic ethnicity trick that Christian (date 4) talked about. Nick managed to speak Greeklish to me several times! (For those of you who don’t know, Greeklish is a language made of English grammar, Half English vocabulary and half Greek vocabulary). And the waiters were speaking pure Greek. Being spoken to in foreign languages is a common problem for me. As a half South Indian, half English person, people usually find my ethnicity difficult to guess. I have olive skin and dark brown hair that could be Italian, Greek, North African, Iranian, South American.... several things really. And people try all these foreign tongues with me. As the night progressed, I discovered that when you’ve told someone several times that you are not Greek, it is slightly frustrating when they repeatedly talk Greek to you. On the bright side, if I spent enough time with Nick I might learn to be bi-lingual?

As I was about to take a bite out of a piece of smothered chicken, a waiter unexpectedly tapped me on the arm and tried to pull me on to the dance floor. Bit frustrating but this whole dating marathon has been about saying yes and trying new things so up I went.

Proper Greek people definitely do not dance the way I danced! ‘You must be good at this no? You’re Greek!' The waiters shouted. NO! I am not Greek and I am not a good dancer! I gave it a good go but I fear I looked like a little fool. Luckily there were more English people around me who also looked like fools. There was one very good thing that came out of getting up on the dance floor; towards the end the waiters had to know that I am well and truly NOT GREEK.

On Nick’s request, we ended the evening with one little shot. The traditional after dinner shot involves slamming it down on the table, lifting it up in the air for a salute and then slipping it down your throat. In a moment of enthusiasm, I slammed it a little too forcefully and at such an angle that the liquid leaped out of the shot glass and onto Nick’s face! This was not cool! After about 30 seconds of his surprise and my apologies, Nick burst into laughter. ‘It’s supposed to go in your mouth love’ he grinned. At that moment Nick insisted on ordering another shot for me. The waiter who was obviously oblivious to the fate of my first shot assumed we were both having an extra shot and brought two. More laughter exploded from Nick’s mouth as he pointed out that he was driving. As punishment for throwing alcohol in his face, I was given the task of downing two shots in a row. SMACK! Absinthe!

On the journey home we had plenty of laughs. Nick played Greek music in the car. This man is Greek to his toes! Luckily, I think I like a lot of popular Greek music. They sound especially groovy after absinthe! We had a nice goodbye.