Although it may be more common to see the Greeks enjoying a cup of coffee in the afternoon rather than a cup of tea, it doesn't mean that you can't have your own tea party of your own - even in Greece! Holding a tea party is a calm and relaxed way to entertain and socialise with your friends and makes a nice change from evening entertainment and sitting in bars. Whether your friends are mostly Greek or fellow expats, they will
both enjoy an afternoon tea party with you.
Socialising and meeting friends is important to Greek people, which is why you can often see so many cafe's, bars and restaurants filled with the locals enjoying a catch-up with their friends and family. Holding an afternoon tea party (or you could serve coffee if you prefer) is a great way of integrating with new people around you without socialising with alcohol. One of the good things about being from a different country is that you can experiment with recipes from your home country and from Greece, so you'll be able to serve up a variety of tasty treats from home and away.
Choose who you would like invite to your tea party. Unlike a party held in the evening, a tea party doesn't always have so many guests, so limit who you invite down to just a few people. A tea party also means that the conversation is limited between the table of guests, so you don't want to invite too many people and make it uncomfortable where nobody has the confidence to speak too much.
Set the table nicely and make sure that any cakes, biscuits or snacks that you lay out on the table are in easy reach for all of the guests and presented nicely. If you are going to cook your own cakes and biscuits, don't go over the top with recipes from your home country, as this can be unappealing for any Greek guests. Instead, you should have an equal mix of local recipes and any of your old favourites from home that you think your guests will like.
Choose a theme to the tea party, such as the type of things you discuss or this may reflect on the group of people who you invite and the topic of conversation. The theme of the tea party can be just about anything from the type of people, the food and drinks served or even the colour and style of the cups and saucers. An afternoon tea party is not just a great way to integrate and meet with friends, but it is also a cheap way to have fun and socialise without the pricey cost of drinking in bars and cafes.
