ATHENS – This week we spotlight the life path of Christos Papadopoulos, for whom professional involvement in gymnastics and sport is rooted in childhood. Now 29-years-old, he recently emigrated to Kuwait, where he works as a trainer in a large sports center in the country’s capital.

Originally from the island of Naxos, Christos grew up in Vrilissia, Attica, and sports was something that seized his interest from a very early age. As his interest matured, he told The National Herald, “I got involved in soccer at a semi-professional level and in very important clubs. One of those was AEK Athens, more specifically on the club’s second team.” For the record, he was a goalie.

At the age of 18 he entered the Trikala Gymnastics Academy as a student, and then went on to do his Master’s degree in Exercise, Health, and Rehabilitation.

“After my studies, came the fulfillment of my military service as an Evzone in the Presidential Guard, a great honor and a special experience.”

Professionally, he worked for three years as a fitness trainer in Athens at a top amateur soccer club and for a large chain of gyms as a trainer and an instructor.

He took the big and bold step of moving to Kuwait City a month ago, for many reasons, as Christos explained, expressing his personal bitterness about the situation in Greece. “Unfortunately, labor-wise in Greece, things are not encouraging at all. Compared to abroad, at least in my industry, we are separated by a chasm – and I am not exaggerating at all in what I am saying,” said the young man who has become a gymnast.

He stressed, among other things, that trust, understanding, and appreciation of employees is often absent in the work environment in his home country. “So what I want to say is that the working conditions are much better here, which has a very positive effect on performance and psychology,” although he added that, “another very important reason is the financial rewards. There the gap is even greater, and when you get an attractive offer, it is hard to turn it down.”

Regarding his particular choice of Kuwait as a relocation destination, Christos pointed out that what attracted him was “the possibility and the opportunity to work at the Spark Athletic Center, the largest sports center in Kuwait, in enviable facilities and with many opportunities, which would be a very important experience – both work and life experience.”

“I was lucky, and unlucky, that my first month in the country coincided with Ramadan. This made the first month of adjustment more difficult, but also more exciting! However, we are talking about a country with a very high standard of living, with people who are very polite but also very educated.”

“Adaptation is the difficult part, but the experience is worth it,” he said when TNH asked about adjusting to his new country’s way of life which – according to his own testimony – has a very different culture.

We also talked about the Greek community in Kuwait, which, according to Christo, has about 200 members. The 29-year-old gymnast even happens to have three Greek colleagues at work, which, as expected, made his adjustment a little easier. “What’s worth pointing out, and I’ll speak for the place where I work, is that there is a very high regard for Greeks. That is, they appreciate our professionalism, our hard work, and our level of education and that is why, moreover, they show such a preference for hiring Greek gymnasts,” he concluded.