I'm usually met with a mix of shock, disbelief, and sometimes a little bit of joy, when I speak Greek with a Greek person outside of Greece - which was at first

I'm usually met with a mix of shock, disbelief, and sometimes a little bit of joy, when I speak Greek with a Greek person outside of Greece - which was at first odd, considering the origin of the word "diaspora". Some reactions were really weird, one person told me it feels wrong to hear a foreigner speak their native language so far from home, another told me it's the most useless language to learn, etc - but I've never been met with antagonism. I don't think language and culture can be separated; Greece has been occupied by the Ottoman empire for ca 400 years, and the history of reclaiming their culture and independence is stained with blood (like most of them are). In retrospect, I'm glad I ended up being "friends" with a hospitable culture. I haven't been to Greece in over a decade but it always feels like I'd be welcome there.