Mysql 5.5 database charset issue. Database charset changes from utf8 to latin1 -

i have problem mysql 5.5. when type in console

 show variables 'char%';  show variables 'collation%'; 

my output should be

character_set_database   | utf8   collation_database   | utf8_unicode_ci 

when change database use final; example, character set , collation change latin1. need utf8 because want store data in greek , change entries '?'. do wrong? , when yes, how change in order use time utf8?

i create database , tables code below:

create database if not exists finalessay character set utf8  collate utf8_unicode_ci; 

and

create  table if not exists `department`  (   `deptid` int(6) not null ,   `description` varchar(250) null default null ,   `schoolid` int(6) null default null ,   primary key (`deptid`)  ) engine = innodb, character set utf8, collate utf8_general_ci; 

would appreciate if me.