By alinesarajevo I’ve started the school year at a small school in Sarajevo after spending 10 months teaching teenagers in Southeast Asia. Teaching assertive Bosnian students takes some getting used to; typically, half my class time in Bangkok last year would be spent coaxing trembling students to speak more loudly and loosen up. Many of [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Culture & Society' Category
Balkan Beggars
Written by ISA BELLE Beggars are not only a Balkan problem; they can be found everywhere from Beijing to New York and in rich and poor countries. However beggars are definitely in high number in the Balkan. No way you can visit Bosnia or the Balkan and not have an encounter with them.In Bosnia, there [...]
Read the rest of this entry »A Sarajevo Businessman
Written by a former teacher in SarajevoI first met my student on a Monday evening. He was wearing a suit and tie, and his level waspre-intermediate. He had relatives in the US and had been to a language school there during a month-long trip. I admired this willingness for a relatively older learner with a [...]
Read the rest of this entry »A day in the life of a student in Mostar
By ISA BELLE I was abruptly woken up by the alarm clock. My head was heavy, and I could not properly open my eyes or get out of the bed. Why should I anyway when the bed was so warm? But you know what? It was not even my alarm clock. Shit! I could have slept [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Belgrade – A Conclusion – Part 4
I never cut my hair while traveling, but I did so in Belgrade. Why? Maybe so I could be in a closed environment with Serbs? Psychologically, you cannot say anything bad about the person who tries to make you pretty. I sat five meters across from Jelena’s former boss who had returned to work after [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Belgrade – A Conclusion – Part 3
Belgrade is the ugliest city…I arrived in Belgrade with no map and plan, so I left it up to this Serbian friend whom I met accidentally in Andorra. How many people travel to Andorra for just one day and rush back for their flights on the next day? How many of them end up staying [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Belgrade – A Conclusion – Part 2
Belgrade is an ugly city…Jelena dragged me here and there-I had not a slightest idea-in Belgrade, which I found to be big, ugly, dirty, gray and polluted. I stealthily looked at almost every Serb who crossed my path to find something, something to explain the reason for my disdain. No matter how hard I looked, [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Belgrade – A Conclusion – Part 1
“Life is what happens when you are making other plans.” – John Lennon Do you plan your life to the minute details of how it should be? Most Americans will tell you yes, thanks to all those bargain-on-the-shelf, flying-off-the-chart pop psychology, self-development books like how to organizing your life in 30 minutes, life skills for [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Go for a coffee
By ISA BELLE “Do you want to go for a coffee with me next week” is what people in Holland like to say. In Bosnia, no one will ever say this to you. Going for a coffee here is not something you plan to do. You go for a coffee when you meet a [...]
Read the rest of this entry »Bosnian Serb, War Crimes Fugitive Radovan Karadzic Was Caught
Finally finally…. I was searching the net, preparing for my trips to Berlin when Honza skyped me “Karadzic was arrested. I’m watching it on CNN.” “No, i can’t be. I’ve just surfed that site.” I objected and refreshing CNN home page, still nothing. I googled around but came up empty. Then there it was, the [...]
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