I was out sick from work on Tuesday, but despite feeling ill, I did have a nice day with my daughter Ocean. She doesn’t go to school on Tuesdays, so we hung out together, in between my sleeping. She loves board games and insisted on us playing Hangman. She knows a couple of words, like her name, and Bill, so I thought that is what she would have. I lost and when I asked her to reveal her word, you can see what she put up. I see that she understands the basic format of the game, but not the meaning. Hilarious! How could I get mad at losing with such an adorable little girl like this. We played chutes and ladders, candyland, sequence, creationary, trouble, hangman, and operation. I had a lot of fun! It would be wonderful to be a stay-at-home Dad.

I am warming up with Marathon Runner-up, Henry Kipyego. 

I ran the Belgrade Marathon, well, at least the half marathon, for the third time and I had my best time of 1 hour and 49 minutes exactly (officially 1hour, 48 minutes, and 56 seconds). I started extremely fast this year with a 23 minute 5 km and followed with a 24 minute second 5 km. My official split at the 10 kilometer mark was 48:46.

I slowed in the second half of the race with a 26 minute third 5 km. At the 15 kilometer mark I had a time of 1 hour and 14 minutes. At the 1 hour and 22 mark, the 1:45 pacer ran by me. I hung on for about 3 minutes, but couldn’t keep up. The last 5 km was painful! I saw the clock finally and wanted to get under 1 hour and 50 minutes. I made it with a time exactly 1 minute faster than that. I finished in 384th place out of 1,535, which is in the 25th percentile! Overall it was a great race and I enjoyed it.

Nadia, my wife, ran the 5 km fun run. There was too many people and she felt the course was a bit longer than the 5 kilometer. She finished with a time of 27 minutes.

I was inspired to run a 5 km run with the kids next month. There is a run in the Košutnjak Park on Saturday May 19th which we hope to run.

The blog posts to my prior Belgrade Half Marathon runs can be found here, here, and here.

Sit, One, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Serbian President Boris Tadić last week called for early presidential elections for May 6th. The campaign posters have been coming out in force and from time to time, I’ll be blogging about the campaign and elections.

I saw this poster while running, it was stuck to a construction barrier wall in Senjak. It reads, “Sit, One.” I wondered what it meant, and a friend explained that in school, the lowest grade a student can get is a one. And when someone answers a question wrong, it is traditional (old school) to tell that person to sit down and they got a grade of a one. Tadić’s “report card” is to the right, and the classes are “citizen standard of living,” “the economy,” “corruption,” and the “Kosovo question.” The opposing parties gave him a grade of 1. In Serbian schools, the grade scale goes from a low of one to a high of five. They also didn’t choose a flattering photo of Tadić. I guess this is the Serbian version of the Super Pacs. (which I absolutely abhor in US politics)

Below is another for candidate #5, our old friend Tomislav Nikolić. The former radical, hunger striker, is now trying for presidency for a fifth time. Maybe it is a sign that he is candidate #5. His slogan is “Honest and Successful Serbia” (Yes You Can?) – I need a bit of help with the translating. I see that Nikolić wants to portray himself as a job creator and not corrupt.

Bay of Riga – Baltic Sea – Jurmala, Latvia, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

This was the scene on my run on the beach yesterday afternoon. I am in Jurmala, Latvia with the High School Boys’ Basketball Team for their annual CEESA (Central and Eastern European Schools Association) Championships. This is the second time in a row they hosted, and I am enjoying Latvia. It was a busy day and it was nice to relax with a “fresh” run along the snow and ice and the Baltic Sea views. Jurmala is 25 kilometers from the capital city of Riga. On this visit I am seeing the Scandinavian influences in the architecture and the people. Their economy is coming back a bit. After the run, we had the coaches’ dinner at Sue’s Asia Restaurant. As I am getting older, I am enjoying spicy food more. I think it must be my taste buds, like my eyes, are getting worse with age. We then watched the last period of Dynamo Riga’s game against the “Torpedoes” in the Russian Hockey League. They won 3-1 to force a game 7 playoff, and they are the number 7 seed playing against the #2 seed.

It was another great day of basketball, (see my Principal’s Blog for more) and tonight we are taking the student-athletes to the Latvian Basketball League.

The video above is a recording of the song, Marš Na Drinu or “March on the Drina” by Serbian composer Stanislav Binički from Friday night’s concert of the Belgrade Philharmonic. The concert was part of their New Year’s Cycle which celebrates different New Year celebrations throughout the year. Friday evening was the New Year in the Julian Calendar, which several Orthodox Christian churches in Eastern Europe still follow.

I think the song should be the Serbian national anthem. Binički was inspired by the Serbian army’s Battle of Cer against the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I. The lyrics celebrate the bravery of the Serbian soldiers and the flowing rivers of Drina. The Drina River is a tributary of the Sava River and forms the border between Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia. I love the melody when I first heard it played at the stadium during Serbia’s run to the World Cup a couple of years ago. I especially like the haunting rhythms which begin about halfway through the four-minute composition.

The song was overwhelmingly voted by the Serbian public as the national anthem, but due to its use by the Bosnian Serb armies in the wars of the 1990′s and the song was associated with the war. Too bad, because the current Serbian national anthem, is a weak, rip-off of the Monarchist God Save the Queen.

It is somewhat similar to Australia, where Waltzing Matilda is a much more loved song than the Scottish written, Advance Australia Fair, the official national anthem.

The song was the encore to Friday’s concert which featured Russian and Serbian works of classical music. As time goes on and the wars of Yugoslavian Secession move out of people’s living memory, the song will eventually be adopted as the national anthem.

Nadia and I really enjoyed the concert! The Belgrade Philharmonic this year has spiced up their concerts with bringing in opera singers and as you can see in the video, a “stereo” choir on both sides of the auditorium.

Bill and Nadia Relax After the Concert

]]> http://billkralovec.com/2011/10/29/grafiti/feed/ 1 billkralovec http://billkralovec.com/2011/09/27/central-square-in-vilnius/ http://billkralovec.com/2011/09/27/central-square-in-vilnius/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:01:50 +0000 billkralovec http://billkralovec.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/central-square-in-vilnius/ Continue reading →]]>

Central Square in Vilnius, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

I’ve been in Vilnius, Lithuania for the past several days attending the CEESA Secondary Principals’ and Athletic Directors’ Conference. Due to the few flights leaving Belgrade, we had a couple of extra days in the city. This is my second visit to Vilnius and I got to know the city and culture better. Below are my thoughts.

Lithuania is where the Baltic States meet the Slavic world. The Poles and Lithuanians have a long history together and undoubtedly had a profound influence on each other. The languages however, are much different. Lithuanian is an ancient language which is related to Sanskrit of all things. It is one of the most difficult languages to learn.

Vilnius does have a beautiful, historic old city. We stayed in the heart of it and walked around the tiny streets, admiring the ornate architecture and quaint plazas. The Lithuanians are much more reserved than the Serbs. They are just as tall however, and they are a good looking, thin, race of people like the Serbs, although with blue eyes. Basketball is very popular here, dating back to before World War II. I wonder how it got started?

Basketball is King in LIthuania

The highlight of my trip beside the gorgeous walks around the city and a round of golf, was the trip to the Genocide Museum. The museum is housed in the former headquarters of both the Gestapo and KGB and documents their activities in Lithuania. The Soviets were very cruel to the Lithanians, deporting entire families to Siberia. I can’t imagine the impact of the war and two invading armies (Red Army and Nazis) on Lithuanian society. The Russians and eventually Lithuanian communist party members controlled society through informants and spies. It must have been horrible to live with that. The most impacting for me was the basement cells and interrogation rooms. The amount of suffering, fear, and sadness that passed down there! Tragic! I don’t understand why the Russians would want to basically occupy and enslave the Lithuanians. I also can’t believe that only 20 years ago, it was Lithuania S.S.R. and not an independent nation. It has come a long way and they are making stronger relations with their fellow Baltic countries and other north eastern European nations.

Birdie Putt

Achoo Vilnius!

We had a nice weekend in Belgrade. The snow was melting during the day so we were making Easter Island-like snow balls. I see the appeal of ancient people and moving huge objects.

On Friday night Nadia and I went out to dinner at the Iguana Restaurant. The restaurant is on the Sava River in a refurbished warehouse/dock. There are a couple of restaurants, clubs, and shops nearby. They had live jazz music which was a great way to spend a Friday evening.

We then went and saw the Academy Award Winning “The King’s Speech” after dinner. I struggled with stuttering for much of my youth so I could really empathize with King George. Stuttering or stammering is very misunderstood. It is hard to describe to someone that never had the problem. In the movie, King George’s therapist worked on “rhythym” by getting him to sing or use profanity to gain fluency.

I went to speech therapy for years in my schooling, and was helped by Mrs. Kathy Campaign, the speech therapist at my local school. She got me to speak slowly and read aloud to gain this ryhthm. Even today, I read aloud before I speak publicly to help me. I read where most people outgrow this and I am glad that I did, but I still have to be aware of my speech, especially when I am nervous, or tired. I am still amazed that I do a lot of public speaking in my job. The movie cut out the real bad stammers of King George to make the film bearable. It gave a truthful view of stuttering and I am glad the film won. I would also like to thank Mrs. Campaign for her work with me. I saw her about ten years ago when subbed at my old high school and it was good to be able to thank her in person. She is now retired, but she really helped me. I still use her techniques today. I am happy that none of my children are struggling with it.

On Saturday we had that Balkan/Slavic/Eastern European treat called “sarma,” which are cabbage rolls. The Serbs got the dish from the Ottoman Turks. In southeastern Europe, they use sauer kraut, or fermented cabbage instead of regular cabbage. Inside is a combination of beef, bacon, and rice. It is served with sour cream and it is a winter and Christmas dish in Serbia. I love it and our friends Claudiu and Vesna, invited us over for Vesna’s Romanian mother’s version. Absolutely delicious!