Month: February 2011

Finding a Work-Life Balance

billkralovec

 


A few days ago I watched a Ted.com talk by author Nigel Marsh. He wrote a couple of books about finding a balance in our lives between work and family – “Fat, Forty, and Fired” and “Overworked & Underlaid.“

His ideas resonated with me and I feel that when I get busy at work with consecutive 10+ hour days, I am missing something. He didn’t come up with any formulas, but his main message was to make small choices. He described a call from his wife asking him to leave work early to pick up his son from school. She was busy with the other three children and needed some help with the kids. Marsh went picked up his son and they hung out in the park and went for a bite to eat. He finished the night by reading his son a story and putting him to bed. His son said this was the best day of his life.

I try to keep in mind that my children and wife for that matter, are so precious that if I can make any small choices to find a bit more time with them, the better. I am not a business or bank executive like Mr. Marsh was, and I am blessed that education is a profession that is more family-friendly than most professions, but there are times when I feel out of balance. Work demands overtake time spent with my children, time spent renewing the relationship with my wife, and time spent taking care of my personal health and fitness and well-being.

I spent an entire day yesterday with my three children. Nadia is out of city on a conference and I have all three. We survived day number 2 in fine style, although I did lose my patience a couple of times. Owen is shown above at the Guitar Art Festival Expo at the Continental Hotel. He plays the guitar and I wanted to encourage him and the other two to play music. Ollie loves the drums. Hopefully after the basketball season is over, I can learn the piano and my dream of a family band can be realized. I’m looking for stuff to do at home that doesn’t include a screen! Owen wants an electric guitar and Ollie wants a drum set, and I want a keyboard. We’ll see where this goes…

Ocean - Tata doesn't know how to brush girls' hair (sorry Nadia)

When I am in charge of the kids, I prefer doing stuff rather than just sitting at home. It makes it easier for me and the boys instead of me scrambling around trying to keep the house clean and nothing gets broken. In the morning we went to the school’s bubble and played tennis and basketball. In the late afternoon after a hike around our new neighborhood, we went and saw “Medved Yogi – Yogi Bear” and ate a pizza at Vapiano. The weather is cold and the melting snow makes everything wet and muddy, so the more we can do indoors, the better.

It was great to hang out with the kids all day and I have another one today. Our neighborhood, Dedinje, means “old man’s hill” and below is the view from top of the hill looking east into the suburbs of Belgrade.

Owen and Bill Go to the Belgrade Philharmonic

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With Nadia at an Educational Conference in Dubai until Monday, I have a full weekend with the kids. We are starting the Ski Week Holiday also on Monday so I’ll have more time to blog.

We started the holiday last night by playing some pick up basketball at the school with the teachers. Owen and I then went to Kolorac Hall in downtown Belgrade to watch the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. We have season tickets for the “New Years Cycle” which is a series of six concerts having the theme of New Year. Last night it was the theme was Chinese New Year, which the actual date happened earlier this month. It is the year of the Rabbit.

The concert last night featured a Chinese pianist named Haochen Zhang. The first piece was aptly a piano concerto and the big Steinway was in the center of the stage. Zhang came out and played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto Number 1. Zhang made it look easy. The highlight for me was introducing Owen to the orchestra and the different instruments and Tchaikovsky. He did fall asleep in the second movement, but did get to get the feeling of it. The theater was warm (In Serbia in the winter, everyone cranks the heat because they are afraid of cold drafts causing sicknesses.) and cozy.

The video above is Zhang playing a Chinese folk song which I’ve heard before in some movie. I really like the song and if any reader of my blog knows the name of it, please send it my way.

If I Were King of Serbia

billkralovec
The Party is Over (4:00 PM - Serbian Parliament Building)

The Serbian Progressive Party rally yesterday in Belgrade was really a non-event for me. I was busy reading questions for the Knowledge Bowl (see our school’s blog for more information on that event) at the school during the rally. I did get down around 4:00 PM and snapped a few photos, but by that time, everyone was gone and the moving trucks were taking down the stage. Estimates from the B92 put the number at around 55, 00o.  As this commentator put it on the B92 website,

The usual blabla from these two guys. 55 thds people that mostly came from south and central Serbia in buses! As always these people most probably received some daily allowance to participate!
It is certainly important to have a good opposition but when it comes to these two, apart from critics I have never heard, read any mention of a program that make sense or could change the situation in Serbia. So waste of time and money.

I would have to agree with this. The purpose of the rally was to complain about the performance of the current government and a call for early elections. People around the world want good government (ex- Egypt) but they don’t want ideals, or platitudes, which most politicians give.What they want are the basics like tax money being spent well, roads without pot holes, decent schools, clean hospitals, a dignified retirement for senior citizens, job opportunities, feel secure in their neighborhood, etc.  I don’t see Nikolic (the Progressive Party leader) and others in his party being able to do this. They don’t see smart enough, or empathetic enough to manage an economy and a nation.

But instead of just criticizing them, I will give my ideas on how Serbia should be run. I see a nation with great potential, but it is being wasted, as young people who are innovative and ready to make their mark in the world, being disillusioned because the economy is horrible. I haven’t given it enough thought, but if I were president of Serbia, I would have the following platform:

1) Foreign Policy

  • I would eliminate the military. It is a big expense for the Serbian government. This would free up the large amount of military land for the good of the public. This could be used for parks, schools, green housing projects, hospitals, etc. There should also be money to train ex-soldiers for civilian life. The ending of the military would also say a lot to our neighbors and the world that Serbia is past violence and open for tourism and business investment.
  • The end of the military would also mean the end of military service. I would make a Peace Corps for the Balkans and send young people for 1-year missions around the ex-Yugoslavia and the poorer parts of Serbia. They could be intern teachers, nurses, security guards, construction workers, engineers, etc.
  • Invite Montenegro and Republika Srpska (the Serbian part of Bosnia) to join Serbia. I would also negotiate with Kosovo and get the northern part to join Serbia.  The majority Kosovar Albanians will never want to stay in Serbia. With a recognized government, Serbians will eventually be able visit whenever they want anyway. The dream of multi ethnic societies should be dropped for now.

2) Domestic Stuff

  • Ban the Serbian Latinica alphabet. The Cyrillic script looks cool and this is a part of Serbian culture that should be protected and promoted.
  • Eliminate the antiquated and Byzantine (appropriate for this place) laws on the books that make it impossible to do business. The amount of paper work for building permits, starting and ending businesses, hiring and firing workers, etc. is a huge impediment for companies. Belgrade is a natural business hub for the Balkans and with a business-friendly environment, it would entice more companies to move in and we would see more start-ups.
  • Fight corruption and organized crime. These elements hurt society in the long-term.
  • Collect income tax from everyone, including the rich.
  • Pump huge amounts of money into schools and build a cutting edge, “green” curriculum that targets entrepreneurship, technology, and problem solving. (you can tell I am a teacher)
  • Clean up graffiti and garbage around the city. Help neighborhoods to form cooperatives to beautify their apartment buildings and parks. Give matching grants to apartment associations for renovating of their buildings.
  • Continue moving towards Europe because this would give young Serbs the opportunity to work in other countries in the EU as well as Serbian companies possibly expanding their markets.
  • Adapt the ex-Yugoslavian slogan of  “Unity and Brotherhood” to “Tolerance and Pursuit of Happiness.”

Those are my initial, undeveloped thoughts. If any bilingual Serbian wants to be my running mate, I would like to run for President. I don’t speak Serbian well and that would probably hurt me in government.

Cold Weather Continues in Belgrade

billkralovec
The View of the ISB High School Campus from the Roof

It continues to be very cold and “wintery” in Belgrade this week. Temperatures are down to -9 C (16 F) and we have light snow and fog daily. It is a bit depressing for many, but I like it. As long as one is dressed appropriately, it is quite comfortable outside.  Nadia was sick yesterday with the flu, so I took the boys home from school. We went shopping and then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. It was so nice to spend time with the little guys. With my job, I am usually working until 6:00 PM, so it was a treat to spend an extra 3 hours with them. I should try to do that more often.

I’ve been quite busy at school, especially with basketball. My team won on Tuesday, so that puts us at 4 wins and 4 losses for the season. We are coming together in anticipation for the CEESA tourney next month. I also am putting in what little spare time I have in settling in our new apartment. We still have some things in boxes that need to be rearranged.

Remembering the Holocaust in Belgrade

billkralovec

 

Last week we recognized Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27) at my school, the International School of Belgrade. The Israeli Ambassador to Serbia, Arthur Koll spoke to the student body about the Holocaust and mentioned the atrocities that occurred here in Belgrade. He refered to the first systematic use of a “gas van” to kill the Jews of Belgrade. I did a bit research and found a website put together by UK professor Jovan Byford and funded by the British Academy. Professor Byford, with the help of Serbian researchers, has put together an informative web site about the Nazi concentration camp in Belgrade.

The camp, called Semlin Judenlager (German for Zemun Camp for Jews), is located in New Belgrade, right on the banks of the Sava River. In the 1930’s, the Belgrade government drained a swampy area on the other side of the Sava, and established a fair and exhibition grounds. It was a popular place for theater, cinema, etc. and one of the first areas developed on the north side of the river. Today, much of New Belgrade, as the north side is referred to, is developed out to the airport, several kilometers away from the river.

The Nazis took over Yugoslavia in 1941 and occupied the city. Semlin was technically in the part of Yugoslavia administered by the fascist Croatian movement, the Ustase. Belgrade itself was officially in German-occupied Serbia. The fairgrounds were used to round-up all of the Jewish people of the city (around 15,000) as part of the genocide campaign of the Nazis. It was supposed to be a temporary camp, but when a permanent facility couldn’t be found, it became one. It differed from the more famous concentration camps like Auschwitz, in that it was very close to the city. A photo of the camp in 1941 is below. Yesterday, I stopped at the site and photographed the original tower as it looks today (above).  The camp is significant in that it marks an escalation of the systematic elimination of the Jewish people in Europe. Ustase officials were proud to report to Hitler that Serbia was the first area to be “Jewish-Free” in WW II. Today I am not aware of a Jewish community in Belgrade.

The Semlin Camp - Circa 1941

After the elimination of the Jews, the camp also processed Partisan and Chetnik prisoners, Communist sympathizers, political opponents, Romas, etc. Most were used as force labor and many died in the camp because of inhumane conditions and disease. The camp was kept open for several years, eventually being the target of Allied bombing in 1944 during the liberation of the city.

It is sad that it is not a protected landmark. Thousands of people perished at the site and the camp is a very important part of World War II history. I was surprised to see people living in the tower. It has been converted to apartments. The other former pavilions are also now apartment buildings. I wonder if the people living in them know about the atrocities and terror that occurred here. I recommend the web site about the camp. It is gripping reading, especially the letters from a Serbian-Jewish nurse who perished in the camp.

The Fairgrounds Today - February 2

There are a couple of monuments in the area, which I visited when we held an art exhibition in  a hall near former fairgrounds. If I had the resources, I would buy out the current tenants and restore the grounds to its original state and make a museum and educational center. Serbia and the rest of the Balkans would benefit from the tourist attraction in addition to being a center of tolerance, which will always be needed in the ex-Yugoslavia.

I can’t imagine the horror that took place here. Entire families murdered. Tragic. There are several other Holocaust sites in Serbia that I plan to visit before I leave the country. There is an excellent museum in Banjica about the prisoner camp there.