My final post this morning is of a video of my son Oliver in his Parent-Teacher Conference last week. The little guy is in Ms. Mira’s Early Years class at ISB. The Lower School conferences were set up in a different format. The parents and student worked together on activities the students do during a normal school day. Nadia and I attended Oliver and Owen’s conferences. Above, Oliver writes his name. He is so cute and quite a little character. He also showed us how he mixes primary colors to make new colors, recognizes patterns, and can sort items into categories. He also showed us around the room. Way to go Oliver!!! He passed all of his “exams” and we celebrated by taking him out to a Chinese dinner (his favorite). I’ll upload a sample of Owen’s performance later today and hopefully post.
I haven’t been able to post this week because I needed to pay for the internet bill at my house. Here is a picture of Ocean from last Saturday. We took the family to the boys’ basketball game, which we lost in overtime!
Sunday morning we had the chance to go to Ada Ciganlija and ride bikes before heading off to two parties. While Nadia was grocery shopping, I took the boys and snapped this photo in front of the “western gate” or Genex Towers in New Belgrade. I love the post-apocalypse / space age look and feel to the building.
Ollie looking scared and Owen with even less teeth
We get invited to many birthday parties from the classmates of our children. We rarely go because with our hectic schedules, when we get some time away from school, we prefer to be alone as a family.
We made an exception Sunday as you can see above. The Serbs really know how to throw a party! Serbia is a south Slavic nation and has more in common with southern Europe lifestyles, than northern Europe lifestyles. They emphasize good times and family and there is more disorganization like Spain and Italy, than say Austria or Switzerland. That is a big generalization and it is not a comment on the entire population, but that is the trend I have observed.
The party was at a place called “The Jungle” and there are many childrens’ birthday party places in Belgrade. The children above are watching a magician on stage. See if you can spot Owen!
The hosts care as much as the comfort of the adults as children. There were probably 60 adults at the party and about 50 children. As you can see above, there is a nice cafe/banquet style seating for adults behind the children. The hosts had a really nice buffet and an open bar. The building was large, with separate rooms for a disco and play land.
Jungle Employees Entertain the Children in the Disco
The Jungle provided supervision for the children in the playland and did music activities with them in the disco. Quite an operation, that makes it easy for parents to hold a party. The downside I imagine would be cost, as I saw plenty of bottles of wine and food being consumed. Overall we had a nice time. We have a lot in common with the other school families with young children.
Belgrade is known for its night life. This is about as close as I get to the partying scene!
After spending a few days in Amsterdam I have some impressions of the city and the Netherlands in general. My son Owen asked me, “Do they speak Hamster in Hamsterdam?”
The biggest impression upon me was the number of bicycles! They were everywhere. At every bus or train station hundreds were parked and as you can see from above, they were also parked in front of buildings and streets. Everyone rode bikes, from grandmothers, to school children. I guess with over 16 million people squeezed in such a small area, bikes are an efficient manner of moving around. I rented a bike and rode for hours both Friday and Saturday evening. They literally have bike paths on every road and canal in Amsterdam.
The Dutch did display that famous tolerant temperament. They were friendly and were willing to help me when I got lost. I was surprised to see a large Islamic population as well as many blacks from Surinam. The canals and old buildings were absolutely stunning. The Dutch themselves look Scandanavian with a British flavor. They are very tall and light skinned. There are beautiful views almost everywhere one looks. I did see a bit of the tourist “red light” district and some of the famous cafes and prostitutes in the window. That part turned me off. I heard that in the warmer months there are many more tourists, although I did see and hear quite a few American college kids around the city.
I would like to go back again solely for the biking! I would like to go on a longer bike ride between cities with my family. I would also like to visit the International Court of Justice in the Hague. I also learned the official name of the country is the Netherlands. Holland is the name of two provinces, not the entire country. It was difficult to take good pictures as I was biking around and the light was not great.
I took the photo above at the RAI train station. The Dutch love riding their bikes! I am amazed at the number of bicycles in the city. I am staying at the Holiday Inn in the southern part of the city. The hotel is about 30 minute bike ride from downtown. I am attending an introductory workshop to the IBO Middle Years program. Every day as I walk to and from the nearby convention center where the conference is being held, I see literally hundreds of people riding bikes.
There are all sorts of people on the bikes. There are of course many students and they are riding together on the way to school, chatting, sending text messages, etc, all while continuing to pedal. There are old ladies, men, young professionals, etc. I even see many people smoking while pedalling. I think it kind of defeats the purpose of exercise. I asked a Dutchman at the conference, what is the percentage of people that ride a bike at least once a week, and he reckoned 90%. When I asked him how this craze for bicycles started, he just said that Holland is a flat country. Well, no matter how it started, what a great thing for a city. The past two days have been hovering around the freezing mark, and there are still loads of people biking. What a great thing for a country!!!
Amsterdam literally has a bike trail on one or both sides of every street
We had a fantastic day yesterday. The weather was in the high 50’s and the snow was melting fast. It was the end of the Ski Week holiday. Reflecting on the break, the best thing about it is reconnecting with my children and wife. I really noticed today as I came home from school, how excited the kids were to see me. I missed them today as I was working at the high school. They are shown above playing on a car in the shopping mall of the supermarket, Super Vero. We did grocery shopping Saturday morning.
Below, Owen is seen looking over the park of Kalemegdan. Kalemegdan is a Turkish word for “battle ground – fortress” and it is one of my favorite placeds in Belgrade. The city began here, within the walls of the fort and the history just oozes out of every brick and turret. The fort was originally built by the Romans and throughout history, has changed hands from the Byzantines, Hungarians, Turks, Serbs, etc. As you can see in the photo, the fort is strategically placed overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube (Dunav in Serbian) rivers. Legend has it that Attila the Hun is buried at this meeting of the two rivers. Belgrade has always been at the border between various empires and the fort holds the memories of these conflicts between competitors.
Owen looks to the outline of the wall leading to the Sava and Danube Rivers
Today there is also a huge park surrounding the fort. Many Belgraders hang out there, playing chess, walking, talking, and many children are running around the playgrounds. The fort also has tennis courts, basketball courts, and a cool military museum display with about 10 tanks and cannons kids can climb on. Owen and Oliver below are shown on a battering ram with the fort in the background. The kids love eating “kokice” (popcorn in Serbian).
I read of the catacombs, canals, and tunnels that are largely unexplored under the fort. The Serbs really have not restored the fort or done enough excavation and research on the place which is unusual. It is part of the charm I guess, that it is not totally done up for tourists, although it is a must see for anyone coming to the city for the views. I also like the fact that the locals uses the place and it is still a vital part of the daily life of many Belgraders and not just a museum.
After leaving the little town of Feld am See, we drove across the Austria, and the Alps, and spent a night in Salzburg, Austria. The city is known for its Baroque Architecture in the old town, Mozart’s birthplace, and the Sound of Music was filmed there. We enjoyed all three.
Above we are outside the former Mozart family home, now museum. The boys knew about Mozart through their music teacher at school and we all enjoyed learning about his life. The big impression I got was life was tough in the 1700’s. Five of Mozart’s siblings died in infancy, only him and his sister surviving. Mozart also caught tuberculosis while traveling around Europe with his father as a child. He survived, but it would eventually cut his life short. The wonders of modern medicine have really extended our lives and we don’t even have to think of these risks anymore. For more about Mozart, check out the Mozart Project website.
1763 - Young Mozart in Gala Costume
It was absolutely horrible weather but we managed to walk around for a few hours. Salzburg was a city state and the archbishop who ran it loved music. It avoided the damages of WWII and the architecture of the old part of the city is stunning! There was a gypsy work camp located near the city, where they were used a slave labor. I didn’t see any gypsies in my day in the city. American troops entered Salzburg to end WWII on May 5, 1945 and it was the center of US-occupied Austria.My father was stationed to the north, in Stuttgart during the American occupation of Germany after the war.
The "Walking Street" of Salzburg
We stayed at a small, family run hotel which had the Sound of Music playing 24/7. It is one of Nadia’s favorite movies, so it was nice to see a 1960’s Hollywood Salzburg, while being in the city 40 years later. I finally watched the end of the film. A very cheesy movie, but it is the impression of Austria many Americans have, of mountains, blond children, etc. The movie features the song, Edelweiss, the emblematic flower of the Alps. We named our car Edelweiss, because the previous owner was Swiss and there is a sticker on the car of the flower. We watched the movie that night.
Julia Andrews Climbs Every Mountain
I would like to go back again in nice weather and ride our bikes around the city. There are plenty of trails and with three universities, we saw many students riding around, even in the winter.
I have not been able to update my blog this week. We travelled to Austria for a family holiday and access to the internet was sporadic and slow. I did manage to upload some photos and do one blog post which is below. I will be catching up and posting photos and stories from our week away today and tomorrow. Below is a post from earlier in the week.
We are in Feld am See, Austria for a few days of rest and relaxation. ISB is on their annual “ski week” which is a Serbian tradition as all schools get time off in winter to head to the slopes.
Feld am See is a village (in the USA we call them towns, but the European village sounds more picturesque) of around 1,500 inhabitants located on a small lake in the Knockenburg Alps, which are in the south-eastern part of Austria. We chose to stay at the Brenneshoff Family Sports Hotel because it caters to families who want to do sports.
We drove 6 hours on Saturday to reach the hotel from Belgrade. That is a strange thing about Europe is that in six hours, we crossed 3 international borders and three different languages. The kids were well behaved in the car as Owen is feverish and slept most of the way, Ollie had his Gameboy, and Ocean slept and watched the scenery. We stopped in Slovenia for gasoline at on of our favorite restaurant chains. “LeMarche” is a gourmet deli attached to some gas stations in Slovenia. It is a strange concept as most US gas stations have either a fast food chain or their own “party store” full of cheap and low nutritious food. Le March on the other hand, has an amazing salad bar, freshly squeezed juices, sandwiches, and hot meals.
Upon arrival we immediately hit the pools with Oliver and Ocean. Ocean learned to stay on her feet in the baby pool. She loves water and I only had to save her life 4 times. There was a ramp near the slide that she had difficulty managing and she fell on her back and couldn’t get back up.
Yesterday we enjoyed a relaxing day at the hotel. The highlight for me was Owen and I skating around the lake. Owen was getting quite good at ice skating and I hope to do some more with him. I also want him to practice skiing and we set up lessons for the boys today. It is a nice setting with the towering mountains on both sides of us. The village must have a zamboni, as they ploughed a hockey area and a loop around the lake. Nice idea. I didn’t see any ice fishermen however, which would be standard in any Upper Peninsula lake.Nadia went to the spa for a massage. We are loving the European spa concept. I like it because everyone is walking around in hotel issued robes and sandals.
Feld am See Austria
This hotel greatest service for kids however, is a kinderhaus. They have a room with toys, books, arts & crafts, and a couple of teachers to watch the kids while the parents enjoy themselves. Owen and Oliver are fine with this as they go to school, but Ocean can only stay a short time until she begins to cry inconsolably. We hope she improves.
We had a special visit to our high school boys’ basketball practice. Former NBA All-Star Vlade Divac stopped by to help the student athletes with aspects of their game. He talked about doing the little things right, like crisp passing, wide elbows on rebounds, boxing out, have a repetitive free throw ritual, etc. The students were truly inspired.
At the end of practice he had a little fun with us. In the video above, he is telling a story of a trip to China. He demonstrates the one-handed, back-to-the-basket, half court shot. All net in one attempt. Truly amazing. He also laid down at half court and made the basket from the floor in three attempts.
I can see why he is a basketball legend. Great size combined with attention to detail, athleticism, and lots of hard work. Thanks to Mik J. for the video above. The start shows his hand as he was taking his camera out of the bag. Vlade appears shortly after the start.
It has been wonderful this week with so much snow falling. With 9 inches on the ground, more of the white stuff came down! Many students and teachers at our school have been wanting a school cancellation or delay. Being from the Upper Midwest, the current snow is actually fun and a nuisance, but not a impediment for arriving at school. Temperatures are around the freezing mark, so the major roads are wet and clear, while side roads have slushy snow. It has taken me back to my youth and learning to drive in Michigan.
The view above is looking towards the east wall of our high school campus.
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