This is my last post from Belgrade until August. We are going on our annual summer holidays. This year we will be spending it in my hometown of Caspian, Michigan, USA. I’ll be blogging about our experiences there.
Above I am pictured with Oliver at the Dinosaurs Argentina Exhibition which is currently being held at the Continental Hotel Exhibition Center in New Belgrade. I highly recommend it for families. The boys loved it and learned a lot. Gigantosauras and the dinosaur eggs were especially a hit. You can click on the photo to see more of the exhibition. It features the fossil finds in the deserts of Patagonia in central and southern Argentina. The species found there are just as impressive as the more famous North American finds like T. Rex, etc.
Heaven in My Hand
I also wanted to share the photo above. Great fresh produce in the various markets around Belgrade. Raspberries are my all time favorite fruit (the other 4 in my top 5 fruits are blueberries, mangos, bananas, and watermelon). The Kralovec family are “fruit alcoholics” and we are consuming punnets of raspberries at a rate of 8 per day. My personal record is 3 and 1/2 in one sitting.
Well, I must finish packing as we head west across Europe and the Atlantic.
We hosted the International School of Belgrade’s annual end-of-year party last night at our home. There were over 100 people in attendance and everyone had an enjoyable evening. The school honored the people leaving and celebrated the end of a rewarding school year. In the education business, our year runs from August to June and we are all excited to embark on our travels during the summer holidays.
Owen and Ollie are shown above pushing the glow lanterns. Ethan and Jamie lit 8 of these big paper lanterns that after the brick below gets going, they soar upwards and away. One got caught in the tree of our neighbors and another almost hit their terrace, but all made it out of the neighborhood. A nice tradition started! Ethan saw these used for New Year’s celebrations in Thailand.
The Faculty Band
Several faculty members have a rock band that plays in pubs in the city and they graciously played for us last night. It was impressive how much original music they have. Nadia and I felt like we were finally experiencing the legendary night life of Belgrade – in our back yard. I would like to thank Chris, Kay, and Sava and their bandmates for playing. Having live music at a party brings it up a notch!
The goodbyes were done well. The Sunshine Committee of the school organized it with a friend of the departing person speaking about them. A much better method than having administration talking about each person.
The school provided the food and drinks and the maintenance crew worked hard with the set up and arrangements. There was a big wind storm last night that blew over many of the tents but none were lost or broken.
It was a fantastic way to give closure to my first year at ISB. I am looking forward to the summer holidays and refreshing my mind and body for 2009-2010.
We were driving from the Partizan Club Pool in the neighborhood of Banjica when we saw this funky building below.
After doing a bit of research, I learned that it is the Miliary Medical Academy (Војномедицинска академија – Vojnomedicinska Akademija in Serb.) This is the largest hospital in Serbia and was constructed in 1982. It is like a VA hospital in the USA, but it also serves civilians also. We drove around the parking lot a bit and there were lots of cars and people. It was designed by the award-winning architects, Colonel Josip Osojnik and Slobodon Nikolic.
Doron and Zoki are holding the third place trophy outside of the International School of Helsinki. The team was celebrating an important victory over the Kiev International School in the consolation match, 50-47. The victory earned the team the third place trophy. There were 8 teams competing so it was quite an accomplishment. It was appropriate the cup was filled with snow, as it represented the team venturing to the frozen north of Finland to compete in the tourney.
Misa Goes for the Rebound
The Dragons led the entire game against the Cosaks of KIS. ISB used a full court pressure defense to disrupt the opponents. The strategy worked as many fast break layups were scored by Doron and Nikola. Panayot played with an injured foot, and despite the pain, he had his usual outstanding game. A special mention also goes to Mik for his defensive efforts on their best player. Coaches Sands and Kralovec thank the team for their efforts. It was a fitting end to a great season. The boys played close to 20 games! They developed their individual fundamentals of basketball, learned the strategies and finer points of the game, increased their fitness, and interacted with students from all over the world and Serbia.
Things are looking bright for 2009-2010, as the entire team that traveled to Helsinki returns. We will also get some excellent players from the Middle School team that finished in second place in their tourney. We will also be hosting the high school boys’ tourney, so there are many things in our favor. Job well done gentlemen!
After watching the fifth and seventh place matches, we had the consolation final against the Kiev International School. The Dragons defeated the Cozaks, 50-47 to take the third place trophy (of eight teams competing).
It was an incredible performance by the boys’ basketball team. Mik had 6 points and played stellar defense against their top player. Tausan and Misa rebounded well against the bigger Ukrainians. Pan played with an injured foot and still scored in double figures. It was a proud moment for the school and the team. Congratulations to the Dragons! Photos and video to come!
The International School of Belgrade won their first two games on Day 1 of tournament. In the first game this morning, the Dragons defeated Quality Schools International of Bratislava 52 – 34. Six players scored for the Dragons, with Panayot leading the way with 20 points. Mi also scored 6 points. Nikola T. had a stellar performance on defense.
In the second game today, the Dragons won by a score of 56 – 49 over the Kiev International School. The hard fought game was decided by coolness under pressure demonstrated by the Dragon. In the final quarter, Pan and Doron made some big baskets and steals to seal the victory.
Pan and Andras on the Move!
We have one more game today against Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, a local Finnish team. If we win, we guarantee a spot in the semifinals. If we lose, there will most likely be a three-way tie for the top and then it will come down to point differential, which we want to avoid. If we do lose, we could finish anywhere from first to third in the group.
UPDATE:
We lost to the local Finnish school, 47 – 74. The score was tied at halftime 30-30. In the second half, we ran out of energy as this is our third game today. The Finn school played a reserve team in the morning (lost to KIV) and had an easy game against Bratislava. It will be disappointing if this game against a non-CEESA school causes us to out of the semifinals. If due to point differential we finish third, the highest finsh we can have is fourth.
In the other Pool, the most likely winner will the Internationl School of Latvia and second place will be the Pechersk International School of Kiev, Ukraine.
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.
Middle School Mathematics Teacher Lekisha Jackson is shown above assisting Nathalie and Alex moments before the team competition. This weekend we hosted the CEESA (Central and Eastern European Schools Association) Math Counts competition. Math Counts is a non-profit organization devoted to promoting math excellence among middle school math students. Seven schools with 54 “mathletes” competed in written and oral tests, with both individual and team categories. The students were billeted with ISB families and besides the mathematics, they enjoyed getting to know the cultural side of Belgrade and socialized with our students at a big dance on Saturday.
The event was dominated by Korean students. The top 10 students in the individual competition were all Korean students. ISB grade 8 student Rick was the top non-Korean in the competition, finishing one question short of the top 10 in 11th place. Winning the competition was Tae Suk Joung from AIS Budapest, with Victor Moon and Duk Sung Ahn from AAS Moscow finishing second and third respectively.
ISB Team Members Irem, Andrej, Rick, and Carl
In the team competition, the Anglo American School of Moscow took the top two spots with AIS Budapest finishing in third place. The gold medal AAS Moscow team consisted of Duck Sung Ahn, Victor Moon, Ji Tae Park, and Gi Cheol Shin. Also participating in the competition were AIS Zagreb (Croatia), the American School of Paris (France), the Anglo-American School of Sofia (Bulgaria), and the Tirana International School of Albania.
I would like to thank Tim Moynihan, Will Clowney, Igor Saljic, Aleksander Nikolic and Marija Vuckovic for their outstanding efforts in organizing the event. A lot of work goes into behind the scenes when hosting a successful event of this magnitude. A special mention goes to our Math Counts Coach and math teacher Ms. Lekisha Jackson. She spent countless hours preparing the students and the community for the event. Her dedication and organization paid off as our students learned much from the event and performed extremely well. Ms. Jackson has been a special addition to our staff this year and we all appreciate her teaching! Thank you Lekisha!!!
The dance on Saturday evening was also special. I would like to thank Mr. Sean Hayes and the STUCO students for the fine organization of the dance. Our students made our guests feel at home and they enjoyed themselves in a responsible manner. Thanks to Mr. Vrbaski, Ms. Tharalsen, Mrs. Medenica, Mrs. Jovanovic, and Mr. Hayes for chaperoning the dance. The out of the classroom relationships our teachers form with the students is one of the best characteristics of ISB. I would also like to thank our ISB families that hosted students. I only heard positive comments from the parents on the comportment of the students.
In summary, Math Counts accomplished its mission of encouraging math excellence. We look forward to next year’s competition.
Nadia, Ollie and Owen are pictured with Alejandra and Sebey at the Christmas Fair in the center of Budapest, Hungary. They arrived from Bahrain on Friday afternoon and the next morning we left for the 4 hour drive north to neighboring Hungary.
Edelweiss, our new car did extremely well on its first excursion out of Belgrade. The countryside north of Belgrade is reminiscent of central Wisconsin or Illinois. It was extremely flat, lots of agriculture, and decent highways. We had no trouble crossing the border. It was nice to go through the Diplomatic Corps line and not have to wait. I got Diplomatic plates through the US Embassy which is very kind of them.
Budapest is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and I can see why. The Danube runs through Buda on one side and Pest on the other. We stayed at the Marriot Hotel right on the river. It was a nice hotel but I would not stay there again. Great breakfast and views, but no swimming pool and they charge for overnight parking in their garage ($40). We used the GPS to find the hotel and other places we went and that was great. The first day we took the kids for a walk over the Széchenyi Chain Bridge shown in the picture below.
Budapest at Night (Wikipedia Photo)
We also stopped to throw some rocks in the Danube. We were with our good friends the Moynihans.They are shown to the left. We finished the night at the famed Budapest Christma
s Fair. It was crowded and in my opinion, overrated. But after a couple of mulled wines, we ended up having a great time. I half learned how to say Merry Christmas in Hungarian, Boldog Karácsonyt
We were not impressed with the Hungarians. We found them to be very different from the Serbs. They were cold and borderline mean. For example, Ale and Nadia asked two people to take a picture of the family and they refused. I guess it is the culture, as the Hungarians have had a long history with the Germans and Austrians. I know one can’t judge a people with just one day in the country, but we did feel a difference. I was also comparing the cities of Budapest and Belgrade. Both are beautiful and similar although Belgrade was mostly destroyed during WWII and does not have all of the beautiful old buildings of Budapest. Although Belgrade has its charms, and if they would clean up the Sava and Danube rivers, it would be nicer. I like the fact however, that Belgrade has virtually no tourists and it is more authentic and vibrant. I hope it doesn’t change, but in the future it will as it looks to join the European Union. I also noticed it was more expensive in Budapest.
The next day I took Ollie and Ocean to the city park. They had a great time feeding the ducks and in the playground. The girls did some more shopping. We were thinking of doing some ice skating, but once again, the rink was crowded. I did enjoy the the Heroes Square. This was next to city park and had statues of all of the Hungarian Heroes. It was similar to the Venezuelan Panteon.
We do plan to return to Budapest as there is lots to explore. We hope we run into a friendlier bunch of Hungarians however.
Ollie & Ocean in Heroes Square in Budapest
Ocean is getting cuter every day. What an angel! She is so cautious and calm and she cries like a girl. Below is the most recent photo for Grandma.
Today is a Day #4 and I will be in the MS the entire day today. Branka and Bojana will be handling any discipline issues.
Lunch in the Library: Due to repeated occasions of food debris and litter in the library, there will be no lunches allowed to be eaten in the library. There has also been too much disruptive behavior in the library. The following notice is posted by the librarian:
The Library is a space for reading, writing, and quiet conversation.
No one should suffer from another’s noise, mess, or disruptive behaviour.
· No food or drinks
· No music, videos, or gaming
· No mobiles or online telephony (skype, gtalk, etc.)
· No behaviour that disrupts other’s ability to learn.
High School Knowledge Bowl Competition: Students interested in joining the team are asked to meet today at lunch in Mr. Slough’s room.
Hooded Sweatshirt Sales: Our PTA has asked me to let you know that today during LS conferences, they will be taking pre-orders for new ISB sweatshirts that they are selling. There are 3 different styles of sweatshirts available. Samples of the shirts, and pre-order forms will be in the LS library for interested parents and/or staff members during the day on Tuesday. HS Receptionist Update: The receptionist will begin training on Monday December 8. A new desk is being designed and built for her and will be ready by December 15th. We are currently in contract negotiations. High School Math Competition: Mrs. Vuckovich will be holding an informational meeting at lunch on Friday. The competition takes place in Bucharest on February 13-14.
Why Asian Children Are Better at Mathematics: An interesting idea from Malcolm Gladwell, the author of “Blink” in his new book “Outliers”. He reckons that it is the Chinese language and organizational system for numbers that makes mathematics easier for them. The Guardian has an excerpt at this link.
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