The Excitement of Christmas

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The holiday season has officially begun with two Christmas parties this week. On Thursday we attended a party for the kids hosted by the school. Oliver, shown above, was ecstatic to learn he was a good boy this year and would receive a gift from Santa. Ocean, below, was a bit more concerned if she was going to get something.

The holidays have a new meaning for me as our children are in the prime age to experience the traditions. The snow is falling outside my window as I write this and one more week of school before we vacation!

Montevideo II Filming Nearing the End

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Last weekend the crew from the Serbian film, Montevideo, took advantage of the warm weather and finished filming some of the soccer scenes at the stadium in Paracin. The sun came out during the afternoon. Although it was much colder than this summer, it was nice to be back.

I had to shoot a couple of the transition scenes. The film is still in post-production and will hopefully come out this spring. The first Montevideo: Bog Te Video (God Bless You) was one of the biggest Serbian films in recent years. It is incredible the amount of time and effort the directors have put into getting this film right. I admire their attention to details in even the minor scenes. I’ve gained a new appreciation for the craft of movie making and I promise never to buy a pirated film again. They work too hard not to get the full financial rewards of their work.

My View From the Commentator’s Booth

Family Journal: Single Dad Weekend

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Ollie and Owen, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

I survived being a single dad for a weekend when my wife had a “girls” trip to Budapest. I ended up really enjoying the time with the kids, even having a couple of their friends stay over. I successfully supervised five children by my self.

On Sunday we took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and played soccer and tennis at the school. As you can see above and below, the kids and adults really enjoyed ourselves.

It was nice to see mom again on Sunday evening, but I also enjoyed being forced to spend 100% of my time with them.

Serbia: Smoking Capital of the World

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In a recent article by the Wall Street Journal Serbia ranked number one in the world in cigarettes sold per capita. Serbia topped all countries with 2,861 cigarettes smoked per capita. They defeated fellow Balkan countries Bulgaria (#2 – 2,822) and Greece (#3 2,795). Eastern Europe took the top eight spots with Russia (#4 – 2,786) and Ukraine (#5 2,401) rounding out the top five.

I thought Serbia would rank pretty high because you see (and smell) smokers all the time. The Serbian government last year put the first laws prohibiting smoking in certain areas and it has improved the climate for non-smokers. I always wondered what percentage of Serbs are regular, pack-a-day smokers. I would guess it would be around 1/3.

Armed with this data point, 2,861 cigarettes per person, I did a bit more mathematics. If the population of Serbia is 7,276,604 million people, then that would mean almost 21 billion cigarettes were smoked (20,818,364,044). If a pack contains 20 cigarettes, that would be a little over 1 billion packs of cigarettes (1,040,918,202). If you subtract the 14.9 percent of the population that is under the age of 14, that would mean the adult population smoked 166.5 packs per person. If you assume that the average smoker consumes 1 pack per day, that would mean that roughly 50% of Serbs would be considered regular smokers (46.5%). – Note to readers, please correct me if I am wrong on this. I took the population statistics from the CIA World Factbook.

Why do so many Serbians smoke? One reason is the cheap cost of cigarettes, $2 per pack. There are not many restrictions regarding smoking and the recent laws do not go far enough to put a damper on people’s habits. Although I love that the two big shopping malls in the city are now smoke-free, even the cafes. I don’t feel they went strong enough, with most bars and restaurants, still having large smoking areas alongside non-smoking areas. There is not much in public service announcements as well and smoking is not a taboo, like it is in many western countries.

The Wall Street Journal focuses on Russia’s attempts at lowering the smoking rate. I think the time is right for Serbia to tackle smoking. It must be costing the health care system a lot. It is also ironic that a people that look so good (thin, athletic) and are so active, have such a bad health habit as smoking. I hope they can get Serbia out of first place.

 

Belgrade’s Many Parks

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I was surprised to find that Belgrade has a lot of parks and green areas, both large and small. The image of Eastern Europe is one of industry and pollution, but not of community parks. Last weekend I took Oliver and Ocean to a couple of them, one a new one for our family.

The first park we visited was in Dedinje, very near our house. The park is located across from Pink TV and city officials recently upgraded the park with a zip line, climbing apparatus, etc. The kids love it.

The second park was near the Kalenić market. It has a park area for dogs, a mini-skateboard park, and trees to climb. There is a statue of the Bosnian author and politician, Petar Kočić. He is known for his portrayal of the natural beauty of the mountains and rivers of Bosnia.

It is nice that the city has areas for young children to play. Many Serbs live in apartments and the need for access to green areas is vital.

Happy Thanksgiving

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Yesterday we celebrated the American holiday of Thanksgiving. The official holiday in the US was Thursday, but we worked on that day so we waited until the weekend. Owen and Ocean are shown above with the ćurka (turkey in Serbian) that we ordered from the neighborhood butcher. I joked that it was a “real” turkey and not the agro-industrial turkeys one gets from the US. This is a turkey that actually touched the ground. Nadia and her team did a great job of cooking the turkey and it was delicious.

We invited some friends over and had a nice Thanksgiving. Foreigners love the holiday, it is nice to take time out and reflect on what is positive or good in your life. In our speeches going around the table, there was some real heartfelt sentiment.

My thanksgiving focus, was a bit abstract. I am thankful for the realization that the material things in life do not bring happiness and they may actually bring unhappiness. The worries, expenses, time, and efforts that come with maintaining a big house, a nice car, etc. are not worth it. The most important things in life are who you are with (family, friends) and what you do. The external stuff should be functional and comfortable, but to be as minimal as possible. A cluttered life full of things distracts you from the true joys of life. I think I sound like a Buddhist.

The other important thing to be thankful for is health, which becomes “wealth” as one ages. More on this later.

So, Happy Thanksgiving readers! It is the American “slava” day!

Ocean’s School Picture

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We received Ocean’s school picture on Friday and I had to post it. She has a serious look on her face, which is rare for her. She is lively, funny girl that is always laughing.

She is five but acts like fifteen. She is such a mature little girl, way advanced for her years. It is amazing how fast she has grown. When we arrived to Belgrade four years ago, she was just a baby.

ISB Pre-Kindergarten Class – 2012-2013

Kralovec Boys Express Themselves

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Above is a video of my son Owen performing a dance with some of his classmates. His class is studying how people express themselves in the fine arts. The students took elements from the different types of dances they learned and made them into a performance. The students came up with the choreography themselves. I was almost in tears watching how Owen has grown up! He will be a fine young man and I am proud of him.

Below, my younger son, Oliver, is shown doing the Serbian folkdance, the Kolo. He sang in the Lower School choir for a recent gala the school held. He also played the bongos. Very cute indeed!

Partizan and Pionir Hall: A Religious Experience

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Partizan Celebrates, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Thursday night I attended the Euroleague Basketball game between Besiktas of Istanbul and Partizan of Belgrade. As a basketball fan, it was almost a religious experience because of the most rabid basketball crowd I have ever seen in my life! Partizan won 87-72 to earn their first win in six tries in this year’s Euroleague, which is the basketball equivalent of soccer’s Champions League.

Partizan plays their early round games in the old, state owned, Pionir Hall. The stadium only seats around 8,000 people, but it is very, very loud. We arrived two hours before tip off and it was already almost full. Like soccer fans, the Partizan basketball fans sing many songs during the game, and have impromptu group cheers based on what is happening in the game. For example, when the small delegation of Turkish fans arrived, the crowd started singing about the history of the Serbs,defeating the Ottoman Turks and killing of a particular sultan. Of course it was in Serbian, so I doubt many of the Turkish fans understood.

The photo above is from after the game. The crowd and team stayed after and they sing “Partizane!” An amazing, exhilarating experience! It showed the best characteristics of the Serbs, they are a passionate people and love sport.

This is for a team that is 0-5 in this year’s Euroleague competition! They have a good, very young team, but with a payroll many times lower than other teams in the competition, they have a difficult time competing year in and year out. Their strategy is to develop young players and then sell them to the bigger teams. This is one of their main sources of revenue. They also get import players who want to make a name for themselves in Europe or who are new to international basketball. The positive is many players want to play for the club because the team is famous throughout Europe, they have an intense training program that develops many players, and of course, they will play in what I argue, it the best atmosphere to play basketball in the world. The experience must compare to Madison Square Garden in New York, or perhaps Cameron Stadium at Duke University.

Partizan will improve this year and will be tough to beat next year. They have three 7-footers, Leo Westermann, a French guard that reminds me of the San Antonio Spur’s Manu Ginobli, Drew Gordon, a 6-8 power forward from New Mexico that has great inside moves, and a host of athletic Serbs that can shoot. It will be fun to follow them this season, at least in the Adriatic Basketball League. I will upload a video of the post game singing when I fix my internet connection.

I would like to give a big thanks to my friend, and former Partizan player, Jagoš, for taking me to the game and sharing his knowledge of Serbian basketball with me.

A Perfect Afternoon

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Boys and the Dunav, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Owen and Ollie are shown with the bikes on the Zemun Quay overlooking the Danube (Dunav in Serbian). We went for a bike ride yesterday on the bike paths in New Belgrade along the Sava and Danube rivers. I wish the ride could have lasted forever! We shared a lot of laughs and adventures as we climbed the public rock wall, threw rocks in the Danube, and had races up the embankments of the Quay. The city did a nice job with the improvements of the Zemun Quay, adding smooth walking areas, benches, and grass.

London Plane Trees Along the Danube – New Belgrade

Belgrade has an excellent system of bike trails along the rivers. They have the potential of expanding them more through the city and could connect the various parks and green areas in the metro area. I would love to work on a master plan of bike paths in the city.

It was a bit cool, but a glorious late fall day. After the ride, Ocean and Nadia prepared us a delicious chicken curry meal and we then watched some NFL football and acted silly in the house. I love the weekends because of the family time. We have an extension today due to the Serbian government declaring Armistice Day bank holiday today. Yippeee!!!!!

Owen helping Ollie Up the Wall