Lovely, lovely Belgrade

Did I tell you that we managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Belgrade in the beginning of last week on our way back from Skopje as well? No? Well, guess what. I visited Belgrade for the second time of my life. Lovely, lovely city. I want to go there again, in all its grayness, that city has a wonderful atmosphere. I want to go there, sip on coffee in a coffee place and just write. And people watch. And listen to that inspiring language that is Serbian.

jar sa blíži [the spring is approaching]

The Slovak word for spring, jar, is quite interesting as it reminds of few other Slavic languages. In Polish spring is wiosna, in Russian and in Ukrainian it is весна. In the Balkans the word for spring are quite similar: in Bulgaria one speaks of пролет, in Serbia it is пролеће and in Croatia – proljeće. The only version being close to the Slovak version is – not so surprisingly - the Czech jaro.
My point? There is none – except that it is a lot of fun comparing languages.

One thing I’m often thinking about is the mutual understanding between languages and where to draw the line. Say, I am fluent in Swedish – does that mean that I’m capable to function in Norwegian? My initial reaction is no! Even though I might understand some of the things the other person is saying - I might be able to read a book even – the risk of being misunderstood or to misunderstand is too great! It is very often, however, that I find myself alone with this view. In general I think that the limits of languages knowledge are too fluffy. It is often the case that a long list of languages on the CV looks great, the higher the level the better. Insight into one’s own skills is often forgotten. Countless are the times people have claimed to be fluent in English – until they had to write a piece in advanced English or talk to someone from Ireland. Fluency – to me – means that one is able to communicate fluently no matter the context.

What I’m trying to say here is that one’s language skills are often judged based on what a subjectively written piece of paper says. Sometimes there are such things as language testing, but if these tests are not carried out by professionals, then what kind of a result do you expect?
And then there are those who have worked hard to acquire a foreign language and speak it like a native. That should be the goal and you who have done it, you are a great inspiration!

(this post was supposed to be about the wonders of wearing a leather jacket after a long winter, but oh well – I got a bit carried away)

Danilo Kiš

 

“Što je bilo, bilo je. Prošlost živi u nama i ne možemo je izbrisati. Pošto su snovi slika onoga sveta, i dokaz njegovog postojanja, susrećemo se u snovima; kleči kraj furune u koju trpa vlažna drva; ili me doziva promuklim glasom. Tada se budim i palim svetlo. Kajanje i bol se polako pretvaraju u sumornu radost sećanja. Naš dugi, strasni i strašni roman ispunio je moj život, osmislio ga je, i ja ne tražim nikakve nadoknade.”*

This quote is not from the book I’m currently reading, it is from Encyclopedia of the Dead, also by Danilo Kis.

The book I am reading is A Tomb for Boris Davidovich. It is a horrible, absurd and truly wonderful book dealing with the fate of revolutionaries. Kiš and his work might be my new obsession!

 

* "What's done is done. The past lives in us and we can not delete it. Since dreams are picture of the world, and the proof of its existence, we meet in dreams; kneeling furnace into which puts damp wood, or calling me hoarsely. Then I wake up and turn the lights on. Remorse and pain slowly turned into a grim memories of joy. Our long, passionate and scary novel filled my life, it was invented, and I'm not looking for any compensation.”

Better Late Than Never: Belgrade

The title of this post has two meanings.

The first is obvious; it’s taken me weeks to scribble down a few sentences about my feelings, sensations, experiences and activities in Belgrade. I even had time to go to Budapest in between.

The second meaning behind “Better Late Than Never: Belgrade” is that my fascination with what is now the countries of former Yugoslavia is a long story. I must have been five or six when my interest for then-Yugoslavia awoke. It took me a long time to go there for a visit.

So, how was Belgrade? I loved it. In certain ways it’s one ugly city. But the hospitability of the people, the life on the streets, the language and the inspiration it gave me, all made me very fond of the city. There is an edge to the city that attracted me.

Lists.

 

There is a list I borrowed from thesadbox. In order to be a bit bit inventive, I have also added some pictures from Belgrade.

 

10 things that I like:

• sitting in a bar with interesting people, sipping on wine and hear the words flow.
• that moment when one realizes something big.
• coffee in the morning.
• Slavic languages.  
• books.
• lazy breakfasts in the sun.
• cuddling.
• laughter.
• the feeling during and after a good workout.
• politics.

9 things that I like less:

•   Ignorance.
• People who try to force their opinions on you.
• That feeling of not being enough, and sometimes the feeling of being a complete failure.
• Stress.
• Meat without veggies.
• Snow.
• Violence.
• Differing between people and people.
• Boasting.

8 blogs I read (I don’t read so many blogs these days…):

• The sadbox
• Fluent Historian
• Smedette
•  Hunny Minxy
• Vatsassa perhosia
• etc.

7 things I want to do in the future:

• own a library – because there is nothing better than books
• run far
• be happy
• analyse more, learn more, study more
• travel
• write – try to find my creative streak
• wear more yellow – why not?
  

6 things I’m afraid of:

• cows
• peacocks
• the way the world is heading
• that something will happen to my family and those I care about.
• nothing more.
  
  

 

5 places I like to be at

• walking in the street
• pubs and bars and coffee shops
• libraries and anywhere I can find a book
• in foreign lands
• wherever my friends are

 4 words that describe me

• cheerful
• optimist
• fair
• clumsy

 

3 things I’m looking forward to

• our trip to Budapest next weekend and all other trips we will do
• improving my language skills
• the summer holidays

 

2 good films: (I’m terrible at films)
- blank

1 good song:

 

 

 

 

Good Morning, Belgrade!

Or should I say: Добро јутро, Београде!

Just a quick update (mainly for Natalie): it’s amazing! It’s inspiring and fun and the people are so friendly. I will surely post a lot more about this experience once I get back home.