Um, oh, yeah, I might have forgot
Did I forget to mention that my new job is in Washington DC and that I'm moving? Oops.Labels: leaving Serbia
posted by Brooke @ 4:52 PM
Thursday, December 28, 2006
About Me
- Name: Brooke
- Location: Belgrade, Serbia
I'm on my first married adventure....to Serbia. At the moment I'm a little desperate to find a job, to learn the language and to make friends in my current location. This blog will chronicle my adventures in a foreign land - as well as give me a place to yabber on so that Mike is not tortured with every opinion that I would like to share - although I will try not to torture my readers either! Let me know what you think!
Previous Posts
- Bad Blogger
- Grouchy winter-time Serbwife
- What's the deal? (installment 3)
- I have a lint problem
- Open letter to the Belgrade City Manager
- Wooooo Hoooooo!
- Calling all Americans
- Daylight savings time is a crock
- Visitante numero 5
- Bumperstickers from America
38 Comments:
Well, good luck. I hope it won't be hard to get back into the old routine of being aware of crime and watching over your shoulder after the nightfall, but lets hope the job's worth it....
Best regards to Mike and happy New Year and the Serbian Christmas.
yes, u did..haha anyway, good for u. good luck with ur new job and ur future plans in ur homecountry.
best to u in 2007 from serbiaa!!
julijanaaa, ja sam dosla da te molim, ne kradi mi jedinog coveka kog' volim..oh ne..lalalala..uhu! a great song!
Yay!!! I'm excited to see you back in good ol DC. You will be happy to know that by the time you get here, all DC bars will be smoke free!
Congrats! All the best to you and yours in the new year.
Did you move already to DC?
Hey guys, you what I noticed? I have noticed that a blog-person from 'not so desperate yugowife' is coyping a blog of desper.serbwife!! i mean look at her ideas, writing style and headlines..here and there, if you carefully read it thru--it looks like serbwife blog..bc a few days later yugo wife has very much similar..hm crazy..
I disagree. That's really an exageration in my opinion. So there's ONE incident where serbwife posted "bad blogger" on December 16 and yugowife posted a similar title (BB) the next day -- it's probably a complete coincidence. After all, the content is completely different. And you cannot really believe that yugowife is monitoring serbwife before she posts on her own blog, can you? I think you're giving serbwife way too much importance.
"Hey guys, you what I noticed? I have noticed that a blog-person from 'not so desperate yugowife' is coyping a blog of desper.serbwife!!"
So what. If bloggers use some ideas and titles of others it is not illegal. I think yugowife may be a fan/reader/friend of this blog and she probably read the title and agreed it applied to her. Remember that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".
Ok but its not only BB..look the very begining..she is copying her style..read it thru carefully and read sw.blog and then you ll see the difference..i bet even serbwife is thnking this too!
Well I will miss the posts from the desperate serbwife. Hope you have fun in your new endeavour and enjoy being in the US
Hope you enjoy your new job. I will miss the posts about the new city I just moved to 4 months ago.
The only question here is is Mike moving too? Either way, he should have a blog too.
Milica
I agree with Milica..
and where is Brooke these days?
I guess, she is so busy that she couldnt even wish a Merry Christmas to Serbian people..I personally, left Happy New year and M.C. comment wish on one of her previous posts..so much from desperate Brooke.
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Though it would be interesting to see what will they be missing from Belgrade when they land in DC. A sort of reverse "stranger in a strange land" blog.
We just had sarma for lunch, and our daughter just had a happy moment remembering the feeling we had the other summer when we boarded JAT's plane to Belgrade... the incredible meal we were served, with sremska, bit of pršut, bit of suvi vrat, two kinds of REAL CHEESE... it's still fondly remembered. The only thing missing in that meal was liquid yogurt, which she drank by the liter when we got hold of it.
Seriously Anonymous and Milica,
Chill out. The whole "Americans don't adjust" theory is silly. Its only natural that you miss your culture abroad. As an American who lived in the Balkans and who has worked with south eastern Europeans in America, I've seen that we're all the same in that respect.
Its only natural that you miss your culture abroad.
Exactly. I work with immigrants to the US every day, and some of them are chronically depressed because they miss their home country so much. It happens to everyone who goes abroad.
Also, Milica: The fact that Brooke has been generous enough to share some details of her life with us via this website in no way obliges her to keep us up to date on everything she does, much less to show her love for the Serbs by living in Belgrade forever. That's not what blogging is.
Hey you missed the point!! and we are not talking about 'only natural for people to miss their home country' aa grrrr!! ok, enough about it..she is gone anyway. too bad americano dont have appreciation for cultures that are less money powerful...and they therefore start complaining how one household should have a super washing machine so one american doesnt stress out! etc etc etc
Ivana
Hey, people, good luck to her! But I won't miss her blog. Kept coming back to see what was supposedly so interesting about it that so many people linked to it or visited. And the answer was -- nothing. Mostly very trite, self-absorbed remarks. I couldn't for the life of me understand why some of you fawned over her so much. I had to occasionally irritate her just to try to get a normal reaction about something serious.
Are Serbs that desperate and SO grateful to have one little self-absorbed American toss them the occasional bone saying that something in Serbia might be good? Of course, it's good! It's great - no better and no worse than other places, and probably more up to date than most. Stop moping about Brooke being gone. Geeezzz! There are plenty of good blogs around. This one was very mediocre and given an importance it did not deserve.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better."
Good luck in DC.
Wow, how quickly I have learned to grow thick skin. Sorry I haven't posted, I have been busy trying to impress my new boss and find a place to live in DC. My final blog has been swimming around my head for awhile and I really hope I get a free moment soon to actually write it.
It's funny though, the more mean-spirted comments I get, the more I feel like not posting a thing, but then I remember all the great people that I actually met in Serbia, and the friends and co-workers that I had (and will continue to keep in touch with), and I feel like I want to write something to them since I know a lot of them discovered my blog and are probably also wondering why I haven't posted yet (sorry, guys, I will soon!)
My only regret is that my friends and family that live all over the world only have gotten to know the Serb people through the comment section and I'm extremely sad that the majority of the commentors recently have been plain rude. I want my friends and family to know that the haters in the comments section are not representative of the Serb people, but unfortunately, the people leaving nice comments seem to have been drown out by those that think they have something to prove by being mean.
I'm sure I'll get even more feedback about my comments above, and I would expect no less from the haters at this moment, but just do me one favor, please, don't give me any BS excuse about "just being direct like Serbs are," because after more than one year living in Serbia, I can confidently say that the mean comments are not typical of Serbs, they are just plain rude.
bravo brook! i always wonderd why anna and milica and others bothered to read ur blog since they did not like it. Sad for them. maybe now they will move to Srbija since it is so great. then they will see that ur right.
Bravo to anon. and to brooke and ana and milica and then again to anonymous! these comments are all cute and funny..u guys are great! make me laugh..haha u see? I love serbia and love usa! god bless all people..awesome :-)))))
BG girl..
peace!
Hi Brooke, hope you will continue your blog from the "U.S. and A." :)
It would be a pity to let it go, since it has a huge readership. Just my two cents.
Cheers,
Viktor
HAPPY NEW SERBIAN YEAR!!! cheers everybody!!
Daniel,
No one's "obliged" to do anything or to love anyone. I think that your comment is rather unfair, as well as patronizing. I do believe that this last blog sounds a bit childish and ubrupt.
However, I also believe in free speech, and I noticed that a lot of Americans do have trouble ajusting to life overseas more than other nations (and this is not condemnation, but a simple observation). I think I have a reasonably good perspective, but, again, everyone has a right to their own opinion.
It has also become apparent to me that some regard any disagreement with their views as a direct attack, rather than a difference in opinion.
As a matter of fact, I did like Brooke's blog, especially the early ones -- they were clever, entertaining and very original. I have family and many friends in the US, so I get the news from there quite freequently. Brooke's blog was interesting to me mainly because it was about Belgrade, and I was born there.
It's rather unfortunate that some people seem unable to "agree to disagree." The world would be a rather sad place if we all thought the same way.
Haters, Brooke? I don't think so. You don't like your perfectly conceived place in your little world marred by any comment that reminds anyone that perhaps your opinion is not THE opinion to hold. The very idea that you interpret a difference of opinion, or (oh, my gosh!) someone pointing out that maybe your opinion is flawed or, god forbid, insensitive HAS TO come from a troublemaker, someone rude and intrusive. It can't be from someone who has made his own observation that is just as valid as you think yours is, now can it? And certainly it can't be from someone who has read your archives and taken in a pretty well rounded impression of where you stand in your world. Nope. Those who don't fawn over you must be bad people. Whatever you do, make sure you don't try to learn from anyone else by...perhaps...entering into any kind of real dialogue...
Oh Milica, get over yourself. You are just plain rude and you are fooling yourself if you really think what you have provided is simply another point of view....every one of your "viewpoints" is filled with judgemental over-simplifications of how "Americans are." Brooke has never made a statement about how "Serbs are" and so don't pretend that your comments that lump everyone into one basket are anything but the worst kind of stereotyping.
No one who has participated on this blog has been clean of stereotyping, including the blogger.
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uuu Bojana, some harsh words there..
Partially you re right..
I guess, if Brooke doesnt want to make a topic, her readers will on their own.
Ok, keep us posted Brooke with DC or Serbia!
bye
To Milica and Anonymous again: Well, if it ain't the pot calling the kettle black!
Do you actually hear yourself? Its not fair to impart such advice without taking it yourself. No one on the "other side" is "lumping" ALL or ANY disagreement with Brooke as wrong. Its simply that your inductive reasoning too often lends itself to stereotyping under the cloak of disagreement.
No one is arguing against disagreement - its a completely valid principle to be honest - but not as a righteous last word.
I dont get some poetry above :-(
Wow looks like I missed all of the action... You know this kind of atmosphere reminds me of the reaction(s) of people who break up after a relationship.
Dont take it too hard people. If you guys are seriously interested in whats going on in Serbia there are other blogs out there (not mentioning any names).
At least part of this blog's success is the mish / mash of people who visited and made comments in the side section. Therefore as much as the blogger will be missed, so we will also miss each other. That, in case anybody doesnt realise, is what part of this 'fall out' is about.
Well, I just love these "anonymous" voices... And I also like these "get over yourself" comment. Well, I am AMERICAN!!!
Well I know a lot of WASPS here in the Uk who complain about "the culture shock". What can be said???
To Daniel, I'd like to add :
There's a minimum of common curtesy and respect that one should pay to a country one is a visting or "obeserving". I haven't noticed much curtesy in this blog.
Let me just clarify this to you...
How about if I wrote about any large city in the US and I concenrated on :
1. Homeless, deranged, beggars sleeping in the streets
2. The number of obese, unsightly people and women with badly burnt, bleached-ouit hair... (please visit NJ...)
3. The prevalence of WOODEN houses in preppy New England (as my granmother, who had a medical degree from the U of Vienna said: "Who wants to live in a house where one has to be scared of the thermites???)
4. The fact that 30% of Americans don't have any kind of medical coverage and that you need an immunization record when you enrol into any American University????
What would you think?...
That I was being obnoxious, of course...
Well, just remember that we're all human, regardless of the weapon power, the abundance of our shopping malls or super-markets...
Some required reading --- Anything recent by Noam Chomsky...
pozdrav,
milica
Milica,
I hope you are not mistaking Noam Chomsky for a true friend of Serbs. He just pretends to be one. Sounds good at first, but look deeper and be careful. We've all been taken in by Mr. Chomsky at some point or other, but it only takes a little bit of research to see that he is different than he presents himself. Too bad...
Best regards,
Blackbird
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