The best job ever!

Dear readers,

I know that I haven't posted in over a month, but I have been fairly busy with my summer, as I am preparing everything for my university. I will be moving from the Czech Republic to Germany, to study at the University of Potsdam. After a summer of traveling through various countries, I returned to the Czech Republic on August 19th. On August 20th, I went to my now former school to attend its very first MUN as a chair in service. With the teachers already at school preparing the coming school year, which then started on August 24th, I was approached by a former teacher of mine who was in charge of the class trip to Istanbul for the senior class (the 12th grade). He told me that Istanbul had to be cancelled due to safety measures, and that he would like to kindly ask for my help in the re-routing process. As the trip was supposed to start in 10 days, I was kind of nervous, thinking that I couldn't save the trip. But I did.

Fast forward to August 30th, at Prague Airport, I was actually the one who arrived first, because my re-routing was so successful, that I was deployed to be the tour guide of the group, as I was about to embark on my biggest project yet, a class trip with 35 people to Belgrade, Serbia. I've done that before, but I haven't really had a group this large, so I was about to embark on an interesting journey, where I didn't know myself what awaited me, and what I was supposed to do. To be honest, most of the programme was improvised on the spot, but I didn't tell that to the students. If I learned anything in life, it is that as long as you look like you know what you're doing, you can't cause any further disruption.

The trip went really well, we all got to Belgrade  without any complications, I showed them around and had an exiting programm for every day (or at least I hope it was exiting). This trip more than anything showed me the true beauty of work and especially the work I was doing. This spontaneous trip to Belgrade saved me to some extent. I loved what I was doing and I couldn't have asked for a better task. The class I got to work with includes some of my closest friends and good accquaintances, and I enjoyed every minute of the job. At least that's how I feel now, during the job I was really tired and exhausted and it was stressful. No matter how nice a school group might be, they are still a school group. No matter how tired or exhausted I got though, it was still worth it.

If anyone from that group is reading this, then I would like to take a moment to tell you, how much it meant to me, that I got the opportunity to spend those amazing 6 days with you in Belgrade, and how much it meant to me that all of you got to see my hometown and my homeland. I loved being your guide and I hope that in the future, I can be your guide again, if you chose to re-visit Serbia. You were one of the kindest groups I had, and one of the most appreciative tourists in Belgrade. You took the city as it was, and became part of it, which is what truly matters. You didn't just visit Belgrade, I really felt like you lived in Belgrade, and that you felt alive. And what made me feel alive and appreciated is your wonderful gift. The book with all of your impressions and thoughts. I was honored to know, that I have done a good job, and that you had fun during your class trip. I read it on the bus on my way home and shed a few tears of joy to be honest, because I knew it was worth it.

In the end, I kind of was your teacher, so I want to teach you something with this (I know, I'm kind of mean at times). So, if there's anything Belgrade has tought you it is, that the age old saying "looks don't matter" is really true. Belgrade can't over you beauty, it has been destroyed too often and can't rebuilt itself at the moment. It is a destroyed city, with a tragic history. And yet, the people of Belgrade are happy. What you experienced in Belgrade is a an experience, unlike any other. After my years of traveling, I only got to know few cities, that made you feel alive, as if you were a part of it. Belgrade is one them. If you had any prejudices about Belgrade before getting there, or after you saw the city for the first time, they were most likely gone after a few days. In Belgrade, the people live, they want to make the best of life. Sure, we all have worries, but we must not always overthink in life, sometimes we need to shut down. Unlike Prague, Belgrade can offer you so many cafés with an atmosphere where you get to feel calm, and where you get to be you. Only when you lose yourself in Belgrade, you will discover a new version of you, a version that feels alive.

I hope to see all of in Belgrade once, to discover, to feel and to enjoy this one of a kind city.
With the kindest of regards, Stefan.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller