My name is Stefan Radaković, I am Serbian guy from Belgrade, Serbia with some of my roots in Croatia and Bosnia. I have a stepmother from Jordan and thus feel connected to that part of the world as well. I was born and raised in Prague, the Czech Republic, on August 7th 1997 and in June this year I finished the German School of Prague. I am a third culture kid (TCK) and I feel blessed that I got to 6 languages at age 16. Yet no matter how much I aspired in my childhood and how much I managed to grow up through my broad horizon, three months ago, on August 21st 2015, I had to make the first step towards adulthood, by moving out of my parents home and moving to Berlin, Germany. And I thought I might just sum up how it feels like to enjoy a fresh start.
At first I stayed with my aunt for two months and in the first month I was doing everything to find a flat. Long story short: a good friend of mine from Croatia found a flat for the two of us, and so we decided to move in together. She is now my roommate and since October 24th 2015, we have been living together happily. It’s interesting how in the end it all played out well, as I can remember fairly well that I was stressed all summer. The first period with my aunt was a nice kickstart into my new life, as I was still under adult protection for the first two months, and I had some time to get used to the city (even though I visited Berlin more than 20 times before that) before living there on my own with my roommate. I also can’t express in words how thankful I am to have a loving family member in Berlin, who is always willing to help me out when I am in need. I swear to God that I will do my best to give back to my aunt as much as I can and make her proud of me!
When I moved to my new apartment and entered it for the first time as a resident, I was shocked to realise that I just have entered my new home. I remember looking out of the window, admiring the view of the church and thinking to myself: „You will be seeing this every single morning from now on.“ After being done with my furniture and getting the place ready to roll, I finally got the experience of how it is to care about oneself: getting groceries every day, thinking about the laundry, considering cheap food options and so on. It’s usually the little details, which one doesn’t notice when living with their parents.
Next to moving out came also university, and even though I spend most of my time with a friend of mine from school there, I also got to know a handful of new people. You might not always like the people at your university at first, but give it a little time and you’ll see if you’ll stick to your group or not. Trust me, there are various people you can meet. Currently I study economics at the University of Potsdam, which for some reason counts as one of the most modern universities in Germany. They do live up to their reputation and so far I can say that it’s been interesting, thought I might write about that in further detail another time.
Berlin is a great city to live in as a student. With a population of 3.5 million and a very diverse mix of cultures, it is one of the biggest party cities in Europe. It also plays an important role in politics as the capital of Germany, which has become more and more relevant regarding recent news. Which is why I can say, that I am happy to live in such a thriving metropolis, especially after growing up in Prague for 18 years, which compared to Berlin, is a really peaceful and quiet town. For some reason I feel like I left Prague just at the right time as the political situation in the Czech Republic has worsened, but I feel like that’s a story for another time.
Today, November 21st 2015, marks 3 months in Berlin for me, and it has been a wild ride so far, and I hope that it won’t stop being this exciting and interesting. In the past three months I have made so many experiences, and already have so many memories to share, that I can barely sum it up in words, just how happy I am to have been granted this opportunity. To mark this event, I wanted to make this post.
The future of this blog:
Soon, I will start posting more, and I have decided to tackle more personal topics as well. I wanted to make this blog a travel blog, so I will try to write about places and trips as well, yet I feel like some topics which hit me on a personal basis might be more interesting to write about, and I could be more open about some issues. Not many people read this blog, but I want to give back to the ones who do, and the ones who share my posts.
Love, Stefan
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| When I first entered my flat (living room picture here) after the move. |
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| The view out of the living room on the day of the move. |
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