A fresh start

Dear Readers,
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

When I first entered my flat (living room picture here) after the move.

The view out of the living room on the day of the move.

A little opinion on success

Dear readers,

What is the key to success? Many people will ask this question, and many people who did succeed in life will get asked this question. For some reason, even I got asked this question, even though my personal success is rather limited to minor issues regarding some projects I work for. I’m going to put my theory out in the open right now: There is no key to success, but there are keys to success, just like there isn’t only one nice apartment in a city, but multiple ones. Also we always must define what success is, because there are different ways to it.

To define it briefly, I would say succeeding in something, means accomplishing the task to fulfill a wish one once had, or to feel as if ones life is an accomplishment. Success can be divided into sections, as in most cases a person is successful in one part of life, but is not doing well in another. I usually make a five category division: family life, love life, social life, work and health. So far, I have barely encountered people, who are worry free in all categories.

I’m going to be honest with you here and allow me to say how I’m doing in my own five categories: 
1. I personally worry about family a lot, and I don’t feel like I’m contributing to it successfully.
2. I have given up on my love life, as so far, it’s proven me that it is in fact a waste of time.
3. My social life is successful. I have my closest friends whom I can count on, and a lot of people looking up to me. (Which is really nice, but it also puts pressure on me from time to time.)
4. Work has basically become my life. I spend most of my time working on some text, book, post, article, short-story and or scenario. If I’m not doing that, I am working on my life administration, and I’m preparing myself for university at the moment, in which I hope to do good.
5. I am in perfect physical health right now. My blood pressure gets problematic at times, but it doesn’t even harm me, so I am completely fine on that issue.

If I look at that base of my life, I can see how success, could be built, and where it could be built. I could work more, and be really successful in that category, but I might neglect other categories. I could start working on my family life, and try to keep contact with most of them, but the time it’ll cost me to get me anywhere will be longer, but the success might be more rewarding. I always try balancing my social life with my work, but what if one takes over the other, just to make itself better? Or what if I have to drop everything, in case my health gets worse? (God forbid that happens) All those aspects always leave me wondering about what success really is, and when I will be able to call myself successful? Do I have to be of a certain age to be successful? Not really, I mean I had success in school, by organizing multiple international projects. I was successful. Am I still? Maybe. Maybe not. It’s perspective I guess.

One final thought: Do I see this blog as successful, now after having it for half a year? I guess that depends. I posted much less, than I intended. I wanted to post more on cities around the world, I wanted to share much more travel stories, and I wanted to discuss many more social issues. And I keep telling myself to write more, but then I’m stopped by the thought, that not many people are reading this anyways, so why should I write something for the public? And that’s where I tell myself, that if I at least inspire and / or entertain one person, it’s worth writing the thing. Only about 5 - 10 % of what I write ever get’s to see the light of day, by being read by one other person than me (not incl. handwritten letters, which are always addressed at someone, about 80% are sent off). And only about 1 - 2 % of my written words get posted to the internet via some form of social media. I am trying to change those figures, but I keep on spending time writing way too private stuff, and addressing topics, which aren’t really interesting for your average blogger.

So, in the end, I guess only time can tell us, when we are successful and at what. My conclusion would be, that everyone is successful throughout life in different fields. It’s like playing basketball, you might have set your eye on throwing the ball into the basket, but you might score 2 points, instead of your intended 3 points. And you can’t always look at the ball and the basket, but you need to keep the entire field of players on your mind. Good luck on the field!



Love, Stefan

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

Sofia, Bulgaria

Dear readers,

I was really dying for a chance to write about my trip to Bulgaria, which occured from July 23rd 2015 to July 26th 2015. I visited a good Bulgarian friend of mine from school in his hometown Sofia, and I made Bulgaria the 29th country, I've ever visited. My friend showed me his hometown Sofia and took me for a trip to Plovdiv (which I will discuss in an upcoming blogpost). Today, I'd like to write about Sofia.

Sofia

When I arrived at Belgrade International Airport, saying goodbye to my grandma, and went to the Business Class lounge, I went through all of the things I've heard about Bulgaria, from my friends and family in Serbia. You see, whilst in Prague, barely anyone has an opinion about Bulgaria, in dumbed down Serbia, everyone seems to hate it, because of a war that happened in 1912, and because the two countries fought on different sides in World War II. However, the countries are both closely connected with each other culturally, both nations are slavic and speak two very similar slavic languages (even though history loving Serbs will call Bulgarians turkic, since there is an ethnic mix of Bulgaria), both nations are mostly christian-orthodox, both nations had fallen under the rule of communism, both nations were occupied by the ottoman-empire, both nations (along with Greece and Albania) want a part of Macedonia and both nations are more or less closely connected.

The Parliament

My favourite building: National Thetra Ivan Vazov

Historic Roman Baths

So how come they hate each other? Well, the answer does not lie in the present, but more in the past. Whilst Bulgarians got over their past with the Serbs and actually like them (people were always very kind to me, when they found out I was a Serb), Serbs have a different approach, due to their pride on their history, they still did not forgive Bulgaria. Thus, when I was in Sofia, I was a bit sceptic, because of all the rumours I've heard. Instead, I was surprised, by what I had found in this wonderful city.

Bulgarian Assembly

Art Gallery of Sofia

National Palace of Culture

Sofia is relatively small compared to other capital cities in Europe, however it's really nice in the core centre. The old part influenced by a mix of roman, slavic and islamic-oriental culture is really interesting. Also, it's nice to have a church, a mosque and a synagogue, just a few metres apart from each other. The centre is amazing, especially the huge chruches, which literally overwhelmed me by their majestic beauty. As an orthodox-christian, I haven't seen such beauty in a long time. I also found out, that the saint Sveta Petka, on whose values my grandmother raised me, was in fact Bulgarian. So in some sense, I did feel a connection to the country, and on top of that add that I was with a friend, who's a local, and I can tell, that I got to know the city.

Sofia Mosque

Aleksandr Nevski Cathedral

Russian Church

Chapel of Sveta Petka

The rest of Sofia is kind of nothing special, because it's mostly huge socialist high rise buildings, which were built during the communist rule over the city. My friend lives on the 17th floor on one of those, which gave me the opportunity to stare at the city at any given time, all the time. I did make use of that, because Sofia has a really beautiful skyline, as it is surrounded by mountains and gives you the feeling of being in a large city, but at the same time, it feels like you're in the middle of the mountains.

The view from my friends apartment: City Centre

The view from my friends apartment: Socialist residential areas

Sofia now is booming because of the EU. Everywhere you can see EU flags and "funded by the EU" signs. The EU helped expand the Sofia Metro, build a new airport, a new railway station and is working on basically everything infrastructure. Basically, since Bulgaria entered the EU, the EU has been paying for everything, which makes Sofia so much more modern, than I expected it. I can't wait to see how this city will develop in the next few years.

EU funded metro line 2

Can't wait to go again,
Stefan.

The Southern Park. Probably the most romantic place for long walks.

Pride

Dear readers,

Due to the recent events in the USA, regarding the legalisation of gay marriage, I wanted to write a statement on the LGBTQ+ population and its situation around the world. I myself am gay, and wanted to say a few words about this topic, because I feel like there's a few things, that is not being properly said. Personally, I am happy for all US gays and their opportunity to get legally married, in the entire country, in each and every state. I am also happy for all the gays in the world, who live in countries, which have legalised gay marriage (France, the UK, Spain, Slovenia etc.) as well as for all gays in countries where the reigstered partnership is legal (Germany, the Czech Republic, Croatia etc.) and for all the gays in the world, who have an easy life, where they don't have to struggle as much with their sexuality.

I recently dated a guy with the perfect setting for his homosexuality. He grew up in a city, where it is completely normal to be gay, and where no one bats an eye if you hold hands with a person of the same, or the opposite sex. Often he would not understand, just how much I struggle with my sexuality on a daily basis, because even though I grew up in Prague and went to a German School with more than 40 nationalities reprensented, I still originate from Serbia, which is really conservative about the topic of homosexuality. I do not define that struggle as something that gets me discriminated on a daily basis, through verbal abuse or something similar. I more define it as a the struggle to find acceptance in a society, which doesn't grant it to me. And I can understand them, I can completely understand homophobia and the reasons, why people have something against the LGBTQ+ population. It's weird to some social standard, and as long as no one tries to educate societies on their own issues, those socieites are not going to change.

My first travel post on this blog was about Moscow and that was for a reason. I love Russia, and I am fascinated by that country. I wanted to get to know the city, the politics, the people, and understand them, and not judge them. I feel like, if one does not judge, one will not be judged. Most people who hate a specific group, don't even have a reason for it, but are instead tought into it by their parents. In each society there is one unpopular group that is being hated. Whilst in Western Europe, most people accept the LGBTQ+ society, they don't accept Islam, whilst in Islamic countries, they accept other religions, but don't accept the LGBTQ+ society. Whilst in Russia, gays get beaten up at times, in my country (Serbia) and my other country (Croatia) national tensions against each other are building up again. There will always be hate around the world, and for it to stop we must set an example. How can the LGBTQ+ society ever be accepted, if we keep on discriminating those, who discriminate us? We're going in circles over here.

In my life, I have managed to explain to people that alternative sexual orientations are normal and are something that one is born with. Since I move around all kind of societies in the world, especially ones that are not always tolerant, I've learned how to talk to people in a way, that makes them understand that my sexuality, does not offend their beliefs and cultural values. It's difficult to tackle the topic and speak to people about it, and many gay guys I know lose their nerves fairly easily when confronted with homophobia, whilst the key to peace is diplomacy (if used correctly, and if it's not corrupted like most politicians, but that's a story for another time) and understanding. We live in a diverse world, so whilst we promote diversity, we should embrace it, instead of rank it.

Think about it, Stefan

School

Dear readers,

As of June 10th 2015, I am officially no longer a student at the German School of Prague, since I managed to successfully graduate it. I find the feeling of graduation to be rather special, and something, that I can't really find the words for to describe it, because it's a mix of emotions, ranging from extreme happiness to lifetime frustration, as an important chapter of life, comes to an end.

After graduation, I watched most of my classmates chant happily, that they will never have to go to school again, and that is was so horrible going there every weekday at 8am. I admit, it's not a pleasant memory, getting up at 6am every morning, rushing to leave the house, only so you can be the zombie with earphones in, whilst commuting by underground in crowded trains. However, in the end, school is not a bad place to be. Compared to what probably expects me in life, school was nice and enjoyable, and even though I'm glad, that I can move on to university, I will still miss the carelessness of the organization of my day, because I had a regular routine.

As I am writing this, I begin to realize, that many of people I used to see on an everyday basis, will no longer be part of my life. I'm sure that I will stay friends with my current friends as much as I can, but no one of us is staying in Prague, as most of us will move to Germany, as our school hands us a German diploma, and not a Czech one. So, the new life I'm about to start is going to be a life, without my friends around, and if I ever want to see one of them, I have to go see them, or they'll have to go see me. That is a painful thought, considering the fact, that we once used to see each other on a daily basis.

I remember my first day of school fairly well. It was fairly painful. It was at a Czech public school, which I hated the entire year. I cried, I hated it, the kids hated me for being a foreigner (as I'm from Serbia) and some teachers even downgraded my marks, for not speaking proper Czech. The fondest memories I have of that year are my class teacher, who was really kindhearted and always fair, and a girl named Kristýna, who was my "crush" at the time. We always got along really well, and she was kind of the only friend I had.

However, luckily I mastered the German language well enough to be put into the German School of Prague in year 2, saving me from endless terror and putting in a school, where I actually had friends, and was not discriminated for being Serbian. Up until year 5, I was a part of the group and always enjoyed my childhood at the school, for it was the best I could ask for. As I got into years 6 to 9, socializing became more difficult for me and I was the outsider in the group most of the time. This was mostly due to the divorce of my parents and my personal struggels regarding my sexuality.

Years 10 to 12 were my glory years in school. I successfully (at least at my school) came out as gay in year 10, started working on various projects of my own and participated in as many classes as it was possible. I saw my grades improove in those three years and a range of successes. In year 10, I started my Serbian language class, which then got a confirmed trip to Belgrade, we were only 6 on that trip, but it was still a once in a lifetime experience. Except fot the fact that 7 of us did the same thing in year 11 again, gaining more attention from the school and support from our fellow teacher. In year 11, I also discovered MUN and I was part of our schools MUN team for two years, visiting three MUN's whilst at it. In year 12 I started my most ambitious projects, with the introduction of the regional conference for student body presidents of German Schools. A very good friend of mine from the German School of Belgrade helped me launch the project, and so we did. In Belgrade, we met with Warsaw and Zagreb and their representatives, and had the first successful confernce. A week later I was sent to Budapest to present the project to the principals of 12 German Schools abroad in Eastern Europe, by far my biggest success.

Now, I leave this part of my life behind, and look forward to new horizons, new challenges, new topics and new opinions. I have time to travel more now, and more time to write for this blog, and I expect to post more frequently and write more texts about more topics. I'm preparing, so hang on, please. I promise, that it'll be good.

I wish all of you a happy summer! Stefan.

Warsaw, Poland

In 1944, this city was completely destroyed by the Nazi Regime, almost wiping it off the map. And when the country of Poland got it independence in 1945 under the communist regime, it got the task to rebuild its own capital, which to this day stays one huge construction site.

On May 14th I flew to Warsaw for an extended weekend to visit a good friend of mine, Aleksandra, who had invited me to come see her city. I stayed until May 17th, and the 4 days I spend there, left me absolutely speechless. The city has so much to offer, not just in history, but also in lifestyle. There are more brands, shops and products than in Prague, and the city definitely tries to become as Western as possible. Modern developments include the stadium and the new business centre:

Now, before the Nazis, Warsaw was a small little trading town, with a nice historic city centre and beautiful markets. Most of the old parts have been rebuilt to look as original as possible, with success to be seen:

During the communist era, Warsaw rapidly developed into a representative capital. With its main monument, the Palace of Culture, Warsaw paid tribute to the Soviet Union, by building it in the style of a Stalin skyscraper. Today, it's basically the symbol of the city:

The destruction of Warsaw in 1944 changed the city completely, and it's course in history. On Willy Brandt square, one can find the monument to the fallen, where in 1970 the German chancellor, Willy Brandt well to his knees in order to show respect to Poland, and ask for forgiveness. A few months ago, the museum of Jewish history opened up there. In my opinion, it's one of the nicest museums to go to, as it has an interesting exhibition, which is not centered at the holocaust, but at Jewish history as a whole. I really found it worth a visit.

Monument to the fallen Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto

Museum of Jewish History

Anyways, Warsaw was not only sightseeing for me, but also meeting friends, partying and having a good time in general. Aleksandra and I were walking around most of the time, and she showed me most places. She's just such an amazing person, funny, smart and she knows what she's doing. Something you don't really find often in people! I thank her a lot for this experience I got in Warsaw, and I hope, that one day, I can re-visit her in this lovely city.

Aleksandra and I eating what I consider to be the cheapest ice cream for the fairest price ever.

Waiting for the subway at Plac Wilsona

Aleksandra's wonderful smile :)

On saturday, Aleksandra threw a party, where I got to meet most of her friends. They were all very nice people in my opinion, and they sure know how to have fun. It was one of those rare house parties, where everyone's drunk to the point, that they're having fun, without annoying anyone else. Nothing broke, no body felt sick, and everyone seemed to enjoy the party.

I couldn't find many party photos on my phone, but I did find this one, which I cherish. Elena (left) and Ewa (right) are two of Aleksandra's best friends and in my opinion amazing people. 

When I left Warsaw, I was struck with this wish to go again, but not for the tourism, but for the life. Warsaw is not a city, with offers full time entertainment for tourist in the form of sightseeing, but more in the form of living. If you know the right people in Warsaw, you are bound to have a good time.

From Poland with Love, Stefan.