The Other Side of the Rainbow

So, Serbia.  Unfortunately, since I traveled straight from Belgrade to St. Petersburg, it may have diminished my ability to reflect on everything that happened to me there, but I will try to do so while the experiences are still relatively fresh in my mind.  If you're curious as to how Serbia is different from America, or at least my impressions of Serbia, and aren't really interested in all of my silly personal musings or ridiculous adventures, this is the one post you ought to read.  Of course, my limited experience in no way permits me to make general statements with any sort of authority, but I can at least describe my impressions from the short week in which I wandered the city, wide-eyed and observant.  And so - the differences we think we see.

• Public transportation - although many of these differences stem from Belgrade being a city, whereas I am used to small-town Maine, it was amazing how well it worked here.  There were many options: buses, trolleybuses (wheeled vehicles that ran off of the overhead electric lines), and trams.  Belgrade, interestingly enough, has no subway system: perhaps because it is built on two rivers, perhaps because it is too old (by the time that technology came around, the city was much the same size as it is today, and it would have been too much hassle to try and install a subway system into an already thriving metropolis).  
• As opposed to America (and whenever I say "America", I'm thinking of New York, which is the closest thing to a large European city that I have experienced in the States) where there are a plethora of taxis, transportation in Belgrade is much more communal (which, I think, stems from the American individualist mindset).  There are plenty of cars in Belgrade, but many of them are old European models from the 70s and 80s (I saw especially many Yugos, some with the "go" part of the name removed so that it read "Yu", the abbreviation for "Yugoslavia", as this country was known for many years).  
• People seem more willing to walk to places (at least it felt like Nikola and I walked everywhere) but things aren't necessarily closer than in the States.  
• The poverty is there, as it is in any big city, but it isn't necessarily any more or less glaring than I've seen in NYC, or Philadelphia, or Boston - but the people begging are more noticeably of a different ethnicity than the other inhabitants of the city.  
• Perhaps it was because it was rainy for most of the week that I was in Belgrade, but it did seem to me that people wore fewer bright colors than in America (of course, I've never specifically noticed the clothing people tend to wear in big cities in America.  Perhaps it isn't that different after all).  I saw a lot of neutral colors - black, brown, beige - and very few people had the cutesy rain boots or umbrellas that are all the rage now in the US.  I think things like that start in the Far East (i.e. Japan and Korea) and move East, not West - in many ways, going to Belgrade was like entering a time machine and going back to the 80s.
• Girls tend to wear flats or heels (and when I say heels, I mean 6-inch stilettos) but they still walk everywhere.  It's impressive.  I also saw quite a few shoe stores that had ridiculously impractical footwear on display - I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing or what.  But the large, colorful, bulky-looking Nike shoes that are making a comeback here in the States are also popular over there, especially with younger teenage girls.  The boys don't seem to be as much into fashion, although I was mostly looking at the girls. 
• I've never been inside an apartment in a big city (when I was younger, I visited relatives in Boston, but that's the closest I've come) but I think the Stojanovic's apartment was nice by any standards, and especially for Belgrade.  Mr. Stojanovic explained to me that his grandfather used to own the entire building and the one behind it, but when the socialists gained control everything was de-privatized and now they only own the apartment they live in.  
• There were many small, but interesting, differences in the details and furnishings of the apartment: the light switches were large and flat and pushing on the upper side of the button turned the light on, and pushing on the lower side turned it off (it's difficult to describe, but they're the same in Russia - I'll make sure to take a picture). 
• The doors were even different in Serbia - at least the ones in Nikola's apartment.  Instead of fitting securely into the doorframe, most have a small lip on one side which ensures that when closed, they entirely seal off the doorway.  When I pointed it out to Nikola, he said he had never noticed the difference in America, but that the lip on the door was called a jesik, or tongue.  I speculate that it works to better maintain the temperature in the individual rooms, since heat is a more precious commodity over here than in the States (and it's all centralized, so most tenants don't have the option of controlling their own environs).  
• Trash in Belgrade also works much differently than in the States (or at least, differently than in Maine).  Instead of having several trash cans of various sizes throughout the house, there is a single, small trash receptacle in the kitchen, in which is placed a plastic shopping bag for trash.  Nikola and Aca also have small trash cans in their rooms, but I didn't see any others, not even in the bathroom.  Since the trash can is so small, the trash must be taken out much more frequently than in America; at least every day.  All along the streets of Belgrade there are large bins on the edge of the sidewalk, which function just like dumpsters here in the US.  Whenever the trash from an apartment is taken out, it is deposited in these bins, which are emptied rather frequently by public works.  It is certainly a less unsightly system than having dozens of black trash bags stacked on the sidewalk on trash day, as they do in NYC.  
• The food.  As you can probably tell from my having described my meals every day, Serbians eat a lot of bread and a lot of dairy products, especially for breakfast.  Turkish food is also quite prevalant, as a result of the several centuries of Ottoman rule.  They often drink water or nothing at all with their meals (fortunately, the tap water in Belgrade is potable, as far as I know).  Alcohol is prevalant but not as much so as in Russia.
• Education. Serbia follows much of the rest of Europe in that the first eight years of schooling are completed together, by everyone.  After this, there is a cumulative and comprehensive exam which all students take which covers everything that they have learned in "primary school."  This is the exam which Aca is studying for and will take on the 21st of June.  The results of this test determine the student's options for the next step of his schooling.  They can go to a three-year technical school and learn a practical skill like automotive mechanics or plumbing or electrician, and after that enter the workforce.  Some of these specialized schools are also four years, and they occur in almost every flavor: from architecture to politics to medical school to law school to art school or an acting academy.  There are also more general four-year institutes (which are called "gymnasiums" which probably derives from the Ancient Greek use of the word)  in which the students study many subjects as they do in our high schools.  These schools are specifically geared towards students planning to enter university after graduating.  The universities are much more specialized than in America where we tend to have liberal arts schools, and are called "Fakultet"s (which could probably best be rendered in English as "division").  Post-graduate education is relatively uncommon in Serbia and almost all students who study at university enter the workforce immediately afterwards.  There are special universities for those students who wish to become doctors or lawyers, and after finishing a four-year course of study at such a specialized university the students are certified to hold these jobs, as opposed to America where these occupations require an additional four years of study after a general university education.  At least, that is my impression of the Serbian (and European in general) educational system, as gathered from conversations with Nikola, Mrs. Stojanovic, and sundry other foreign exchange students throughout the years.  Please excuse me (and feel free to correct me in a comment) for any errors in my understanding.  
• In general, students live with their parents and attend school nearby, especially if they live right in a large city such as Belgrade and they have this option (all of Nikola's friends that I met live in Belgrade, at home).  However, students from outlying areas often come in to the city and rent apartments (there are no college campuses in Belgrade as we would think of them) - on my trip through the city upon my arrival, Mr. Stojanovic pointed out a few high-rise buildings that were mostly populated by students.
• Serbian people are friendly and hospitable (or at least the few that I met).  The first time I met one of Nikola's friends, they would offer their hand, but by the second or third time I came across them they greeted me with a hug and a friendly kiss on the cheek.  When I inquired as to the customs behind interactions and greetings in Serbia, Nikola was only able to tell me that it depended upon the people and the relationship they had between them, more than gender or age, but you wouldn't find people in America (or at least, in New England) hugging you on the second or third meeting, so I suspect it is largely a cultural thing.  He also told me that the traditional Serbian greeting is three kisses, alternating cheeks, but the only time I saw that was between adults at the Orthodox wedding the first day.  Nikola and all of his friends greeted each other with a hug and a single kiss (which is occasionally only a noisy smooch into the air beside the person's cheek, depending on their relationship).  Serbians also tend to be loud, and they love to joke and tease.  It is common, when running into an acquaintance or friend on the street (which happens often in a city where everyone walks) to stop and chat for a minute or two.  Overall, I think I may have been born into the wrong ethnicity.  I've never been to England, Ireland or Scotland, but it's still hard for me to believe that these people's cold Northern-European blood flows in my veins, as any of you who know me can testify. 

Perhaps now you can see why I am so eager to return to this place.  There are so many things that I still want to do (and then there's all the touristy stuff too ;]).  Nikola and I kept saying "Next time, next time."  I can only hope that that isn't too far in the future.