B92 Blog

Over the past nine months, since I've begun blogging, no fewer than five Western businesses have approached me wondering if I'd like to work for them in their new Serbian office. None of them knew anything about my skills, education, experience, or had even met me in person. They only knew I was an American businesswoman who now lives part of the year in Serbia. They've ranged from bio-tech companies to Internet firms.

Although Western companies do, on occasion, aggressively headhunt top qualified candidates for key positions, pinging random bloggers to see if they want jobs is not remotely normal. So, why is it happening to me? Desperation I suppose.

Companies want Western-educated or at least Western-experienced execs on their teams in Serbia, just simply because they share a common understanding of how business "should" work, plus a common background makes communication far easier. I know from personal experience. In the past, I've hired and managed nat

If you yourself are a Serb expatriot (of which I suspect thousands surf B92 weekly) or you are a foreigner married to a Serb, I've started a new Facebook group for us to gather. It's free, but you must be a Facebook member (which is also free.) I've learned though this blog and my own separate blog that I'm not the only non-Serb out there who is in that crazy world of being married to a Serb. So, I figured, let's make company for each other!

Specific Instructions:

#1. If you are not on http://www.facebook.com already, create a free account for yourself.  You can create a profile of yourself which friends who you've selected can see. You can get emails and other contacts from Facebook members who are your friends.  And you can join groups.

#2. After you log in, click on the left, "applications" list where it says "Groups".

#3. In the search box at the top of the Groups home page, enter the words:  Married to a Serb Expat

#4.  The

A reader just emailed me to ask about retiring in Serbia. I'm not retired yet, but definitely considering things. Plenty of expat Serbs do retire in Serbia now, and that number will increase phenomenally if/when economic and political stability are on the horizon. Here are my tips and I'd love to hear yours:

o Cheap living -- Belgrade is pretty pricey (although not compared to London, New York or Boston), but other places, such as my part-time hometown of Sombor Serbia are remarkably cheap. You can buy or build a house for very little, perhaps 100k Euros for a nice house in the best part of town. Locally grown food at the greenmarket is inexpensive too. Imported stuff gets pricey.

o Bring your car -- Cars, even used ones, are really expensive. If you're coming from the US or Canada where cars are cheaper, then import your own vehicle. (Each Serb citizen gets to import one car free from customs tax per lifetime. I think the car must be less than 5 years old.) Shipping to Germ

I conducted a quick experiment a few days ago. I went to all three of the US presidential candidate's official web sites and searched for any mention of Kosovo or Serbia. Nothing. Next, using their online forms I wrote each a note explaining that I am a blogger covering Serb-American affairs for two blogs and did they have any position on the US recognizing Kosovo's independence that they would like to share with my readers?

Within 24 hours I received form letters, the gist of which was, 'thanks for your interest, but I am too busyto answer your question. Please contribute to my campaign." from the two Democrat candidates (Clinton and Obama). McCain's team didn't send me any email at all, not even a form.

Truthfully, McCain's reaction was the only one that shocked me. (His team should not be breaking email marketing 101 rules.) Fact is, although Kosovo may be the biggest drama of Serbia, it's an unnoticed affair in the American political world. The on

And now for something completely different from current politics... and yet, sadly, just about as depressing. A few B92 blog readers have emailed me asking if I have any tips on teaching their wives/girlfriends/boyfriends Serbian. Here's what I know - if you have any tips to add please do.

#1. Be nice. Serbian is a very hard language to learn.

In the first throes of love or infatuation, your new partner will inevitably volunteer to learn your language. Then he or she will actually try to learn some. Unless he or she is a language-genius or you live fulltime in Serbia surrounded by non-English speakers, the task will soon become overwhelming. Shortly after that, lessons will languish, the promise will be broken. years of bickering ensue.

OK, Serbian is not as hard as most Asian languages are for Westerners. Learning to speak Thai, for example, would crush me into oblivian. On the other hand, it's not easy. Serbian is especially hard for educated Westerners because the R

Yet again Serbia's image -- and much of its political and economic future -- is being decided vividly in headlines in the Western press. For example, the hugely influential and (usually) highly credible Washington Post just ran an editorial headlined, "Serbia's Thugs". 

As if the headline is not bad enough, the editorial is completely one-sided and simple-minded, basically saying Serbs Yet Again Suck, but not giving any reasons why or background into how the US government may have (heartily) contributed to the problems.

My question is, why are almost no Serbs or Friends of Serbs posting comments or editorial replies on the vast majority of these stories???  Almost all the major US, UK and Canadian press now allow online readers to post comments.  You may have to register to do so, but it's free.  It's your chance to fight a the PR battle, and no one on th

This Valentine's Day, I was in Belgrade's Delta City Mall watching dressed up couples cooing at each other in the food court next to McDonalds.  Then we tooka few days off to visit my husband's family in Croatia and now it seems 800 youth are breaking various Belgrade McDonald's' windows. 

Watching events via TV and Internet while temporarily outside the country, I begin to wonder if our Serbia dreams will have to be delayed.  What does recalling ambassadors mean to the ordinary foreigner?  Will I need to get a Visa someday soon to visit my own home in Sombor?  Am I risking being turned away at the border someday soon because I bear a US passport?

The situation makes me think of the other foreign-born spouses of Serbs who want to return to their homeland.  There are plenty of us, I know because many of them email me privately.  I also consider the many young adult Serbs - often aged 22-30 - who were primarly raised and educated outside Serbia, who have been strongly conside

Just got back from Nepal, where I got many emails from Belgrade friends saying if we are going to buy in Belgrade, now is the time before prices go insane.  Belgrade is cheaper now than Zagreb and Zadar where my husband's parents still live.  And what with favorable politics, rich Russians and Kosovo-ites and perhaps loads of East-West spies and diplomats all descending on Belgrade - plus the looming someday maybe of EU membership - I guess we'd be crazy not to buy.

But then I wonder if it's a good investment after all.  Prices seem very high in relation to typical salaries.  Any flat under 50 square meters is wildly overpriced because it's so small it's "affordable" and any larger flat can't be resold in future because no one can afford a mortgage of more than 100,000 Euros... and there's all that new construction going on - thousands of new flats which make older ones, well less exciting for resale too.

 Ok if you were me and you had the chance to buy now

I wanted to title this "An Open Letter to the Serbian Government: Fix Your PR & Branding" but I don't think that many characters will fit in blog posts here. 

I know little about politics and even less about Serbian politics; however, as a 25-year pro, I know heaps  about PR, marketing and branding.  As a PR and media pro who is a big fan and part-time resident of Serbia, it's incredibly painful to see how badly your PR is being bungled, and your story mis-told over Kosovo in the international press.  Knowing a bit of Serb history, it seems this PR bungling is a national chracteristic for at least the past 75 years if not longer.  You are geniuses at math anmd so many other things, but absolutely dreadful at marketing.

Reasons are partly due to the Serb love of Justice.  Serbs seem to think if right is on their side, then somehow so should be world opinion.  When you get hurt again, you say, "Oh I am a victim."  The fact is, the world is a darker place than that

Thanks to the Internet and a forbearing boss, this year I left formal office life behind to live anyplace in the world (with Net access) that my heart desires.  My heart, as it turns out, pretty much desires to live wherever my husband is. 

That said, although I loved our time this summer and fall in his hometown of Sombor Serbia, when he announced we were moving to Nepal for the winter so he could do some trekking, I was So Not Excited.  I bitched, I moaned, I whined, I was not a pleasant person.  I never wanted to own hiking boots and 3rd world countries don’t sound enticing on paper.  But in the end I hung my head, dragged my feet and came along. 

What an idiot I was!  Nepal is fantastic.  I’m having a ball here and highly recommend it as a travel and living experience.  The great part for Serbs is that it’