Ep.3: Chatting with Michael from English podcast in Serbia

We are Ivana and Maki, your hosts.

In this podcast, we discuss interesting details about Serbian language and culture from a

learner's and teacher's perspective.

We offer new and fun resources for learners of Serbian.

To follow each episode with annotated scripts, vocabulary and quizzes, join us also at

Može Kafa podcast on Instagram.

So if you're ready, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the podcast.

Hello, exactly. Oh my God, we never synchronize.

Hello, I am Ivana.

I am Maki.

I am Michael.

I try to maximize this video.

Okay, got it.

So as you already know, today we have a guest.

His name is Michael.

And you might know him from his podcast, English podcast in Serbia.

and you're becoming quite popular because you have some celebrities in your podcast so

you know I want to mention some of them you know what I mean

so he's interviewing well he's

interviewed Tiago Ferreira for example Liz Duong Magdalena Petrovic Jelic Serbonica aka Serbonica

and also as you mentioned before some other talents in Serbia so

So in Serbia or outside of Serbia, for example, I watched the video with

Jovana Miletic, which was really quite fascinating.

Yeah. So, for example, this is would you say that this is exactly what

you do or how would you explain your podcast?

Yes, I would say that.

Firstly, thank you so much for the lovely conference.

It's always a shock to me that someone's actually listening to the

the blabber that comes out of my mouth uh so yes that that would

be i would say that's

what i want to do that's my goal is to show artists professionals and

talents in serbia

i think this is a really good serbia right if they are living up

like in another country you still try to get them on the show right

yes yes yes okay so we want to say dobro dosho

of course um and and we're gonna ask you so many questions oh

no but but it's going to be

just casual talk and you know just uh no pressure uh even though maybe

maquis scares you a bit you know it's not going to be intimidating uh

it's just gonna be a very lovely young lady oh thank

you and you can you can use our tactic like last time when you

invited us we bombarded you with

questions you can do that as well if you have the spot but i

think the point of this podcast

or this episode is just we just want to get to know you because

our listeners probably want to get to know you and um I couldn't really

find a lot about you so that's this is this is why the

episode is such a good opportunity for us to get to know you a

bit more yeah I have a guess about

it as uh from our last conversation you don't like to hang out in

social media right Michael

correct yeah okay let's dig into that yes okay let's start we're

ready okay so I actually added this question, we have like a, you know,

notes with our questions.

So what is your story before

you go, got to Serbia?

So,

because we know what you're

doing right now, we kind of know how you got there.

But how would you explain it?

And what

would you emphasize?

How I got here?

Well, my mother, she started working here in Serbia.

And I was in boarding school in the UK.

So I would fly out here every holiday for, say, three weeks

or Christmas. And I would just do my studying revision here.

But during that time, I would

walk around and see Belgrade, the Sarva Temple, Knez Mihailova, Kalemegdan, all

the traditional tourist attractions.

And then, so that was for two years.

And then I finished school.

And I didn't really know what I wanted to do.

I didn't think about going to university at the time.

I didn't know what job I wanted to go into.

So I thought, okay, I'll have a gap year here.

I'll take a year off and find myself you know like like a yogi

is this the gap year

this now this was five years ago no okay i was like what

the gap five gap yeah yeah gap for a decade

who knows that that might work that might be a good idea so

uh yeah i i um

I started a course here.

The first day I got here after finishing school in the summer was I

went to a international school, kindergarten, where my brother worked and I was with

some kids, getting to know them, just having a bit of fun.

And then I started a, um, a CELTA course, teaching English

as a foreign language here in International House Belgrade.

And, um, Yeah, from there, I started

to enjoy living here.

And yeah, because my parents, they had one more year left in Serbia.

So I thought, I'm just going to stay here, see what happens.

And the people, the culture, the city, the vibe,

the atmosphere, everything just took over me.

And I thought, I need to stay.

but also that that part of that could be i i did stay because

of course typical cliche story i met

a girl and uh yes i was excited that's that's

a very cliche but but it happens yeah what can you do

really fascinating actually it makes me ask you another question how did your parents

get here like why Serbia no because I mean it probably may be coincidence

but I don't know how

my mom she's with the foreign office so she worked with the British embassy

in Belgrade

okay she got allocated here yes exactly yes so

she she usually she throughout her life she's gone to different

different postings and Serbia Belgrade was one of those postings.

Wow yeah I have a question so when you decided to stay how was

her reaction?

Oh my god excellent excellent question Raki um so I perhaps

I can't remember maybe perplexion or confusion or well my

parents well my mama I suppose they've her reaction was whatever you want to

do what's best for you

she has left me to my own devices and

my parents have been like that for my life is they allow me to

decide what's best for me and try not to put, of course, parents are

going to want to control certain aspects that's inherent, that's natural for

parents to do.

But I think they've always tried to take a backseat and say, here's the

advantages, here are the disadvantages, you make the decision, because ultimately, that's how one learns.

I think that's an amazing approach.

Because the thing is that you have to be realistic.

It's like, listen, I know you're in love and I know you like certain

sides of Serbia, but, you know, they're also a negative side as it is

in Britain as well.

Like it's, it's all like pros and cons.

You just have to decide what works for you.

So, you know, and just having you, giving you that freedom to choose and

maybe make a mistake, I think is, you know, not everyone has that, you

know, so when they're younger.

So I think that's, your mom is clever.

Your parents are clever.

Thank you.

Yes, that's, I agree with you.

It's fortunate to be in that position.

And yeah.

Our second question was, how did you decide to stay?

But you kind of already answered that.

So there was this one poll that kept you in Serbia.

So, yeah, I don't know if you want to share a bit more about

that or is that that was the primary reason or was it like the

combination of things?

Well, Ivana, it's a very good question because a lot of people ask me,

why did you stay in Serbia?

And I believe there are many factors.

yeah I I did used to think is it just because I found love

and I had a girlfriend but then

I I spoke with a therapist about this and he said

well that's not the only reason you stayed then

because I'm not with her anymore so uh yeah disclaimer I'm not disclaimer yeah

but listen Tiago had a similar Tiago had a similar story so I guess

you yeah can identify with him

yeah yeah yeah um so yeah there are

many factors it was the the girlfriend but then I suppose over time the

attractions were like I suppose

I felt like I could renew

myself in a completely different place where people didn't judge me for reasons

which I was judged at a younger age.

Oh. So I felt a lot of love and acceptance coming

here.

and yeah when I say judgment I mean I was in a school which

was full of millionaires

rich kids like what's the name of the school Bedford school oh I don't

know about that one

I know about Harrow, right?

Harrow, that one, but yeah.

Yeah, that's a very popular school.

And well, I was in that environment with all these rich kids,

but I myself, I wasn't.

I got there through scholarship.

I was studying.

My dad was forcing me to study.

I know I said before they allowed me to do my own thing,

but this is where my dad was like study study study yeah so I

studied a lot for that at like

11 years old and then I got into this school um based off um

scholarship and also my mum's job

working for the government at the time a perk of that was that they

would fund the scholarship

So I was in an environment with kids who wiped their ass with 20

pounds notes.

They just, they spread money everywhere.

And I didn't know, I didn't fit in because I I couldn't go out

uh on the weekend with with some friends they would go to to London

and I'm on my own and um

just loads of things I couldn't go on holiday I couldn't go on trips

with people because

everything in my mind was about how much is this going to cost I

can't afford this so

maybe it's it's difficult for some people to understand because I know I was

in an incredibly

privileged position I'm not saying that I was very privileged I've had an excellent

education

and there's been many benefits to it but

um yeah I lost my train of thought there but no I I

completely uh I at least can empathize with you completely even though I haven't

really gone through that but you know as you said you kind

of stand out you know and it's tough because it's it's noticeable because you

can't just kind of

like you're almost one of the rare ones over there who's like hey I

have I can't you know

what I mean and and for when you're younger it's all about peers it's

all about your friends like

no like it's all about if you don't have friends that I mean that's

like you have nothing basically at least at that time.

But I think you being in Serbia really gives you an opportunity

to also learn about yourself.

So being like in a new environment, as you said, to define yourself,

not to have that kind of prejudice you had, you experienced over there,

but now to, you know, explore who you are and what you want.

And I think this is a perfect opportunity for that.

Definitely.

I also have a very similar experience, so I totally get you.

as well uh so uh that's very nice part of living in a different

country you can just rebuild your

own persona so that's the that's the beauty of being uh an expat in

a different country for sure

yeah maki you've been in so many countries um so i i can completely

understand that

okay so Mackie have you lived anywhere else yeah this is my fifth country

actually

wow so I lived in other countries in Europe like Spain and I lived

in the US

so but the other countries are in the Balkans okay and yeah so that's

why I just to spare your

listeners I'm sorry to interrupt they've probably heard this before and I need to

do more homework and listen that you've probably mentioned before that you've actually no

right i mean

we we maybe touched upon it but not in detail for sure so yeah

i only know about kosovo

and uh the u.s uh but that's all i know where you i didn't

know about spain where spain barcelona actually tarragona barcelona in between tarragona okay a

small town in between

why are you kidding me my friend she's here in berlin she's spanish she's

from tarragona oh my god i can't believe like a tiny this is crazy

it's not even like i know so many places

in tarragona so we need to talk oh okay crazy there you go i

have to do my homework

no so um what is there i think we talked about this before but

what was your biggest cultural

shock in serbia

in Serbia.

Oh, my God. On one of them.

Back in time.

Sorry, sometimes people criticize me,

or not people, but my mom.

She will say to me, like, I've asked you a question.

It's a simple answer.

You don't need to breathe in

and wait ages to think about it

and analyze, just answer, just say something.

People don't want silence.

so i i would say the cultural shock without getting

it wrong i i i would say um see this is what i mean

i just analyze i want to be precise as possible it's okay i think

people want to know people want to hear you so they don't want to

that

hear and like a formulated answer you know like if you like that's the

what this that's gonna keep them at their podcast so and you know maybe

they do like that you sit down and you think about that and like

you know and uh so yeah go for it that's true thank you

um

oh maybe with your girlfriend something i was thinking of this yeah like in

about relationship I guess well I just thought of one um was

how direct people are here in terms of there's no sugar

coating things so I don't know if it's a cultural shock if it's a

British thing or if it was how I was brought up,

but I was taught to be very diplomatic in how you address

a concern to someone, say if they're overweight.

You don't just go, you are a fat bastard, lose some weight, get on

the treadmill. You don't say that.

You would say, I have a concern.

I would like to raise a concern with you.

Such and such.

You've been gaining some weight for some time.

I'm caring because I care about you and I want the best for you.

What do you think about this?

Something like that.

And in Serbia, it's quite direct.

It's, it's, it's, yeah.

I'm not saying they don't have manners.

It depends on how close you are to the person.

Cause I'm guessing like your boss would never tell you that.

Right. But if it's like your friend or something,

or like your acquaintance or your like family friends,

like something like that.

someone who you're not that close to but is in your surrounding like your

neighbors or whatever

they would just be like oh it's a silguila like you get some weight

you know like oh just come on

you know so yeah it would be it would be so direct and i

did i never really thought about that because whenever i go to serbia i

kind of like expect it and switch to that mindset while i'm in germany

I don't really like have, I don't act like that, you know, so.

Sorry to take this off on a tangent, but that reminded me, Ivana, so

you say that you change into that serving mentality when you return.

Do you ever speak, have you ever spoken with your parents in English in

front of your international friends?

Before we continue with the show, here's a quick reminder.

This podcast is free for everyone and supported by listeners like you.

We hope that this podcast is useful and companion to you.

This is a labor of love for both of us.

To help us continue creating useful content for everyone, we will appreciate your help.

If you have the means, you can support us in different ways.

You may just go to buymeacoffee.com slash mozacaffapodcast and send us some cups of

coffee. You may also become a member of our show on patreon.com slash mozdakafapodcast

and get extra benefits like bonus content, full transcripts of the show in Serbian,

or even join us on the show.

We rely on your support to help everyone more in learning Serbian language and

culture. Thanks for joining us today.

And now let's get back to our episode.

If I've ever spoken to my parents in English?

Yeah. I don't my parents don't know English right right okay my parents don't

know any language they just

know Serbian so I think it's also kind of it goes back to um

I'm just used to it I don't think I

consciously uh use the language as I'm using it um because also

like being vegan in in Serbia for me is very difficult because I'm just

like so used to eating foods that I'm eating over there.

I don't associate it with something bad, but in this context, it is bad

for me, you know?

like, uh, like the same goes with the language, you know, I just go So it's

over there and I just talk

as I'm used to talking.

And nowadays that I'm like, uh, everything that I'm learning, everything

like that, I'm like self-reflecting or whatever I do, everything in English.

And I would try to translate like you know talking to a therapist and

everything that you already mentioned you know

And I'm like, how do I, I know how to say this properly in

English without offending someone.

How do I do that in Serbian?

And it's so difficult to find the words because we're just so nonchalant and

like to say things.

Actually, that happens in our podcast as well.

I prepare questions in English for Ivana to translate.

And I ask like, would you mind telling me blah, blah, or I just

use the English version of the question.

And then Ivana is like, we never say that.

You never ask this question that way.

There's no word.

That word is not used in that way.

So that's one of our arguments, I guess, in many questions.

Yeah. I've heard that.

Yeah.

Can I just, I have a lot of questions,