In 1994, New Zealand was a “temporary” destination. We decided to go there and spend “one year only” while the political and economic situation in Yugoslavia improved. So, year by year and we finally spent more than 6 years there.
We were living in Wellington. Since we were living in a few countries before we went there, the comparison is inevitable. Life, in New Zealand, is somehow quieter and slower. The city is even quieter in the evenings, after work hours. The difference is only night life on Fridays and Saturdays when is pretty busy in the city.
We have mostly nice memories of the time we spent there. Also, we made a lot of nice friends.
We used to travel a bit but around the North Island only.
Novi Zeland je bio “privremena” destinacija te 1994. Resili smo da odemo tamo “samo na goidnu dana”, dok se stanje u zemlji (Jugoslavija) ne promeni na bolje. I tako, godina za godinom I ostasmo preko 6 godina.
Sve vreme smo ziveli u Velingtonu. Obzirom da smo pre Novog Zelanda vec ziveli u nekoliko zemalja, poredjenja sa istim su neminovna. Na Novom Zelandu, zivot je bio mnogo mirniji I nekako usporen. Podseca me na zivot na selu. Posle zavrsetka radnog vremena, grad zamre. Nocni zivot, u centru grada, ziv je jedino petkom I subotom.
Tih 6+ godina na Novom Zelandu pamtimo uglavnom po lepim uspomenama I mnostvu dobrih priatelja koje smo tamo stekli.
Malo smo I putovali ali uglavnom po severnom ostrvu.
School
The first thing that attracted my attention was the school system, taking in consideration that my daughters joined school at ages 5 and 6.
Everything is pretty relaxed, The students are mostly sitting on the floor. All the answers are correct. For example: question: how much is 2 + 2? The answer: “5”. OK. Good. Well, not exactly 5 but it is close enough.
Students are not getting awards for being best in mathematics, language, science etc. but for:
- Being on time in school”
- “Trying hard” (whatever it means)
- Helping others etc.
Actually, almost all students get some such kind of awards.
Students can’t fail and don’t’ repeat a year. They advance from year to year by the age. It can happen even during half year break; For example, student attends first half of the year in year 3 and the second half of the year in year 4.
There was a program on TV about some school and their experiment. The primary school students decide about the school programme, what they should study and who is going to teach them. In my opinion it is total stupidity; what do they know in order to decide something like that.
At that time, they wanted to introduce in a primary school a book explaining that same sex union is “normal marriage union”.
Skola
Ono sto mi je prvo palo u oci je skolski system (obzirom da su moje cerke odmah krenule u skolu – u to vreme 5 I 6 godina stare).
Sve je vrlo lezerno. Sedi se uglavnom na patosu. Svi odgovori su “tacni”. Recimo pitanje: koliko je 2+2? Odgovor 5! Dobro. Nije bas 5 ali je blizu.
Studenti ne bivaju nagradjeni zbog toga sto su najbolji iz pojedinih predmeta kao matematika, jezik, I sl vec zbog toga sto:
- Su na vreme stigli u skolu
- Vredni
- Pomazu drugima itd
Skoro svi student dobiju po jednu od takvih, bezveznih diploma, tj za nesto sto treba da se podrazumeva.
Nema ponavljaca. Iz godie u godinu se prelazi na osnovu godina starosti. To je moguce I na polugodju; provo polugodje pohadja, recimo 3 razred a drugo polugodje prelazi u 4. razred.
Bio je program o jednoj eksperimentalnoj skoli. Daci, osnovci su odlucivali o skolskom programu tj sta ce da uce I ko ce da ih uci. Po meni, totalna glupost. Sta oni znaju da bi mogli da odlucuju o tome.
Jos u to vreme su hetli da u program ubace udzbenike koji objasnjavaju da je istopolni brak “normalna” porodicna zajednica.
Studying as a hobby
My wife and me, got additional educational degrees. I considered that as a – hobby.
Actually, we didn’t need it but we decided to do so.
My wife already had a few bachelor degrees and masters in different disciplines. but she decided to do Masters in English Linguistic. (Later, she begun PhD).
I, as an architect, graduated at Belgrade University, was able to do various things within the profession. Except designing (at the beginning of the career) I was working as a Project Manager, Contract Manager, Director of the brunch offices (In Iraq and Jordan) etc. It would be the jobs that would be usually caried abroad by Quantity Surveyors. So, I decided for my experience to “cover with paper” and complete Quantity Surveying.
Studiranje kao hobi
Na Novom Zelandu smo supruga I ja stekli I dodatne kvalifikacije I to iz cistog – hobija. Naime, to nam nije bilo potrebno ali smo resili da I to uradimo.
Supruga je vec imala vise univerzitetskih diploma I mastersa iz razlicitih oblasti pa je resila da uradi I dodatni master iz engleske lingvisticke.
Ja, kao diplomirani arhitekta sa Beogradskog univerziteta, bio sam osposobljen da radim vise stvari u struci tako da sam sem projektovanja, u pocetku karijere, radio na upravljanju projektima, ugovorima I kao direktor ogranizacione jedinice u inostranstvu (Irak, Jordan). To bi bili poslovi za koje se u inostranstvu uglavnom osposobljavaju studirajuci Quantiy Surveying. Tako, ja sam resio da svoje znanje i iskusvo “pokrijem papirom” I zavrsim Quantiy Surveying.
PROTESTS AGAINST NATO AGGRESSION AND THE EXHIBITION
During bombing (NATO aggression) of Yugoslavia,1999, Serbs were shown in a very bad way. Many Serbs were afraid for their life and avoided admitting that they are Serbs. Our lives were in danger, but we were not afraid to declare our heritage.
We were co-organizers and active participants of protests against NATO aggression. Also, with help of Peace Councill of Aotearoa (political party my wife was part of) we organized a series of photographic exhibitions about NATO aggression and the results of the same. The speakers at the openings of the exhibitions were New Zealand politicians and even some ministers besides my wife. The exhibitions were shown on national TV and had quite a big impact on the public opinion of New Zealand. National TV had a few shows featuring my wife and her activities. She also had a radio program for 6 months, half an hour weekly.
Protesti povodom NATO agresije i izlozba
U vreme bombardovanja Jugoslavije 1999 (NATO agresije), Srbi su bili predstavljeni u medijima na jako los nacin tako da su mnogi, plaseci se za svoj zivot, izbegavali da se predstaavljaju kao Srbi. I nasi zivoti su bili ugrozeni ali smo ostali doledni.
Bili smo suorganizatori I aktivni ucesnici protesta protiv bombardovanja.
Isto tako, uz pomoc Peace Council of Aotearoa (jedne politicke partije ciji clan je bila moja supruga) organizovali smo seriju izlozbi fotografija o bombardovanju. Govornici na otvaranjima, sem moje supruge, su bili neki politicari pa cak I ministri. Izlozbe su imale veliki odjek I bile predstavljene na nacionalnoj televiziji koja je objavila nekoliko emisija posvecen mojoj supruzi. Sem toga, ona je imala I program na radiju, 6 meseci od po pola sata nedeljno. To sve je drasticno promenilo sliku o Srbima na Novom Zelandu.