This seems like a good time to reflect on a semester (yes my life still revolves around a school time table, because I have unfinished business there) that has come and gone and is almost at its end.
I can officially say "I lived in Belgrade, Serbia", the feeling of being a tourist officially wore off towards the beginning of November and my daily routines and life around me was getting to a point of normalcy. My Serbian has improved (don't bother pointing out the fact that I had no were to go but up in that department, I feel accomplished with my 5 words haha), my ability to fulling explain myself with exactly 3 hand gestures is excellent and my craftiness to find out if someone speaks english is at it's creative peak! And the ultimate sign I have lived here, I feel confident that if someone wanted to come visit I could 'show you around' - just give me a 2 week heads up and I will ask the right people haha.
But in all seriousness, this experience has been everything I didn't expect but everything I wanted out of it - it was fun, exciting, frustrating, challenging, eye-opening and different. At the moment I'm in the process of trying to figure out what the new year will look like.
From a work perspective, it has been exactly what a co-op is suppose to be about - getting work experience, understanding how the field actually works, and figuring out how you want to fit in with all of it. It has been challenging socially and mentally, with a lot of situations to take lessons away from - with some rewarding times mixed in. It has also made me miss the little luxuries that school provides and gives me some much needed reassurance of why I'm in school in the first place. We just started on a major project, which has been very interesting to see the process from the start. It is a year long project, with the bulk of our companies work beginning done towards the end, so a summer job maybe ahead of me yet …
As for basketball (yep you heard right) I have been training with a team (Partizans) here for a month, which again has been a unique experience, but in true Serbian style I have no idea what to make of it just yet. Playing basketball in Europe was always one of the things I wanted to prove to myself I could do, but I was a little naive about the whole thing (which wasn't all bad). I have been training with the younger team, so the team consisting of the players that get called up if need be, and they have been a really great good group of girls to get to know. At times I feel really old and other times I'm the clueless foreigner that messes up a drill because I have no idea what is going on, either way it has been great to get back into a gym! The biggest challenge is trying to jump the gap from this team to the first team - the practices and intensity are significantly different and the expectations are a lot higher (so when you just start to think you literally understand the expectations, you get thrown a curve ball that makes you question it all haha). Never the less I'm getting lots out of it and it is giving me invaluable experiences and perspectives of the game I thought I knew. On top of all that, whether you believe it or not, sport is sport no matter where you are in the world - there is politics, people that don't understand where you're coming from and factors that athletes can't control that effect their athletic experience. So with all these things consider, I'm just enjoying the moment and the opportunities I have been given, not worrying about the things I can't control and just getting the most out of the experience.
Finally there is school to think about, I bet the phrase "Just get it over with" rings a bell for a lot of people - well I'm at that point now. Working has highlighted the fact even further, that although it is great to do well in school, getting your degree is what matters, because in the working world formulas and theories only get you so far, the real learning begins when all this fails and you have to leave your schooling behind to figure out what the real solution should be.
I'm excited to return to Canada and get to see all the people I have missed so much … not to mention the fresh air and snow! But for now I get to enjoy what is ever felt of this experience and reflect on all the stuff I have gotten to do and all the funny stories I get to share (and re-share).
I hope everyone is enjoying the exciting build to the holiday season :)."Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds." EB
Talk soon, Mich
