Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:04 pm Post subject: Confessions of an expat
Well... it all started in 1996, I sort... well... came to Serbia and never left...
Seems like a good idea for a forum, hope it takes off. I have been out here a fair while, so maybe I can help someone out who is thinking coming out to Serbia. I will be happy to if I can.
In the meantime, you can have a look at my Serbia Mountain Biking blog (Google for "MTB-Serbia" - can't post links for now) to see vaguely where I am coming from - there is some general info on Serbia there too, if you can find it!
See you in Serbia!
Mark
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Bookstream Language Services - Serbian translation INTO English BY the English!
Glad I found this site. I am almost positive that my husband and I will be moving to Belgrade soon. I would love to know everything there is to know about it there. Please start from the beginning and don't leave anything out!
Well, for starters.....do you find the cost of living there more or less than the UK? Can you suggest an area in which to live that is near to shops? What is the typical weather like? Hot and humid? Rainy? Do you have any experience with the schools and nursery schools? Can you recommend a website for looking at apartments/flats? Is there a large expat community? Safety concerns?
Whew......I have TONS of questions. This will be my first experience living overseas and will be relocating from the US. My husband, is from the UK and has lived in Egypt, so this is nothing for him.
He would be interested in knowing whether or not you get Sky Sports?!!
Well, for starters.....do you find the cost of living there more or less than the UK? Can you suggest an area in which to live that is near to shops? What is the typical weather like? Hot and humid? Rainy? Do you have any experience with the schools and nursery schools? Can you recommend a website for looking at apartments/flats? Is there a large expat community? Safety concerns?
Whew......I have TONS of questions. This will be my first experience living overseas and will be relocating from the US. My husband, is from the UK and has lived in Egypt, so this is nothing for him.
He would be interested in knowing whether or not you get Sky Sports?!!
Hi, didn't get time to get back to you on this - this'll have to be a quickie too, off back to the UK in a few days for one of my rare ex-pat visits!
Cost of living: much less. If you are on a Western wage then you will probably have more money than you know what to do with. Labour costs are cheaper in particular. If you're on a local wage it's a little bit different!
Area to live: you mean in Belgrade, I guess..? That REALLY depends on your budget - there are some pretty expensive areas. I think in general New Belgrade is becoming far more acceptable than it was - there are a number of huge "megamarkets" there and you could probably find a decent flat within walking distance of the Mercator shopping centre and its not a particularly expensive area to rent. If you want something a bit more upmarket I can try to suggest other parts of town. Depends if you have a car too.
Weather: generally tending towards the Mediterranean. Winters have been cold (-20c a couple of years ago), but have been very mild lately. Summer this year has been insanely hot (40+) and in general is pretty hot and humid. Rain is less frequent than it maybe should be but there can be heavy rains.
Schools: can't really say, no kids yet. Do you want them in a local school, learning the local language, or an international school? There are lots of local private nurseries, but again Serbian-speaking.
Website: there is no one agency in Belgrade I would particularly recommend - I am not familiar with them. There are an awful lot of them. It would be best if you could get a local to help you trawl around them. The agencies usually charge around 30% of the first month's rent, which is reasonable - all they really do is hook you up to people who are renting, taking some of the legwork out of it for you. Do a Google search for "mentorrent" who seem to aim at ex-pats. I don't have any affiliation with them, they are just a starting point, so you get some idea. (can't post links here, the forum won't allow it).
ex-pat community: pretty small, don't know the figures, but there were only around 100 Brits max (with spouses etc.) at the recent British Embassy do. Serbia has not traditionally had swarms of foreigners living there.
Safety concerns: road safety - keep your wits about you, drive defensively, driving is pretty bad here at times; minor crime - the usual precautions in any major city, use common sense; major crime - a blessed lack of this, women can walk around town at midnight, no problems, though again use common sense. There is not much of the violent, often drink-related crime we have in the UK, I am glad to say.
SKY TV: SORRY! No chance! SKY TV only have the rights to the UK. I tried using my Sky card over here and they sussed me and cut me off! BUT, there are local cable TV stations where you can get other movie channels, and one of the local terrestrial channels has the rights to Premiere League football, which is pretty popular here, so I think your husband won't be lacking much on that front!
Well, that wasn't THAT short...! Hope this has been some help and I will try to answer any other question you might have,
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