tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4359862125161161110.post4808822692289646218..comments2023-07-07T10:47:13.569+02:00Comments on My Serbian misadventure.: flying to/from BelgradeDoothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13750264332218469530noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4359862125161161110.post-76711136323975855462013-09-19T05:12:56.379+02:002013-09-19T05:12:56.379+02:00[Warning, sorry, long rant ahead, but I really nee...[Warning, sorry, long rant ahead, but I really needed to share this and your post is asking for it.]<br /> Wow, the second part sadly reminds me of us Romanians (hello, neighbor). We're not just child-like, we're feral. Maybe it's the years of everything-deprivation in communism, with people lining up from the middle of the night to buy basics like milk, bread, etc - the Romanian mindset is that "if you don't get it first, someone else will", to the irrational point where "we're all going to be on the same bus to the airport terminal" is totally irrelevant - it's reflex, instinct.<br /> My only flights have been between Bucharest and Japan via Germany. The transition is amazingly well defined in terms of atmosphere. Romanian passengers are wildly desperate; Germans are rational; Japanese are wildly dedicated to their supreme goal of never ever inconveniencing fellow passengers in the slightest way. Oh, and their obsession with lines.<br /> I was in a Japanese train station - the train arrived, and I (knowing Japanese trains go as quick as they come) hastily took to boarding said train, only to have my (Japanese) boyfriend sternly point out that there's a line. Yes, the line was so artistically asymmetrical that I wasn't even aware of it, but above all, the simple truth is I didn't even stop to think there might be one - my Romanian reflex kicked in. "Romanian see, Romanian take."<br /> After Japan via Germany, landing back in Bucharest, I found myself shocked at how desperate we are ("desperate" is the word, not rude, inconsiderate, self-centered). I remembere a random man urging his wife: "Hey, it gets thinner that way, maybe we can squeeze ahead!" like they were trying to escape the sinking Titanic. (Oh. Did I mention? Our lines have "branches".) It can be astonishing or embarrassing but mostly it's very very SAD. (I actually believe my communist milk line theory.)<br /> I'm saying that may be true of Serbians too. They seem to be a lot like us, but while Serbians love Serbians and hate everyone else (including Romanians, what do you know?), Romanians pretty much just hate Romanians.Dedemushihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17246177384752574890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4359862125161161110.post-1247818698183434572013-06-25T08:34:51.564+02:002013-06-25T08:34:51.564+02:00LOL, i will never forget the first time I ever ca...LOL, i will never forget the first time I ever came to Serbia through London and took JAT airways from London>Serbia.<br /><br />When they said the plane was boarding everyone rushed the boarding gate, no line up, but like a bunch of retards. I was a teen then, and asked my dad WTF - he said Welcome to the Balkans son. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com