Here you can go to any bar on a Monday

or a Tuesday and easily speak to people,

connect with people. There's that

openness and willingness to have a

social connection with others which I

feel like is very very important.

>> Meet Alexander. He was born in London to

a Serbian family, studied in the US, but

four years ago he decided to leave

England for Serbia. Now he runs a

retreat business in Spain while keeping

Belgrade as his base. He shared what

shocked him about life in London, how

western values clashed with his Serbian

upbringing and what the Serbian dream

really means. I

>> over the past 5 6 years when I have been

in London and I leave it, I'm happy

because let's say I called it an escape.

I was going to a different country or

Serbia or whatever and it just felt like

having more freedom because London I

think it's a phenomenal place to visit

and be a tourist in but to live I don't

feel like that quality of life matches

the quality of life maybe in Serbia or

in different parts there's crime

literally in in the nice neighborhoods

that used to be you know the let's say

top neighborhoods now there's even crime

in them. I'm worried for my parents when

they're walking out of the house because

of the amount of knife crime or phone

jackings there are. Prices are through

the roof. I basically stopped drinking

in London because I can't see the value

or or understand to pay £9 or £10 for a

pint of beer in a pub. And also it's

it's the obsession with work and money

and not having that social life.

Ultimately it's um you know the people

you're around that make that and I feel

more of that in Serbian in Spain than I

do in the UK. When I go there I want to

hang out with a friend. I'll send them a

message and be like when do you want to

hang out? that response is going to be,

you know, we could do it in two or three

weeks on this day at this time. Whereas

here, the amount of times I land at 9 or

10 a.m., send a message to my friend,

when do you want to hang out? The

response will be in 3 hours at this bar.

I think that's also a big part of the

culture in terms of the mentality of how

people like to prioritize the social

life opposed to needing everything fixed

and planning in advance and having those

long journeys to see each other which

can be an hour and a half, 2 hours

depending where in London you are. So

that easiness here I've always resonated

and like more than let's say the the

hectic lifestyle of London. So you were

working as a salesman in London. What I

didn't like is the way people behave in

London when they do it. What the

managers are like, what CEOs are like.

They don't have the values that I would

like to portray in myself with the

things they do, the way they go about

work, business, and life. values in

terms of seeing the kind of things they

[snorts] would do knowing that they're

in a marriage with kids and how people

or certain let's say women in the

workplace would either get treated

poorly or treated in a very good way

without deserving that and getting let's

say those benefits and it's happens in

London a lot more often than you think

with the big managers uh and company

owners which I kind of wanted to escape

after learning some of the good things

that they have to offer, which they do.

They did have their own skills in terms

of how you sell, the importance of

listening, questioning, um,

understanding the needs, the values,

which I think are all very good

qualities um, to have, but you don't

need to be, you know, in an office job

or in London to do that.

>> And in London, this hectic life, it's

because of a lot of people like

struggling uh, to earn money,

>> especially now the the cost of living. I

mean, it really is in a crisis and let's

even if you're basing it on average

wages, average salaries, you can't live

on that in London. You need to be doing

something else or, you know, you're

completely polarized by having to work

non-stop and avoid the social life. And

what you realize is people will, you

know, work insane hours, you know, 8

a.m. till 7 8:00 p.m. go out after that

for drinks, end up getting blitzed, not

just on alcohol. drugs is a very major

part in London and do that basically all

over day in day out which in my opinion

is very toxic and not the kind of life

that you know you want to lead in London

or anywhere.

>> Have you experienced any prejudices uh

during your living in London because of

your background

>> with British people? No, I did

unfortunately when I was younger um with

Albanians, you know, I was brought up in

a way where you I won't judge you for

your nationality, where you come from,

all these things, but I'll judge you on

the kind of person you are. In London, I

did experience a few conflicts and when

I was a young kid, so we're talking 13,

14 years old. One thing that brings to

mind was when I was going to uh play

football one time with a friend, we saw

a few people kicking the ball around.

and we had our own ball went up to them

to ask can we join and play with you

guys and the first question was where

are you guys from I had an idea of where

he was from so I just said England he

said well if you were from Serbia you

wouldn't be allowed to play and at that

point I was just like you know left and

didn't want to put myself in situations

where I could you know be afraid and

this isn't anything specifically towards

Albanian people because I mean I've met

some great Albanian people one of my

best friends from university is

Albanian, but the mentality from them in

London is what let's let's say kind of

scared me and I didn't want to be around

them or getting into conflict with with

people based on nationality, race, all

these things that I think are just

stupid.

>> What is home for you?

>> If you asked me that question probably a

decade ago, I'd say London. Now, I I'm

not exactly sure because I I feel

amazing and happy when I am here in

Serbia. London I don't really consider

home anymore because as the years go by

I'm spending less and less time there.

I'm also someone that's very happy and

intact wherever I am. I was just in

Poland now a couple months ago. I felt

as if I was you know a different part of

me is Polish because I felt a very

strong connection with the people

mentality and culture. So I don't know I

feel like it changes but I'd say you

know Serbia is where I'm from.

[laughter]

The weekend

of the

Steamed up.

SVJ

and chips and chips.

Shepherd's pie Sunday roast.

Fore speech.

and

[laughter]

connecting people.

>> What do you think in general people in

Western countries, in Western Europe

don't understand about Serbia? I think

the people and the culture is the main

thing with a lot of people that you

meet, they can associate Serbia with, I

don't know, bad things, politics, things

that really don't portray what Serbia is

like, what the people are like. But I

also think that's due to the way media

portrays Serbia tries to point the

finger um as of Serbia as the bad guy as

not wanting to you know accept certain

things that the west I feel tries to

propagate into Serbia. I do think there

needs to be a lot more education around

it but overall I'd say it is getting

better.

>> Having traveled to a lot of countries

have been living in two countries. What

did you understood about you as a Serb?

>> Wherever I travel, doesn't matter where

I am, if I meet someone that's from

Serbia or the Balkcons or Croatia, ex

Yugoslavia, I'll try to connect with

them. And I would say 90% of the time,

it's always great. It's always fun. We

have similarities and we'll get along

perfectly. And I feel like that is

brought upon me due to the fact that I

always, you know, was interested, let's

say, a bit more into the Serbian

culture, especially growing up with my

parents that were only speaking Serbian,

more or less, apart from work. And um

learned a lot of different values from

them that I brought into. I feel like

from a young age, I was always brought

upon that fact to learn Serbian, speak

Serbian, even though it's, you know, not

the best. to have my accent but um also

connect with Serbians wherever I am due

to the fact that there is that

similarity with the mentality

uh what we like to talk about which is

just purely different to let's say Brits

or Americans which is okay you know

everyone's different and connects

differently but I feel like those things

really help me become let's say more

Serbian

>> what part in you is Ser what part is you

in is Brit or maybe the American

American zero because I I mean I only

spend university there. British I would

also say I'm you know I'm thankful for a

lot of things revolved around Britain

but me as a person I'd say I'm Serbian.

Both my parents are Serbian. My whole

background is Serbian. So I'm Serbian

but I'm also someone that's very open to

people from different countries,

different nationalities, exploring

different places and connecting with

different people regardless of where

they're from or environmentality. Let's

say a citizen of the world if you will.

What actually Brits know about Serbia?

>> Football players is the main thing. So,

Nemanid, Mati all the players that

succeeded in the UK. Apart from that,

I'd say night life and that might be it.

They're not, let's say, as Americans,

which know much less. But I feel like

over the past maybe decade or so, more

and more Brits are learning about

Serbia, whether it's through sport or

because of the fact they were extremely

cheap flights from London to Serbia for

them to go on bachelor parties or city

trips. But I think they are learning a

bit more about it, which is good.

>> You have been learning Russian language.

>> I learned Russian a little bit during uh

my time in the US in university. Um, but

then life and things got into the way

that I stopped. But I'd like to pick it

up again at some point.

[laughter]

>> That was the the main reason. Um, and

perhaps, let's say, the only reason at

that time, but I would like to go back

and learn more Russian to be able to,

let's say, travel more freely when I do

go to Russia again. Do you think Serbian

girls are less beautiful than Russians?

Russian girls? No,

>> I'd say they're both beautiful. I uh I

don't want to pick and choose the

nationality based on anywhere. Um I

think both Serbian and Russian women are

uh very stunning. There's a reason why a

lot of people from the West like them.

Um

but yeah, I'd say that they're both

amazing, but you know, it's to each to

each their own. in America. You've tried

to pitch to venture companies your

project.

>> Yeah, that was a project I started with

the help from my professor of

entrepreneurship in in university and it

was a medical bracelet uh designed to

help track deep vein trombosis DBT. I uh

did some pitch competitions uh won a bit

of money and was developing everything

but unfortunately I wasn't able to get

an extension on my visa and decided to

leave but it was an amazing experience

especially pitching speaking to

different people uh meeting high value

people getting their feedback which is

helping me in terms of how I'm going

about business today I would like to go

to America one time and try to go into a

business of content creation because

it's like a big hub.

>> I'd say the number one thing is the

possibility of meeting people that are

very successful but having them being

open-minded and being open to have a

chat with you. I met the uh one of let's

say the most successful people from uh

that ever graduated the university uh a

multi-billionaire who I met him on

campus. He was doing a talk and I just

asked him whether he would be open to

having a chat with me and graciously

accepted it. We went to Starbucks the

following week, had a conversation,

completely human conversation and didn't

feel that kind of pressure from him in

terms of taking away time from his day,

asking him these questions. But he was

very open, had understanding, and was

different to maybe wealthy people in

different countries that have a need to

completely show off or think that

they're up there and you're down here.

And I love that kind of openness they

had.

>> Do you think this situation is possible

here in Serbia? I think it depends on

person to person with the mentality they

have. I think if your focus is sure you

have a lot of money and you want to use

that money to I don't know show off with

multiple different cars feel like you're

a higher up than anyone else and don't

have that humbleness. I'd say in general

there's not too much I'd maybe want to

learn from you. How much it happens here

I the answer is I don't [clears throat]

know. There are definitely, you know,

people that are wealthy that are open to

conversations and to helping you to,

let's say, mirror their success. I have

actually had a couple experiences that

here in Serbia where they have been open

to have dialogues, to have conversations

and offer feedback. So, I feel like

maybe they're also it's a culture thing

that maybe they're becoming more open to

helping and understanding other people.

>> You are into fitness, how it influences

your everyday life

>> massively. Uh because I always want to

ensure I'm uh moving my body. Whether

that's going to the gym for an hour and

just hitting the weights or going out

for a couple hours walking, I want to

ensure I'm moving my body because I've

noticed the benefits I get from it. Not

just from, let's say, my standpoint of

the physique, but cardio-wise, not

needing to take as much breaths,

controlling my breathing more, but also

the benefits I think it has on my mind.

Being out in the sunlight, looking at,

you know, the greenery, the smell, all

that kind of stuff, I think majorly

impacts how I feel and how I perform in

terms of my work.

>> Do you think Serbia is a fit country?

>> No.

>> Why? For one, it's unfortunate when we

see how little there are football

pitches and let's say basketball courts

and stuff for kids to go out and play. I

don't think there is as much as there

needs to be. Like I mentioned earlier,

the food is amazing. It's one of the

best, but it's also not the healthiest.

And I'd say when you go around Belgrade

or Serbia, you'll see a lot of people

with big beer bellies being fat. I feel

like there needs to be a more education

done towards how do we get better, get

in shape, get fitter, but a lot of those

problems are solved by walking. I think

in Serbia also, at least in Belgrade,

the amount of cars there are is

ridiculous. Good amount of people that

will take their car to drive when they

could walk for 10 minutes. I feel like

that mentality needs to change in order

for everyone to become better and

healthier.

>> But still, it's it's better than the in

the US now.

>> Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt.

Like I'm not even going to compare those

two. Um there are, you know, the UK, US,

uh other nationalities which are far

worse. But if we're in a society of

wanting to be better and get each other,

help each other uh be better, make

better choices, we have to be realistic

with it and say that yes, Serbia is so

good for so many things, but um that

mentality and culture around uh weight

and fitness needs to change and improve.

>> What do you think? Is there a thing like

Serbian dream? Even the American dream I

would I would question what what does

that dream mean exactly because you can

look at it from one one perspective of

it is a definitely a good place for

building a business. There are so many

um incentives and capabilities that

people are offered whether it's pitch

competitions, networking events,

conferences and everything. There is a

lot of opportunity for someone to have

an idea and build that from the ground

up. Then we need to go in the different

aspect of what freedom is, which is very

much portrayed in America. A lot of

things you can do in Serbia, you cannot

do in America. You can't go and maybe

walk 10 15 minutes from your home here

to go to a bar or to a restaurant in

general. You have to drive over there.

You don't need to think here about some,

you know, constantly looking behind your

back if someone's going to attack you or

shoot you like you do in America, which

is the sad reality of it. I'd question

exactly what that dream is. I think

Serbia is a great place for you to live

or let's say spend your money building a

business and everything. It's too soon

for me to know and and answer that

question. But if you have that open

mindset and are curious about exploring,

you can make that dream happen. No

matter which country you're in, as long

as you feel happy and and safe and uh

ambitious, I think it can be done

wherever. I think like Serbian dream, it

can be in in the same sense of having

money to spend and having fun whilst

doing what you like. Yeah.

>> What that is, I feel like for every

single person that might be something

else

>> or maybe just sitting in Kafana all the

day,

>> friends. Exactly. I I feel like, you

know, I walked down earlier at KMI High

level at 9:00 a.m. The cafes are packed.

People are out and about into the open,

not locked in at home or watching TV.

They're outside. They're in nature or in

the city. As I noticed in London, people

go out Thursday, Friday, Saturday. The

focus of the mission is to get drunk.

here. You can go to any bar on a Monday

or Tuesday and easily speak to people,

connect with people, whether it's Serbs

or um expats and foreigners. There's

that openness and willingness to have a

social connection with others which I

feel like is very very [music]

important.