Ever since I came here, I just felt like

home. There hasn't been a day where I

genuinely missed Canada where I wanted

to go back.

>> This is Danila. Born in Canada to

Serbian parents, he moved with his

family to Serbia three years ago. Here

he began studying at the faculty of

economics at the University of Belgrade.

He shared one main reason he chose

Serbia [music] over Canada, the big

lesson he learned about Serbia while

working as a bartender in a cafana and

whether this Serbian dream really

exists. Enjoy. You have quite a unique

story. While a lot of young Serbs moving

out of Serbia to find new career, you

moved back to Serbia.

>> It was pretty easy for me to actually

adapt to Serbian culture, Serbian

mentality, all of that. But I'd also say

the biggest improvement I had was the

social aspect of life over here. In

Canada, people just aren't social

generally. You could be in the like in

the classroom with someone, share a

classroom with them for years on end,

and you don't have to speak to them

ever. And that's so weird to me because

in Serbia for example on my first day of

school I shook hands with 30 people.

Everyone in my class. So that was that

was a huge shock to me where a reason I

came over here specifically me not just

my family but me. Even as a child I

still have to kind of worry about the

economy because the housing prices over

there are crazy. It doesn't matter what

city you're in. Not only housing prices

but food and all of that. Uh I also

didn't agree with the Trudeau government

and many of the principles that he had

regarding things like uh immigration,

LGBT and other things. For example,

>> you mentioned that prices in Canada are

now very high and it's tough to leave

there. But here in Serbia, prices are

starting to be higher, too.

>> But I still think that it's more

manageable in Serbia. A lot of the

things still are cheaper over here. In

Canada, for example, salaries, I would

say in Canada are much more stagnant

than they are in Serbia. I noticed that

in Serbia, they've risen more than over

there, but the prices of food and other

things, they've exploded in Canada

compared to over here. I I recognize

that Serbia does have its economic

struggles, but I think they're still

doing better than Canadians. For

example, food in Canada is extremely

high, extremely expensive all the time.

>> Yeah.

>> And especially because it's more of a

colder country, so we have to import a

lot from America, Mexico, etc. When I

was housing, especially my family, for

example, in 2007, they bought a they

bought the house that I lived in for

$190,000.

>> Oh, they like it. It

>> it was a pretty good price at the time.

>> But back before CO, maybe 2018, 2019, it

was valued at 400,000. Yeah.

>> And then when we sold it in 2022, we

sold it for 750,000. So it's a huge jump

in price in such a short span of time.

And had we sold the house maybe 6 months

earlier in the winter, we would have

gotten maybe $800,000.

>> Wow. Almost a million.

>> Yeah. And it's it was a really average

townhouse. Nothing special. The location

was nice, but it wasn't near the city

center or anything. It was just a normal

townhouse conjoined between other

houses.

>> So you didn't even have that much

privacy. You could hear what your

neighbors are doing. So, as a young man,

you are thinking about your future and

you are thinking, can I afford?

>> Obviously, it's gonna it's difficult

because you see apartments in Toronto,

for example, the most basic apartment is

like between $2 and $3,000 a month and

that's really hard to, you know, pay.

>> You've wrote to me in your email that uh

you think that Canadians are cold,

emotionally cold.

>> They don't like to speak at all. Aside

from being Canada, that Canada's cold,

but they're generally socially cold

people. They they try to make distance.

For example, if you see someone on the

sidewalk in Serbia, it wouldn't be a

problem for them to go past you or to

say something nice to you. But in

Canada, if you see someone on the

sidewalk and you're walking towards each

other, they're you're going to try

making as big of a distance as possible

because they're just not really friendly

people in that sense. I was obviously

used to it in Canada because that's what

I grew up with. And when I came with

Serbia and I just saw how different it

was, it was a huge shock to me. Serbs

love to do everything together. In my

first few days of school, I had a friend

ask me, "Do you want to go to the

bathroom?" And that was so weird for me

to hear because I'm thinking, why is

another man asking me to go to the

bathroom with him?

>> Is he gay or something? And then I just

realized everyone does that. You know,

in Canada, it's usually girls that go

together just to gossip or do whatever.

>> I never had a guy ask me to go to the

bathroom with him. But then I realized

they just that's just how they do it.

You know, they go to the store together

as well.

>> Do you have problems with socializing

here in student circles?

>> Almost never. Sometimes the language

will be a problem. Sometimes people

making some jokes that I don't

understand that you need to be here like

you need to live here to know. Many of

the songs that they listen to I don't

listen to. So I don't know them. So I

just kind kind of have to sit there like

bored a bit waiting for the song to to

end so another one can play that I know.

>> But that's pretty much

>> what kind of songs do you listen?

>> Uh a lot of the older music I don't

listen to. Yeah. Naryaka. That's that

stuff from like the ' 60s7s 80s that

they listen to. I don't listen to it. I

listen mainly to the newer music like

the rap, the hip-hop, the pop. I like

that stuff. But the older music, it it

all kind of sounds the same to me, you

know? Oh, I'm depressed. I drink because

of her. I drink because of him. And it

it's just all the songs go like that

pretty much.

>> Wait. Uh, do rappers making a kind of

different lyrics.

>> Uh, [laughter] I mean, obviously being

rap there's a lot more vulgar things

being said, but at the same time, you

can hear the difference in the melodies,

the beats, all of that. So, it's like a

nice change. Just to me, it's all the

same. The narak, like the older songs,

it all sounds the same. Regarding

language, do you learn Serban language?

Do you speak Serban language?

for

The big

Foreign

speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

Uh, social

Regarding the weather, do you like

weather in Serbia? Because Canada is

pretty cold country.

>> Oh yeah, I love it in Serbia. It's warm

almost all the time. Like right now in

Canada, people are probably wearing

winter jackets. I've never been that

bothered by the cold, but it's just not

something I preferred. But at the same

time, I've also gotten used to the cold.

So, back over here, people are wearing

winter jackets and I'm out in a hoodie

and they're looking at me like I'm

crazy. Like, the snow's falling and I'm

out I can be out in shorts and it's not

an issue for me.

>> What do you think about summer heat?

Because sometimes it's quite brutal

here.

>> I honestly still love it. Uh,

>> really?

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Because I've got the impression that in

the August everybody moves out of

Serbia.

>> A lot of them go to the mountains too,

like you know, Kazat where it's cooler

there generally.

>> Yeah.

>> But I love the heat. I have like when

it's 35° I'm going out asking people if

they want to like go out for a coffee or

something. They're like no no it's too

hot. I love it if I'm being honest.

>> Do you think about Serbs as ambitious

people or not?

>> It really depends on the person. Some of

them are really ambitious. They have

high hopes for both themselves for their

country etc. But then some people they

just hate Serbia. I I like to call them

antinationalists. They're like against

their own country. When I came to Serbia

and generally whenever I tell people

that I live here now half the people

say, "Oh, congratulations. Good for

you." And the other half of people say,

"Oh, you're an idiot for coming here.

You shouldn't have come here." And it's

weird that some people, they hate this

country so much, or they at least act

like they do. But they're not doing much

to actually improve it. They'd rather

escape. I know it sounds ironic coming

from me leaving Canada for that, but I

never really felt that much love for

Canada, even while living there as a

child, as a teen, and all of that. And I

honestly feel like Serbia is the place

for me. Everyone has a place in the

world that's for them. Serbia is the

place for me, and I plan on staying here

forever.

>> You've chosen to be an economist.

>> Yeah.

>> Why? I think I've just always had a

passion for it. It's always something I

liked. I've never been that interested

in mathematics, engineering, law,

medicine. Back even in high school over

there, I took business courses, all

that. It was just something that really

uh that I felt really interested in and

I just decided to pursue that later on.

>> Do you want to start business or do you

want to do economy as a science?

>> I'd rather start a business, but not

immediately after university. I'd rather

uh get a job somewhere, see how things

work out and then after I gain the

knowledge and experience and some

capital. Uh I'd start my own thing and

it really depends what I can't I can't

really uh make that decision now because

who knows what's going to happen in

Serbia after like 6 7 years. You can't

predict. It could be going amazing for

us. It could also go horrible. So, you

never know. I'll just have to see what

there's going to be in Serbia. You know,

some new brands might open stores over

here that would render other ideas of

mine useless. So I'd really have to see

how far we develop or how little to then

decide what I should open.

>> But uh from my perspective you know and

from perspective of many people western

countries are the places with a great

opportunity you know. So we you have

this crazy inflation in Canada. You have

this crazy inflation in US and uh in the

UK but at the same time you have crazy

amount of opportunities there.

>> Well I think that Serbia actually has

more opportunities than people think

since it's a developing country. It's

not like the best in the world right

now, but I haven't heard many good news

for Canada economically in years. I've

always been hearing about how interest

rates are bad, like the housing prices,

prices of everything generally, they're

bad. But in Serbia, I see like new

projects, everything is developing. It's

going quickly. So, as soon as I'm able

to, as soon as I find the chance to do

that, I'm going to start investing into

something, see what I can do because

it's not going to last forever. There's

development. It could either stagnate or

it could explode and then I may not have

the opportunity again.

>> What do you do for a living here? Uh, I

work as a waiter and a bartender in my

parents kafana that they own in

Shabbats.

>> What lessons have you learned from

working in the kafana?

>> I've seen all kinds of people. I've

noticed that the kafana doesn't

discriminate financially. For example,

you're going to see millionaires

drinking there and you're going to see

people that are giving their last 20.

Many societal norms are just forgotten

when you go to the kafana. You just go

there to have fun and that's it. So, you

hear all kinds of stories, see what

people have gone through. Uh, you get

great advice all the time and I'd say

it's really good for character building

as well. Do Canada have this such

places? No. Because I know in England

it's pups.

>> In Canada you have basically where I

lived at least you have almost nothing.

No cafes almost anywhere. Everyone could

either hang out at people's houses at

school or at the park. And even now when

my friends have driver's licenses, they

have cars, they have their legally able

to drink now. They still hang out at

people's houses and that's it. There's

just not much to do socially. Nowhere to

go really.

>> Yeah.

>> You know, sometimes the mall, but even

then it's still kind of far away from

where you live or where I lived at

least. How would you compare education

system in Canada versus education system

in Serbia?

>> Uh I feel that over here the professors

and the teachers they have more of a

passion for what they do. They do a lot

more explaining whilst in Canada more of

what they do is they just give you like

a packet of paper you read from there

you learn from there you do your work

there and then you just send it to them

and that's it.

>> Do you personally like studying more in

Canada or in Serbia? Uh, I'd say it's

less stressful over here for high school

because in Canada you had to do

assignments, you had to study for tests,

for exams, whatever. You had to uh do

homework. Over here it's mostly you just

go to class, you sit down, you listen to

the teacher, take notes, and then before

a test you study, and that's it.

>> What is your favorite part in Belgrade?

>> Uh, honestly, right now where I live,

Rachel, I think that's the best place to

be. Nothing's too far. It's a quiet

street, so I think that's probably the

best place to be. Don't you find that

there is a lot of Russians there? I

>> haven't even met that many Russians, but

I've seen that they've opened their

businesses there. I have a Russian cafe

like a 2-minute walk away from me. I'm

planning on going one day, but it's not

that much of an issue. What I would like

the most is that most of them try to

assimilate to learn learn the language

the most. That's probably the most

important part of keeping a society, you

know, intact.

>> Yeah, I agree with you. But not so many

of them trying to learn language. And

>> that's an issue. It's the same thing in

Canada. You know, you have an influx of

Indians coming in, especially them, and

a lot of them, they find jobs, but they

don't know the language still. So, you

go to order a coffee and they're looking

at you funny, like you have, you have no

clue what they're saying, and they don't

know what you're saying.

>> What do you think about national

minorities uh here in Serbia versus

Canada? Because Canada is very diverse

country.

>> I honestly think it's better to live in

a more homogeneous society. You know,

it's nicer to have all Serbs around you,

but a few immigrants is okay. It could

be beneficial. And what I do notice is

that the immigrants over here, they're

more respectful of the country because

they have to be. For example, in Canada,

if you see someone harassing another

person, most people in Canada are really

passive. They'd rather just look the

other way, not do anything. But in

Serbia, it's much more likely that

someone will step in.

>> Have you ever experienced any prejudices

being Serb in Canada?

>> Not at all. In fact, uh I think a part

of that stems from people not knowing

much about Serbia or Serbs. You know, a

lot of the older people, they might know

about Milos and that stuff, but even

they don't really discriminate Serbs

because of it. Uh, even when considering

people that other Serbs would find to be

unfriendly, for example, Albanians,

Serbians, Bosians, I would be friends

with them, too. We're all friends over

there. We don't let the politics of the

history get to us because we know at the

end of the day, nothing can change. So,

at the end of the day, we can all just

sit down at the same table. We can crack

jokes. We can have fun, talk, listen to

the same music.

>> How it feels to grow up as a serpent in

Canada?

>> Strictly Serbian perspective, it was

really nice. It was as if I was living

in a mini Serbia because ever since I

was born, I was in a community of Serbs.

We would do everything together. For

example, I played in a Serbian football

club. We're like soccer for a few years.

It was called the Hamilton Serbs and

it's been established since 1958. Also

dance folklor, which is our national

dance.

>> You you were dancing cola

>> over there, Cola. And it was always

Serbs there. I also had something that

we call Serbian school. I'd go every

Friday at a church and they have a

community center at the church, too. We

would go down and we would learn about

the cerillic script. We would learn

about orthodoxy, Serbian history, etc.

And then we'd have a little break. The

kids would all go play with each other.

After that, we'd go to church for a

while where the priest, he would talk

with us, uh, tell us stories, all of

that. And then after that, we'd go back

to class, learn a bit more, and we go

home.

>> Did you like it? Because, uh, actually

having Serbian school after ordinary

school, it's like double school for a

kid. Uh, I wouldn't really consider to

be an actual school, but it was a nice

recreational thing to do. You go out,

you just learn a bit more about

yourself, your culture, your history,

and that's it.

>> How is Serban community in Canada?

>> I think they're much more patriotic than

the Serbs over here. Because a lot of

the people that moved to Canada from the

Balkans, they were also refugees. So, a

lot of people came from Croatia during

the war over there, from Bosnia. A lot

of the older generations, they were more

associated with the Cheddik movement.

So, they moved to Canada to escape

communist persecution. I think a lot of

that nationalism stayed as well as I

think a lot of the older names for

people have also stayed in Canada as

well. I haven't met many young people

named Sava or Bjar Premier, but there's

a lot of them in uh in Canada. They're

more with their culture. In Serbia, I've

seen a lot of the people, they kind of

look at you weirdly if you tell them

that you train folklor, but over there

it's more expected for you to actually

do that and to be involved in the

community.

>> Do many of them want to come back to

serve it? A lot of them are interested

uh not just people my age but their

families as well. They're planning on

coming back as soon as you know they

finished their education in Canada for

example and then they plan on staying

here because everyone knows that it's

not doing good over there. It's not

going good at all.

>> Why do they consider Serbia instead of

US instead of Europe?

>> What I've noticed is that the further

you are from Serbia the more you love

your country. You know people in Austria

they also love uh Serbia but they still

stay in Austria but the further you go

from there the more they want to come

back over here. You know, I know a few

French people that have come back here,

uh, Canadians and Americans, they really

want to come back here, a lot of them.

>> Do you miss something from Canada in

Serbia?

>> What I mostly miss is the food.

>> Food,

>> not really Canadian food, but the

variety of food that exists over there.

For example, over here, we don't have

Five Guys. The best burgers I've had in

my life, Five Guys. They're over there.

The Flaming Hot Cheetos. They're Cheetos

like little chips pretty much. They can

get, they're amazing, and they don't

have them in Europe generally because of

the chemical laws that they have in

Europe.

organiz forchech.

the proximity to everything else over

here.

>> So, it's Serbia is like new home for you

now.

>> It is. Ever since I came here, I just

felt like home. No, there's there hasn't

been a day where I genuinely miss Canada

where I wanted to go back. How do you

feel more like a Serb or more like a

Canadian now?

>> Uh right now I'm in a phase where I'm in

a bit of both because being from Canada

in Serb it makes me unique in a certain

sense in a positive way. So it's nice to

embrace that part. Back in Canada I was

never proud of being Canadian and it was

never something I really cared for and

that applies to most people over there.

I would say I'm now really in between.

>> Don't you have kind of identity crisis

now?

>> I do especially now because I came here

when I was a teenager obviously. So, uh,

I'm in a bit of a transitional phase

with the language. So, in some cases,

it's actually easier for me to speak

Serbian and in some cases it's easier

it's easier to speak English. So, it's

really, as of right now, it's a bit

difficult to decide what I am exactly.

>> What part of you is Canadian and what

part of you is Serbian?

>> I'd say for the work mentality, I'm more

Canadian. In Canada and America, it's

like the American dream. You're built to

work. You're made to work. You're born

and, you know, go to school, get a job,

and that's it. Over here, people you'll

see more often, they work just so they

can afford a coffee tomorrow. They don't

really plan on the future and and they

don't really think about how that's

going to go.

>> Do you think is there a thing like

Serbian dream?

>> I don't think there's a Serbian dream. I

think Serbs would love just to just not

work and that's it.

>> This is the Serbian dream

>> pretty much. They're not financially the

strongest, but they're still happy and

that's honestly more important in

[music] my opinion.