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Y oung Irishman Jason McCa- rthy came to Belgrade from London after falling in love with our country by listen- ing to stories, watching lms and lis- tening to the music of these lands. Af- ter visting several times, he decided to spend a year at the Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy and to study Serbian histo- ry. He speaks the language excellently and likes to write in the Cyrillic script. “It was back in secondary school that I discovered Serbia through a friend who loves Serbia very much. Since then I’ve listened to the tamburitza music and the Belgrade Syndicate, and watched the lms of Kusturica and Slobodan Ši- jan. Several years later, in Rome, I met one of my current best friends, who in- vited me to come to Serbia. That trip re- ally – without exaggeration – changed my life and leave its trace on my soul. Because if I know this country exists, then I must be here!” Like many before him, Jason was delighted with Serbian hospitality the most, but also the attention he received in abundance. “I’d never felt what it was like to re- ceive so much attention from unknown people, everybody wanted to show me their city, to feed me, to nd me a girl- friend and even adopt me. I was sur- prised in Belgrade by the contrast be- tween the chaos of the bus station and the tranquillity inside Saint Sava Tem-
prošlosti. Svaki manastir je bio po- seban, ali sam u Manasiji dobio ne- ki neopisiv osećaj. To me je motivi- salo da slavim slavu Svetog despota Stefana, koji je, između ostalog, po- krovitelj Beograda. Još jedna veza sa Srbijom za mene je da mi je kum polusrbin, a to sam saznao tek ka- snije u životu. Džejson kaže da mu Beograđa- ni stalno prenose koje su razlike i sličnosti između naša dva naroda. – Ja mogu da posvedočim da nam je smisao za humor isti. Oba naroda vole ’crnjak’ i stalno se šale na svoj račun. Takođe, mi, isto kao i vi, volimo lep provod uz dobro že- stoko piće, živu muziku i tradicio- nalni ples – kaže Džejson. A kad smo kod provoda... – Živeo sam u različitim zemlja- ma Evrope i primetio sam da ovde mladi ljudi provode mnogo manje vremena s telefonima u rukama. Ja mislim da je to još jedan dokaz da Srbi umeju da uživaju u realnom ži- votu i da su veoma komunikativni. Takođe mi se sviđa dinamika odno- sa između devojaka i momaka jer je potpuno prirodna i razigrana, što je sada retkost na Zapadu. Ovde se flert oseća u vazduhu i svi su mnogo opu- šteniji. U Engleskoj, na primer, svi se plaše da budu spontani i opuše- ni. Definitivno, u Srbiji se mladi bo- lje muvaju – zaključuje Džejson.
ple,” says the 22-year-old Jason.
The child of a mixed marriage, his mother is Russian and his father Irish. His Irish great-grandfather fought along- side the Serbs against the Central Pow- ers in World War I. He says that, despite not having Serbian roots, he feels that his soul is from Serbia and he often write about important dates in Serbian his- tory on social networks. “I feel intimacy with the Serbs, be- cause I share the same values, princi- ples and ideals with them. Just like the people here, I love my own history, am proud of my origins and I think that roots are important. It often happens that I feel like I’ve long been friends with someone after a single conversa- tion,”says Jason, stressing that he feels as though he came to perceive his own identity and spirituality in Serbia. “When I travelled around southern Serbia, I visited many medieval monas- teries and fell even deeper in love with Serbia, seeing the traces of your amaz- ing past. Every monastery was special, but in Manasija [Resava] I had an inde- scribable feeling. This motivated me to celebrate the saint’s day of Saint Des- pot Stefan, who was a benefactor of Belgrade, among other things. Anoth- er connection with Serbia for me is that my godfather is half Serbian, and I only discovered that later in my life. Jason says that Belgraders are constantly recounting the di erenc- es and similarities between the Serbs and the Irish. “I can testify to the fact that our sense of humour is the same, both na- tions love‘black humour’and constantly make self-deprecating jokes. Like you, we also love a good time with good, strong drinks, live music and tradition- al dancing,” says Jason. And while we’re on the subject of good times... I’ve lived in di erent European countries and I’ve noticed that young people here spend much less time with their phones in their hands. I think that’s yet more proof that Serbs are capable of enjoying real life and are very com- municative. I also like the dynamics of relationships between girls and boys, because they are completely natural and playful, which is a rarity in the West nowadays. Here irting can be felt in the air and everyone is much more re- laxed. In England, for example, every- one’s afraid of being spontaneous and relaxed. Young people in Serbia are de - nitely better at chat-ups,”concludes Ja- son.
Ovde mladi ljudi provode mnogo manje vremena s telefonima u rukama Young people here spend much less time with their phones in their hands
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