My colleagues have been exceptionally welcoming and concerned with my adjustment into life here. The weather has been an adjustment. It somehow feels much warmer than it was in the States. Even though the town is hardly a metropolis -- with something like 150,000 inhabitants, there are impressively few of the giant Socialist-functionalist structures that so characterize areas of Belgrade, and the buildings do not crowd out the sky -- there nonetheless exists a significant disparity between the temperature in the city center and in the outlying villages. It surprised me to hear people talking about going to the villages for the weekend to escape the heat. There is often so much discussion in New York newspapers about summers in the Hamptons, when, actually, most people simply leave their air-conditioned offices for air-conditioned summer homes.
This is not the case here. Evenings are spent outside, in sidewalk cafes or parks; weekends are spent grilling in shaded yards. There is very little air conditioning, although most people do not seem to share the abhorrence of air conditioning that one person of my acquaintance holds.
The units here are different from those in the U.S. They are mounted on the wall (not in a window) and they take up less space. They resemble very small baseboard heaters, but are located near the ceiling, and are operated by remote control.
We have one in our two-room office. The office itself has good air circulation; the rooms are adjoining and each has a exterior door, so if all three doors are kept open there is a nice flow and, sometimes, a breeze. Even so, there have already been a couple of days when the temperature has gotten rather high and the air has not been flowing through the office so much as oppressively lingering.
On those days, one of my other colleagues has been prone to close the doors and turn on the air-conditioner. This first time this happened, H. was out, and when he returned he didn't say anything, but simply turned it off. This has happened several times since then, it seems to be some piece of office tradition that no one questions.
We had a prolonged work event last night, and I was invited to a dinner beforehand with several of the regional professionals who are working with this organization. H. and I got to the restaurant first to ensure that everything was set up. We had to walk for twenty minutes, in the heat, in order to get there. So I was quite pleased to see that this restaurant had an air conditioner, and that it was turned on.
No sooner had we been seated than a quick conversation (in Serbian, of course) was had with the waitress and -- out comes the remote control, off goes the air conditioner.
I mentioned, 'You must not care very much for air conditioning?'
'No,' he responded. 'It creates an artificial environment.'
Then, he scoffed, 'People complain that it's hot. Of course it's hot. It's summer! It's supposed to be hot!'
While I respect his conviction and adherence to a stance that I am not aware is shared by anyone in my country... and while I did not grow up with air conditioning, and have not had it in any of my apartments or dormitories... I never realized how much I could miss it!
This is not the case here. Evenings are spent outside, in sidewalk cafes or parks; weekends are spent grilling in shaded yards. There is very little air conditioning, although most people do not seem to share the abhorrence of air conditioning that one person of my acquaintance holds.
The units here are different from those in the U.S. They are mounted on the wall (not in a window) and they take up less space. They resemble very small baseboard heaters, but are located near the ceiling, and are operated by remote control.
We have one in our two-room office. The office itself has good air circulation; the rooms are adjoining and each has a exterior door, so if all three doors are kept open there is a nice flow and, sometimes, a breeze. Even so, there have already been a couple of days when the temperature has gotten rather high and the air has not been flowing through the office so much as oppressively lingering.
On those days, one of my other colleagues has been prone to close the doors and turn on the air-conditioner. This first time this happened, H. was out, and when he returned he didn't say anything, but simply turned it off. This has happened several times since then, it seems to be some piece of office tradition that no one questions.
We had a prolonged work event last night, and I was invited to a dinner beforehand with several of the regional professionals who are working with this organization. H. and I got to the restaurant first to ensure that everything was set up. We had to walk for twenty minutes, in the heat, in order to get there. So I was quite pleased to see that this restaurant had an air conditioner, and that it was turned on.
No sooner had we been seated than a quick conversation (in Serbian, of course) was had with the waitress and -- out comes the remote control, off goes the air conditioner.
I mentioned, 'You must not care very much for air conditioning?'
'No,' he responded. 'It creates an artificial environment.'
Then, he scoffed, 'People complain that it's hot. Of course it's hot. It's summer! It's supposed to be hot!'
While I respect his conviction and adherence to a stance that I am not aware is shared by anyone in my country... and while I did not grow up with air conditioning, and have not had it in any of my apartments or dormitories... I never realized how much I could miss it!
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