"As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being"

Koliko jezika znas, toliko vredis..
Servisch spreekwoord..Hoeveel talen je kent, zoveel ben je waard..
Serbian proverb..As many languages you know, that is how much you are worth..

Also the Czech have a similar proverb..

For me this isn't easy. Because I speak Dutch and Serbian. I have friends on Facebook who mainly speak this two languages. And the most speak English, but not all.

So I will try to write posts in all those languages, but not translate them.

Because there are reasons why I write in one of these three languages.

When I want that everyone reads the message I will write in English.

Everybody is off course free to read all my messages, to translate them, there are no secrets or something.

It is just that my message that day is just ment to be in Dutch or Serbian because it is easier for me to write in Dutch and Serbian than English...

But I'll try to switch hehe because I would love that everybody can read this, that is why the main message is in English..

My name is Andrea Bosnjak.

I'm born in Belgrade  (now it is the capital of Serbia) 15th of september 1988.

I moved with my parents to Belgium in 1992, because of the Yugoslavian war.

It is a sad story, but I'm also thankful to be in Belgium.

But it is sad that a war is the reason to leave your home.

A lot of people died, a lot of marriages were broken.

A lot of peoples hearts were broken and they were obliged to flee.

Maybe it's a good similarity with what is happening now. 

Because now many people are fleeing from Syria, Irak, and so on...

I remember a little bit of the road to Belgium.

I was 3,5 years old.

My father was 3 months before me and my mother in Belgium. 

We had the luck that my uncle moved to Antwerp before the war for his work.

He worked at the port of Antwerp.

He married a Belgian woman and got two kids with her.

So they helped my father at first.

Gave him a roof above his head, but he had to pay for it.

Then my mother and I  came and we had to live in a small room at the attic.

Then my parents found a way to hire a studio in the center (Italiëlei) of Antwerp.

My father worked in a factory.

He cleaned.

My mother took care of me.

Then we moved once more to a bigger apartment (kerkstraat).

There we met a lot of people from ex-yugoslavia.

I met Zorana, she is still a good friend of mine!

On my bachelorette party july 2012

So we know each other now 23 years!

In 1994 my sister Anita was born!

One of the happiest days of my life!

After that we moved 5 km from the center of Antwerp to my community Berchem.

There I grew up.

My parents first got a subsidized apartment (sociale woning in Frans de Vriendtstraat).

And then my second sister Angela was born in 1997.

An unexpected baby as myself! But my parents are happy to have us, and we love her also so much!
It is so nice to be with three children, and one day I hope to have three myself!

1997 Angela was born..
From left to right; Our father Bernard, Angela the baby, Andrea in red, and Anita

One big happy family 23 years later

Angela's graduation july 2015

Bowling with the sisters

Our first trip sisters alone to Athens february 2015

There in Berchem I met my other best friends: first Shana.

Birthday party of a friend (Zeljana)

 Shana lived the apartment next to us with her mother and grandmother.
We are already 22 years best friends.
Then I moved with my parents and sisters to the building opposite of our apartment.
That was a bigger apartment because with Angela this one became to small.
And this one my parents both, and they have still one year to pay and then it is theirs!
So now it is 20 years later almost!
Than I met my other good friends as Zeljana.

The birthdaygirl is Zeljana, the one in the red Britt.
Angela, Shana and I are also on the picture.

So our adventures begon than!
We trained majorette (twirling) 12 years.
( I also trained 12 years Judo, so watch out hehe)
We went out.
Zeljana, Britt and I went to the same high school.
So much has happened.
Shana got a baby, Aynara, a beautiful smart little girl.

Aynara was born in 2009.

Shana and I 2014.

Aynara her 6th birthday 12th september 2015.

In the main time, I got married as you can see on the last picture, the left one is my husband.

The post "on memory lane' you can see the other pictures.

I graduated high school in 2006.

I went first a year bachelor of biomedicine, because I wanted to become a dokter.

I didn't got trough the entrance examination.

I tried 3 times.

So first time in my live I gave up.

I didn't want to go on with biomedicine it wasn't for me.

I didn't liked the labo work.

What I always liked was languages, and especially to improve my Serbian and cyrillic.

So I decided to study Eastern-European languages and cultures in Ghent (university).

One of my big dreams was to go to Belgrade, study there, live there to get to know why my parents fled.

I got to fulfill that dream in september 2011.

In Ghent I lived from 2008 until 2011 in a student residence, first I travelled one year a half with the train. 

I met there also a lot of good friends for live who also came to my marriage.

I studied Russian, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian and Greek language in Ghent.

I travelled a lot with those friends to Moscow, Prague, Sankt-Peterburg.

I met my husband in februari 2011.

We knew each other earlier but not really.

We met at the sea in Croatia (Fazana, near Pula) in 2007.

But I didn't remember it.

A common friend got us together on Facebook in the summer of 2010.

And then we met in februari 2011 in Belgrade and it was love at first sight.

It was a long distance relationship for a year a half.

Then we decided to marry in 2012.

He moved with me back to Belgium end of august 2012.

I finished my bachelor and master studies.

I did a second master in Belgrade, European studies.

Now we are here 3,5 years together.

It wasn't an easy road but we did it!

He learned the Dutch language.

He has a good job, permanent.

I found after three months a job, he after 5.

I'm a teacher.

First I taught Dutch for foreign children, than Orthodox religion.

Than I taught also Russian.

I fulfilled my dream.

Now what?

So I started to study nursing school (bachelor) because now again and all the time before my curiosity for medicine stayed!

Now I'm the third year nursing school, very happy about it!

Nurses at my house for my birthday 20.9.2015

Our little group nursing students 24th september 2015

I combine it with my teaching job. Every Thursday evening and Saturday morning we have courses.

I had already in internship in house nursing. It went very well!

So making dreams come true can also in a marriage!

So the reason I first started this blog was when I went to Belgrade.

I wanted to write about it to my friends and family about my experience there!

Than I had no time to write, so this blog was a bit dusty.

So I decided to put new life into it. 

Why? Because it wasn't a easy road from student to married woman.

From language student, to teacher religion in a country where people do not believe anymore.

A married woman who studies after a good diploma.

Then I read a book recommended by one of my best friends Brecht ( a fellow student from Ghent).

It was a book on mindfulness. The happiness trap by Dr Russ Harris.

Also a student supervisor recommended mindfulness to me. She said I was to busy making everybody happy and not myself, or being ashamed of making myself happy, witch is nothing to feel ashamed of or guilty about!

So here I'm trying to reveal my soul hehe.

To be happy, no more feelings of guilt. Just being myself!

http://www.thehappinesstrap.com/bookshop_detail.asp?id=68&catid=51

I always wanted to tell my story.

Here it is.

I just have to be proud of myself!

It's just people love talking about you and giving you advice you don't want!

So that is why this blog!

Some things I want to add!

My both parents gave me to good example.

They studied Dutch 4 years both.

Father works his job, because he is a male nurse and promoted to a medical technologist and finished his master in Belgrade two years ago.

So he takes x-ray photographs.

And mom taught a while French. Because she studied languages in Belgrade at the university, French and Italian. Now she works 20 years for a bus company.

Hard workers both my parents.

They had some tough decisions to take!

But they are very brave!

So I'm proud of them!

My husband to, left everything behind for me, I'm very proud of him too!

And I'm very proud of me too!

So I hope we can all make each other happy.

But we have to realize not being happy sometimes is very okay!

It's not okay when you can go forward because of it.

That is what mindfulness is!

So read the book!

Enjoy the blog!