I have been living in Croatia near on 2 years now

Dear all,

I have been living in Croatia near on 2 years now. I am Croatian and proud
of it. I love living here even with all the petty problems we have in this
country....and every day it is getting better...believe it or not....whether
SDP is in government or HDZ its the same story. I feel our diaspora will
miss the boat in investing in Croatia and then cry 'not fair'. Regardless
if you have 25 or millions to invest in Croatia, real estate or something
else, there is something for everybody. And stop being sentsitive of being
taking advantage of. From what I have seen first hand that is completely
unfounded, Croatians here like to spread these rumours as it serves the
purpose of keeping returning Croatians suspicious of returning home. They
do have a hidden agenda...and I feel it is this...with more Croatians
returning home...their inheritances will be smaller.

Croatians are being Americanized by the media, etc etc and like American
media reporting our reporters spend a spend a lot of time putting forward
opinions about events, are overly critical and should focus more on factual
reporting rather than offer their subjective opinions. Why do these
journalists help positively by helping to produce a comprehensive vision of
the future of our country as part of the in the EU, because there is no
escaping it, unfortunately. Yes, under communision, or socialism, the first
priority should be as is in American that each citizen deserves to own a
home....let the media focus on something positive that can be done...figure
out how FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC help homeowners and lobby the government
for something similar. Ensure children are afforded their rights...pressure
the government to respond to question of how to force fathers to pay
appropriate levels of maintenance for their children. There are lots of
areas that the media can focus on, that would be positive for Croatia.

I am a daughter of a Croatian emigrant returnee, it is difficult here, but
no more difficult when one understands the culture than anywhere else and
opportunity abounds for those ready to invest time and effort to making a
small difference by turning negativity into positive actions.

I am in real estate full time now and I am ashamed to say that more EU
people are buying apartments and homes in Zadar, Vir, Pag, etc than our own
people, who don't seem to get off the ground but prefer to sit around
discussing how things should be rather than actively participating in the
economic marketplace. Over time I have followed these discussions online
and am partipating less and less. Lots of people offer opinions but few
will make an effort, come back here, and truly understand and work to
changing the bureaucracy, yet eager to criticize, so I am losing respect
for those in the diaspora, but for a few like Hilda Foley.

We who have been in the Diaspora and have returned to our homeland are the
only ones making any real difference, or sacrifice personally, we are
slogging it out, just as our forefathers did when they moved to an unknown
country and started the process of networking and working together. Those
people who continue to disect our past, policize about our future from afar,
invest in Florida, forget it, you will continue to gain no credibility here.
Given that Croatians at home and those in the far away countries are
polarised, I see myself moving more and more to the thinking of those
Croatians at home. If you profess you love your country so much, pack up
and return home and face what we homeland Croatians face every day and try
little by little to make a difference, get employed in your field and work
consistently with smaller companies helping them adopt best practices...that
is how to make a difference, start at the bottom, and expect that it will
take time and patience. Your political observations, while astute, really
do not help the economics and culture of this country one iota.

I did not see Brenda's film, but I do believe a documentary here and there
is good work, and not disect its intentions. But lets leave it for what it
is, not give it names, and let's move on to topics that are important
today...how to unpolarise Croatians abroad and those at home. What can we
begin to do differently to move ahead together, without one feeling that the
other has their own interests at heart. As far as I can tell the only few
activities are moving in this direction and one that I know personally has
spent more than 3 years pushing forward these ideas on a daily basis is Niko
Soljak, and his group Hravska Svjetska Zajednica. I give the man great
credit...they say slow and steady wins the race...so lets pray and hope for
his group's continued success...but it depends on everyone joining this
organization and activiely working towards a future with all Croatian groups
and individuals in and out of the country pulling and actively networking
together.

I agree with both Hilda and Mirna, more has to change, and respect them
tremendously for their personal contributions.


Jadranka Matesic
Visit www.panadria.com for the latest listings in the Zadar region.