Happy New Year Again And Again
Is it already New Year? Well, if you live in The Balkans, yes and no. Croatia celebrates the New Year, but after that Serbia still has to celebrate the Old New Year.
Old New Year what the what?
For all practical purposes, Croats and Serbs are the same people. But there are some key differences. Principally, it’s religion. In Croatia, they observe the Catholic Christmas, which falls on December 25th, like in most Christian countries. In Serbia, however, they observe the Orthodox Christian Christmas, which falls on January 7th, after the New Year. It is the same in other Orthodox Christian countries.
Additionally, in Serbia, they celebrate both the traditional New Year Eve on December 31st, and the “Old” Orthodox New Year of the Julian Calendar. Typically, this comes two weeks later, which on this year, is Sunday, January 14th.
And there’s more. After the traditional New Year’s Eve party, Serbia celebrates on New Year’s Day and again the following day. These are known as the First Reprise (Prva Repriza) and the Second Reprise (Druga Repriza) parties. Wow, that’s exhausting.
How To Speak Beer In Serbo-Croatian
Can you believe it? First, if you’re in Croatia, you can celebrate Christmas on December 25th, followed by the New Year on December 31st. Next, go to Serbia and do it all again for another two weeks. The Balkans is just a non-stop holiday.
Besides religion, another difference among Serbs and Croats is the language. In reality, it’s the same language but with difference of accents and some vocabulary. Think of it like British English and American English, or German German and Austrian German.
Yet, if you are in Zagreb, Sarajevo or Belgrade craft bars, you should have no problem speaking English.
Outside of the major cities, though, hearing English may be more difficult, so this vocabulary can be useful. Anyway, using a little Serbo-Croatian language anywhere you travel will earn you praise and new friends. Regardless of what bar you are in, remember: learning any foreign language is easier after the first drink or two.
This is how to speak craft beer in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian language.
14 Serbo-Croatian Craft Beer Words For Both New Years
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Craft Beer- Zanatsko/Kraft pivo
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Small Beer – Mali pivo
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Big Beer – Veliki pivo
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Cheers – Živeli
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Tap – Točeno
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Drunk – Pijan
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Light – Svetlo/Svjetlo
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Dark – Tamno
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Bitter – Gorko
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Sweet – Slatko
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Hops – Hmelj
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Yeast – Kvasac
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Malt – Slad
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Check/Bill – Račun
Since New Year’s comes again in Serbia, here’s a special pair of words which you will certainly use more than just once:
15. Još jedno! – One more!
