Š is a weird letter, but it is part of my name. Since this letter confuses people the most I'll explain it right away. Read it as 'sh' in English. Type ALT+0138 for capital or ALT+0154 for small letter. OK? :-)

Bio

Bio

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Have you ever heard about Sarajevo?
That is the city where I was born (1971) and where I spent about 22 years of my life.
Most of the people know a little about it except that it had hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics and had withstood a devastating 1992-95 war. It also was the place where, on June 28, 1914, a 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip shot Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand. The assassination was one of the defining events of the 20th century, touching off World War I.
I spent the first months of the war in Sarajevo, mostly hiding from mobilization and applying diverse surviving techniques. That was the worst time of my life. I was one among a few who managed to escape this odd city in 1993.

After a couple of months in Croatia I moved to Berlin, Germany where I lived 6 years. I felt in love with Berlin at first sight and still have beautiful memories of it. During that period of time I got to know many friends. After the war in Bosnia my refugee status in Germany came to an end. It was impossible for a Bosnian citizen to obtain a permanent German Visa and I didn't want to go back to Sarajevo. So I applied for a Canadian Visa, because my brother was already there, and because I had heard just positive things about this country (except the winter of course!). I got the visa!

I came to Canada (Toronto) in January 1999 and I'm still happy to be here. After many years I started to feel free again and to be able to plan my future somehow. I'm doing the job that I like. No, not that I like it, it is my passion! You know, when you do something continousely for hours, weeks, years and still not feel tired.

I am married to a fantastic woman named Sofia. She is Portuguese, but we speak Italian to each other. Confused? You are not the only one.

As far as my interests go, as you may have already noticed I'm very much into computers, mostly graphics and web-related applications . . . about it more in Folio section.

My other passion is chess. I play it whenever I get enough spare time. I can beat a master but I can also lose against Patzer (probably from German: amateurish chess player). I often play at playchess.com. My current FIDE rating is 2214. I also teach chess, currenty offering private lessons, but also in several public schools in Toronto, as part of Chess 'n Math Association team.

I also like to learn new languages. I mean human not computer ones! Living in different countries and meeting different people gave me that opportunity. I speak 4 languages fluently, Serbo-Croatian (my mother tongue), English, German and Italian. Portuguese is on its way. With Sofia I am getting better in it every day :-)