detail from: KRK Art dizajn

IN THE CITY OF AURORA LIGHTS

The war has just started in Yugoslavia, protest rallies are being organized, numerous parties are promoting their programs, and the people are getting more and more agitated. Regularly employed people have fewer and fewer jobs, and those who didn't even have one until then, see no way out of how to feed their children, and they almost don't think about their education. Even those who had their own private jobs see that they cannot hope for anything better. Those who had close relatives somewhere abroad have either already moved in with them or are packing their bags to do so as soon as possible.

Milan and Dragica with their boys Darko and Vlado (Called Zeka), have only her sister Danica, married to Croatian Ante, who lives in Canada, far to the north in the city of Yellowknife, which means "Zuti noz" in Serbian. The boys laughed at the name of the city when Danica stayed with them in Novi Sad. When Milan mentioned to them that it might be wise to write to Ante and Danica for the possibility that they would give them refugee status in YellowKnife, the boys were happy about that. They were happy about the possibility of moving to the land of Indians, they imagined them as they saw in Western movies.

And about three months pass when they get a reply from Danica that she and Ante are willing to sponsor them, i.e. enable them to obtain immigrant visas for Canada. Milan and Dragica were no longer interested in what the winters were like there, nor what they would do. Milan trusted in his skills as a master, and it was only important to avoid the war and keep the children alive, and everyone would already learn the language, they would manage somehow. In truth, Danica and Ante could not even promise them anything in advance as far as employment is concerned. They agreed not to tell anyone about their intentions yet. Dragica was still working, and she was diligent at work and tried so that no one from her immediate surroundings would notice that she would soon leave them. The boys sometimes made up stories about the Yellowknife Indians to their friends, which were vague and mysterious to them, so they did not draw any conclusions from it about the possibility of their departure. Milan only wrote a letter to his good friend Boris, who had already moved to Toronto. They were waiting to get their Canadian immigrant visas and to pack their bags.

After immigrating to Canada, they arrived in Calgary, where they were placed in temporary residence. This is where they first began to orient themselves and get used to the approaching winter. In the distance, the mountain peaks of the northern Cordillera could be seen, from which cold winds were blowing. They didn't know the language, and Milan soon started to get nervous, he wanted to start doing anything. The boys did not go to school yet, and they knew English better than their parents, they learned it at schools. They soon started to find friends in the neighborhood and they had a good time. Everyone wanted to get to know the surrounding area, so they went for walks together in the nearby streets and went to the shops. As the days got colder, they had to buy warmer clothes.

And before long, Ante and Danica told them to get ready for the trip to the north. The road to Yellowknife, the "Zuti noz", as the boys preferred to call it, was about two and a half thousand kilometers. Ante rented a rather old car to Milan, they took a car ticket and were given an explanation of which roads to take. They packed things in the trunk, prepared dry food for three days and the four of them got into the car, filled the tank, and set off into the unknown. While still traveling on Alberta roads, they became accustomed to the traffic signs and drove at speeds according to the traffic signs and given regulations. Milan tried not to commit any offense because he was driving with an international permit, which Canadian regulations tolerate only for a short time. They made stops only where they took gasoline, and there they usually took coffee and all performed their physiological needs. The first day passed quite well for them, in a good mood. They noticed as they went further north that the trees along the way were getting smaller and smaller. Darko explained to them that it was because of the increasingly cold winter, as they learned in school. The two of them, Darko and Zeka, told jokes to cheer up their parents.

Their first overnight stay was in a roadside motel near the town of Whitecourt, north of Edmonton, next to road number 43. Milan drove tirelessly the first day, looking forward to starting work soon. And as they went further north, the boys felt that they were going more and more into the hermitage. Dragica was mostly silent. She knew they were going at her sister's persuasion, so she felt a certain responsibility if they didn't like the place they were coming to.

On the second day they traveled through a veritable hermitage. There were almost no inhabited places, only gas stations existed at given distances. On both sides of road 35 there were countless lakes, in fact it was just alternating forests and lakes. Nature seemed beautiful in terms of cleanliness, and since there was no major traffic, the air seemed clean and fresh. The second day passed more in silence, everyone was already feeling tired, and they had another day of driving ahead of them. In the evening, they crossed the border crossing into the Northwestern Territory. The tourist crossing is officially open from May 15 to September 15, and how.

In the morning, they saw that they were in Twin Falls Gorge, and not far from there, according to the map they received at the border crossing of the sixtieth parallel, there are still waterfalls Alexandra and Louis Falls, and Lady Evelyn and the Slave River, Kakisa and Rodnaipf Rivers, and all somehow within the Fort Simpson Territorial Park. Really naturally beautiful places, destined for many tourists. In those regions live only Indians of the tribe Dan, who are mainly engaged in hunting and fishing, and those Indians who live along the River Hey have been engaged in selling furs since time immemorial. When they had freshened up and walked a bit in the surrounding area, they got back into the old car, filled it with gas and headed north towards the town of Rae-Edzo. It was their third consecutive day of continuous driving, it seemed a bit like an eternity and it seemed like they would never reach that "Yellowknife". Forests and lakes alternated along the way, and the soil that could be seen on the glades was mostly stony, in some places overgrown with grass. In the afternoon, they stopped in the small town of Rae-Edzo to rest, from where they still had about 110 km to drive to Yellowknife.

The houses of the Dan Indians are mostly log cabins arranged in rows, in a way they are streets. Milan drove the car along several streets and noticed that almost all of them along Slave Lake are on the terrain in the form of a peninsula. He parked in front of the only store, where Milan bought beer for himself and juices for the others, and from food he took packaged sandwiches. They stayed there for about an hour, and then continued on the last route of the long journey. And as soon as they got ten kilometers away from Rae-Edzo, they saw a bear at a distance of about thirty meters from the road. They slowed down so everyone could see him better.

At the entrance to the city of Yellowknife on the left side is Long Lake, and in the city itself there are several more: Fox, Jackfish, Frame, Niven, Range and several smaller nameless ones. The city is really full of lakes, Long Lake being the main one with a sandy beach.

Everyone, already tired and stiff from sitting in the car for too long, arrived at the apartment of Ante and Danica, who treated them to refreshments, and then started talking about the trip. Danica was interested in her relatives and the situation in Novi Sad, Milan told them about the journey from Calgary, and then about the beginning of the war, while Ante was mostly silent. The boys were also silent, they were brought up not to interfere in the conversations of the elders, until someone asked them something. That evening, the guests went to bed early, they knew that many obligations awaited them from tomorrow.

From the first of September, fall already begins in Yellowknife, and the school year also begins, and everyone should have first registered as newly arrived residents of the city. Danica took them to check in wherever they needed to, and then she took them all to K'alemi Dene School and took them through the main streets for orientation. The city of Yellowknife is the capital of the North-Western Territory, it has about 20,000 inhabitants, and the local economy is mainly oriented towards obtaining and processing gold and diamonds. Hence, in recent times, the city of Jelounaif is called "Diamond of the North". Temperatures here have already dropped to just a few degrees above zero, so you should dress appropriately. A little unusual for the time of year, but this is the Canadian far north. It was necessary to start getting used to it from the first day.

During the first week, Milan and Dragica managed to enroll the boys in school, and then they started searching for their employment. They also inquired about the possibilities of learning English and found out that as newly arrived immigrants they have the right to free English or French lessons.

Ante took them completely by surprise. Milan expected him to help him find a job, but Ante left him to fend for himself. And Milan did not know the city, he did not know the language, he wandered from door to door, explaining with a few words and gestures that he was looking to work. Those addressed everywhere shrugged their shoulders and thanked him. Dejected, he returned home, worried about how he would take his children on the journey of life. Ante was usually found sprawled out on the couch watching television and smoking. He even liked to drink. Sometimes he would offer a glass of brandy to Milan as well, only if he had a reason for his own glass. Dragica worked with her sister in the house and the two of them had a lot to talk about. Fortunately, the boys had already started school and they were able to fit into the society of their age more quickly. They also knew English quite well, so they could already follow the lessons. And since they brought good school knowledge from Novi Sad, they very quickly fit into the Canadian school curriculum.

About ten days after they found themselves in Yellowknife, Milan stopped by the Kalemi Den school and managed to explain to the principal that his boys went to that school, and when the principal realized who it was, he suggested to Milan that, if he wanted, he could clean classrooms of his school in the evening. Milan couldn't wait for it, but he should have had his cleaning kit. They brought some money for food and basic necessities, but they decided to buy equipment, so what happened? And so he and Dragica started working together. According to e.g.

They both continued to work in the evening until after midnight, and they came home tired but satisfied. During the day they had to deal with status issues, get food and prepare meals, the boys got off to a good start and it was worth giving them courage for a new life. Ante looks at them and wonders how they managed to manage themselves so quickly in a new environment where they didn't know anyone and didn't know the language. He tells them that he needed much more time, even though at the time of his arrival, jobs were offered everywhere. So it was a relief for him, he didn't have to help them with anything. He only found them an apartment in his area, but Milan and Dragica had to pay for the apartment from the beginning. From the first of October, Milan and Dragica with Darko and Vlado moved into their own apartment and happily and contentedly started their own life in the far north in the "Diamond of the North". They bought used furniture, mostly at the "Garage Sale", and took some pieces from the street in front of houses where they were left for free. It had to be like that to begin with.

It was already very cold in Yellowknife in October, winter was approaching, the first snow had already begun to fall. Not far from the building where they rented the apartment is the old part of the town where the first gold mine was, now abandoned, and there are still old mining houses and log cabins left. A few hundred meters away is Great Slave Lake, the tenth largest in the world and the deepest on the North American continent. There are a lot of sojenica houses on that lake, and the residents who live in them do not pay the city tax.

Darko and Vlado quickly fit into their group and have already made friends, including Nikan and Tamar from their classes. Both were Native Americans of the local Den tribe. When they came to visit Milan and Dragica for the first time, Vlado started teaching them how to play European football. Darko became interested in the Dogrib language, the language of the Den Indians, which could be optionally studied at their school, which Nikan and Tamar liked. When Nikan and Tamar invited Darko and Vlada to come to their house, they gladly accepted and informed their parents about it. Milan and Dragica soon gained trust in the Indians and accepted their children as their own.

During the month of December, the weather in Yellowknife lasted only about six and a half hours, and temperatures dropped below -45°C. At that time, north above the Arctic Circle, the sun does not rise at all for 30 days, from December 5 to January 5, and in summer for 57 days, from May 24 to July 27, it never sets. Then, in the far north, residents and local tourists enjoy "midnight sunbathing".

One day, in the evening, while Milan and Dragica were hurriedly preparing the classrooms of the "Kalemi Den'' school, the principal of the school came by and, seeing that they were doing their work conscientiously, suggested that they could also take over the Yellowknife Catholic School, where his fellow director and he already mentioned Milan and Dragica to him. When Dragica and Milan heard that, they immediately accepted and agreed that each of them would prepare one school, and whoever finishes first would come to the other's house to help and that they would return home together at night. They soon acquired more necessary equipment and started working on it. They didn't have to worry about the boys because they were well-bred and grown up enough to take care of themselves. They studied well and were both excellent. And it won't be long before these two principals offered to take over the other schools (Sir John Franklin High School; St. Patrick High School & Mildred Hull School). Milan and Dragica suddenly found themselves in trouble. They must not refuse, and they can no longer achieve it alone. And they decided to register a cleaning company and hire a few more people. They employed a total of six of them, two in each additional school. Ante malte didn't have a heart attack when he heard that Milan and Dragica only six months after arriving in Yellowknife got a job and hired six other people. He was envious of them.

It is true that the winters in Yellowknife Milan and Dragica seemed unbearable the first year, but they survived and got used to some extent. They were sustained by success in business. During the second year, they already made some savings, which they invested in buying a house in Calgary. At the beginning, they rented it out, so the house paid for itself. And after the second year, when Darko finished the twelfth grade, they decided to send him to study in Calgary, where he at least had his own apartment. His parents and younger brother visited him when their work duties allowed.

That year Vlado was sent by the school to the north to train local Indian and Eskimo boys to play European football (Soccer). What no one expected, he was given a two-seater plane with a pilot for his needs. He traveled to the small town of Inuvik, about 200 km to the north, and also stayed in the town of Tuktoyaktuk, where the boys Kori, Jaran and Maki stood out. Vlado spent two months in the north and enjoyed the "midnight sunbathing" himself. In the evening he sat with the boys he coached, explained the details of the game and enjoyed watching the Northern light or Boreal (or Aurora Lights). He lived and fed with Indians and Eskimos and it remained in his unforgettable memory, as the most beautiful summer in his life. He also saw icebergs, which never melt. Returning to school, he became famous in all classes, and soon in other schools, where his parents worked, so he became famous for football in the whole city.

When Vlado also finished the twelfth grade, he decided to study mathematics, so his parents sent him to study in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the east of Canada. And while both boys were studying and coming home during the summer vacation, Milan and Dragica were engaged in their work, which they further increased and brought to perfection. Now they personally worked less physically, and more organized and supervised the "business". And they earned more, so they decided to buy an apartment not far from Range Lake, which the boys gladly accepted.

And when Darko finished his studies at the college in Calgary, he decided to get a job and accepted a job offer in Fort McMurray. The city of McMurray is industrial, where oil shale is processed and it is quite polluted, and Darko rented an apartment on Prairie Loop Boulevard, which is right next to the Clearwater River. That river was really clean and you could catch fish for eating. It flowed into the larger Athabasca River in the city itself. There, Darko will spend about three years, during which time he got married, and then he will move to the city of Victoria, the capital of the Province of British Columbia, where he completed his studies at the university. For that occasion, Milan and Dragica also bought a house there, where they themselves began to visit their son more and more often. Soon, she will have her first grandchild there, so Grandma Dragica had reason to stay in Victoria as long as possible. In the meantime, Vlado also finished his studies, got a job as a math teacher at a school in Calgary, moved into their house, got married and soon bought his own house.

Dragica was tired of running the cleaning company, so she soon left it to Milan alone, and she got a job at the School Board, where she managed accounting. After a few years of independent work in the cleaning business, Milan was injured at work, his sick leave lasted for about two years, and in the end the doctors retired him. Dragica worked for some time in the accounting department of the school administration, the boys were both already well-off, had their own houses and each had two children. The elder Darko worked as a professor at the university where he himself studied, and the younger Vlado worked as a mathematics teacher in high school.

When Milan once told his friend Boris that no one had visited them in Yellowknife for nineteen years, Boris then promised him that they would visit them and after three days he bought plane tickets to Yellowknife. Arriving to visit Yellowknife, Boris with his wife and Milan with Dragica most often had lunch in the park next to the City Hall, not far from Dragica's workplace and enjoyed the sun during the day and the polar lights in the evening. Almost every day they made trips to the nearby lakes, of which there are countless in the area, and where many local residents start swimming even before the ice on them completely melts. Summers in the North Western Territory are very short, so the season should be used in time. Many tourists come toYellowknife, most of them during the summer season, although those who enjoy the very cold northern winters also come.

And when Milan and Dragica reached twenty years of life and very hard work in Yellowknife, and they took their children on the road and earned enough money so that they don't need any more, they decided that Dragica should also retire, sold the apartment in Yellowknife and moved to Canmore, Alberta , where he again buys a third house together with the boys, who spend their time there in the summer during the school holidays, and the grandparents enjoy themselves with their grandchildren and every evening they all sit together under the Rocky Mounties, illuminated alternately by the moonlight or the aurora borealis.

And, when Boris met Milan and Dragica for the last time in their apartment in the town of Canmore, Milan told Boris about his experience in his native Banat, on which occasion a nice gypsy girl looked into his palm and told him that he would get three houses. Milan then laughed at her, thinking that the gypsy was making up stories for her own profit, and her predictions came true for Milan and Dragica. They actually made money and bought three houses in Canada.

Aurora lights in Yellowknife

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