It’s a lot of money, acknowledges Milica Mijajlović as she makes a cup of Nespresso coffee. She spends more money on rent than any of her friends do. “It’s worth it to me. There are so many landlord horror stories out there. I’ve lived here since 2019, when I started my European Law School bachelor, and I feel comfortable here.” She laughs. “I’m lucky; my parents can afford it. Studying in Maastricht is expensive anyway if you’re not from the EU. This year’s tuition fee is €15,000.”
She lives on the second floor of a stately building, in an apartment equipped with all the modern comforts – a bath in the corner of the living room, a walk-in shower, a dishwasher, oven, washing machine, tumble dryer, and a separate bedroom just below the roof, with two large windows. She loves it when it rains. “The sound puts me to sleep in no time.” She sleeps next to a huge pile of stuffed toys. “I collect them. I adore them.”
Sales
At the foot of the bed is a well-stocked rack of clothes with several party dresses. She rarely wears them anymore. “My taste in clothes has changed over the last few years. It’s not as extravagant as it used to be. My consumer behaviour has also changed. I used to go shopping the moment the new collection dropped or sales started. Now, I only buy items I know I will wear. And I almost always buy vintage, which is often original and durable.
“Physical appearance is very important to us in Montenegro. It’s part of our culture – going to a hairstylist twice a week, getting your nails done every two weeks, buying the ‘right’ brands. People borrow money to buy clothes or the latest iPhone. My mother, who is a producer at the national theatre in Podgorica, is a shopaholic. She’s always well dressed. It’s part of her personality. She thinks my current personal style is ordinary. But we recently went to Amsterdam together, and seeing the young people there was an eye-opener for her. She went, ‘Well, you dress extravagantly compared to them.’”
Bullying
She didn’t tidy her apartment for the occasion. The kitchen-living room is the same state it’s always in, with books and papers all over the place. “I was always interested in reading and studying. I was always eager to learn. I was bullied in Montenegro because I was different. My classmates thought I was weird for liking subjects such as history.” The performance of her public secondary school was below par. It used to only admit the best students, she explains, but nowadays it’s parents’ social connections that matter most. “There’s a lot of corruption, which affects the quality of education.”
€5000 purse
That’s why she decided to transfer to a Swiss boarding school when she was fourteen years old. It was quite a culture shock. “My old school didn’t have central heating or air conditioning. It had rats. In Switzerland, I found myself among the filthy rich – students from mainly Russia, Germany and China, although the school has become more international since then. My family is well off, but this school had students walking around with €5000 purses. The boys were expected to show up for breakfast clean-shaven and in a suit every morning; the girls had to wear a skirt with a blazer or a smart dress. Jeans and sneakers were out of the question.” She loved it there. She wasn’t homesick and studied to her heart’s content.
Dutch meat
She gets up to show off her collection of spice jars. She likes to cook at her kitchen island. “I couldn’t even boil an egg when I was eighteen years old. When I still lived with my mother – my parents are divorced, my father manages a construction company – we dined out every day. It’s cheaper in Montenegro, if it’s just the two of you. I asked my mother to teach me how to cook, but she never did. ‘Just go to a restaurant’, she eventually told me. I don’t want that. Eating out alone is no fun. So I taught myself to cook using online recipes. I like to cook fish and vegetables. I don’t like Dutch meat, it’s not fresh – a sentiment shared by a lot of people from former Yugoslavia. I’ve been into making soups lately. Easy and delicious.”
When she felt homesick during the pandemic, she asked her parents for a cookbook from Montenegro. “I haven’t cooked from it yet. The recipes aren’t very healthy; they feature lots of meat and oil. It’s more appropriate for winter.”