It depends on your definition of Eastern Europe. All I said was Transfermarkt said he was born in Croatia; they're usually correct with their facts and I see nowhere that he was born in NZ?
There's a reason I phrased this the way I did: "So obviously Croatia and Serbia are very different, but apparently he's Eastern European so not as much of a culture shock as if [...]". Of course they're very different countries, but the way I phrased that was saying that France and Spain have some similarities, Romania and Bulgaria have some similarities, Poland and Lithuania have some similarities... I.e., of course they're different borders, etc. etc., but they're neighbours—they indeed have some similarities. Both used to be part of the same country for Christ's sake; it's not like I'm saying he was born/has heritage from Estonia and he's playing in Portugal.
Also I was saying it in a way implying New Zealand and Serbia are vastly different from Serbia and Croatia. Croatia has 4.4% Serbs so no doubt he's met some and thus another reason it's not as much of a culture shock as if he was 100% Kiwi without dual nationality born and raised in Waikato with his first experience outside New Zealand.
The town Adam Mitchell was supposedly born in, Vrgorac, is a small town of 7,000 population. Ivanjica is bigger than Vrgorac so he's used to "backwoods".
Firstly, if you actually read this thread, you will see that a person who knows Mitchell and his family has given the information I've referred to. I have no idea what Transfermarkt says, and I don't care, because that information is not accurate.
The 'Eastern Europe' you refer to is very much a political construct of the Cold War era. and has no basis in actual geography. If Croatia and Serbia are Eastern Europe, what are Russia, and Belarus, and Ukraine? Asia? But that's not even the worst of it...Croatia and Serbia were part of the same country - for a great total of 70 years in over a 1000-year history for both nations. And that didn't really end well, did it? Because they are very different - let's have a look:
Croatia - Catholic, uses Latin alphabet, much of the 1,000 year plus history spent in various unions with Hungary and Austria, and in coastal regions, with Venice, used the be the European frontier holding out against the Ottoman Empire. The country is essentially a mix of central Europe and the Mediterranean, and is culturally and socially reflective of that.
Serbia - Serbian Orthodox, uses Cyrillic alphabet (good luck dealing with that in Ivanjica), much of its history (and still today) has been under Byzantine/Russian influence, and spent close to 500 years under the Ottoman Empire, often serving as Ottoman vassals during their incursions and attempts to expand westward into Europe. The Russian influence persists, and they are probably the biggest supporters of Russia in Europe right now.
And this is not to mention the recent historical and political developments - from the fact that they have been at war with each other 3 times in the last 100 years (none of which were pleasant and clean affairs), and one of which is still very much in living memory, to the fact that Croatia maintains a pro-Western European outlook and is a member of the EU, whereas Serbia continues to look to the East and Russia, and is not a member of the EU.
So even the Estonia and Portugal comparison is probably closer - at least they have the same alphabet, and haven't been killing each other for the last 100 years...
