From Vienna to the U.S.

March 23 / Day 41

I must have skipped blogging about last Sunday, because everything is off track now. My last blog about going out to the ski party with Ashley and Mario was supposed to be for Thursday night, not Wednesday. So now, this blog is about Friday. I slept a lot of today. After going out last night I was really tired. Beside that, I just finished up homework for GSU and my case study for a class here. The rest o the day I don’t think I did much. I know I watched a movie in the evening, but that’s all I can remember. I didn’t hang out with Ashley because she and a few others left for Vienna by car with a French guy.

March 24 / Day 42

Today some of us woke up really early and met downstairs in the lobby to catch a tram and then train to Vienna for the day. I decided not to use my Eurailpass until I get back from spring break, otherwise it would be a waste. It is valid for ten travel days out of two months, and if I used it for the small trip to Vienna then I would be losing 3 weeks out of the time I could use it for because of spring break. Vienna only costs about 23 round trip, and it will be much better to save the pass for the trips to Switzerland and other places that cost over 15 euros.

We arrived to Vienna at about 10:30, and we all grabbed a kebab from a stand on the road. The six other people Miro and I were with wanted to go to a theme park because it is supposedly the oldest one in the world or something like that. I thought that was a terrible idea. We were in Vienna! Seriously, even if going to the theme park only for the half day was still a waste to me. So Miro and I explored the city on our own, and we had a great time together. There were beautiful parks, buildings, and cathedrals, of course. It was definitely a long day of walking though, and my feet were killing me by the end of the day. I wore my little black boots, but they are usually very comfortable for walking around in. They aren’t anymore though because I have worn them out so badly since being here. I am leaving them in Georgia or the trash when I go home, that’s for sure. They are ruined. I even slipped while walking at least six times in the evening… It was so embarrassing.

We all met up at the train station that evening and headed back home. Miro and I stopped at the store in the Linz train station because it was the only one still open in town since it was 10 p.m. We grabbed some food to make and went back to the dorm and cooked a late snack. I’m going all out with a workout program when I get back here after spring break. Dead serious. I am so out of shape and gross. It’s going to be really embarrassing on the cruise and in Statesboro.

March 25 / Day 43

Today I had a ton of homework to do. I needed to finish writing my final case study that would be due Monday, due a whole bunch of readings, and start on more stuff. I was able to get the case study and reading done, and that was most important, but that was all. I tried making soup for dinner and added what I thought was a little bit of rice to the soup. After it finished and I took it off the stove, within a few minutes all the rice absorbed all my soup. I had literally half a pot full of rice and no soup. And I don’t even really like rice. That was my dinner though, as well as some bread with Nutella.

March 26 / Day 44

Today I had to skip my German class for my Managing Across Cultures class. Only two more days of it though… Woohoo! I met Ashley for lunch at Mensa, went to the store to grocery shop with Miro, worked on homework, and ate too much bad food. My friend Michael asked me if I would be his new hairdresser since I cut Miro’s hair as well. I think I should start charging people. So Michael’s hair was extremely long and shaggy, and I cut it so nice! It looked amazing, and then he grabbed the shaver and was like, “Oh, let me just get over here by my sideburns.” He ruined my haircut I gave him! He accidently took a chunk out of the side of his head. Literally, there’s a bald spot. SO then he had me do the rest of his head one level shorter, but it was too short and his head was shaped weird, and it looks like there’s little short patches all throughout his head. SO now it looks like I gave a bad haircut, but it was actually really good until he messed it up.
After I cut Michael’s hair, I had to shower because his hair got all over me when it was floating in the air and falling to the ground. I also introduced Miro to the movie “Con Air,” and I realized how fake that movie really is, probably because it was made in 1997 though.

March 27 / Day 45

Today I actually had two classes in one day. That’s a first. I went to my Religions class today, and it was terrible. I really want to drop this class, but I can’t. It’s worth three credits, and I can only drop two credits. I just don’t understand this class at all. It’s not that I don’t understand religion, even though I really don’t, it’s because the professor sucks. He reads from a script basically the whole class, and goes over what we were supposed to read prior to class, but none of it makes sense because it is so incredibly boring.

Anyway, so I tried to make fish sticks today in the microwave, but I’m pretty sure they are supposed to be cooked in the oven, so I threw those away. I also took a lovely nap, and now I am in my Managing Cultures class. This is probably my favorite class, and I’m sad that it is ending tomorrow. My teacher is discussing with us right now about AIDS/HIV in South Africa. I’m paying attention and participating in the discussion actually, but I think I can multitask and write this as well. My computer is open in front of me, and I just don’t know what to do while I listen to my professor.

After class, I’m going to go to my room and make something for dinner, which will probably be soup or something simple because I ate so much bread before class already. Then I am going to shower and fill out a thing online so a service will pick me up for the airport at 3:30 a.m. Thursday. I also told Miro to download the movie “Face/Off” so we can watch that this evening. I love that movie! I will also try to work more on GSU homework. Tomorrow will be my last post until after spring break!

March 28 / Day 46

So this morning/afternoon I made super thin pancakes with Miro. I call the crêpes, like the French term, but Miro just calls them non-American pancakes. They were pretty good with peach jam, but Nutella would have been fantastic as well. I went to my last class, and I think I will actually miss it. It was an enjoyable class, even if I did spend a lot of time on Facebook. I had a lot to do today. After class I had to go talk to the people in the international office, go buy minutes for my phone, call the pick-up service, and pack. I wasn’t able to get the pick-up service because they weren’t going to Linz the next morning, so that sucked. I had dinner and a beer with Ashley in the dorm, and that was nice bonding time. I packed up all my stuff and some of Ashley’s to ship to her family while in the U.S. also. After 10 p.m. Miro and I went to the ATM on campus for me to get cash for the taxi the next morning, and then we just walked around the neighborhoods around campus for a couple hours. I eventually went to bed at 1 a.m. and got two hours of sleep before waking up at 3 to get ready for the taxi. I left at 4 a.m. and was on my way to come back to the United States of America!

Week Ten Blog Comments

AUTHOR: Emily Glass
BLOG: Welcome to da ‘Boro
LINK: https://eclecticemilyglass.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/welcome-to-da-boro/#comment-58
COMMENT: Oh game days! My favorite days at Georgia Southern as well! If I had a friend coming into town on a game day, then obviously I would take them to all the tailgating parties and the game for their first Boro experience! When you’re at the games, it’s a different feeling than other days in Statesboro; you really do feel like all the people you are around are your closest friends… Besides the opposing team’s fans of course!

AUTHOR: Caitlin McIntosh
BLOG: StatesBORING
LINK: http://caitlinmcintosh.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/statesboring/#comment-27
COMMENT: I am so craving frozen yogurt now! I can’t wait until I go back to Statesboro to visit next week just to go get some! For me, Statesboro isn’t that bad, like it sounds to be for you. It’s a bigger city than where I grew up, so there’s a lot more to do in Statesboro for me than back home. Campus and the bars are my top places to show off to newcomers though, mainly because those are the places I am at most often.

My Favorite Places in the Boro!

All my favorite things to do in Statesboro pretty much involve the sun! I love the warm weather we get in the Boro at any given point in the year. Not only does the sun shining make everything look prettier, but it puts people in better moods as well. I love laying out by the pool at my apartment, walking in campus (unless it’s the beginning of the school year and extremely humid), and driving through the city with my convertible top down.

If someone came to Statesboro for the first time, I would definitely take them to the GSU campus immediately. Campus is my favorite part of the little city I live in. No matter what time of year it is, the area is always so beautiful. I have had three different friends from Nevada visit me in Statesboro, and I took them all to the campus firs thing… Well, excluding one friend, but that was because she arrived at 11 p.m. the Thursday of Halloween. I’m sure it’s an easy guess where I took her first. Of course I love Sweet Heart Circle, the drive coming into the main entrance of the office buildings, and everywhere along the pedestrian. The main aspect of GSU’s campus that I enjoy showing off the most though is the RAC. The RAC is such a great facility, and every time I have shown a new person it, they just fall in love and are in awe with how much it has to offer.

Beside campus, I really like the old historic section of Statesboro. I come from a tiny town, and the main street reminds me a lot of home, but bigger. There are a couple side streets that go off the main road downtown, heading toward Northside Drive, and I really like just cruising this area as well. The houses are all older and look like true Southern homes. I would definitely show off this area to any newcomers in Statesboro.

English Stammtisch and More!

March 18 / Day 36

There is nothing really to write about today. I didn’t do anything exciting. Just a typical Monday of going to German class, doing some homework for GSU, eating, watching a movie and sleeping. Still a nice day living in Linz though!

March 19 / Day 37

The main event of today was the English Stammtisch. This is where students from all the English speaking countries group together and prepare food from our home countries for all the other international students. So, team America, Canada, Australia, UK and South Africa were the leaders of the night. Ashley and I made pigs in a blanket, and they were the main hit of the night, beside the red velvet cake, cookies and beef stew. Only one person at the event liked the Australian girl’s vegemite. It was so nasty. Apparently in the past, the people who prepare the food don’t eat it with everyone else, but we did, so the food ran out very quickly, especially since the English speakers are the biggest group. The rest of the night was pretty fun since the event was held in LUI, the school bar. It was cool because it wasn’t just exchange students there since school has started; local Austrians were also hanging out.

March 20 / Day 38

After class today, Sarah and I went for a run, finally! I’ve been telling myself for the last month I would, and now I did! I ran so much better than I expected I would. I felt great and I ran all the way around the lake! I only stopped once to walk, and that was because Sarah stopped. The next time she did though I just kept running and waited for her to finish at the end. I was so red though people were staring at me. My whole body turns instantly red the moment I start working out, and I get so itchy. It’s so embarrassing. I won’t even be working out real hard or tired, but I just turn beat red. I was scratching my thighs so hard even, I broke my some skin. That was my main activity of the day!
<strong

March 21 / Day 39

Today was my last class of German language until I get back from spring break since I have to miss both classes next week due to one class conflict and then my flight. I really will need to work on the language myself in my spare time so I don’t forget. A few of us had lunch after class together and later Ashley and I did an ab work out because I wouldn’t have time to go running later. I was making sushi with some of the other students! I brought the cream cheese and most of them had never heard of cream cheese in a roll, and I thought that was weird. I got there late though, after it was all made, so I just added cream cheese to the last pieces saved for me. It wasn’t really good sushi, but it was decent enough to eat. I definitely want good sushi once during spring break in Atlanta, that’s for sure.

After that dinner I went home and got ready to go out for the night. There was a “ski party” just down the street at this tiny bar place. It was so small inside and I had to pay a four euro cover, but it was OK because there were a lot of freebies for the night. Every group of at least four girls got a free bottle of champagne, and then from 8:30-9:30 beer and wine was free, beside a one euro deposit per cup. First of all, the champagne was so sweet, even sweeter than the stuff I got for Michelle’s engagement party. All the girls I was with loved it, but since I’m a true champagne drinker, I didn’t care for it. After our first glass each though someone stole the bottle anyway. So we got our first beer, and after the second refill, I decided I couldn’t keep chugging the beer before the free time-period ended. So, I was the only smart one in the place who just paid another one euro deposit for a second cup! You should have seen me walking around with both hands full all night! Everyone was jealous.

There was such a creepy Austrian guy hitting on me too! I kept telling him my “boyfriend” was on his way to the bar, but he didn’t really care. So Ashley grabbed our friend Mario, and Mario walked up acting like my boyfriend. The guy kept trying to talk to me though, so Mario just held my hand until the guy finally left. Shortly after that though, Ashley, Mario and I went back to our dorm. Ashley and Mario ended up going into the city I believe to the club A1, but I talked to Mario today and he has no memory after leaving me at the dorm. And I haven’t been able to talk to Ashley today yet because she is on her way to Vienna. I’m sure they were both a mess last night though, and I was the responsible one in bed!

Week Nine Blog Comments

AUTHOR: Jasmine Poolson
BLOG: If I could Go Back to My Freshman Year… What Would I Change?
LINK: http://gaawgeous89.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/if-i-could-go-back-to-my-freshman-year-what-would-i-change/#comment-74
COMMENT: I think most people will end up saying their freshman year was a big party! I was pretty focused in school and attending all the classes and everything, but I just did what I had to do to earn my A and get out of the class. I really didn’t learn the information that was taught like I wish I would have. That’s nice that you had friends from before coming to GSU as well, but I understand you wanting to maybe branch out a bit more. I was the opposite and didn’t know a single person, luckily I was one of the few that had awesome roommates and made friends through them.

AUTHOR: Sydney Brown
BLOG: Back to Freshman Year
LINK: http://sb03182.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/back-to-freshman-year/#comment-52
COMMENT: Seems that a lot of people are in an agreement about this boyfriend topic and freshman year! I was also in a long distance relationship my first two and half years of college, but I mine was back home in Nevada. Being so far away and expensive to visit, I saw him only for summer and Christmas breaks. I still had fun in school, and with him, so I don’t really regret the relationship, I just really regret that I let the distance affect my social life my first year. It would definitely be smart to come into college more open-minded about meeting new people and not staying so completely attached to all the old ones.

Freshman Year… Where Did You Go?!

Wow, freshman year seemed like it was last semester! Really though, I do not feel like I have completed almost three full years of college and will be graduating next spring! I had a wonderful freshman year, but if I could go back I would definitely do some things differently.

I wish I would have made more of an effort to make more friends. I mean, I have a lot of great friends at Southern, especially because I had the best roommates, and they introduced me to so many people they already knew. I could have been a little more social though. There were a lot of times when I didn’t want to go out because my boyfriend was in Nevada, so the bar scene wasn’t as fun for me. I don’t think I was anti-social at all though, and I’m content with the amount of socializing I did as a freshman. If I would have applied as a scorekeeper for CRI at the end of freshman year with my roommate and gotten the job, I would have met more people earlier and would be even happier with my job than I already am, I’m sure.

One of the biggest things I still complain about today is the bad job my advisors did. I have had four different professors advise me, and they all told me different requirements I needed, which I didn’t really need. Taking additional courses I didn’t need has made it a lot harder on me now. I took nine unnecessary credits and am studying abroad this semester and taking fewer credits than normal, so for the past two semesters I have needed to take 19 credits, and I will do the same next semester as well. I have been able to handle it so far and keep a 3.8 GPA, but it is still more challenging than it would have been if my advising had gone differently.

Also, if I would have looked into studying abroad during my first year at GSU, maybe I would have decided to take a couple German classes rather than Spanish, and maybe I would have decided to study abroad a full year rather than a semester, or even better, a semester at two different locations! As of right now, that is the one thing I keep thinking about – About how I wish I could do another semester in another country, but I can’t now.

A couple other things I wish I would have done different my freshman year would have been to go to the Luke Bryan concert, pay more attention in history classes so I would feel like I actually learned, and gone to all the home football games. I still had a better freshman year than most people I know though, so I am more than happy with the way it turned out!

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

March 17 / Day 35

I had an awesome brunch today that Miro made! Ana and a bunch of the other girls who didn’t go skiing went to Salzburg for the day for the first time. Miro and I decided not to go snowboarding today because it would be only us two. We need to try to get a couple more people to go with us next weekend otherwise it won’t be fun. Miro is advanced and I’m a beginner, so we need completely different slopes. Instead, we walked around the city center for a couple hours. We looked at some shoes but didn’t buy anything.

We then took the tram up a mountain to a church that I’ve been wanting to see every since we got here. It’s so gorgeous! You can basically see it sitting on top of the mountain from anywhere in the city. We went up there for over an hour at least and just walked around. It was really cool because there was like a whole community and little village up there it looked like. ON the back side of the mountain there were a bunch of huge houses that had pulls and hills of green all around them. This must be the rich are of the city. It’s actually not in Linz though. There was a sign that showed we were leaving Linz, but there was another showing we were entering. So it’s like half of the little mountain we were on was in Linz, and half wasn’t. We walked back to the tram area and realized we didn’t even go look at the church! I’m OK with that though because it just means we will for sure have to go another time again! It was a beautiful 64 degrees today! It doesn’t sound all that warm compared to the south, but it felt a lot warmer than that. I just wore a t-shirt and could have easily been in a dress. It felt like 70 at least. It should be like this pretty much the rest of the week! It just worries me about needing to go snowboarding still though.
We went back to the dorm, and I just ate some leftovers in my room.

I will probably go hang out with Miro again for a while until Ana and all the girls get back, and then we can figure out if we are going out for the night or not. I would like to go out, after all, people all over the world are celebrating me and calling me a saint and whatnot. I am really tired though, so just a relaxing night with maybe a movie would be nice at the same time. We will see! Happy St. Patty’s Day!

It’s Time for the Weekend!

March 15 / Day 33

I was so happy today I only had my German class to go to, and I’d be done by noon. Class was boring though because we were playing stupid games in our groups, and it wasn’t helping us learn anything, so I just kept playing games on my iPhone instead. I went to the store with Michael and bought a few groceries for the weekend, including a Toscana red wine! I ate, took a nap and started working on one of my study case assignments for next week.

Tonight we went to another Mensafest, which is a party at the school. Before leaving though, Michael and I went to Ashley’s room and had power hour. This is where you have your drink and there’s a mix of music playing and songs change every minute. So each time a song changes you have to take a drink. So you see how you can get really drunk really fast! By the time we left, I drank half my bottle of wine, and Ashley of course drank all of hers. We had to wait in line to get into the mensa for like 45 minutes and that sucked, but then Miro walked and surprised me! His bus got in about an hour before that and he knew I would be out so he came to hang out! It was a pretty good night out, and we saw some hilarious things happen. One girl was dancing on a table with some guys and she just face-planted it right off the table! Everyone was helping her up and checking to make sure she was fine and then I think she left or they took her out of there. But after we found out she was fine we had a good chuckle. Pictures will be posted Monday probably when Ashley and her camera get back.

March 16 / Day 34

I’m so happy I don’t have Friday classes! After getting ready for the day and cooking, I went to the store with Ana, Daniella and Miro. I thought I only needed cheese but apparently not. I bought a lot it seems. When we got back I ate, and we were all in my room talking. It kind of sucks when all the Croatians are in my room because 70% of the time they’re only speaking in Croatian. They try to remember to speak only English, but it seems like Miro is really the only one who actually follows through with doing that.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do the rest of the day. Miro is making us dinner later and then we’re watching a movie. Other than that though, I don’t have plans. It is such a gorgeous day today! I would love to do something outside, but it’s already 5 p.m. We want to go snowboarding tomorrow, but everyone is out of town on the ski trip with the school, so it would only be Miro and me. He’s really good at boarding and I’m a beginner, so we want to find someone else for me to be with. I don’t want to hold him back and have him go on just beginner slopes with me. I don’t really know what to do though because we don’t know anyone else who can go with us. If we don’t go tomorrow, we absolutely have to next weekend. It’s only 65 euros for the entire trip, and next weekend will basically be the last possible weekend to go. It’s getting so warm here; today got up to 70 degrees! So really, we need to go to the Alps by next weekend, and then it will be lake time! I am so excited! Ah!

Just Trying to Get Through the Week

March 12 / Day 31

First of all, I can’t believe I have now been here for an entire month! I already feel like it’s going too fast though, and it’s freaking me out. Second of all, this week can one of two ways: I will either get a lot of work done and get ahead because Miro is gone and usually we hang out and watch a movie every night, or I will continue to procrastinate and take naps. I’m thinking the latter one is more probable. Just a guess.

So today I had Managing Across Cultures really early and for three hours. I listened to a couple group presentations and then left class half way through and had to miss the lecture to go to my German Language class. I forgot to do my homework for German, but our books came with an answer book, so I just copied all the answers; I will definitely need to redo it on my own later though.
Ashley, Michael and I went to the store, and I finally bought some hamburger meat for my spaghetti. The rest of the evening I just worked on my presentation for class for the next day and met with my group at night to go over it. Our presentation was over how we could bring the Brazilian cosmetic company Natura into Russia successfully, or if we should even make an attempt at it. That’s all I really did today and tonight, and I tried to get a good night of sleep.

March 13 / Day 32

Today I had only Managing Across Cultures again. I presented my case study on Natura, and I was very impressed with my public speaking; I hope my professor is too. I didn’t prepare well at all, and I only read over what I was going to say once the night before, and once that morning. That’s kind of just how I am though – I get nervous and wing it and somehow all the information flows through my brain and out my mouth and sounds good. We also took a 4 question quiz and I only got 2 answers correct, so booo to that. Ashley wanted to go to lunch together, but I wanted to start using some of my meat since I just went shopping. I made spaghetti, took a nap, tried reading the rest of the night for my class which was a complete fail, ate soup and vegetables for dinner, showered and went to bed. Today was not eventful at all. I’m sure you’re thinking that I need to start getting out and exploring the city and so stuff, but it’s hard because everywhere here has such weird hours. A lot of the food places are closed in the middle of the day, other places close by like 4 or 5, and my classes are long and make it hard for me to work around all these hours. Soon some of these classes will be done though, and until then I have the weekends and nights, which are better anyway!

March 14 / Day 33

Today I went to Managing Across Cultures, which is once again my only class for the day. The reason I have this class so frequently and for 3.5 hours each day is because it is an intensive course. I only have a total of seven class periods for it throughout the entire semester and then it’s done. I only have three class periods left after this one, and none of them are next week actually. My professor has a group of students coming in from Cincinnati State next week and he’s taking them to Hungary I think. So we have next week off to write up our reports, and the following week we have class three times and then it’s spring break and I’m done! I went to mensa for lunch today with Jackson, Ashley, some Croatians and an Italian. Since then, I went home and accidently took over a two hour nap and drank coffee. SO now I’m wide awake. It sucks because I know I won’t get much sleep now, and I have German Language at 8:30 a.m. I’m going to make a small dinner now, do my German homework and practice as much as I can. Then I will try to read for my other class and start on my reports before going to sleep. My weekend starts before noon tomorrow!

End of the First Week’s Classes and a Weekend in Croatia!!

March 8 / Day 27

Well, I haven’t written in a week, and I don’t remember what I did for the most part beside my trip to Croatia, so these blog entries of Linz should be shorter.

Today I had German class and then was done for the day. For the most part of the day I’m sure I probably just sat around, napped, was on the Internet a lot, and didn’t do anything productive at all. The most productive thing I know I did was get ready to go out for the night. Tonight there was another party from the school called Mensafest. They have a few of these parties each semester, and they are open to everyone instead of our previous international student parties.

I waited forever on Miro to make dinner for himself and change to go to Mensafest with me since Ashley had already left, and he didn’t get out of class until 8:30 at night. We had to pay an entrance fee to get into this party, which was extremely stupid. There was security all over the place as well, and clearly it was just for show. I mean really, it was completely unnecessary to have like 6 security guards in each room of this party. Drinks were also overpriced. Each beer was 3 euros, and they weren’t even bottles; they were regular sized plastic cups. For each plastic cup you returned though you got 50 cents. Ashley was a champion at keeping her eyes open for cups sitting around all night. At one point there was beer all over the ground, and Ashley slipped on it and fell straight down and on all fours. It was really funny but said at the same time. Of course I made sure she wasn’t hurt, and she had two giant wet spots on her chest in her white shirt, but it was so funny because two girls right after her slipped and laid on the ground for so long trying to climb up each other to get back up! That night wasn’t too late of a night for me because I had class the next morning again.

Miro and I

Michael, Ashley and I

Newest Besties 🙂

March 9 / Day 28

Today I had my Managing Across Cultures Class. My professor is from Cincinnati and teaches there, as well as spends semesters teaching in Linz and China a lot. He has spent the last 10 years teaching semesters here and still doesn’t know German. He only knows a couple of the basics, but I know more than him. In this class we will be learning about the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and South Africa because they are the fastest growing economies. I remember learning about these in my international studies classes at GSU, but I didn’t know about South Africa, and we were also taught that Indonesia is being considered being part of this group and making it the BRIIC nations.

I had to go print our bus tickets for Croatia after class before meeting Ashley at the tram station to go exchange some clothes, but it took so long! The people in line before me were all printing literally like 400 pages each, and I was the 6th person in line. They were printing all the readings for all of their classes this semester because professors here just post readings online instead of students buying books. I only had two papers to print, there are only 3 printers, one guy took a printer for the entire time I was there, and one of them was out of order. So yeah, we all used one printer, and I waited for over an hour and a half. Seriously, I’m missing GSU’s library big time! Poor Ashley was waiting at the tram station for me for this entire time, but I finally got there, and we went to Hauptplatz to H&M to exchange a few things that we bought for a Croatia weekend. We were really quick and even had time to get kabebs on our way back to the tram to go home and pack up.

We packed and headed to the bus station to go to Croatia with Miro! The bus ride kind of sucked and was 6.5 hours long I believe. The border wasn’t too bad going through Slovenia and into Croatia, and that only took about 30 minutes showing them our passports both times. We arrived at 9:30 p.m. and Miro’s business partners Alen and Tomislav picked us up. They told us to be ready in an hour and they would be picking us up to go out for the night.

We met Miro’s parents, two brothers and sister, and they were all so sweet and cute! Throughout this I won’t be saying the names of Miro’s mom or dad because they were too hard to learn, and I was only told their names once. Anyway, they had a very cute 4 bedroom flat in the very heart of the city center, so we were in a great location for the weekend in Zagreb. Miro told us to dress casual for the night, so Ashley and I just put on nice shirts and jeans. He made us look like fools! We got to this club that just opened this month, which Miro has ever been to before. There was a live band, and it was kind of big. All the girls were dressed so fancy! Ashley and I stood out so bad! We later found out from every person we talked to that Croatian girls are some of the most materialistic people in Europe. They all buy really nice clothes and won’t even go to the store across the street to get one item if their hair, makeup, and everything else isn’t completely done. They even told us that a lot of the women will let everything else in their life suffer, like lack of funds to pay their bills and other important things, just to buy the most expensive and name brand clothes. It is very important to them how they look to others. After being here a while, we went to a much smaller place that played Croatian music and occasionally a couple American songs. Miro is friends with all the club owners in Zagreb because he does his events at all their places, and the second place we went to was actually the first club he ever did an event at when he was 17. We stayed out until just after 2 a.m. and went home.

March 10 / Day 29
Ashley and I wanted to get up early so we would have a full day to explore the city since we had such limited time here in Croatia. When we walked into the dining area, is mom had the table full of food for us. There was a silver platter full of about seven different breads sliced, chunks of cheese, slices of ham, arugula, lettuce, hot tea, and probably some other stuff as well. I made some great little sandwiches! It was all fresh, home-made from locals in the city, and I loved it all, except the arugula of course. I wanted to offer his mom to help clean up, but she was always coming in and taking our plates while we finished things.

We walked to the main square and started exploring Zagreb! The first place we went to was a farmer’s market, and it was so amazing. I probably sounded really annoying because I kept saying how cool just the farmer’s market was, and I wanted to buy everything! There was all this home-made honey and all these other things that looked so wonderful! I can’t even really start to list all the places we went to because for one, I don’t know where we went really, and two, we were just all over the city center. We had Croatian icecream that was really good; we saw the Parliament; we walked up these stairs to upper town and were able to look down upon the entire city; we saw the art museum that Miro’s mom works at, and so much more! Oh yeah, Miro’s mom is like the head person of an art museum in Zagreb, and she has so much art all around their house. It’s all abstract, and I’m sure aunt Patty and Randy would have really appreciated it.

We went back to Miro’s house for lunch because his mom said to be there by three. The only time Miro’s mom was with us in the dining room was for small talk here and there and to say the long Catholic prayer in Croatian before we ate. I had Miro ask her to eat with us or why she never did, and she told me it was because she is always too busy in the kitchen to sit down with the family. That made me sad. We had soup, then a main dish with salad and sides, and desert. They also bought a couple litters of Coke for Ash and I. It’s so funny… Everyone thinks that because we are American we drink Coke with everything! We had a wonderful lunch talking with everyone in the family. They all speak very good English. Miro’s parents say they can understand English perfectly and all their books on architecture and graphic design are in English that they read, but they haven’t needed to speak English in like ten years, so they think they are bad at it. They really aren’t though. Miro’s dad went to school to be an architect, but he could never get a job for it in Zagreb, o he is a free-lance graphic designer, and now Miro’s younger brother is going to school for architecture.

Miro’s sister, Dora, is sixteen, and she is the cutest thing ever! She is so beautiful and speaks great English. She wants to be a doctor and plans on going to the U.S. for her entire education. She was asking Ashley and I how she picks a school and does the application and what most requirements will be. We tried to explain everything the best we could and tell her the first things she needs to really research and figure out, like what part of the country she wants to be in. She wants to go to America to be able to improve her English. She says she sees herself as an American because we are apparently all so nice, and all the girls in Croatia are so mean. She says she doesn’t even like her friends at school, and it’s weird, because honestly if she didn’t have the accent, she would seem completely American to me.

We went walking again for a couple hours and went to a huge park. This park for Croatia is what Central Park is to New York. It was very beautiful, and I would love to visit there again in the summer time. We also walked to Miro’s faculty of his school. Schools here don’t really have a strong bond. Like for GSU, we are very school-spirited and have mascots, colors, and mottos. At their school they only care about their faculty. Miro is in the Faculty of Economics and Finance. That would be like me saying I am in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at GSU. To me, my college means nothing. My bond is with Georgia Southern as a whole. People here only have a bond with their faculty. So anyway, we went and saw his faculty building, and to me it was just a random building in the city, but he seemed excited to show it off. We went back to his house, took a short nap, and got ready for the night.

Miro and I at the huge park

Ashley and I wore dresses and heals, and I curled my hair a lot, and it looked great! His parents were so pleased with the way we looked, his dad whipped out his professional-looking camera and started napping away as we talked, walked, and then posed. His mom kept telling me my hair looked beautiful and was so curly, and she had the biggest smile and kept clapping and saying, “Super! Super!” The three of us scarfed down some food real quick in the tiny kitchen and met his friends downstairs. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before that Miro has liver and kidney problems, so he rarely ever drinks. So he didn’t drink tonight and volunteered to drive us all around.

Such curly and long hair!!!

It’s very common for people in Zagreb to go to the local parks and drink for a few hours before going to the bars or clubs, so that was our plan. We went to some store and Ashley and I picked out this liquor that is a form of Tequila apparently but tastes like honey and is very popular. By the way, Miro told us the next day he saw in the news that after we left that store, a little later someone got stabbed there. But anyway, we went to the park, and Ash and I loved our drink. We were with Miro’s business partners – His main business partner Alen, his marketing manager Tomislav, and his PR manager Mario! Mario was in the magazine Cosmopolitan with his shirt off recently too! Miro showed me the picture once! We had the best time just sitting at the park in the car drinking. These guys are so funny and nice!

From left to right: Tomislav, Alen, Mario

The guys and me!

We went back to the second bar we went to last night that was smaller, and we weren’t there for too long before we headed to another. Since Miro is so popular in this city with all the clubs it seems, the owner came up to him and told him they were driving to another club and to follow, and he’d get us all in. This owner is taking over every club in Zagreb soon too, so I guess he’s a big deal. We went to his other place and it also played Croatian music and was much bigger. Time really flew because by the time I knew it, we were getting Kebabs and heading home. These were the biggest kebabs I’ve ever had too! They were so wonderful, and Ashley freaked out and felt disgusted after she ate the entire thing and then found out it’s lamb! We didn’t get home until 5 a.m. and I wanted to go to church the next morning, so we only had four hours to sleep.

Delicious kebabs!!

March 11 / Day 30
I felt great this morning, but when we walked out to the dining room for brunch, Miro looked like he had the biggest hangover ever except that he hadn’t had a sip of alcohol. He told him he must have been hung over from Coke because he drank about a full liter to himself. He’s been sick lately though and didn’t get much sleep, so he felt really terrible all day and had a fever. We ate another great brunch and the three of us walked to church, where we were of course ten minutes late because Miro is late to literally everything. The place was so packed! Miro found someone to scoot over so Ashley and I could sit, and he stood for the entire service.

After church we walked around a bit more, and I wanted to buy Miro’s mom something for welcoming us into her home and catering to us all weekend. We found some beautiful flowers for her, and when we returned home with them she was so happy. She had another large Croatian meal for us prepared. I can’t remember the name, but it’s pork wrapped in cabbage. It was actually really good, and she made crêpes with cinnamon for us! We packed up all of our stuff after lunch and walked to the bus station. It was sad because I really enjoyed my time here. It was my favorite weekend so far I think, just because I enjoyed being with his family so much. They were all so nice to us and pleasant to be around. They put in so much effort to give us a wonderful Croatian experience and make us as comfortable as possible while speaking in English. The city was very nice too, and we were lucky that it was beautiful weather all weekend, at about 55 degrees and blue skies. The only thing I didn’t like about the city is that as a whole, it isn’t really that pretty. There are pretty parts, especially the historical buildings and cathedrals, but almost every building, bridge, wall, and house was tagged with graffiti. Some of the graffiti was amazing though, I have to admit; it was art really.

From left to right: Miro's mom, me, Miro's dad, Ashley, sister Dora, brother Buni, sister Tina

From left to right: Miro's mother, me, Ashley, Miro, sister Dora, brother Buni, sister Tina

We got to the bus, and the drivers were the same ones we had last time, so Miro talked to them and asked them to look out for us because we don’t speak Croatian and to make sure we get off at the right stop since it will be dark when we arrive. Miro was staying until Thursday because a concert he is putting on is Wednesday night, and he has many meeting to attend before that and then obviously the concert itself. Ashley and I slept a little, but about an hour and half into the drive we were at the border, and there were so many busses going through that it took us over 3 and a half hours to go through the two borders. Ashley and I were so annoyed, as was everyone else on the bus. They scanned our passports this time, which they haven’t done before, and Ashley and I were making jokes earlier that it would suck if our passports didn’t work, and we were left there by the bus to figure it out on our own! Of course, we were the last two to get ours scanned, and the only two Americans. The man scanned mine about 30 times, and it never worked, so he just told me to go and let me through the border; Ashley’s didn’t work either, so I don’t know what was up with that. At least they didn’t think we looked terroristic though, and they let us through! The driver must have sped the entire way, because we were only two hours late returning, and Miro got a hold of another Croatian friend of ours who has his car here and had him pick us up from the stop and take us home. What a long day!