So on saturday i went to a waterpark somewhere nearby with some kids in my class. it was fun and all because, hello, it's a waterpark. but this whole language thing just sucks. it's hard to include myself when i have no idea what people are saying. so for the most part i just sat there trying and failing to follow the conversations. I can get every 8th word in every sentence but it's not enough. plus i found out that a girl from two years ago who was from brazil could understand croatian after 2 months and just about speak it after 3. how in the world is that physically possible?!
sooo i've decided to try to speak croatian more, but the problem is that there isn't much i can say. and then when people speak croatian back to me, i realize i can't really understand croatian that well. and everyone speaks english so most conversations that i'm actually apart of are in english.
soooo poo. i'm in a pickle.
but i'll keep doing this language thing.
anyways, i had a big rotary lunch thing with the other exchangers on sunday. we sat down, were served pork, (yum...meat) and then we sat around some more and talked, then we were served more pork (double yummy) and then we sat around some more and talked, then we were served fish (i love meat).
it was a very sad lunch.
The entire thing lasted maybe 5 hours. We sat around and talked and ate and stared at the wall and ate. We did get to see a ruined castle from the 9th century. That was cool. We explored what was left of it but it was rainy and cold so some of the people wanted to go so we went back to sit around and stare at the pork and fish.
I was lectured by someone, we'll call this person Herb, about learning the language as if i don't actually know that already. Herb kept trying to say things in croatian to me and whenever i had no idea what he was saying i would get scolded for not learning the language. It's been almost 2 months! How in the world am i suppose to do this??! And then he told me i needed more lessons because the 3 hour paid lessons, and the 5 days of school taught mostly in croatian and the fact that i'm surronded by the language isn't enough. But i'm a busy person with a life so unfortunately i wont be taking classes with Herb.
OMG! and Herb was telling me about why democracy was bad. It went like this...
"There are gangsters everywhere in democracy countries. Back when there were kings, if there was a gangster, he'd be killed on the spot. But with democracy you have to read them their rights, they go to court and have to be proven that they did something illegal. And then there are false witnesses who lie and they can be set free. When it's so obvious that what they did was bad, they still get let free. You have to read them their rights. Do you think they read you your rights before they kill you? No. Democracy doesn't work in these situations."
ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
no offense but that was kind of rude. actually it was kind of offensive. hello? remember me? the girl from the united states? the one who has democracy? he was telling me my government system sucked basically. rude. rude. rude. rude.
i did NOT say anything that was wrong with his country. I wasn't lecturing him about his english. I wasn't being rude at all. I jsut sat there nodded my head and said mhm everytime there was a pause.
Ladys and gentlemen thats what i like to call being polite.
some people should try it sometime.
Oh and i looked up facts to see if having wet hair really does make you sick.
(here people don't go outside with wet hair because everyone says it will make you very sick)
there are no facts or researches proving that wet hair leads to sickness. having wet hair makes you body temperture lower but how much depends on the temperture outside and how wet your hair is. but when your body temp. is lowered then you're immune system isn't as strong as it usually is. doesn't mean you'll get sick though. people get sick from having germs and bacteria enter the body.
its a smart idea to dry your hair in the winter time because then you won't be as cold and your hair wont freeze and break off (jimmy neutron's mom)
But i'll dry my hair anyways because if i dont people look at me like i have small pox or something.
Oh and i also told my host family what the song "ring around the roses" is about.
apparently back when Veronika and Paula were in kindergarden, they learned how to sing this song and i got to watch the baby videos of them and see them sing it.
they were surprised by how morbid the song really is when there are so many kids singing it. ahah!
oh and instead of them learning it as "ashes, ashes, we all fall down" they learned the song as "ouchoo, Ouchoo, we all fall down"....weird
ohh and for the song "eenie meenie minie mo" they learned "catch a monkey by it's toe", i've never heard that before. I'd always heard and sang it as "catch a tiger by it's toe"
but it was funny to watch fat Veronika and pouty Paula.
Oh! and also i got an offer by the Dinamo soccer coach to play for their women's soccer team. Dinamo is a pretty big soccer team here. It's like professional. So i'm not sure how me playing for the women's team will go because i'm not that great. But i get free equipement and the coach gave me and two other exchangers who might play with me, Theresa-from germany and Emma- from vermont, a ticket to an international soccer game tomorrow. i'm' very excited!!
okok now i have to go to school
Idem u skola...?
whateves
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Okay, so now i'm blogging more than i'm journaling. This is hard to balance out. But i just want to say I got a physics test back and i recieved a 4/14 on it. Even if the class were being taught in english, i'd still get a 4/14 on it. I also got my croatian test back and i got a 29/36. So my croatian is better than my physics, but thats ok because i hate physics. The only classes i'm getting graded in are my history, english, and geography class. Those are also the classes it's absolutely mandatory that i go to. And my croatian classes but those are taken outside of school.
Also something funny
my friend was asking me about some english vocab and she asked about the word "slushy"
which lets be honest, the only time someone says slushy is if they're talking about the drink or the snow outside.
but apparently her english teacher said that it can be used like "a slushy romantic comedy"
slushy romantic comedy? i don't think this english teacher is really qualified to be teaching or even speaking english
i think she might have meant gushy, but i'm not so sure
oh well, english is english and i'll take any sort of english i can get
embarrassing moments
forgotten which school i go to
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
tripped going down my appartment building stairs
ran into a car door
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
almost walked into a bicyclist
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
repeated what i THOUGHT someone said and ended up yelling vagina in his face
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
yelling shit in croatian when i meant to be calling for a waiter
oh and i had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
Also something funny
my friend was asking me about some english vocab and she asked about the word "slushy"
which lets be honest, the only time someone says slushy is if they're talking about the drink or the snow outside.
but apparently her english teacher said that it can be used like "a slushy romantic comedy"
slushy romantic comedy? i don't think this english teacher is really qualified to be teaching or even speaking english
i think she might have meant gushy, but i'm not so sure
oh well, english is english and i'll take any sort of english i can get
embarrassing moments
forgotten which school i go to
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
tripped going down my appartment building stairs
ran into a car door
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
almost walked into a bicyclist
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
repeated what i THOUGHT someone said and ended up yelling vagina in his face
had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
yelling shit in croatian when i meant to be calling for a waiter
oh and i had the bus doors close with me in the doorway
Saturday, October 9, 2010
So i just got back from Zadar (city on the coast) this weekend. Friday was one of the independence days so i didn't have any school! my host family has family in Zadar so we stayed with them and my family let me bring a friend along. Dani (another exchanger fromm Colorado) told me about some issues with her host family, so i invited her along because it sounded like she could really use something fun for once. So Dani, Veronika (my host sister) and I all hung out this weekend. It was lots of fun and i'm glad i invited Dani.
The problem with Dani is that her family sucks. Harsh? Yes. Honest? Yes.
She basically feels unwanted in her home. I would hate to be experiancing one of the most exciting things ever and have to always have the feeling of being in the way. I don't wanna feel uncomfortable in my own room. Its not fair for her and I feel terrible especially because she's such a cool and nice person.
My family is soo nice. I love them. They are all funny and caring and helpful. I feel comfortable around them and I really appreciate them.
Dani and I were talking this weekend about being an exchange student and all. Its rough at first because of the whole feeling comfortable thing is pretty much gone. We're always having to push ourselves, which can just be exhausting. Everything is different. It's not like its big things that are soo different. But its so many little things that when it all adds up it can be overwhelming.
I'll admit, I've had my moments where i just think enough is enough and i just don't wanna be here anymore. But i've had moments where i'm happy where i am. it's just one big emotional rollarcoaster and it's gonna take a while until things level out. But i'm okay. i can handle it and i'll be fine.
It's not anyone's doings that make me feel down. It's just homesickness. It's missing the feeling of knowing what to expect. It's not able to talk to everyone or even understand the construction workers calling after you as you walk past. It's just being soo far away from the life I used to live that I don't know what i'm doing anymore.
This kind of thing might seem easy to some people to overcome, but it's just a sad feeling. It's like being lost. Everyone knows where you are, except for you.
But my family here is always helpful. I feel close with them. And my family back home is there for me too. I've made a few friends here as well and i know i just need some time. I'm not like sad all the time. I'm being optomistic. Those feelings of homesickness were expected and i knew it would hit me at some point. and i know it'll go away too. So whateves.
Right now i feel good. I'm happy. I'm comfy here in our appartment. And i'm greatful.
Main thing- NO REGRETS
and i'll keep it that way
peace love britney
meow!
The problem with Dani is that her family sucks. Harsh? Yes. Honest? Yes.
She basically feels unwanted in her home. I would hate to be experiancing one of the most exciting things ever and have to always have the feeling of being in the way. I don't wanna feel uncomfortable in my own room. Its not fair for her and I feel terrible especially because she's such a cool and nice person.
My family is soo nice. I love them. They are all funny and caring and helpful. I feel comfortable around them and I really appreciate them.
Dani and I were talking this weekend about being an exchange student and all. Its rough at first because of the whole feeling comfortable thing is pretty much gone. We're always having to push ourselves, which can just be exhausting. Everything is different. It's not like its big things that are soo different. But its so many little things that when it all adds up it can be overwhelming.
I'll admit, I've had my moments where i just think enough is enough and i just don't wanna be here anymore. But i've had moments where i'm happy where i am. it's just one big emotional rollarcoaster and it's gonna take a while until things level out. But i'm okay. i can handle it and i'll be fine.
It's not anyone's doings that make me feel down. It's just homesickness. It's missing the feeling of knowing what to expect. It's not able to talk to everyone or even understand the construction workers calling after you as you walk past. It's just being soo far away from the life I used to live that I don't know what i'm doing anymore.
This kind of thing might seem easy to some people to overcome, but it's just a sad feeling. It's like being lost. Everyone knows where you are, except for you.
But my family here is always helpful. I feel close with them. And my family back home is there for me too. I've made a few friends here as well and i know i just need some time. I'm not like sad all the time. I'm being optomistic. Those feelings of homesickness were expected and i knew it would hit me at some point. and i know it'll go away too. So whateves.
Right now i feel good. I'm happy. I'm comfy here in our appartment. And i'm greatful.
Main thing- NO REGRETS
and i'll keep it that way
peace love britney
meow!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
LOOK I'M BLOGGING!
Alright so I did one blog before i left, but then i got here and i figured i wouldn't have much time to blog. But then everyone back home is asking about a blog and yada yada yada. Sooo here i am blogging. Now everyone back home can stop worrying about what i'm doing. I'm blogging!
Sooo far i've been here for a little more than a month and of course i love it here.
The way i see it is that Croatia is a baby country, not just little, but new too. They have been an independent country for about 15 years now and they are trying to get the hang of it. All the adults love to talk politics so then they can talk about how corrupt the government is. Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt. That is the main word to look for when it comes to Croatian politics. Apparently there are a lot of government officials who have been taking bribes and stealing money and covering things up. So everyone thinks anyone basically working for the government with a high position is pretty much CORRUPT. The prime minister kicks butt though. She's been investigating and firing anyone who has been accepting bribes and all that stuff and she makes sure they go to jail for it. So she's pretty cool. And she looks fierce!
I've also learned a lot about the history. Croatia has never really been independent before. Someone is always fighting to take it over. And no one really knows why someone would want Croatia. Yeah, it's beautiful, but that's never been a reason to conquer a country. There are no resources here that anyone could make millions off of and Croatia isn't exactly a threat. So it's unknown. Well, apparently Croatia was independent for about a decade back in the 14 century or something, but it didn't last long. Croatia has been ruled by the Romans, Serbia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Hungary, etc. You name it. The last war they were in was against Serbia when they wanted to break free of Yugoslavia. My host parents love to tell me about this time. Apparently Serbia didn't want to lose Croatia. They'd already lost Slovenia without a fight too. So Serbian armys came into Croatia's civilian towns and killed everyone. It was a masacre. So Croatia fought back for about 4-5 years and finally won their independence. No one likes communism here. Everyone tells me that is a main reason they love the U.S. Because we are so anti communism. I find it so cool that I can talk to people who have actually lived through communism. I've never been able to that before and it's interesting to hear what they have to say.
Croatia is also working it's buttoff right now to get already for the EU. They've been basically rebuilding every law, rule, finanical statement just to please the EU. Which by hearing what the EU has been doing, has made me believe it isn't so great. It's sounds unprofessional. The EU makes me think of the popular crowd back in highschool. They do everything by their own rules and do whatever they like. You do one thing to upset them and you'll never be in with them. You suck up to them and you'll be their little play toy. It's difficult to be apart of their group of friends unless you were friends before the group started. And everyone who isn't part of their popular group are just the bugs under their precious designer shoes.
by the way this is a long blog since i haven't blogged much this past month.
Rotary took us on a trip to see some old castle, which was super cool. It takes back to the Austria- Hungary times. I want to live there. I had to pay $150 though. I mean we also were suppose to go to some national park but the weather sucked so they are rescheduling it. But i could have done all of that with my host family for way cheaper. And they kept saying that the trip was being sponsored by someone. But i don't understand because if my cost was sponsored, then what was i paying for? This would be me excersising my freedom of speech. Not sure if it stil applies seeing how i'm not in the U.S. but oh wells. I say what i want.
Things I miss:
Wisconsin Milk (the milk here is filled with preservatives so they dont have to fridgerate it. ew warm milk? no thanks. and it doesnt taste the same)
My family
My friends
My cats
Driving
No curfew
My bed
My Britney Spears posters
My library card
Perkins
The smell of cow manure everywhere i go
Ok so the last one was kind of a joke. but yeah i pretty much dont have any of that here. there's a library but i have no card. the bed i have here is nice but its smaller and just no the same. and britney spears isn't exactly popular. everyone says they liked her when they were 10. and i can't drive because of rotary. and no way do they ahve anything like perkins. on weekends everyone pretty much either goes out for coffee (big thing here, it's like saying i'm going to hangout with my friends at a cafe bar for 4 hours and only order one thing) or they go find a club to drink at and dance the night away. I've done both (minus the drinking part FOUR D'S!!!) But it's not the same of course
Whateves i'm moving on. Living in the here and now.
Schools ok. The only classes i understand are English and History. My school is a bilingal school so eveyrone speaks really good english. Meaning I'm not the best student in my English class, I know its sad. Half of the classes are suppose to be taught in English, but the teachers either forget, or suck at English so they stick to Croatian generally.
I love the highschools because they are so different then america's. They aren't all cliqy like in mean girls or real life i guess. Everyone is friends with everyone. There are popular crowds or nerds to separate everyone from hanging out with each other. I love it. I've been asked a few times if my highschool is like the one in mean girls. And sometimes mean girls exagerates some things, but its all mostly true. and they can't believe that.
theres no lunch break at this school. I have 7 classes a day. each is 45 minutes. and theres 5 minutes between each class except after the 3rd class which is a 15 minute break where people eat and hang out and smoke. SMOKE! everyone here smokes! its like strange to see teens outside not smoking. its bad. not only does everyone smoke and drink, but its easy to be underage and to buy alcohol or cigs. no one cards! anyone can buy it. ive seen 10 year olds standing outside the avenue mall smoking. its unbelievable!
I love my host family. My mom and sister speak perfect english. my dad is okay with english but its broken usually. I can understand what he's trying to say though. They are so nice and try to help me with everything! They feed me, well actually overfeed me, well. They always accuse me of not eating and then feed me a meal that is 4x the average human meal. That is how i'll gain 20 pounds.
Oh and everyone says kilos instead of pounds. I find it funny but its normal for them i guess.
Also I'm attending my school and classes with another exchanger from mexico. Her name is laura. And at first her english wasn't so great but being stuck with me for the past month has really done a lot of improvement on her english. So she'll go back knowing english and croatian!
Which reminds me that i need to go study more croatian. The language is a bitch (pardon me) but its true. Its very hard. Its soo unlike english or french (only 2 languages i know). Even the peopoe here think i'm crazy for wanting to learn croatian.. They think i'm crazy for just choosing to come to croatia. The one question I hear all the time is "Why did you choose Croatia" and i honestly can't remember my exact reason. People don't like that answer though. So i usually say i saw pictures of the coast which was super pretty or that i was interested because it's sort of an unknown country and i thought itd be cool to explore it. But its still not enough. I'll keep trying new answers i guess and find one thats good.
Alrighty so theres a blog to please the world back home.
Ill blog again no worries!
Sooo far i've been here for a little more than a month and of course i love it here.
The way i see it is that Croatia is a baby country, not just little, but new too. They have been an independent country for about 15 years now and they are trying to get the hang of it. All the adults love to talk politics so then they can talk about how corrupt the government is. Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt. That is the main word to look for when it comes to Croatian politics. Apparently there are a lot of government officials who have been taking bribes and stealing money and covering things up. So everyone thinks anyone basically working for the government with a high position is pretty much CORRUPT. The prime minister kicks butt though. She's been investigating and firing anyone who has been accepting bribes and all that stuff and she makes sure they go to jail for it. So she's pretty cool. And she looks fierce!
I've also learned a lot about the history. Croatia has never really been independent before. Someone is always fighting to take it over. And no one really knows why someone would want Croatia. Yeah, it's beautiful, but that's never been a reason to conquer a country. There are no resources here that anyone could make millions off of and Croatia isn't exactly a threat. So it's unknown. Well, apparently Croatia was independent for about a decade back in the 14 century or something, but it didn't last long. Croatia has been ruled by the Romans, Serbia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Hungary, etc. You name it. The last war they were in was against Serbia when they wanted to break free of Yugoslavia. My host parents love to tell me about this time. Apparently Serbia didn't want to lose Croatia. They'd already lost Slovenia without a fight too. So Serbian armys came into Croatia's civilian towns and killed everyone. It was a masacre. So Croatia fought back for about 4-5 years and finally won their independence. No one likes communism here. Everyone tells me that is a main reason they love the U.S. Because we are so anti communism. I find it so cool that I can talk to people who have actually lived through communism. I've never been able to that before and it's interesting to hear what they have to say.
Croatia is also working it's buttoff right now to get already for the EU. They've been basically rebuilding every law, rule, finanical statement just to please the EU. Which by hearing what the EU has been doing, has made me believe it isn't so great. It's sounds unprofessional. The EU makes me think of the popular crowd back in highschool. They do everything by their own rules and do whatever they like. You do one thing to upset them and you'll never be in with them. You suck up to them and you'll be their little play toy. It's difficult to be apart of their group of friends unless you were friends before the group started. And everyone who isn't part of their popular group are just the bugs under their precious designer shoes.
by the way this is a long blog since i haven't blogged much this past month.
Rotary took us on a trip to see some old castle, which was super cool. It takes back to the Austria- Hungary times. I want to live there. I had to pay $150 though. I mean we also were suppose to go to some national park but the weather sucked so they are rescheduling it. But i could have done all of that with my host family for way cheaper. And they kept saying that the trip was being sponsored by someone. But i don't understand because if my cost was sponsored, then what was i paying for? This would be me excersising my freedom of speech. Not sure if it stil applies seeing how i'm not in the U.S. but oh wells. I say what i want.
Things I miss:
Wisconsin Milk (the milk here is filled with preservatives so they dont have to fridgerate it. ew warm milk? no thanks. and it doesnt taste the same)
My family
My friends
My cats
Driving
No curfew
My bed
My Britney Spears posters
My library card
Perkins
The smell of cow manure everywhere i go
Ok so the last one was kind of a joke. but yeah i pretty much dont have any of that here. there's a library but i have no card. the bed i have here is nice but its smaller and just no the same. and britney spears isn't exactly popular. everyone says they liked her when they were 10. and i can't drive because of rotary. and no way do they ahve anything like perkins. on weekends everyone pretty much either goes out for coffee (big thing here, it's like saying i'm going to hangout with my friends at a cafe bar for 4 hours and only order one thing) or they go find a club to drink at and dance the night away. I've done both (minus the drinking part FOUR D'S!!!) But it's not the same of course
Whateves i'm moving on. Living in the here and now.
Schools ok. The only classes i understand are English and History. My school is a bilingal school so eveyrone speaks really good english. Meaning I'm not the best student in my English class, I know its sad. Half of the classes are suppose to be taught in English, but the teachers either forget, or suck at English so they stick to Croatian generally.
I love the highschools because they are so different then america's. They aren't all cliqy like in mean girls or real life i guess. Everyone is friends with everyone. There are popular crowds or nerds to separate everyone from hanging out with each other. I love it. I've been asked a few times if my highschool is like the one in mean girls. And sometimes mean girls exagerates some things, but its all mostly true. and they can't believe that.
theres no lunch break at this school. I have 7 classes a day. each is 45 minutes. and theres 5 minutes between each class except after the 3rd class which is a 15 minute break where people eat and hang out and smoke. SMOKE! everyone here smokes! its like strange to see teens outside not smoking. its bad. not only does everyone smoke and drink, but its easy to be underage and to buy alcohol or cigs. no one cards! anyone can buy it. ive seen 10 year olds standing outside the avenue mall smoking. its unbelievable!
I love my host family. My mom and sister speak perfect english. my dad is okay with english but its broken usually. I can understand what he's trying to say though. They are so nice and try to help me with everything! They feed me, well actually overfeed me, well. They always accuse me of not eating and then feed me a meal that is 4x the average human meal. That is how i'll gain 20 pounds.
Oh and everyone says kilos instead of pounds. I find it funny but its normal for them i guess.
Also I'm attending my school and classes with another exchanger from mexico. Her name is laura. And at first her english wasn't so great but being stuck with me for the past month has really done a lot of improvement on her english. So she'll go back knowing english and croatian!
Which reminds me that i need to go study more croatian. The language is a bitch (pardon me) but its true. Its very hard. Its soo unlike english or french (only 2 languages i know). Even the peopoe here think i'm crazy for wanting to learn croatian.. They think i'm crazy for just choosing to come to croatia. The one question I hear all the time is "Why did you choose Croatia" and i honestly can't remember my exact reason. People don't like that answer though. So i usually say i saw pictures of the coast which was super pretty or that i was interested because it's sort of an unknown country and i thought itd be cool to explore it. But its still not enough. I'll keep trying new answers i guess and find one thats good.
Alrighty so theres a blog to please the world back home.
Ill blog again no worries!
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