Lost opportunity in Ljubljana

Hello. I am a student of MEDICINE and I was in Ljubljana 2 years ago. I chose it for my Erasmus place because it was the only one that was in English out of all of those that were offered at the UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA. But, at the start I encouraged myself because what I wanted was to live a different experience and according to what they had told me the city was welcoming and there were many students.

I am going to tell you a little about the impression I have of that experience.

Arriving in the city is not easy or cheap because you have to look for transfers so, in the end, the easiest route is to go to Venice and then look for another journey to the city which takes about 3 hours more, which is usually quite expensive.

At the beginning I had to look for myself a lot because the University didn't help me with anything, and I had to find ACCOMMODATION in a residence that was more expensive than normal and full of Slovenians who come from the outskirts to study in the city. So communication was limited. In addition to this, all the paperwork necessary for you to be received at the university and enrolled in each course is quite complicated and I received little or no attention from the department of the University of Medicine.

As for the CLASSES, I enrolled in the English Division where the classes were taught in English, the problem was that when there was a excess of Slovenians in the Slovenian branch, they were put in this group and, in the end, the teachers ended up talking in whatever language they wanted! Anyway, future students: I recommend that you prepare yourselves well for exams because they don't care that you are a student here and you have to work, especially be careful with the attendance - it seems not to be taken into account at the beginning, and then they read it to you as they did with me more than once.

The biggest problem was that the patients I was dealing with in PRACTICAL CLASSES didn't understand my language and I didn't understand theirs, so communication and learning became very complex.

As for the CITY, the truth is that it is very pretty - its walls and its history surprise you from the beginning. The native FOOD is a little strange but, in the end, you get used to it. The truth is that it is very cheap compared to Spain and that makes you not complain too much! In addition to this, the transport is cheap but complex, therefore you end up getting a lot of taxis and the Slovenian taxi drivers are the biggest con artists of the world, take care with that...

I love to TRAVEL, so in the second term, I took advantage and traveled with a friend to Venice, Padua and Milan. We visited some of my friends and the truth is that they were the best days of the year, because it was then when I felt like this is what Erasmus life is really like.

One thing that I was really excited about was meeting people, it is true that the city is full of students of many nationalities and Spanish people, but the vast majority only spend the second semester taking advantage becuase it is not so cold and therefore that made the first months alone much harder. As for PARTYING, the city (being very smal) has few clubs but quite a few pubs, the bad thing is that they are full of Slovenians and foreigners try to con us, so in the end you end up not going out much, or less than I expected.

In SUMMARY, as a trip I would recommend the city, but it is not the best city to enjoy an Erasmus experience like the one I had in mind. If you end up there, don't be discouraged by the language and the way people act, in the end you will end up making the most of the city and meeting people in your own situation!

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