An overview of living in Zagreb as an Erasmus student. Part 2

September - October

It was Sunday when we settled in the house. Fortunately, the big supermarkets in Croatia are open also on Sunday so we decided to go and buy the first stuff for our house. Only 10 minutes away from our house, there were two huge supermarkets, so we could buy whatever we wanted. They had everything, so we decided to buy as many things as we could carry with us. When I saw the prices I was so excited because everything was much cheaper than in Greece. I could not control myself, so I started buying literally everything! From three different kinds of chips, to dip, many kinds of chocolate and so on. We also bought shampoos and cleansers for the house. When we went to the cashier to pay, we were both so surprised with the total amount of money we had to pay because we had bought soo much stuff for so little money.

Our first days were like these: we first had to finish with the things we had to do for the house and then start with the paperwork from the university. We found out where Ikea was throught the Internet, so we decided to go there one of the first days and buy some glasses and other things that were missing from the house. The same thing happened to me in Ikea as well. I started putting everything inside the basket, whether I needed it or not. At the end, I had to leave out half of the stuff because they were useless and I didn't want to buy so much stuff. Also, when the Erasmus would be over, I would have no idea of what to do with them.

After buying a lot of new things for the house and filling the fridge with food, we were finally ready to go to the university to register ourselves and maybe meet some new people. So, one rainy morning we decided to find our faculty; there is no campus in Zagreb and every faculty is in a different part of the city, so we were hoping that it would not be very far from our place. We checked on the internet and found the place on the map. It didn't seem so hard or far to find, so we started looking for it. When we were very close to the right address, for some strange reason, we got lost and we couldn't find the right street. We asked a girl to help us and we realized that we were so close, but we were just not paying attention. The building of our faculty is very small and it looks more like a flat than a university. We didn't expect something so small but we weren't disappointed because the building doesn't necessarily show the quality of the University as an institution.

We went inside, we asked where the Erasmus office was to register ourselves and give some important papers that needed to be signed. The office was located on the first floor inside the library and we were lucky because we didn't have to wait long until our turn was. After half an hour all our paperwork was ready, so we were oficially registered at the University. We just had to bring some photos for a book that would have the grades of exams inside, and we were ready to start our semester. We had one more free week with no classes, so we were walking around the city as tourists, to learn, at least, how to get around the city center without getting lost every five minutes.

At the night we did not do anything special. We looked for some places over the internet, but some of them were not in the center and we visited only that ones in the center. I was a bit disappointed with the nightlife of Zagreb, because I was expecting, from a capital, to have parties until the morning and more alternative places. But it's ok, it was still the beginning. I couldn't draw any conclusions without letting the time pass until I was at least one month there. I think another reason was that we still hadn't met a lot of people, but everything would be easier when the university would start.

One day I woke up and I realized that it was the day that the classes at the University would start. Going to lectures was never my favourite hobby, but I wanted to go and see how different it would be from my University in Thessaloniki. We had two weeks of optional lectures, so that we could decide what lectures we would choose for our final Learning Agreement. I attended many different lectures (of course they were all in English) and after some consideration, I decided what courses I would finally choose. I went to the Erasmus office to fill in my final Learning Agreement and sent it to my home University in Greece so that they would sign it. I was satisfied with the fact that I had found courses, that in my opinion, would be interesting. They were the following: Media and Child Rights, Politics and Society in Southeastern Europe, the Politics of Human Rights, Contemporary Geopolitical Issues and Theories of Nationalism.

After some days we had the orientation day at the University. We went to the faculty of Economics and for the next two hours people from the University were giving us information about Zagreb and Croatia in general. Then, there was a buffet for us to eat something and we were given some small presents: a bag, a T-shirt and a notebook with the logo of the University of Zagreb. We met some people there and exchanged Facebook to go out for a coffee or for beers. Then, we went back home to cook something and relaxed until night. Then, we talked with our new friends and discovered the nightlife of the city of Zagreb.

The next week, our final lectures started, so we had to go to the university three times a week to attend the lectures because they were obligatory. Luckily, I had no class early in the morning, so I would be able to go out every night.

November-December

The time was passing very fast while I was already one month and a half in Zagreb. I had already found friends there and the university was going really well. I was a bit anxious about November because I was supposed to have a lot of presentations and colloquia in all my courses. I had never made a presentation in English before, so I had to study harder because my English had not improved so much yet. My first presentation was in the course called ''Politics of Human Rights''. It was a group presentation and we had written about the topic of human trafficking. My part was about the data and statistics of human trafficking. I didn't expect to have a good presentation but it went really well at the end.

Regarding the night life, my friends and I had already discovered lots of bars in Zagreb and found our ''spots''. Our most common place to go out for beers was "Ziraffa", a cheap student place, and "Alcatraz", a more rock bar in the center of the city. We also liked very much a bar/club called "Vintage Industrial Bar" that had many music events such as concerts or tributes to famous artists. Also, a nice event that we used to attend in this place was a "Halloween masque party".

Most of my friends ate lunch at the student restaurants called "Menza". My flatmate and I were very lazy to go there, so we preferred going to the supermarket and cooking at home. I improved very much my skills in our kitchen by cooking more diffucult dishes such as octopus, squid or Italian rizzoto and chicken with curry. Also, we were going to the city center for fresh fruits and vegetables to a everyday open market called "Dolac Market". The prices of the products were very good, so we always had our fridge full of everything!

During November, I was waiting for visitors to come. First, a friend of mine came. During those days, the best friend of my flatmate was also there, so we all decided to make a hard plan and visit a lot of places.

The best experience we all had was the day we visited the National park of "Plitvice lakes". It had just snowed, so everything was covered by snow and there was ice on the trees. We were only with a few people that day in the park, so we had all the day to walk around without other people getting on our way. We got lost several times because some parts of the park were closed due to snowfall.

My friends and I we were having fun at the snowy National park of Plitvice.

During those days we also visited lots of museums such as the museum of Torture, the museum of Illusions, the museum of broken relationships and the gallery of Strossmayera. I enjoyed very much the Museum of Illusions because it was very interactive and you could stay inside that place for two hours just glazing at the exhibitions.

The museum of illusions!

The museum of torture was also pretty fascinating, because it was dark and it had a spooky music as background. We learned lots of early torture methods and were able to use some of them, of course they were fake.

The museum of broken relationships was not my favourite museum, but I liked very much the idea that everything that was exhibited was brought by unknown people. The idea of the museum was to bring something that reminded you of a relationship that no longer exists such as parents- children, boyfriends- girlfriends, husbands-wifes, etc. And to write a short story about it. There were some boring stories but there were also some very sad stories that were worth sharing with the audience.

We had a very nice time while our friends were there, and when they left, the house seemed empty. At least I was happy because two of my best friends would come at the beginning of December to visit me. Another friend was supposed to come with them, but she found a job so she wouldn't be able to come. With them, we decided to spend a more relaxed time and live in Zagreb as local people. The temperature during that period was very low and the weather was cloudy, so we weren't able to walk around a lot. We visited the upper town to take some photos, and spent a lot of time at the Christmas party at the main square, drinking traditional ''Kuhano vino '' (mulled wine). I also took them to our favourite bars and cafeterias and of course, to our Thursday habit, which was singing karaoke.

From the first week of December, the city started to have more tourists due to the Christmas market that was one of the most famous markets in Europe. The city was full with lights and Christmas trees and there was also a big ice-skating park in one of the main squares, where many people would go every day to have fun. I didn't try ice-skating, but at least I went there a couple of times to enjoy a hot glass of mulled wine. The Christmas time was coming, so I had to book my tickets to go back to my hometown. Most of our friends would also go back to their hometowns, so two weeks before Christmas, when our courses had already finished for the holidays, it was time to say goodbye to each other and going out every day and night.

A small part of the Christmas market.

Walking around the Christmas market.

Small break from Christmas until the middle of January...

I don't have many things to say in this part, just that when you visit your family and friends after a long time, you have so much fun. Then it is very hard for you to turn back.

From the middle of January (exam period) to February

The last part of my Erasmus experience was more fun than the other parts, because I had to do all the things that I hadn't done in my previous months in Zagreb. Parks, lakes, museums and many kind of events were on the list. But firstly, we all had to finish with our responsibilities, that were, of course, the exams.

My first two weeks since I went back to Zagreb, were full of paperwork and studying. I had to finish all my five exams. I studied quite hard and spent even the weekends behind a laptop and a notebook while writing some notes. The good thing was, at least, that I learned some new things, especially about the history of Balkans, and that I passed all my courses, so I would be able to graduate when I would come back to Thessaloniki.

My exams finished at the end of January, so I had two weeks ahead to visit new places and enjoy my last time in Zagreb. Luckily, the weather was sunny so we could walk around a lot. We visited the park of Maksimir several times, the zoo, the lake of Jarun and we also experienced the Croatian cinema. It was scheduled for me to leave at the beginning of February. However, lots of my new friends were supposed to stay until the middle or the end of February, so what should I do? I decided to spend some more time with them and reschedule my arrival back to Greece for the 17th of February. During our last weeks in Zagreb, I was spending my days by walking around, going out and trying to finish my obligations with the University. I finished all my paperwork and also some more stuff that I had to do. We also had a big gathering in our place to celebrate the end of the exams and that great night was over with+a big party at a big club near our place called ''Katran''.

Finally, my flatmate, one of our friends and I decided to see how the carnival looks in Croatia. There is one big gathering in Rijeka, a city of Croatia on the coast, so we decided to visit the city to see the carnival and also visit the city. It was a very good experience, although we didn't stay for the big parade that was supposed to be the next day.

Conclusion

To conclude, with this brief review of my experience, I would like to say that generally I had a very nice time in Zagreb. The weather was too cold for me and the nighthlife was not so wild as I expected, but I met lots of new friends and people that I would miss. Also, I had the chance to visit some places that I would never see and interact with local people and learn the culture of Croatia. Moreover, now when my Erasmus is over, I can see that I've learned a lot of new things about the courses that I had attended and I also improved my English skills. Also, I've learned some Croatian words that helped me to communicate during my stay and words from other languages such as: Italian, Spanish and German.

Finally, I would suggest all of you to try the experience of going to live abroad as an Erasmus student. It is the best way to meet new people, have new friends and live in a city as a local, without work, because you can survive with the scholarship and Zagreb is a very cheap and alternative option.