Inbound Weekend

This past weekend (19th-21st) I travelled to Zagreb to meet the other Exchange students. On Friday night we met at the Sheraton Hotel for a meet-and-greet and an overview of expectations for the year. There are seven of us staying in Croatia. Emily, (from the US) Greg, (from the US) Gabrielle (from Brazil) are all staying in Zagreb. Alli (from the US) is staying in Pula. Anna (from Germany) is staying in Dubrovnik. Kevin (from the US) and I are staying in Varaždin.

As a bonding experience and to explore the Zagreb area the Rotary members planned a weekend of events.

Saturday morning we traveled two hours away from Zagreb to the Plitvice Lakes. We went on a three hour walk. There were many pathways ranging in distance and ability. It was cold out and overcast but the lakes and surrounding area were still amazing. The water was clear blue and you could see the fish swimming around. It was like a place out of a fairytale, words can not do justice to describing this place.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Group picture at a creek before heading to the Lakes.

Map of Lakes.

First view of the Lakes and Waterfalls.

Group shot with the Waterfall in the background

Fish...I am pretty sure we had them for lunch!

Dock with boat in distance after departing. Went for a short boat ride.

Varaždin ~ Stari Grad Castle

I have walked by this Castle many times since I have been here but Thursday (Sept. 18th) was the first time I went in it.

Construction of the castle began near the end of the 13th Century and continued until the mid 19th Century. Feudal families have lived here for hundreds of years. The Castle is located located in the lowlands by the River Drava and at the edge of the Old City.

The city of Varaždin purchased the castle from the Erody Family in 1925 and turned it into the Varaždin Municipal Museum. The Museum includes a collection of around 30,000 local and foreign items. The artifacts are classified into collections such as: Insignia, Guild Items, Paintings, Sculptures, Furniture, Ceramics, Glass, Costumes and Accessories, Photographs, Metals, Weapons, Cannons, Clocks and Watches, Historic Documents, and Books. With all these Collections there was tonnes to see throughout the museum.

The Rooms of the castle were set up with artifacts in a way that they portrayed life from the Castles different Era's. Below are a few pictures from around the Castle.

View of other side of the Courtyard.

View of Gardens, Town Center in Background.

Looking out at Town.

Edge of Castle with part of the old wall.

View from Castle. Fortified walls in foreground.

Main Courtyard.

My host parents in front of the well.

Looking back at the main entrance.

Small corridor and walkway.

The Rooftop.

The Corridor

The spiral staircase.

Stairwell.

The parlour.

Seat by the Window.

Bedroom.

Fireplace and chairs.

Balcony above the Chapel.

Luxurious Room.

Old Medicine Bottles.

Dinning Room.

Weapons.

Lighting.

Second Dining Room

Bedroom with wardrobes.

Hallway.

The Bathroom



Elaborate door leading into Lounge room.

Simple Fireplace.

Layout Model of the Old Town and Castle (Top side)

A New Timetable

I now have a new schedule. The first one was just temporary until all the students and teachers were arranged. This will be my schedule from now on. I am told that it will be switched around in a few months.

Monday: English~Biology~Physics~German~ Croatian~Croatian
Tuesday: Philosophy~History~Politics~Ethics~History~Gym~Croatian
Wednesday: Art~Math~Chemistry~Chemistry~Physics~Biology
Thursday: Music~Geography~English~Math~Math~Class Meeting~Gym
Friday: English~Croatian~French~French~German~History
Saturday: Philosophy~Philosophy~Geography~Geography

What do I do in my classes?...

At the moment I don't do a whole lot for I don't have a good enough grasp on the language to understand what is going on. Here is a short summary of each class I take.

English: The class is devoted to grammar and sentence structure. The teacher asks me a lot of questions about explaining words and such. It is sometimes hard to define a word in a way that makes sense. It is easy so far and is a great revision for me.

Biology: The notes are in Croatian but on a slide show so I write them down. (even if I don't know what it says) Most of the technical terms are similar to English so I understand for the most part.

Physics: The notes are given verbally and in Croatian so I don't have a clue. Sometimes the teacher gets me to read a question in Croatian but other then that I just sit there.

German: German is taught in Croatian and I just sit and listen.

Croatian: I just sit and listen and be bored.

Philosophy: It's in Croatian but the teacher occasionally explains what hes talking about or asks me a question in English.

History: In English! We get English handouts and all the questions are in English. The teacher does do some explaining in Croatian if the students don't understand in English.

Politics: In Croatian so I do nothing.

Ethics: The class is in English and we mostly just discuss ethical things or learn the basis for Ethics. We haven't done any work yet.

Gym: For gym you have to wear specific clothes, girls black or red bottoms and a white shirt, and boys have to wear blue shorts and a white shirt. There are two classes in the Gym at one time and we are divided into girls from one class, boys from both classes and girls from the other class. Our class just started Gym as we didn't have a teacher until this week.

Art: I thought we did art but we learn about it instead. I don't understand because it is in Croatian but I look at all the pictures and diagrams.

Math: The teacher does a bit in English but does all further explaining in Croatian so I basically copy off the board then try and figure out how to do it from that. Math being a week point in English is definitely challenging in Croatian. Only partially understand.

Chemistry: Slide show notes are in English but all further explaining is in Croatian. I was given a CD with the slide shows on it so I re watch them at home to better understand. The teacher is going to try and find me a text book that is in English.

Music: The teacher teaches in Croatian and the notes are verbal so I just sit. You learn about music styles and such and occasionally listen to a short segment of a song.

Geography: The notes are on a slide show but are in Croatian. I write them down just for something to do.

Class Meeting: Most of the time we don't even have it but when we do they (the class and teacher) talk about school related tasks and such in Croatian.

French: The teacher speaks Croatian and French. She is "crazy" in the words of my classmates. She didn't understand (even though my classmates told her in Croatian) that just because I am from Canada doesn't mean i am fluent in French. My Youth Exchange Officer advised i just don't go to that class because the teacher isn't cooperative. I will try going again.

I just started Croatian Language classes with one of my Professors and Kevin, the other exchange student. I will have them Monday mornings during school. Tuesday afternoons during school and Saturday during school. I will miss a few classes (the ones in Croatian) but learning the language is more beneficial. We work out of a book and will hopefully be able to carry out a decent conversation and understand what is going on soon.

Classes at school

Here is my time table for school!

Monday: Geography~English~Geography~Ethics~English~Physics

Tuesday: Croatian~Croatian~History~German~Biology~Gym~Math

Wednesday: Art~Physics~Chemistry~Chemistry~German~English

Thursday: Croatian~Croatian~English~Math~Math~Music~Gym

Friday: History~Politics~French~French~Philosophy~Class Meeting

*Saturday: Philosophy~Philosophy~Biology~Biology

*School on Saturday is every second Saturday.

Classes are 45 minutes with 5 minute breaks in between. After the Third class there is a 15 minute break. School ends at different times depending on the day.

I am in the "Bilingual" class but most of the classes are in Croatian. The only ones that are in English are: English, Ethics, History, and Chemistry. The ones that are supposed to be in English are: Physics, Philosophy, Biology, Art and Math. The teachers talk in Croatian and occasionally say a few phrases in English.

Every student in the class has to take all of these, but a few exceptions can be made. Instead of ethics you can take religion (its in Croatian) and there is German and advanced German as well. You can take Informatics instead of French.

Most of my day is spent listening and writing notes in Croatian. (although i have no idea what they say) It can be very boring at times but i hope as my Croatian improves I will be able to participate in the Croatian speaking classes.

Next week I start private Croatian lessons with one of the teachers at the school. He will go over conversations and such first then move on to complex grammar. I will be taking the classes with the other exchange student (from the US) that is in the same town as me.

First Few Days

I am now here in Varaždin, Croatia.

On Saturday the 30th I arrived at the Zagreb airport after a long and tiresome night of flying. My Host mother Snježa, my next door neighbor, Morena, and a girl from my class, Ena came to pick me up. The drive to Varaždin took just under an hour. I spent most of the trip admiring the scenery and looking at all the new sights. Very different from Canada.

I am staying with Damir and Snježa Piskac. They have a daughter, Andreja, but she is away in America on an exchange. They are very friendly and although they don't speak much English and I don't speak much Croatian we have managed to communicate. The house is small and very different to Canadian homes but it is very nice and homely.

Varaždin has a larger population then Campbell River but everything is more condensed. The town center is only a ten minute walk from my house and my school is a fifteen minute walk away.

The night I arrived I went with my host parents to the town center. Špancirfest, a ten day festival in the town center was going on so it was very crowded. There were vendors, entertainers, clubs, concerts, food booths and tons of people. Lots to see!!

Monday was my first day of school, but only for an hour to get class lists and such. My school, Prva Gimnazija Varaždin, was established in 1636. (370 years old this year) Right now there are renovations going on to connect the building next door to the school. There are over 1,000 students attending the school and not enough classrooms (cabinets) so there are two shifts, morning and afternoon classes. For me school starts at 7:30. I have 19 classes and the schedule is random. Most of the teachers only speak Croatian so i don't understand whats going on in class. Mostly I just sit in class, listening, trying to pick up words I know. Unlike in Campbell River I have the same classmates for every subject. The teachers move from class to class and are often late. Classes are only 45 minutes, but sometimes there are double blocks of the same class.

I have met lots of new people, all of which are very nice. My classmates help me out when needed and show me around or invite me out after school. They have made things easier.

At the moment I am unable to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer but as soon as I fix that I will add some photos.