The best decision

When I came to Slovenia the most frequent question which people asked was „Why did you decide for Slovenia?“ Usually I responded that I didn't know so much about the country – honestly, not so many of my friends knew any deeper information and I was very curious to discover this „mysterious“ country. I also liked that our standards are very similar, it is a big advantage when you are a student and you don´t have an extra big budget of savings :) When I knew where to go I had to decide which school I will choose. Turistica looked really amazing, the subjects were very interesting, a smaller and closer school seemed to me like a very warm place and when I found out that the school is next to the sea I couldn't believe my eyes. :) Everything what I wanted was on one place.

I can say, that it didn't really have any mistake. The school, professors, friends and nature were amazing. Everyone was very helpful and friendly to me and to all Erasmus students too. I met friends for forever. We were a small group of Erasmus students and I liked it, because we were very open to each other and I made very close friendships.

If I talk about the lessons, the first (winter) semester was a little bit harder, but very interesting. I started to understand very fast and my level of English was getting better and better, because I was using it all the time. Teachers were respecting the fact that we came to learn English so they were very helpful in improving our English skills. We also met a lot of local people who became our friends for the rest of our days. Slovenian people are very friendly and open so we were also travelling with them and we have a lot of memories because of them.

My second (summer) semester was absolutely different for me. I also meet my new Erasmus group, unfortunately we didn't spend so much time together as a big group like before. It’s probably because there were many people from the same country and they were spending a lot of time together. However, I also gained some very good friends. I also had more space for deeper friendships with local people and I am very thankful for it. Summer is full of parties, sunbathing and swimming. We were travelling all around Slovenia and the summer time has shown us a different side of this beautiful country.

If I talk about more formal things – which are also important :) I was very satisfied because I didn't have any problem with money, my scholarship covered me my expenses and extra costs which I paid for my side was just for travelling and shopping. :) We got also benefits for food so we could eat great big dish composed from soup, main dish and desert for just 3 euros. Transport is very easy there – it is very practical to make a bus card, because you pay half the price for the bus ticket.

I was living at the dormitories all the time. It was ok, sometimes I had problems with the noise and WiFi, but it was still ok for students to live at dorms. :)

Now, when I am at home and I remember Slovenia, I miss the best time of my life, swimming in the sea, enjoying nature and beautiful night walking in Piran, eating calamari and amazing people who became my friends for all life.

Šárka Hulinková