The Vinyard

Today, I had the best strawberry Ive ever tasted. It was pure magic. But to get to that story Im afraid you will have to listen to the rest of my day first. Lidjia took me to the police station to make me legal with a VISA (oh the epic visa sega continues.) Then, we had a wonderful Lunch at the neighbours, who happen to be my host grandparents Pepi and Barica. Have you ever tried White pumpkin soup? I have, and it is FANTASTIC. I learned Josh (pronounced yosh, as all Js are Ys over here) means more, as Ive never quite eaten enough apparently! Dobro je means its very good, and will be something I repeat with frequency here as their food is spellbinding sorcery of some kind (No other explanation has come to mind).

After lunch, and a little bit of bonding over T.V with Petra, my host Aunt Maja offered to take us to the Vinyard. Because my host family owns a vinyard. Sorry, I dont think you heard me, let me repeat. OWNS. A. VINYARD! We drove there, (Pepi, Maja, Petra and I) and Petra looks at me all nonchalantly and asks "Want to see the castle?". I think my heart skipped a beat. Anyone who knows me knows that historical architecture? A sure way to win me over. I practically floated down the little path and through the trees in delight, until finally, there it was. Towering over the trees, up on its own little hill, was one of the most beautiful, most elegant, attention demanding peices of art I have ever seen. Just wait, it gets better.

The castle was on a lake front, a lake front where you could rent......Paddleboats! Petra and I went out on the lake so I could really look back and see the castle, and of course take pictures! After an hour on the boat, and another halfhour in this charming little lake front bistro, we walked around the castle, right up to the front gates!

After a while we returned down the path to the little vinyard, and Maja showed me the gardens, where I was gorged with blackberries and raspberries, but the temperature had killed out the strawberries. She found one, handed it to me. I took a bite and realiyzed I hadnt fully lived until that moment. It was, to say the least, the highlight of the evening.

I have been invited to a three day trip to the adriatic seafront. I leave thursday mornig and return Saturday night. It includes swimming, a Gala, and bondig time with the other rotary students. All in all Im looking forward to in extremely.

Thats all for today, and Im not going to lie i probably wont update this blog daily, but everytime something happens that makes me want to write about it? I will, no questions asked.

Have a good one,

Meghan

First day

My first  full day in Varazdin, Croatia has finally come to an end. I arrived at the Zagred airport yesterday afternoon after an eight hour ride from Calgary to Frankfurt (During which my neighbour had a small dog and a large weakness for airplane wine.) and a two hour ride to Zagreb, where I arrived in 38 degrees. I was greeted by my host Mother, Father, Cousin and brother, and also my Rotary supervisor and his young daughter. After Nikola (supervisor) and his daughter said their hellos (and goodbyes) they left, and I drove with my host family to Varazdin. I was pleased to find that my host cousin spoke english, as the rest of the family in the car spoke little to none! We arrived at the house, and I was quickly greeted by their dog Boss. I also met my older host sister, who also speaks english. I was given enough time to shower (a shower which, quite frankly, I still don´t understand), and then it was off to a traditional Croatian wedding.

The night was fun, with dancing and meal after meal. I met more of the extended family. The only problem was my inability to keep my overly jetlagged eyes open. We went home, and I quickly fell asleep. The next morning (nearly afternoon to my surprise) Nikola (my host brother, same name as my rotary supervisor) offered to take me into town, as the biggest festival in Croatia happens in Varaždin, and today was the final day. We biked to the main square, and the walked around. He showed me my too be school, a beautiful cathedral, and the castle in the middle of Varazdin. It was fantastic. We returned home, and much to my chagrin, my jetlag hit again and I fell into the clutches of sleep. When I woke up, Petra (my host sister) offered to make me spaghetti, and Lidjia (mother) told me tomorrow we´d go for my visa (more on the visa dilema later). After, Petra and I went back to the town square to go to a small coffee bar where we talked and drank lemonade. She took me to meet Donata, a girl who will be in my school, and Donata and I walked around the festival, where we met up with Katie, the exchange student from Virginia. We walked around the festival for hours, laughing, eating, dancing, until ten thirty.

I´ve learned how to say a few things in croatian, such as thank you, hello, please, orange, etcetera. Hopefully I´ll learn enough by next monday to be ready for my first day of school!

new things are not so scary

A really cool thing to do when you're visiting somewhere is do something that you would do at home... but do it in the language of the plave you're visiting. For example, going to a movie. It will feel so familiar to you, the smells, the dimming of the lights, the shushing that goes around the theatre, that you won't be overstimulated by the other language. Not only that, but its a proven fact that listening to music or watching movies in another language is the best way to learn it! So there you have it. A great way to learn a language while fighting homesickness! XOXO Meghan

lets get cooking!

Ok so heres the deal. You may think that your host family doesn't want to taste your terrible cooking.... but you're wrong! unless you're cooking is more burnt than a white kid in a yo mama contest (Oooohh, burn) they'll adore it.

And whats more, it really helped me with any home sickness I had to eat a dish that I remembered from home. Next time I'll make sure to get the recipes from my parents before I go, because trust me, I'll need them!

Also, I'll try and find some recipes that are the utmost in Canadian cuisine.... (any ideas?) to bring. Because I know how much I want to know about Croatian culture, so I can only hope that they'll be as interested in canadian culture/ cuisine!

XoXo
Meghan

People my own age? ... Confusing

Sometimes, even if someone has only your best interest at heart, they don't have a great way of showing it.

Take for example, the brother of my exchange partner. He's really nice, and my age because the two are twins. He's like a brother to me... meaning that he also has the small habits that drive siblings crazy. One in particular.

To me, it feels like he thinks I can't do anything. Even if I'm doing something simple like making toast, he tells me how I should be doing it. At first this drove me insane. I thought to myself "Ok yeah I don't speak french that well, but some things are universal through all languages. I mean, I know how to sweep." I would sit there and stew for hours because he kept pointing out my faults. It didn't even occur to me to look at it from his perspective until we sat down and had a talk. Well sortof a talk. First I yelled at him a little, and he laughed at me a lot. Whether thats because I never yell, or because I looked awfully disheveled, I have no clue.

After that discussion, he explained his point of view. He didn't think I was incappable of doing things myself. The exact opposite, infact. He felt like I would need help with simple tasks because of the stress learning a new language so quickly put on me. He knew how tired I was, so he was always trying to give me advice to do thinks more quickly, giving myself more time to unwind.

I realize now that just because you take things one way does not mean they were meant that way. So this is my advice to you. Before breaking down and getting angry (Because this does you no good WHATSOEVER) try to look at something from the others perspective. And if you still can't understand, ask them to explain it. It's a lot easier to learn when you aren't constantly frustrated

XOXO
Meghan

Mini Vacation!

Is it just me, or are some of the best times you have while you're on a trip those mini day trips you take? Like this weekend for example, me and a great friend packed up and went to St. Sauver for the weekend. It was just two days, to some small little ski town we may never see again, but it was probably one of the best memories i'll have of Quebec.

Whether it be something small like the pool at the hotel where we had a great time, or something great like the mountains or the small boutiques in Centre Village, it was just a great experience. It's also exactly the reason you aren't ever supposed to say no to anything on exchange. I'm not even on my rotary exchange yet, but I realize that if I had decided not to go this weekend, I would have missed out on one of the best times ever.

This is really the kind of philosophy you should follow your whole life. Its not just something for an exchange student, something for someone on vacation.

Sometimes the best experiences start with the words
"Hey, we should....."

xoxo
Meghan

homeSICK... not actually

So today was one of those days. You wake up feeling absolutely crummy, and you don't go to school. I'm pretty used to these days, as Ihave been sick before, but today was different.

Today, all I could think about was laying in my own bed, eating the campbells chicken noodle soup that is constantly stocked in my own pantry, and being lazy in the confines of my own home. I missed my parents, I missed my dogs and most of all I missed my brother. This was the first time I'd been homesick, and I believe its directly correlated to me physical health.

The worse you feel, the more you reach for things that are comfortably familiar, and the more you realize... Oh. I'm not at home.

Well i guess that tells me a little something about how hard I will be trying to keep healthy on this exchange

XoXo
Meghan