Julie je dijakinja iz Belgije, ki je v začetku septembra prišla v Slovenijo na trimesečno izmenjavo, vrnila pa se je v začetku decembra. V tem času je obiskovala GCC, sklenila veliko novih prijateljstev, dobila neponovljive izkušnje in raziskala njej neznano kulturo.
Po izmenjavi je v okviru programa AFS šla za nekaj dni v kamp v Bruslju ter se družila še z ostalimi dijaki, ki so bili na izmenjavi v tem času. Odgovorila nam je na nekaj vprašanj o njenih izkušnjah v času izmenjave.
What was the reason for you to come to Slovenia on an exchange?
I got the idea from an older friend from Scouts, who went to Turkey. Last year she hosted an Italian girl Cristina. She was so nice and friendly and recomended everyone to go on an exchange with AFS, the organisation with which I came to Slovenia. Your country was in my top 3 countries, along with Germany and Portugal. When I got my country, I didn’t know what to expect, but then I went googling about it. When I heard Patricija’s family is going to host me, I started chatting and learning more about it.
What is the difference between Belgium and Slovenian schools?
Hours there begin at 8.20 and end at 15.40. At Wednesday we have class only till 12 o’clock. We have one hour for lunch every day, but we can’t leave the school to buy something from the bakery. We also don’t go to cafés after school and we don’t have after school activities in school. It’s strange to me, that you have to wear slippers inside school, we don’t do that.
How was your first day in Slovenia?
Me and other two exchange student were so impressed by the green landscape when we got off the plane. The mountains impressed me and I learned that you have a little church on almost every hill. Patricija, my host sister, let me see the farm of her stara mama. I even milked a cow. The next day she took me to school. I was a little bit nervous to meet my classmates, but they were all very enthusiastic.
In which ways is life here different than in Belgium?
The hours are very different for school, especially for waking up in the morning. That was hard for me to get used to. You go to bakerys a lot and we don’t really. Here I often went with friends to grab a coffee. The nature is more beautiful too, you even have it in the cities. I learned that Slovene people are ofthen in a hurry, but that didn’t bother me.
How was living in your host family?
Very nice, all sweet people! They helped me, we went visiting different places around Slovenia, did a lot of activities, like baking, cooking, we went to parties and we took care of the animals at the farm of my host stara mama. We even had a campfire once, where we could see the falling stars.
It was great to have Pati as a host sister!! ❤
What can you say in Slovenian language?
I know some words and sentences, but not much more, because it’s a difficult language. I know this words: friends – prijatelji, pumpkin – buča, cat – muca, good – dobro, happy – vesel, thanks – hvala. I can also say you have nice eyes – imaš lepe oči, good luck – vso srečo, hello how are you – zdravo kako si.
What will you remember the most from your exchange?
The whole new culture had an impact on me. I’ll definitely remember that everybody is nice. I made some friends for life and I will keep in contact with them. My host family will always be my other family, I won’t forget them. The class was great, always with good spirit, they put songs and sing during the brakes. It was a fantastic life experience, that enriched me enormously and I will take it with me for the rest of my life. Thank you all very much!
Thank you for answering!
Julie želimo vso srečo v njenem nadaljnjem življenju ter upamo, da ji bodo izkušnje ostale v srcu in se bo kdaj še vrnila, nova prijateljstva pa bodo trajala večno ter bo ohranjala stike. Pogrešali jo bomo in jo vabimo nazaj, ko bo prišel čas, da se spet vidimo.
