Slovak in Bologna: working full-time is a rare phenomenon, you gotta fight your way to your own paycheck
Italians don’t know Slovakia. Spaghetti bolognese doesn’t exist. Following the traffic rules is a pure rarity. Kids participate in Italian nightlife without restrictions and public breastfeeding is not judged at all. This article sums up myths about Italy from the viewpoint of a young Slovak woman living in Bologna, Italy. Italy, known by many as a country of a fiery temperament, is often related to the perfect holiday relax mixed up with absolutely delicious cuisine. And yet, this dreamy place can turn to hell quite easily as soon as you start to live here and expect things done, especially at the offices. Despite the chaos and tiring bureaucracy, there is…
New Year’s Resolutions aka Ode to Concreteness
That inner child of mine was always excited about changes. Changing seasons, an opening of a new school year and the specific smell of fresh textbooks, the 18th birthday and last but not least, the end and the beginning of the year. Despite I always used to write things down, I have never really kept a track of New Year’s resolutions. Instead, I creeped out on the midnight street with fireworks popping up above my head, and on the threshold of meditation, I looked back upon what I gained and lost throughout the last 12 months and how the New Year will be different again. I still haven’t got rid…
The Ups and Downs of 2017
Despite my 2016 is remembered for the two BIG things – graduating from uni and beginning of the internship in Bologna, Italy, 2017 was a bit juicier. My major (naïve) expectation from 2017 included landing my dream job in Italy without any particular effort. As you can guess, the opposite is truth and my muscle of sticazzism was strengthened more than ever. It was a year of sweat, tears and becoming an adulting rookie miles away from the comfort of a student’s life. 2017, thank you for all the lessons I learned and dreams that came true! THE DOWNS Let’s start with the cockups of the year. My throat still tightens when…
10 reasons why Italian public transport makes you a better person
All of the following pieces of knowledge were acquired thanks to my first working year in Italy and everyday tiring and time-consuming back-and-forth travelling. Since I spent my entire childhood and youth by commuting to school and first part-time jobs from the Eastern Slovak countryside, I was pretty much used to trains and buses on a daily basis and didn’t really expect anything surprising about the public transport. As usual, Italy convinced me of the opposite. After the first (and the second) experience with TPER buses I reaaaally tried my best to eliminate any possibility of public transport mingling with my life here. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a car, nor…
Why is ERASMUS+ not for everyone
What no one tells you about the ERASMUS+ study placement. Are you already packing up for your first ERASMUS+? Congrats then! You’re at the rightest place. I’m neither the first, nor the last person experiencing and writing about ERASMUS+, yet my friends, here you find the answers you are ashamed of asking your university tutor or your classmates turning back home from their mobilities like big bosses. Perhaps you are hesitating if travelling abroad is a good idea. Perhaps entire ERASMUS+ is a worn-out song for you. Everyone talks about it, even the granddaughter of your old neighbor had been to ERASMUS+! And you still don’t get it. Well, you…
Bologna, my new home
This blog was supposed to be the parallel project with my study mobility in Italy. Some kind of an online diary. Man proposes, God disposes. Two years have passed since my first arrival in Bologna and yet, I still do live in this sin city without writing a comma. It’s about right time to recapitulate the first impressions, I assume. My original idea about keeping a romantic diary on living the dolce vita clashed with reality after the very first week in Italy. The episodes of Tuscan passion learnt by heart played the key role in choosing the ERASMUS+ destination after all! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine how…