Dealing with the paperwork at the police station, school and with the Croatian government are finally starting to be behind me and I can finally start concentrating on school. I even received the infamous stay permit this Monday 22.10.2012 and it only took nearly two months and SEVERAL visits to the police station.. I wonder if joining the EU will make this procedure simpler or will they find a way to make it even more complicated. Only time will tell. Image may be NSFW.
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Adjusting to a new culture
I’m starting to get used to the everyday life here in Zagreb and habits that used to feel new and strange are getting more and more familiar. I actually started doing a list of the major differences that I’ve noticed since I came to Croatia and it’s nearly two pages long now. It is mainly just some basic everyday issues that I’ve encountered here, so nothing too drastic or exciting. I will post the whole list once I can’t find any more differences to add there. Image may be NSFW.
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I’m really surprised about how quickly we as people can adapt to our new surroundings. I’m not saying it’s all been like dancing on rose petals, but for some reason I thought it would take a longer time until I would feel this “comfortable” being here.
Movies
Niklas and I have found a common hobby here, which is (at least) a weekly visit to the local movie theater CineStar. There are actually a few of those theaters here in Zagreb, but we’ve only been visiting to the one closest to our apartment. The quality of the theaters is far better than our local Finnkino theaters back in Jyväskylä. The theaters here are brand new and at least 50% bigger. I really love going there and the prices are dirt cheap when you compare them to Finland.
So far we’ve seen:
- 09.10.2012: Looper, went to see it with Niklas and Henrik (29,00 hrk)
- 13.10.2012: Expendables 2, went to see it with Niklas and Diana (33,00 hrk)
- 22.10.2012: The Bourne Legacy, went to see it with Niklas, Henrik, Joanna, Lea, Marko and Anna (31,00 hrk)
1,00 € = 7,53 HRK so you can do the math yourself and see how cheap it is Image may be NSFW.
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Later tonight 26.10.2012 we’re going there again to see Dredd 3D with Niklas and I hope some others will join us as well. We always announce when we’re going to see something in our Erasmus Facebook group, so if someone wants to join us, they can. Image may be NSFW.
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Shopping
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From Avenue mall: There's KFC!!1
Zagreb’s center is filled with small shops with all sorts of unique selections and there’s literally nothing you can’t find here. But because of the old infrastructure of the city, there aren’t too many malls in the center. In order to find some, you need to head down to Novi Zagreb, which is the southern part of Zagreb under the river Sava. You can find two of the biggest malls in the city there. I visited both of them with the guys, and once you enter them, it really feels like you’ve been teleported to America or some other western society, especially if you go there directly from the old part of Zagreb.
The malls are called the Avenue mall and the Arena mall. We went to Avenue mall last week 17.10.2012 with Niklas & Henrik and to Arena mall this week 23.10.2012 with Niklas, Henrik & Joanna. I prefer the Arena mall myself, but it’s nearly an hours tram ride away from my apartment and considering how big it is, you really need to make a day out it when you go there. I bought a new jacket for myself from Arena mall and I just love it. I’ll upload some pics of it later on.
After our visit to the Avenue mall last week, we also went to drive with Carting cars. I personally didn’t drive; I’ve never really been interested in that, but to be honest, now that I watched everyone else do it, it seemed like a lot of fun and I plan on going there again once people are up for it. Image may be NSFW.
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After the exciting race we went for few drinks in the pub with the other exchange students and our tutors. It was a great evening. You can check out all the pictures of that day from below.
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Visit to the Embassy of Finland
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Me at @Embassy of Finland
We had the municipal elections back in Finland recently, so we went to do our duties as Finnish citizens and went to the Embassy of Finland in Zagreb to cast our votes. We (Niklas & Henrik) went there on 19.10.2012 and it was the freakiest day, because suddenly out of nowhere it was +30C again and summer was back. At the embassy the officers(?) were really nice and we had a good conversation about life as a Finn in Croatia. Topics like where to get rye bread and such were discussed. Image may be NSFW.
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Apparently there are also some smaller events that the Embassy organizes for Finns living here in Zagreb. For example, they invited us for an independence day dinner! I definitely want to go check that out! Image may be NSFW.
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After we were done with voting, we went around the city with the guys and met some of the other exchange students later in the evening. I love it how there is always someone to come and hang out when you just send a message to Facebook asking anyone for a cup of coffee or something like that. This is exactly what happened this time as well. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. We met with Joanna, Barbara, Anna and Ado. I took some pictures during the day again and you can check them out from the link below.
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Plitvica Lakes #2
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Me, Henrik & Niklas @Plitvica lakes
Yes, as the topic suggests, I went to Plitvica lakes AGAIN. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. I already visited Plitvica during my 2nd week in Croatia, but this time a lot of Erasmus people were going, so I didn’t want to miss out on all the fun. Besides, there’s so much to see there that I could even go there once more if I am given the chance. Image may be NSFW.
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It was a one day trip this time and we left Zagreb 20.10.2012 early in the morning. Last time I was there, I took the K-route, which is the longest hike in the park. This time we took a shorter route with all of the rides that I missed out on last time. It was so much more fun to experience the park with friends. The only downside to this trip was that our tour guide was always rushing us to go faster and faster. The funny thing is that I didn’t hear her explain anything about the park to us during the whole hike, so I’m wondering what was her role there at all? Image may be NSFW.
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Anyways, I took some pictures again that you can check out from the link below.
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