Hi, I’m Sasha from South Africa, and here is a little about my exchange in Slovakia. I’ve been in Slovakia for almost 3 months and I have had an amazing time. I had an amazing experience of seeing snow for the first time in my life, and I can officially say that I love snow. I also went skiing for the first time which was a great experience and I had so much fun. The first time I tried skiing I was so scared I thought I was going to fall and die, but after I learnt the basics and went on the bigger slope it was amazing, and I loved it. 

On my exchange, I’ve met so many new people, from the amazing exchange students from Czech republic to my classmates, to friends from all over the town. Before I came to Slovakia I was told that everyone here would be all closed up and mean, and honestly, when I first arrived, I believed it. All the teens were closed and in their groups and wouldn’t talk to anyone else, but after a while of being here, I came to realize how wrong I was. Everyone was so nice, all I had to do was put in the effort to go up to them and speak to them. Once I got to speak to them and become friends with them I realized how open and friendly they all are.  I’ve made so many new friends that I will never forget and hopefully meet again one day. They have made a great impact on my exchange by showing me Slovakia’s culture and giving me the best Slovakian experience. 

Another thing I love about Slovakia and what I didn’t expect was how safe it was. Coming from a dangerous country like South Africa to Slovakia and seeing teens’ walking around the town at night was a big surprise for me and something I’m definitely not used to seeing. I really enjoy being able to walk around the city in the evening knowing that I’m safe and seeing the beautiful city at night with my friends. Slovakia is such a beautiful country and I love the town I stay in. 

There are so many things I love about Slovakia, such as the food. Slovakia has very interesting meals here that contain a lot of potatoes and poppy seed. I had never tried food with poppy seeds before I came to Slovakia, and now almost every meal I see here has poppy seeds. I’ve also tried a meal called halušky which is very interesting and something I’d never heard of, but it was also very tasty. Another thing I found interesting about food in Slovakia is the fact that with every lunch meal people have soup, which I’m not used to. 

I think the only things that I can say I don’t like about Slovakia is how hard the language is. It’s a very complicated, hard language to learn, and not many older people here speak English. Because of the language difference, I get bored during classes at school because I don’t understand anything. But this all motivates me to want to learn more Slovak, to be able to communicate with Slovak people more.

Overall my exchange here in Slovakia has been absolutely amazing, and I’m definitely not looking forward to leaving soon. I will never forget the amazing experiences and memories I have made here and many more before I leave.

Sasha,

výmenná študentka na Slovensku 2019/2020