Thoughts on life in Slovakia

This time last year I was preparing to head overseas for a communications internship I did with a non-profit organization in Bratislava, Slovakia, a city in Eastern Europe. The three months I spent overseas were incredibly fun but also very different from life in the States. I'd like to share some of those differences with you:

* Food: A lot of the food I ate in Slovakia and surrounding countries was not incredibly familiar. For breakfast I usually ate fruit, bread or a Slovak cereal called muesli, which was basically granola with bits of chocolate mixed in. For lunch or dinner I ate a fair amount of potatoes, soups, vegetables and meat. Most Eastern European meals are heavy on starches, so I ate a lot of potatoes during my time there. I also had wiener schnitzel (breaded pork chops or chicken) once a week or so,

* Transportation: In the Midwest, everyone has a car. It's the normal mode of transport. In Europe, I knew very few people who actually owned a car. Public transportation is readily accessible in most cities, and cars are more expensive than they are here. I took the bus around Bratislava every day, and to travel to other cities I took trains. In the beginning the system was overwhelming, especially since it was in another language (Slovak), but eventually I got used to it and took the bus alone quite often,

* International friendships: Out of all of the friends I made overseas, I think only 1-2 of them were natural born U.S. citizens. I attended an international church in Bratislava and made friends from all over the world including Latvia, Ghana, Ireland, Romania, India, Serbia, Suriname and more. One evening when we gathered for dinner and games at the home of one of our pastors, we counted and learned that among the 22 people there, 14 different countries were represented. It was great getting to know people from all around the world and make connections with them,

* Language: During my time in Slovakia, I managed to pick up a few key phrases and words, but nothing that could pass me off as a true Slovak. On a weekly basis I heard several languages spoken including Slovak, Hungarian and German. It was really interesting to hear these languages spoken everywhere I went and it definitely made me wish I knew the languages more, and

* Culture and history: Given that the United States is a fairly young country compared to the rest of the world, there isn't a whole lot of history to be spoken of around here. In Slovakia and the surrounding countries I visited, I got to see a lot of places where several important events took place. In Bratislava, I stood on a street where Napoleon once marched with his troops before battling with the city's army. In Austria, I visited the palaces where rulers of the Austrian Empire lived and saw Mozart's apartment. In Poland, I saw the horrifying barracks and gas chambers at Auschwitz concentration camp. And in Prague, I got to watch anniversary celebrations of the Velvet Revolution take place in the square where it took place in 1989.

My time overseas was one big lesson in history, culture and learning how others lived. I'd love to visit another country entirely different from the ones I've been to so I can further learn how people around the world live.