Lifedigs: Bjelovar

On a sunny Monday morning, I took a bus from Zagreb to the rural town of Bjelovar. I was told there was no train to this destination so I wondered just how rural it might me. Once we got out of the urban-ness of Zagreb the landscape quickly turned into the charming but typical Croatian country side complete with colorful houses clumped together in quaint little villages. One particular village with rolling hills was exceptionally interesting and I wondered briefly if I could get the driver to stop for me so I could take pictures. Croatia might be one of the friendliest places on Earth but I was pretty sure that scenario wasn't going to happen.

Steps to Gloria

When the bus arrived at the station I suddenly got very nervous that once again I was about to meet a complete stranger who I would live with for 3 days. Would we get along? Would I feel like a burden the whole time? What I would not yet know is my host, Slavica, and I were so much alike we were destined to become great friends. She found me right off and whisked me away in her car to her private language school, Gloria Foreign Language Center. Of course, we immediately sat down for coffee and we talked about the history of her school and Bjelovar. I got the grand tour of her language center where not only is English taught, but German, Italian, and Spanish as well. The students are from ages of about 5 all the way to adult. Beginning at 5 o'clock that same afternoon I will get to visit all of the classes. Slavica was concerned that many of the students were so scared to talk to me (a native speaker) that they might not show. I could not imagine anyone being afraid to talk to me.

http://www.gloria-bj.com/

We then made our way over to her home, a 3 level house in a quiet neighborhood. She explained the office was in the basement, her mother lived on the middle floor and she and her husband lived on the top floor. I was supposed to stay with her mother (who was not there at the moment) but she and her
husband had decided instead to give me their bedroom and they would sleep on the couch in the living room. Can you imagine how mortified I was? I insisted that I would sleep on the couch but in typical Croatian hospitality it fell on deaf ears. It was already settled.

Bjelovar's Park in the center of town, lovely.

Slavica had planned for us to have lunch at a vineyard in the village of Jabuceta, just outside of town called Vinarija Coner. The owner of the vineyard and restaurant also owns a pharmacy and wellness center in town. I would get to visit the wellness center later. We got a tour of the vineyards that are back-dropped by the most picturesque hillsides you have ever seen. Many people have thought these photos were of Tuscany. I said "no, better..." Igor, our host and tour guide for the day gave us the tutorial of the vineyard, the grapes and the processing. I would like to say I understood it all but I was in such awe of the beauty that I struggled to keep up. Afterwards we went back to the restaurant for lunch. The new building was state-of-the-art and the restrooms were the most modern I had ever seen in Europe. Igor guided us through the menu and the specialties of the house and recommended which wine would complement our meals. I typically don't drink alcohol but immediately it appeared I might insult our host (we were at a vineyard after all) so I shut my mouth and accepted it graciously. The food was amazing, but entirely too much, especially after drinking wine. I was afraid I might make a total idiot of myself on the first day at the language school. So what was the solution? Drink more coffee!

Did you know that Croatia looked like this??

Always prepared for some hill climbing...

Slavica and Igor

Grapes in their infancy

The restaurant's patio. http://www.vinarija-coner.hr/

My new friends.

Wine Vats

With full tummies we dragged ourselves back to the Language Center and I began with the 5 year olds for my first class. They were new learners of the language and were proud to show off their skills. Each introduced themselves in English with soft little Croatian accents. Their teacher, Anita, had them sing a few songs for me. I'm not sure if it was exhaustion but I got choked up and had to disguise the lump in my throat.

After that it was a series of head spinning as I ran from one class to another, taking video and photos and conducting interviews. One of my first interviews was with the head of trauma from the local hospital, Dr. Steven. He was very interesting and he wanted to talk politics, medicine, and the differences in our two countries' healthcare system. He had a lot to say, and sometimes I felt a little in over my head, but it was fascinating to get his view points.

My interview with Dr. Steven

When classes were over about 9:30 I was thoroughly wiped out. We got back to Slavica's home (her mother was still not there) and I finally got to meet her husband, Cino. He was watching TV and what do you think was on? His favorite...you are never going to believe this...the NBA. And according to Slavica, it's always on! I'm pretty sure the NBA doesn't play any European teams so I didn't really understand the appeal. But I'm not a basketball fan so it's all lost on me anyway. I asked him if he knew who Mark Cuban was and he said, "Of course!! Mark Cuban!" Well, there you go. Mr. Cuban's notoriety precedes him everywhere. Still feeling incredibly guilty that I've kicked Slavica and Cino out of their bed I hit the hay. The guilt didn't last long because I was asleep in seconds.

The next day I got to take a tour of the operations side of a local bank. I have a background in banking so I found it pretty similar to banking in the US. Probably the biggest difference is there is a lot of processing of business between countries at this bank. The employees were excited to show off their workplace even if they were a little anxious about speaking with a native speaker. We visited, over coffee of course, and it dawned on me yet again how similar our countries are. When it was time to leave they gave me a bag of presents including an awesome oversized beach towel with their bank's name, and other goodies. A part of me wanted to mention that American banks no longer give away gifts such as these to customers because they can be considered income and are taxable but I decided that was "too much information". But I am glad it's not a problem in Croatia because that was one of my favorite souvenirs of the trip.

Before and after (and sometimes during) our little outings we stopped for coffee and sometimes a treat. It's always the same. Everything comes to a stop and we enjoy our coffee break. Sometimes in an outdoor café, sometimes at home and sometimes at work. When I first got to Croatia I was so antsy during these little breaks. I just wanted to keep moving. But after a while I really started to enjoy them and became much more relaxed. Croatia is agreeing with me.

I spent another evening in classes with mostly high schoolers this time. Boy do they have some strong opinions! The teenagers are very curious how academics between the two countries compare. What I learned is Croatian students have 16 required subjects each year. How is this possible, I wondered. There is only so much time in the day. It's structured similar to college courses. Not every class meets every day. Some classes might only meet once or twice a week. But when you think about being responsible for material for 16 different subjects, well, it's pretty impressive. These kids are very disciplined students and a high percentage of them want to pursue a career in medicine. I think they will succeed.

I had several interviews with adults that evening, mostly they were students' parents. When asked, each one of them said they would never want to leave their home country. However, they did hope their children would study abroad and possibly find jobs abroad as well. This hope for a better future for their children in not unique to Croatians, only the circumstances.

On Wednesday my excursion for the day was to a local cattle farm owned by the parents of one two of Slavica's students, Matej and Mia. You might be thinking, aren't there cows in Texas? Yes and Croatian cows don't seem to be any different than their Texas counterparts. But it was still fascinating to see it. Matej explained to us that they will begin production of bio fuels on a portion of their land in the near future. Successful and leading edge...very impressive. We ended the tour with lunch at a seafood restaurant in town. I got calamari (and more coffee). It was fresh and wonderful, as always.

Matej and Slavica

After lunch Slavica treated me to a massage and new hair do at the Coner Wellness Center. I have

been in Croatia for 10 days I have not been able to pay for a single thing. This is Croatian hospitality. I have threatened to hide money in their plants if they don't allow me to pay for
something. My threats are ignored. My massage was amazing and if you haven't seen the Facebook pictures so was my new "do".

Wednesday night was my last night in Bjelovar. There seemed to be an electric charge in the air at the language school. I heard Slavica say it's Texas at Gloria and I thought she meant because I was there. No, the "Texas" reference is to when the atmosphere is a little crazy and wild they call it Texas. So, it was Texas at Gloria Language Center that evening. One class put on a special presentation for me, sharing with the class all of the fun facts of Texas. Everyone was surprised to hear that Texas is only 10% desert. Most of them thought it was entirely the desert. Another class brought me an ornament of the town's crest and all of the students signed it on the back. My last class of the day was a group of high energy elementary school age kids who seemed very excited to have me. Towards the end of the class one of the little girls started chanting "Chris is the best!" I should have asked for that in writing!!

Miss Martina's Class

Miss Anita's Class

So, all the interviews and classes in Bjelovar are done. I spent my last night at Slavica's home. As we drove up I notice her mother's portion of the home is still dark. Ok, I've been here 3 days and I've never seen her mother. Before I can stop myself the words "I don't' think your mother exists" popped out of my mouth. Slavica starts cracking up and as we pulled up to the house her mother shows up out of nowhere with her aunt. They all had a good laugh about what I said and I'm glad it's dark because I've turned all shades of red.

The next morning we get up early and Slavica drove me back to Zagreb. It was with a heavy heart I said goodbye to Bjelovar. It was as beautiful and charming on the outside as its people were on the inside. A huge thanks to everyone for their hospitality. I already miss you.