My Croatian Trip Comes to an End

By the time I began preparing for my last scheduled visit in Croatia I had already spoken with a couple hundred students and adults.  Like everything in this remarkable country, what these people shared with me left me amazed.  Every answer to my questions carried the same component: profound love for their country and their way of life.  This was heard in the way they told me about all of the beautiful places to see, in the way they celebrate their favorite holidays eating typical Croatian food with their families, in the way their chests puff up when they talk about their national soccer team, how delicately they speak of their war of independence, how they have always considered themselves Croats first no matter who was controlling the country, and how they will never take for granted their coveted relaxed lifestyle.   

So I showed up to my last day of classes at The Faculty of Teacher Education of the University of Zagreb expecting to hear these same responses.   These particular students are studying to be teachers of English and are all proficient speakers.  Of course they speak with Croatian accents, but with a detectable American slant.  Certainly access to American TV has a lot to do with this.   The older Croatians speak with a British accent, having learned "proper British English".  (I am giggling to myself about that!) 

I set up my video camera at the front of the class and no student would take a seat within 15 feet of it. They clumped together in the back of the class as if suspicious of gamma ray emissions. It's interesting how the adults have been very aware of that camera and the kids hardly noticed it. 

I began by sharing with them the misconceptions that I learned that most Croatians have about America and vice versa.  I think we all agreed that 300 million Americans cannot all be fat and lazy. And certainly the official language of Croatia is not Russian.  Then I spoke about my impressions-first and foremost how unexpectedly beautiful their country is and secondly their wonderful lifestyle that we as Americans do not have.  I then asked them how many wanted to leave after they graduated for a job abroad and it was practically unanimous.   The general consensus in Croatia is there will not be enough good jobs for these kids after graduation.  Therefore, everyone must leave or settle for what their country has to offer. 

It was at this point in the conversation that I started to feel a certain amount of frustration that these students did not see what I saw and just how fortunate they are to live where they live.   Where they see embarrassing dilapidated buildings I see history and charm.  Where they see lack of progress, I see delightful contentment.  Many people around the world aspire to come to America, the land of opportunity.  Just cross the border and a great paying job is waiting for you.  And the truth is we do have many, many great jobs.  But they come at a price.  We are a land of millions of people competing for those best paying jobs, with more and more immigrating here everyday.  To be competitive we work tirelessly and sacrifice much.  Then when and if we get a desirable job we have to continue the self sacrifice to maintain our competitive edge or risk losing it.  The sacrifices we make unfortunately come directly from our quality of life.  Most of us fall victim to keeping up with the Jones', especially in the area I live. Because of this, people are killing themselves to get more and have more. He who dies with the most toys wins.  So we keep working harder, sacrificing more. The only social interaction that comes with an American at coffee time are the 20 seconds of pleasantries shared with the Starbucks barista.  Conversation and enjoyment are replaced with a piece of stale lemon cake that we shove in our mouths while we carefully try not to dribble crumbs in our laps that we are sure will be stuck to the back of our pants when we get out of our car. By the way, the idea of eating in your car is virtually an unheard of practice in Croatia. And "to go" coffee is a brand new product offered in Bjelovar just last year. I am not making this up. 

I guess what I am trying to say is, how wonderful is the place where quality of life is paramount and  character is not defined by your zip code.  

It sometimes takes a stranger, an outsider, to help someone see what has always been right in front of them. I hope my visit encouraged those who I spoke with to see their country and culture through a fresh set of eyes and appreciate once more all of the wonderful qualities it has to offer.  It is difficult, to say the least, of how moved I was from every second of my trip.  I have never experienced such genuine hospitality.  I made friendships that I will take with me always (thank goodness for Facebook!) and I am now a loyal Nescafe drinker.  I already miss Croatia and my new friends and all I can think of is when can I go back?!

I have attached 3 letters from some of these university students I spoke with.  Their assignment was to summarize my talk with their own opinions of my impressions.  As you will read, the students seem to have genuinely been affected by not only my visit but my impressions. 

Since I have been home, I have received messages from some of the teachers that their students want more visits like mine. “The students were thrilled to have Chris visit” was what one wrote. Hopefully my blog will inspire more people to visit, study, and learn about the wonderful country of Croatia.  I thank my lucky stars I did.

 

A summary of our interview with Chris Ziober

May 23^rd, 2013

By Filip Šarić

It was an interesting interview, definitely. As she walked into the room, the first thing she did was set up a sophisticated looking camera on a black tripod. This caused a stir with the female part of the group, and a lot of hair fixing ensued. Then, she asked her first question.

            Then the second and the third and so on. These were banal questions at first, which soon developed into a full scale discussion. Discussion sounds very strict and official, however, it was more of a conversation. We talked about her past experiences in Hungary and, more recently, in Koprivnica and Bjelovar. I believe this was the first time I had the chance to see a foreigner’s view of our country. You have your opinion of other countries, naturally, but you rarely think of your own in such a way. At least I don’t.

            We talked about stereotypes. With a particular focus on how the world (and Croats) see Americans. Most of us knew that these stereotypes are pure nonsense, but it’s different when coming from an American. A Texan. no less. This was another thing. Apparently, Texas is only 15% or so desert. This is the complete opposite of what I used to believe. The media; I blame the media.

            We talked briefly about various holidays and came to the conclusion that we, as Croats, have significantly more free time on our hands. The country might be worse off for it, and we might be struggling with this great economic crisis and everything, but the lifestyle could very well be worth it. No one in America has the habit of going out for a cup of coffee and a two-hour conversation. They’re too busy for that. This makes me wonder.

            Connected with this was the topic concerning our future. Chris asked us what we wanted of life, where do we see ourselves and this opened the door to another conversation about the differences between Croatia and the US. This also opened up the topic of our political situation, and the fact that things don’t really seem to be improving. However, she mentioned that, from what we said, things do seem to be improving after all, which is another thing that made me wonder.

            As I’ve mentioned before, this is the first time I saw our country through the eyes of a foreigner. Moreover, a foreigner here to observe the country and the people. It was an eye-opening experience and I can’t help but feel more optimistic for the future. My burning desire to leave as soon as possible has been somewhat sedated and I’m thinking, maybe things just aren’t so bad here after all. I owe Chris a big thank you for that.

 

SUMMARY

CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS ZIOBER

HELD ON 23rd May 2013

by Anja Kelemen

On 23rd of May my class had a guest. Her name is Chris Ziober and she comes from Texas, United States. She used to work in a boutique but now she is travelling around the world and exploring different customs and cultures. One of the places to visit on her world map is Croatia. She visited Bjelovar, Koprivnica and Zagreb. 

When I first saw her, she seemed very happy, positive and cheerful. She was wearing a bright pink shirt which only showed her upbeat personality. She showed us some photos she took while visiting Bjelovar and Koprivnica and expressed her admiration to our beautiful landscape and nature.

Our conversation was based on Croatian customs as well as our lifestyle and the way they differ to the American. We talked about our education system, and how we thought it was different from the American one, but has more similarities than we thought. We talked about cheating in exams and came to conclusion that we do cheat and get away with it like for instance underage drinking in public, but in USA cheating on tests and breaking the law are severely punished, as it should be in Croatia. 

One of the topics were holidays and how we celebrate them and we came to conclusion that we Croatians have many day-offs and go to the seaside often whereas Americans rarely have a week off and have no time to go on a holiday. She was quite surprised with how majority of us have a house on the seaside where we take our vacations which made it clear for her the amount of time we spend on holidays.

Another topic was our future, what do we want to do and are we planning to leave our country. She was quite surprised to see our nodding heads when she mentioned the opportunity to work abroad. We explained our dissatisfaction with the government and the general way things work around here with which she agreed and understood the reasons why majority of us wants to leave.

I was very happy she opened our conversation by talking about our stereotypes we have about the Americans as well as our general misbeliefs. At the very beginning we talked about a somewhat delicate topic but just by talking about it we made them disappear and were able to talk about everything. The USA and Croatia are two different worlds but both countries belong to one world. By coming to our country and talking about her culture and comparing it to our, Chris connected those two different worlds and she will continue to do so with many other countries and cultures as she continues to travel to other places and meet new and different customs.

To conclude, I am so glad I met Chris and one day I want to continue her work in trying to overcome the differences and showing to everyone how beautiful and diverse the world is. I am thankful she showed me how with hard work a person can achieve everything and do what he or she truly wants and loves. I hope I will be able to be as successful as she is, but until then, I will follow her blog spot and dream about the big things that are ahead of me. 

Not running away 

by Tamara Maljcov

The frogs from the creek next to my building wake me up. Though I live fifteen minutes from the centre of Zagreb, the capital of my country, the nature that surrounds me somehow reflects the nature of the countryside, and I find this soothing. It's early in the morning, and as I walk my dog I observe the place I've been living in for the last 23 years.

Not much has changed over the years. There are some new buildings on my right, rugby field on my left. That rusty old wooden hut still proudly standing in the middle. A few gardens located on the no man's land, that some pensioners have usurped. That poor drunk who feeds cats every morning sits on the bench and waves me hello. I slowly walk back home, get dressed and go to my lectures at the faculty.    

I've always wanted to be a teacher, though it is a hard, underpaid and not appreciated enough a job. Still, I don't let the voices of the crowd bring me down. I know what it's like to make ends meet. My parents don't burden me with their financial issues; still, I can't help but see the struggle and the sacrifices they have to make every day. The life we live has prepared me for that same struggle I see taking place in my future.

Everybody talks about leaving. Everybody my age that is. They say it's no use living in a corrupted, broken country. A country that provides no opportunity for employment, doesn't export our goods, sells its parts bit by bit for a minimum fee. A government that makes us all sheep, steals from us, decreases our salary and increases the costs of living. Who would want to live in such a country? What did we fight for?

I ride the bus and observe the kids in it. Did I dress like this when I was in high school? Branded clothes, i-Phone in one hand, cigarette in another. They’re talking about cheating on an exam. Talking about the uselessness of studying. Talking about an influential relative who would hire them after graduation. "When everyone is cheating, deceiving one another, why can't we."  I see it as a survival issue. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  We don't see that we are becoming like the people that repress us. This is the easy way out. This is running away.

We focus on material goods, so we go in debt.  We take our coffee break regularly, and curse about this country, our politicians, and our problems. We praise God and family, but talk about leaving them in pursuit of a better life. We hate that we were born here, but during soccer season, when the players run out on that green field representing Croatia, we all unite. Proud as hell, singing patriotic songs together, crying and laughing...  

I go to work in the evening. As I walk through Ban Jelačić square, I think to myself how I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I get home exhausted, but my mom has made štrukle [1]and I am so happy I could cry. My father got upset while watching the news again so I turn to him and say that it will get better. We talk about our day. They say that they're going on the sea-side this weekend. They need to take a rest, get rid of that everyday stress. "If we're going down, we might as well go down in style" they say with a laugh. Something a typical Croat would say.

They are too old to make a change, but we're not. So I'm not running away. This is my home. This is my creek. Those are my frogs. I will work hard, but enjoy my cup of coffee while sitting on a sunny terrace. My father fought for this. I wouldn't wanna let him or this beautiful country I call my own down.

I thank God for my family, my friends, and the štrukli on my plate. :)

---

[1] a traditional meal that comes from Zagorje, a part of  nortwestern Croatia