A word about my friends here in Slovenia I think is in order. I think that I have scarcely mentioned them since my arrival, but they have been an integral part of my cultural exposure and adaptation since I arrived here in Ljubljana. It really is amazing when I sit back and think about it now. This is because the international community here in Ljubljana numbers around 180 foreign students, which is not an incredible number; however, it is very well organized and tight knit. There are activities for us nearly every day of the week. A normal week might go [View Full Entry]

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It has finally arrived: the sun is shining, the birds chirping, the people are out in force in the outdoor cafes, and the world becoming painted in beautiful hues that give added color to everyone’s life. That means that it’s time to be outside; to enjoy the rustic and beautiful city of Ljubljana. Today, the sun was shining and the temperature was hovering around 18 degrees centigrade (64º F). The course that I was supposed to have today was cancelled because the professor was vacationing in Montenegro. So, I decided that it would be a good afternoon to get outside and [View Full Entry]

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Skiing The country of Slovenia is known to be an outdoor paradise. Over half of the country is covered in forests and mountains. That means that most Slovenes spend a lot of time outdoors participating in a variety of activities, one of their favorites being skiing. Now this is a major bonus for me since one of my favorite sports has and probably always will be skiing. I have gotten to go on two ski trips since I have been here. The first was only for a day to a place called Kranjska Gora and the second was to a ski [View Full Entry]

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One of the more interesting challenges that a person has to deal with when they arrive in a foreign country is logistics—the movement of yourself from one place to another. There a few factors that make this difficult: one, you usually know nothing about the city in which you have just arrived; two, the maps that you get at tourist offices are almost ALWAYS ridiculously inaccurate, hard to read, and maybe a little better than the map that you might have from the travel guidebook that you purchased before leaving; three, language makes any type of communication and understanding exponent [View Full Entry]

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My plane touched down on approximately 11:00 a.m. on the 6th of February in Ljubljana, Slovenia after a connection in Frankfurt, Germany. The flight itself was rather uneventful. I was surprised to find that on the relatively short flight from Frankfurt (1 ½ hrs) that I was actually served lunch. I guess the nationalized Slovenian airline is not under as much of cash crunch as the destitute airlines of American these days. [This is also a good illustration of the socialist spirit that I have encountered during my stay here. I hope to address this issue at greater length in the [View Full Entry]

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First, The Traveler’s Manifesto for the next year and a half. Let’s lay out the initial plan and see what happens to the plan as it morphs and the world turns as I travel across its great expanse. For a quick summary, I’m currently in Ljubljana, Slovenia studying for the next 5 months. Thenceforth, I am planning on traveling to various countries in Eastern Europe namely Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, the Ukraine, and Estonia before moving into Asia. The first stop in Asia will be Russia likely followed by India, and then Nepal if the border has been reopened. [View Full Entry]

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