Skapto 3 construction begins
Erasmus students experience Bulgaria
By Anna Kadnikova, Photos by Radina Efremova
October 21, 2007
Three of this semester's exchange students talk to DeFacto
There is a remarkable room in Skaptopara 2. Three Erasmus students live there ? a Spaniard, an Austrian, and a Hungarian. The three friends enjoy Underground, attend the Latin American Dances club, and wonder why Bulgarian drivers are so reckless.
Alexander Kowtun
?They call me ?that tall guy from Austria?, ?? Alexander Kowtun, junior, Salzburg University.
Kowtun says he came here to Bulgaria to learn about a different culture. He was always interested in Eastern Europe, for, as he says, it is so different and at the same time so close. ?I think it is a shame that so many Austrians, or Western Europeans in general, do not know almost anything about Bulgaria,? says Kowtun. He majors in Business Administration and says Eastern Europe is also interesting from the business perspective, because it is developing rapidly.
At AUBG, he enrolled in Introductory Bulgarian, and aside from German and English he speaks some Italian. ?Menia zovut Aleksandr Guntherovich Kowtun,? he pronounces clearly, because he studied Russian in his university for two semesters.
?The driving style? in Bulgaria struck him. ?When I went out of the airport and noticed the condition of cars, roads, and the driving style, I was a little bit afraid,? says he. ?It wasn?t such a huge surprise,? as Kowtun did not expect to go to a country which is exactly like Austria. Blagoevgrad seems like a tourist city to him. ?I didn?t expect the town to be like this. The infrastructure is good, at least in the center,? he says.
He was among those Erasmus students who lived in Hilltop at the beginning of the semester. That did not distress him, unlike others. ?I thought, okay, maybe this is how things are in Bulgaria?Though I did feel isolated,? says Kowtun.
He was happy when he arrived here, and he still is. ?There was nothing like culture shock for me,? he adds.
Oscar Martinez Santa
?100 meters outside the airport, I saw a horse eating in the middle of the road,?- Oscar Martinez Santa, Spain, University of Alicante.
Oscar Santa?s friends say he is crazy, because he chose Bulgaria. ?It is very unusual [for a Spaniard to come here]. The Spanish almost always go to Italy, to Milano,?he says. But Santa thought that going to Italy would be a lot less interesting than to Bulgaria. ?I knew it would be a completely new experience,? he adds.
The first surprise waited for him right outside the airport. ?I got in a taxi, and as we drove out of the parking lot, I saw a horse right in the middle of the road [between the lanes], eating grass.? He laughs and continues, ?It was just relaxing there, eating and relaxing. I am in a very different country, I thought.?
Santa agrees with Kowtun that drivers ?are a little crazy here.? Also, the Roma are much poorer than those in Spain. ?In Spain they live in normal apartments and have cars, even though they are poorer than the rest of people,? he says.
Coming from a university with 30 000 students, he had to get used to the smaller campus at AUBG. Santa says the campus of Alicante has about five restaurants, a lake, a big garden, banks, shops, and libraries. ?AUBG has about 1000 students; in Alicante, there are probably 1000 Erasmus students,? he says. ?In my university [?] you almost don?t know anybody; here you know many people. It is different but I like it too.?
Balazs Kiraly
?I was crazy enough to choose senior courses here,? ? Balazs Kiraly, Pecs University, Hungary.
Balazs Kiraly is a fifth year student in finance in Hungary. He has never been to this part of Eastern Europe, but his friend studied here for a semester several years ago. ?I heard quite good things about AUBG, and on top of all it is more affordable than other colleges,? says Kiraly.
At AUBG, he enjoys the student activities and clubs, because in Hungary there are no clubs organized by students. ?I am the only Hungarian here, I cannot organize a Hungarian club, unfortunately,? he says.
Kiraly likes the instructors and the standard of teaching at AUBG. ?I enjoy the dorm life. In Pecs, I live at home, but spend a lot of time in the dorms with my friends,? he says.
He was surprised that many Bulgarians want to live in Sofia. ?I was struck to see all those old socialist buildings and the [gloomy] apartment blocks there,? he says. Kiraly himself would never like to live in Budapest because the city is too big for him. ?I might think about working there, but living would not be enjoyable,? he adds.
In order to come to AUBG, he drove through four countries: Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, and Bulgaria. ?I noticed the big change after crossing the Croatian-Serbian border. At that point the quality of roads went down drastically.? He says that while a lot of things still need to be changed, the improvement in Bulgaria is obvious. ?Now things are worse here than in Hungary, but Bulgaria is facing better development opportunities than my home country,? says Kiraly.
