Spending a study semester abroad is a perfect way to get to know a new country, new customs and new people. The European student program `Erasmus` was set up to facilitate exchanges between European universities. The experience of living in another country for one or two semesters is refreshing, confronting and intense. Because of this, `Erasmus` students tend to spend a lot of time together and create strong bonds between each other. Most of those turn out to be of temporary nature ? explaining the nickname `Orgasmus`, but there`s always a few that stretch beyond the exchange period.

Posted by Bruno

Venice is the perfect city for observing tourists and trying to find out where they are from. Most tourists however don`t come to Venice to look at other people. They would much rather arrive in an empty Venice so they can actually see the city instead of walking in line from one place to the other, and having plenty of fellow tourists spoil their photographs. My mission for the day is focused on people more than on buildings. Questions: where are you from, what took you to Venice and how do you like it?

Posted by Bruno

Today is the last day of my stay in Slovenia. I am reporting from Nova Gorica, a small city right next to the former separation between the worlds of communism and capitalism. Nova Gorica was built shortly after World War II. It served as a compensation for the Yugoslavian loss of territory to Italy, decided upon by the allied forces.

Posted by Bruno

Selecting respondents for my daily interviews is a rather random process. While walking around town, the very few criteria I use to decide whether somebody is a suitable respondents are the following: 1) Looks like speaks English, 2) Looks friendly 3) aged roughly between 20 and 30 years old. I thought of today as a suitable day to write another small biography, just interviewing one person and finding out about his or her life. Presenting today: a 20-minute interview with Simon, 31, photographer.

Posted by Bruno

Religion was not banned in Slovenia under communist rule, but it certainly wasn`t encouraged either. The communist system nationalized all churches and church-owned territory, just like they did with any type of property, but they only banned religion for civil servants and state officials. Regardless of its ever good intentions, religion was one of the decisive motive for the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Ever since then, the different churches have tried to strengthen their grip on the population of the new republics. In Slovenia, the Catholic Church keeps trying to re-conquer its once dominant position in the country. With variable success.

Posted by Bruno

Previous articles may have led readers of Us Europeans to believe that the population of Ljubljana is uniquely composed of students, mostly in international disciplines. Reality is not very distant from that idea. Ljubljana IS the Slovenia`s capital of student life. Young people populate the streets, the terraces, the parks ? everything. Up until every next Friday, when they pack their bags, and head home for the weekend.

Posted by Bruno

Rainy days, the alarm clock ringing in the morning, bumping into somebody you just did not feel like meeting.. Some annoyances are universal. So are many of the things we all like: music, food, one or several places to call home. Today, I am asking people in Slovenia about what they like and what annoys them, hoping to get some culture specific answers.

Posted by Bruno