By: Jameson Cook
My class began in Zagreb, Croatia where the university and economics building was located. We had a local professor that taught us the opening chapters for intermediate economics and he cracked jokes about how American culture was very different than Croatian along with economic policies. He discussed the usage of the dollar which was great since we were familiar with that, and some discussion on the euro which Croatia was adopting. For a while, Croatia was a part of Yugoslavia and used a different currency which was interesting to learn about. I actually did a report on the topic! But knowing about a country’s history sheds an enormous light on how its economy is set up and how consumers impact GDP.
Now for the fun stuff! After class is a time for students like myself to unwind since we are in a different setting. It’s important to go out and meet the locals and explore! It surprised my classmates and I how much of Europe spoke English so the language barrier was almost non-existent (although I advise you to learn some of the local language if you can). I had plenty of great interactions where locals wanted to be friendly to us and aid in any questions we might have had. Some activities we did were kayaking to a small cave on the coast of Dubrovnik, Croatia and visiting bars/restaurants in Zagreb! It was amazing to do these and it immerses you in the environment. And also helped with the educational materials.
National Bank located in Zagreb.
Kayaking in Dubrovnik!