Brno. The Year of My Life

Do rubriky Okénka napsal Şeymanur Yönt (Pondělí, 10. duben 2017)

When I think about my 6 months in Brno, I can definitely say coming to Erasmus was one of the best decision in my life. Before I came here, people told me Erasmus is only about parties or to improve English skills. And I was afraid that it will be just like that. I’ve put the Czech Republic on my list because I knew that it is a good place for traveling and life is not expensive there. But to be honest, I’ve never heard about any city from the Czech Republic except Prague before. I didn’t know what to expect from Brno, I even didn’t know how to pronounce it. Later I found out that Brno is one of the easiest words to pronounce, you might try „čtyři“.

It was my first time abroad and I didn’t know what to expect. I should confess; it was difficult to adapt at the beginning, especially with the food. What I am used to is totally different, I missed fish and cheese; but I discovered trdelnik, goulash, and smazeny syr. But I was very amazed, how well organized Masaryk University is. Also, the way how the courses are taught was something new to me. Even though I study law back home, I've never had homework or papers to write. I barely read different articles or discussed with my colleagues and teachers before I came here.

As a student from Istanbul, I thought it would be difficult to live in a smaller city. But later I’ve realized how tiring it is to live in a huge city. I've enjoyed the cafés in Brno. I love the parks, walking around, seeing beautiful architecture, and I like the markets at the main square. Especially, the warm atmosphere of Christmas Market with tasty drinks and food was very special to me.

I also really liked the punctual public transportation and how easy it is for disabled people to use it, compared to Turkey. And it took me some time to get used to obeying every traffic rule, such as waiting at the red light even if there is no car.

I've learned to be connected with nature. I think the relationship with nature makes people here just more relaxed. I rarely saw someone fighting and yelling.

Erasmus is something more than parties and English language. You discover a new culture and learn how to adopt, even though if it was so difficult for me to survive at minus fifteen degrees. I found out that even there are differences between our cultures, none of the differences makes one superior to each other. I really like energic and warm people in Turkey as well as calm and natural people in the Czech Republic. Erasmus thought me how differently I can live. I will be grateful for it for the rest of my life.