SO MY TIME IS ALMOST UP HERE AND I HAVE HAD some amazing experiences; there are a few things I regret too. So with that, some advice for any students planning on studying abroad:

• Learn some Croatian before you come. I recommend the Pimsleur tapes, which are expensive if you decide to buy them, but you can rest assured that any time and money you expend will be a worthwhile investment. A lot of people at stores don’t speak English here and although you wouldn’t be able to talk to locals in their language with just 20 hours of lessons, it gives you a great basis for conversation.
• Buy a prepaid cell phone here. Don’t bring one from home. Don’t neglect to buy a cellphone unless you are really strapped. It only cost us a few hundred Kuna (maybe a little over 50 bucks, cheaper than a sim card and easier to maintain) and its harder to get to know people without one.
• Don’t neglect your studies and don’t waste time on the I time on the Internet. You want to have more free time to do cool stuff than in Rochester, but getting that time from neglecting school work can kill your spirit here and take away from the experience overall.
• Be outgoing. Your well-being is much more contingent on meeting new people here than the people you’ll want to get to know, who usually already have an established friend base. You need to take the initiative to be outgoing.
• If you have the money, plan trips to the surrounding area and other places in Europe with people. Of the people here who’ve gone, none have had any regrets.

That is all. Have a picture:

Ruins of an abby between the dales and Boston Spa.