Amira from Highschool wouldn’t have believed she would be living in Czech Republic to study University; especially in a little town called Brno for three years if you told her. She wouldn’t have believed it would’ve been the best decision in her life.

The thought of living three years in another place can be scary for some people, especially when you barely know how to say hello or beer. Coming all the way from Mexico it’s a totally different scene; the main difference was the people, Mexican people are naturally warm and while Czech people are not cold, they are certainly not the warmest either. But as in any culture you learn to understand it and even in some ways appreciate it.

Brno is also a student city, they love students to the point we have discounts for almost every fast food restaurant and most services. The city while being small is always alive thanks to the big amount of students; you can hear them singing in the buses coming back from a pub or a club or cheering outside on the streets about some achievement. I think while Czech is very reserved they have their loud and laid back, which really makes me feel at home.

Public transportation is amazing and something that back home I could have never dreamed of using. It takes you everywhere and is most of the time, if not always, on time. Brno is perfect for traveling as it’s close to so many towns in the Czech Republic and to many other countries like Slovakia, Austria, specifically Vienna, Hungary, Germany, and Poland. Close to Brno, you’ll find beautiful little towns that are worth seeing, like Mikulov, Olomouc or Ostrava. But if don’t want to leave Brno, Spillberk Castle, the Cathedral and the Ossuary are as shocking and historic as these places.

And Czech food is a must-try. They have a thousand different soups, so it doesn’t matter the restaurant you’ll always find a new soup! Fried cheese is my favorite dish, it melts in your mouth and it’s just so good with potatoes. Brno is also known for its thousand cafes; so be sure to visit as many of them as you can. Some even are a mixture of a bar/cafe, so after a coffee, you can get a beer or a glass of wine; the culture of drinking compared to Mexico is really different but hear having a beer it’s like going for a coffee or lunch. And for dessert, in summer the city is filled with vegan ice cream carts. Brno is very vegan/vegetarian friendly, which was also a shock when I came here, considering how many meat dishes they have in their traditional food I thought it would be the opposite.

I have moved to another country before, so the adaptation process was not that hard, an gladly there’s so many international students here that you end up finding people from your country and you don’t really miss it. But for many it can be hard to move to another different place, my biggest tip is to enjoy the city as much as you can, go to places you have never seen before or planned to visit before; Brno is a small city with many wonders to discover; hidden bars, aesthetic second hand-shops, and coffees galore so there’s always wonders to see.

Being able to come to study at Brno changed my life forever, most of my best memories reside on the walls of the dormitories, the sound of the trams, the noise of the center when it’s about to explode with students on a sunny day, the smell of Trdelnik just made and the friends from all over the world that I wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for the programme of International Relations and European Politics by Masaryk University. If you who are reading this still have doubts about submitting your application for the programme, stop doubting and do it! You will definitely not regret it!