5 Things I've Learned While Living In SLOVENIA

"Domači something" Love it!

As much as us Slovenians like to complain about our country.. We have to admit we have a little piece of paradise going on here and we should be proud of that ♥

Even us Slovenians barely understand anything when we go to some remote village lmao

We, in the eastern parts of Slovenia would bring gifts (a bottle of wine or some coffee) only the first time we visit someone...not every time. But you must understand that you are a "curiosity" (a Cali girl in Slovenia) around here, so people might try hard to impress you and be extra-polite or formal.

I dont like visiting my relatives, becasuse they always talk about others: who died, who is sick, who had done something... It is really boring. and they will ALWAYS ask how your school is going.

Gifts for visiting is usually not something expensive... Like a bag of coffee or homemade moonshine or something. On the other hand what i find strange was (in Canada) when you are invited to a BBQ and everyone brings their own drinks and food. Here if you are invited only thing you have to bring is pants big enough (and what was mentioned earlier) because host will overload you with food. Ofc it is expected to return the favour by hosting yourself at one point.

The dinner/lunch habits really depend on the people.. I know people/families who have friends and relatives in their home all the time and it's really casual to them, but then there's families like mine where we would clean everything like crazy before anyone would come over for lunch or dinner and it would be a really big deal and you had to make sure everybody had their slippers hahah (and yes the guests would stay for at least 4 hours, discussing everything from politics to the second world war, the neighbours, the weather, work, the prices of bread.. 😂)

I'm a Slovenian and I've officially stopped visiting and inviting people for the very reason that you brought up, Maria. You can hang out here only as a child or a teenager, once you hit adulthood you can forget it. I only hang out with foreigners here and visit Slovenians for birthdays. I tried to talk about this with my friends, and the answer is always the same: we don't have the time to hang out or do anything because of the kids. There you go! A modern parent's life ends when they get kids.

It's interesting what you said about visiting friends being really formal in Slovenia, because from what I've noticed visiting my boyfriend"s friends & family it seems rather casual, like meeting for a quick coffee is totally normal, even at their house.

I have to say that the culture of bringing gift's for every time you visit a friend and eating so much food is mostly for people living outside the city's. For ''country'' people. Because when I go to visit a friend, it's not that formal. We just hang out.

Darila si nosijo ponavadi samo tisti, ki si niso tako zelo blizu. Prijatelji se obiščemo kadarkoli, za kolikor koli časa. ničesar ne nosimo eden drugemu, ničesar ne pripravljamo za pogostitev, razen če ponudimo kaj, kar smo slulajno jedli. To, da bi bilo treba pogostiti zekoga z domači something, to je bila nekoč res navada pri bolj kmečkih družinah, mogoče še redko kdo to dela. Res mi je zanimivo koliko starih navad opisuješ v videih (tudi tisto s poroko, wtf? xD tega več nikjer ni, mogoče pri kakšnih kmečkih družinah) mislim, da tebe ljudje pogostijo na tak način, ker si iz amerike in vsi želijo pokazati kaj domačega, slovenskega.

Your point #3 made me think you had no close friends. #4 explained you did have them, but for some reason you think they're somehow "more American". The visit habits are for people you're friendly with, but not friends with. Actual close friends usually just hang out - although we love to eat and drink, so some of that could be involved. The main difference is Slovenians usually don't feel the need to fake being your best buddy even though you're just acquaintances. We may seem cold, but if we actually befriend you, you're basically family for life.

Really awesome video!! :D Lepo je slišati, da ti (vam) je tukaj čudovito! Bohinj, Soča, Postonjska jama in veliko slapov in gradov...happy adventures! :)

I live in Komenda, Slovenia and I have been all around the country. But we go on summer vacation in Croatia

about visiting and knocking on friends home...i moved to LJ 11 years ago and its just in LJ this formality that you need to call before you came and everything need to be perfect. outside you just came to neighbor or friend, drink coffee or something and move on

I am an American living in Ukraine with my wife and a lot of the cultural things you are talking about are spot on exactly the same as here. I think that Eastern Europe as a whole is like that.

this hairstyle REALLY suits you!!!! You are gorgeous <3

Great video ... im italian living in maribor 11 years and i agree with anlot of topic unwere speaking about !

As a Slovenian living in Los Angeles this was sooooo fun to listen and watch! It brightened my day and brought a big smile to my face! Thank you so much for posting <3

Very well done thank you so much for the info