Please introduce yourself in a few sentences. (what’s your name, where do you come from, what do you study, are you on Erasmus in Croatia?)

We’re Aleksandra and Błażej, students from Poland. We study Culture Studies on Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow and now we’re on Erasmus and study the same on University in Rijeka. Aleksandra’s hobbies are: dance, theater, fashion and design. In Krakow she is a dance teacher and university theater owner. Błażej is a freelance graphic designer and he really likes climbing. Aleksandra’s dance moves you can see in movie dlaCiebie_dancingONtheCastle.

2.    Where did the idea about this project come from? What’s the main goal you want to achieve with it? Who is your target group?

We started because we wanted to bring the local reality to our friends from Poland. We wanted to show this “useful” and interesting side of Erasmus to our friends. That is why we have a Facebookfan pagee - Cieherbate with photos and short movies about interesting places and things in Croatia, which we put on YouTube and Instagram.

3.    Do Croatians know a lot about Poland? Did their knowledge meet your expectations?

We didn’t have specific expectations, we just wanted to talk to people,  have fun and show them something about Poland. Some people did know more, some less but every person from the movie spoke to us enthusiastically.

4.    What are (cultural) differences between Croatia and Poland you find interesting? How are Poles and Croatians similar?

Probably there’s a lot of similarities and differences but the main (for us) is similar language and grammar between Polish and Croatian. We have a lot of the same words e.g. Do widzenia (Polish) and Doviđenja (Croatian). Difference? Faster pace of life in Poland, in contrast to chillout life in Croatia.  For us it's really an interesting change.

5.    Why do you think it is important to learn about other countries and cultures?

It’s the one main reason – because of people. People like it very much when tourists who arrive know something about them. Consequently you can make friends, find out and see more. Knowledge is very enriching to us and in addition we never know in what kind of situation we could find ourselves in, in the future, what language will be useful.

6.    How much did you know about Croatia before you came? Was there anything that made you really excited about going to Croatia?

We did know a little bit, and we thought that Croatia isn’t so famous destination for the student exchanges. We were pleasantly surprised when we heard that the biggest Erasmus group is from Poland. We also like cheap coffee, great wine and beautiful croatian landscapes which you can see in the movie about Lovran.

7.    Would you encourage Croatians to come to Poland? And Poles to come to Croatia? If yes, why?

Our countries have differing landscape so it is something very interesting to see for both sides.

8.    How do you spend your free time? How do you like Croatia? Which cities have you visited?

We are trying to organise something every day. We’re thinking about and planning new movies for Cieherbate. Especially when we have a weekend, we plan a trip around Rijeka and more. Therefore we were already in Zagreb, Zadar, Trieste, Lovran, Opatija, Venice, Pecine, Baska Beach, Krk island, Pula, Volosko, and we plan to see more. We’re in love with Croatia. For us it is like a long holiday - and we do not want it to end.

9.    What are the plans for the future of this project? Where can we see / watch more?

We’re planning on developing our channel, so we are searching for new ideas and places which can inspire us. Also after the Croatian adventure, we would like to continue this project in Poland and show our Polish and international friends something new and interesting. You can find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram by the name: Cieherbate. Our last project was filming International Christmas Wishes. You can find us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.