Where did you go this summer and how did you like it?

I went to New York City, to Brooklyn. I thought I was going to America, but I worked in a Russian restaurant, with a Russian owner, Russian food, and Russian customers.

How did you get the job?

It is not very easy to find a job in New York, but we were in a favorable position since we came early. It was my first work experience. I gave up finding a job in Manhattan because of travel expenses and time. Maybe I was lucky, but my employers were very honest with me.

What are some of your most vivid impressions?

The weirdest thing was people. If you want to see all kinds of people at once, you should come to NY. Sometimes you walk down the street and hear all languages, but not English. I also expected the Statue of Liberty to be bigger.

What’s the most useless item you brought back?

It was a little calculator with legs and arms. I told myself I’ll give to my nephew, but before that play with it myself.

What’s the most valuable lesson this summer taught you?

Many were talking me out of going to NY. What I understood is that you can find a job anywhere; it’s just the matter of how you try.

Zornitsa Markova:

Where did you go this summer and how did you like it?

I’ve been in Spain, in Barcelona. I just packed my bag, bought a ticket and flew over. I am satisfied, even though it didn’t go the way I planned.

How did you get the job?

The worst experience was the fact that I couldn’t find a job. I think it is easier to find a summer job in America for the simple reason that there’s a culture of accepting international students that work just for the summer. I just had a vacation. And I really had fun—I know Barcelona now as the palm of my hand. It’s really cool there, you feel like you become a part of history.

What are some of your most vivid impressions?

Working eight hours in Spain takes a whole day: you start at ten, at noon you have a break for coffee, from two to five—a siesta, and then you work till nine. People can go home and prepare a meal and after eating you have to go to sleep!

People and the whole culture of Spain are very relaxed. On a crossroads once two cars almost bumped into each other. They stopped, waved at each other and went on. Because of this […] you cannot finish anything on time. They drink beer from 8 in the morning, but for me, as a Bulgarian, it’s not so strange.

Before people come to Barcelona they are warned there is a lot of stealing and they should protect their bags.  So you see people all over the place holding their bags in the front. Only policemen know English and their English is “left”, “right”, and “straight”, that’s it.

What’s the most useless item you brought back?

A glass statue with buildings inside.

What’s the most valuable lesson this summer taught you?

Before you go somewhere, arrange a job.

Denitsa Charkova:

 Where did you go this summer and how did you like it?

I’m totally satisfied with this summer. I had an internship in NovaTV (one of the biggest televisions in Bulgaria) and in Plovdiv  television.

How did you get the job?

It was sort of with connections. Internship is not at all easy to find. I needed some help. Otherwise, my advise is to target where you want to go. I would like to work with you and show you what I can do and I would like you to teach me what I cannot do.

 What are some of your most vivid impressions?

I was participating at Milen Tsvetkov’s live show, it was fun. He is arrogant, very arrogant. He even made me cry once. When he looks you in the eye and he tells you something—that’s not what you really want to experience. After two weeks, you don’t get to learn anything new, so I transferred to news. At Nova TV I did two stories. After that I saw I couldn’t learn much more, so I finished my internship and went to my hometown. The thing that interested me the most was the actual reporting, asking the questions, just going to someone, hang the mike and ask questions. The worst was the part where you have to edit the video.

What’s the most useless item you brought back?

I shop a lot and the useless items are my shoes, they are too many.

What’s the most valuable lesson this summer taught you?

If you can afford it, doing an internship is a better way to spend a summer than working. I mastered TV reporting, it’s just a matter of practice.