Riko writes a little about what she's been up to in the past month in Solvakia.

This was a crazy big month filled with a lot of new experiences and adventures. In February, I had one week of spring school holidays and I travelled to Vienna, Brno and Prague.

I am really liking Bratislava! Coming from Gloucester, at first it was a bit of a shock moving to a capital city but I am grateful for being placed here and I really appreciate all the benefits like public transportation and the variety of activities available here.

I live just outside of Bratislava in Zahorska Bystricia which is a lovely town and it's nice to be able to travel to the city for the day and then come back home where it is nice and quiet.

I attend CS Lewis Bilingual High School in Petrazalka, which I love. I am studying biology, geography, CIVICs, history, PE, Slovak language for foreigners, art with freshmen and I am planning to start psychology seminars with the seniors. Most of the classes are taught in English and the students there are almost fluent in English because it is a bilingual school. I also attend five Slovak language classes during school with the other exchange students and go to another class after school, both classes are very helpful. I have started to understand a lot more when listening, I can form sentences and have started reading and translating short stories and biographies.

So far, I haven't felt homesick, I've kept busy and my host family and new friends make me feel at home.