Hrvatska

Sunday morning…been pretty lazy so far: I woke up, laid in bed and attempted to find an English channel on TV (anything?!) and settled for a Croatian church service in the cathedral I visited yesterday, but dozed back asleep. Now I’m lounging in my hotel bar room indulging in a cappuccino and croissant as I attempt to update my blog and get some work done for tomorrow.

Where to begin about this new country of mine? I have by no means had a chance to truly familiarize myself with this area of the world; although I have been here for a little over a week. I feel as if there is so much more to learn about the Balkan country that succeeded from Yugoslavia in 1991 and is now the 18^th most popular tourist destination in the world. A majority of my time here has been crazily driving around the financial and industrial districts for work, attempting to read the street signs to find where the hell the company headquarters of “Zagrebacka Banka” or “Krentschker Vrijednosnice” are located for meetings. However, this weekend Pedro was out of town for a training session, and I was here in Zagreb alone with nothing to do but explore my new home. My hotel is far from the city center (about 15-20 min bus ride), with no attraction within walking distance. Friday night I met up with some UNC friends who were stopping through Zagreb for a couple hours on their way to Venice, and showed them the popular street of cafes, bars, and restaurants, Tcalciceva Street. We enjoyed some dinner and drinks while watching the football game; it was so great to be with some fellow Tarheels! The next morning I pulled out my self-made “Saturday in Zagreb itinerary” (don’t make fun), largely based off the New York Times article “36 hours in Zagreb”. I first passed by the two beautiful city-center parks and headed for Dolac market, the IMMENSE open-air market in the heart of Zagreb. Literally hundreds of stands of fruit, vegetables, nuts, meat, bread, cheeses, desserts, souvenirs, handmade trinkets, jewelry, etc. line the main square, and I spent what seemed like an eternity easing my way through the stalls of colors. Might have bought a few little gifts, but you’ll just have to wait and see..! Next I headed to the Zagreb Cathedral on Kapitol, the tallest building in Zagreb that is currently being renovated. I picked up some postcards and headed to Ivica I Marica (Hansel and Gretel in English) on Tcalciceva Street, an adorable restaurant and cake shop, and tried their infamous palocinke – the Croatian version of a chocolate crepe. HEAVEN in a thin pancake. Walked it off by meandering through Ilica Street, Zagreb’s main road with hundreds more shops, cafes, and bars. Got a little lost, and after a while of ducking in and out of shops, felt like I needed another dessert boost. Millenium café is another famous establishment right outside of the main town square, Bana Jelacica, with the most extensive selection of gelato and desserts I have ever seen. I got “The Millenium” (duh) and people-watched in Jelacica before heading back to the hotel after a successful day of picture-taking and acquainting myself with the intriguing metropolis.

Let’s switch gears for a second – I have not really written anything about why I am actually here (what, this isn’t a free, amazing, adventurous vacation, which is what it seems like from these posts?!) My job is tough, and long, and draining, and completely unlike anything I would have ever expected in a career. I have learned SO much about international business and how different public policy and the economy is abroad compared to the U.S. Croatia is extremely bureaucratic, is not part of the EU, and has been severely hit by the economic crisis, which makes it extremely difficult to do business with any type of company. Here is the rundown of my project so far: Pedro was in Zagreb before me meeting with “openers” (members of the government like ministers, ambassadors, presidents of major investment associations) to gain support for our European Times report on Croatia. Since then he has been gathering extensive lists of companies we should meet with in various sectors – the finance, industry, pharmaceutical, energy, agriculture, food sectors – and I have been contacting these major companies to make meetings with their CEO’s, because we are both recording their global overviews of their companies for our publication, as well as trying to sell them advertising space. There are many obstacles that come with this task of calling and scheduling a meeting. #1: Is their number from our online database even correct? #2: Does the office speak English? #3: Who is the secretary of the CEO? (sometimes I am put through to the CEO without even knowing it) #4: Is the secretary lying when she says the CEO is on vacation for 2 months?! #5: When someone says they will call us back, do they? (95% of the time it’s no) #6: Is there a time when both we and the CEO are available? #7: Does the company see the value in being featured in our publication?

Despite all of these barriers, I have been able to schedule a fair amount of meetings for Pedro and I. Usually we have about 2 per day in between calling to schedule other meetings, which means driving to the headquarters in our suits (and it is HOT here, not a fun place to be nervous in a business jacket). The very first meeting I was thrown into the process and did the introduction, explaining our report, our wide and prestigious reader base, our support from the government, etc. Then after 2 meetings I was in charge of the introduction and the “fact-finding”, or asking the CEO questions to learn more about his clients, market-share, future developments, turnover, etc. Most CEO’s are extremely nice, but some are downright intimidating, and some don’t even speak English, so there is a translator present. Pedro completes the meeting with various sales pitches, and then attempts to close a sales deal. I have yet to see a sale (again, so many CEO’s argue there is no liquidity in the Croatian economy, and most contend that the government should be paying for this exposure to Western European readers). However, Pedro is confident things will start picking up – in the mean time, I am like a sponge absorbing everything I hear in these meetings, and eventually I will be conducting the entire meeting, from introduction to close, which is required before transitioning from a field trainee to a real sales consultant.

I feel as if this is just an overview of what my day-to-day is like; details of some of these CEO encounters make for good stories, so I will post them soon! Now I’m off to catch some rays at Jarun lake, the popular “city getaway” here in Zagreb, where I will pretend everyone around me knows that it’s independence day in America…(I just looked up if there were any events celebrating the 4^th through the US embassy, only to realize there was one yesterday, dangit).