Cultural Heritage

Zagreb language and culture exchange meetup. Chat in many languages, meet new people and plan adventures together. Hey everyone! 👋 As spring arrives in Zagreb and the city wakes up again, we’re keeping Thursdays social with **Small Friday International Zagreb** ([SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/)) a relaxed international meetup where locals, expats, Erasmus students and travellers gather to chat, exchange languages, share stories and plan the next adventure. Think of it as Zagreb’s global living room with lively conversations, and that moment when a random Thursday evening decides to surprise you. ✨ Whether you’ve just arrived in Zagreb, been here a while, or live around the corner, you’re very welcome. 📍 **When & Where** 📍 **The Beertija** Pavla Hatza 16, Zagreb 🕗 **Every other Thursday from 8PM** ✨ Free to join: simply grab a drink and support our host bar 🍺🎸 ✨ Open to everyone: all ages, backgrounds and language levels 💬 **What Happens at [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/)**? Expect a relaxed, social atmosphere where conversations flow naturally. 🗣️ La**nguage Exchange** English, Croatian, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Ukrainian, Russian… and often more. 🌍 **Cultural Exchange** Locals, expats, travellers and Erasmus students sharing stories, experiences and perspectives. 🤝 **New Connections** Real conversations, genuine laughs, and the occasional new friend. 📅 **Weekend Planning** People often end up planning hikes, concerts, trips, festivals or nights out together. No formal structure, no pressure, just people meeting people. 🌸 **Why Join in Spring?** Spring is when Zagreb truly comes alive. Magnolia trees bloom across the city, café terraces fill with conversation, and longer sunny days invite people outdoors. Locals stroll through parks, cycle along the Sava, run around Jarun and Bundek lakes, or escape to the nearby Medvednica mountain for hikes and views above the city. At the same time, Zagreb’s cultural calendar blossoms with exhibitions, concerts, festivals and theatre performances, while markets like Dolac overflow with seasonal produce: asparagus, wild garlic, strawberries and fresh flavours of the season. It’s the perfect time to meet people and explore the city together. And many of those plans begin right here, at [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/). 🌍 🍺 **Why The Beertija?** Because it’s more than a bar, it’s our headquarters. Expect: 🌿 leafy terrace vibes 🎸 rock-inspired atmosphere 🍺 excellent beers 🛋️ relaxed living-room energy 🚭 non-smoking indoor space It’s the kind of place where you pop in for one drink and suddenly realise the evening flew by. 💡 **First-Timer Tip** If it’s your first time: 👋 arrive early 🙂 smile and say hello 💬 jump into a conversation Everyone was new once and that’s how all starts. 🌍 **Join the Crew** [SFIZ.FUN](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/) is a community built by the people who show up. So if your Thursday evening could use a little more conversation, laughter and international energy, come by and join us. Bring a friend if you like, or come solo and meet new ones. ✨Ditch the screen, grab a drink, meet the world🌍 See you on Small Friday! 🍻 **SFIZ Crew** P.S. Spread the word https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb 🔎 **How to Spot Us** New here? Best trick is to swing by right at the start, that’s when it’s easiest to find the crew and jump straight in, or ask the bar staff about the event ✨ Need quick updates or can’t see us straight away? No worries, our [WhatsApp group](https://sites.google.com/view/smallfridayinternationalzagreb/faq/sfiz-whatsapp-guide-keeping-it-fun-and-respectful) is where you can ask quick questions. 💖 #ZagrebGlobalMingle 💖

Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Amrita Rani (Live Online on Selected Thursdays via Zoom) You are warmly invited to join the Open Heart Meditation Sessions with Acharya Amrita Rani — a living space of awakenings and direct experience. These sessions are created both for beginners and seasoned practitioners who wish to deepen their meditation practice, stabilize awakening, and walk the path of enlightenment with guidance and support. Whether you are new or experienced, each gathering offers a grounded structure to help you build consistency in daily practice and grow in confidence on your spiritual path. At the heart of Open Heart teachings is direct recognition. Through the Two-Part Formula and precise meditative guidance, you are supported in shifting from self-based mode into selfless awareness, again and again, until cessation of suffering takes place. A central and deeply transformative practice in Open Heart is guru yoga. Through guru yoga, the practitioner directly connects with awakened awareness through devotion, transmission, and experiential recognition. With the help of this profound method, one recognizes their true selfless ease, the natural, effortless state beyond space and time. Alongside guru yoga, the sessions include insight meditation (Vipashyana), tantric methods, dynamic concentration, trauma-healing techniques, and foundational practices such as Bodhicitta prayers. Each session includes guided meditation, space for questions, reflection, and personal support. Rani’s meditation sessions are held live on Zoom on selected Thursdays from 18:30 to 20:00 (CET). Recordings may be available for continued integration and practice on her YouTube channel, The Sweetness of Enlightenment. Participation fee: 15 € per session Please make your payment in advance via PayPal before joining, to Rani’s PayPal account: kaisaeskeli@gmail.com Upcoming Thursday Sessions for Summer Season: 7.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 14.5.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 4.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 11.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 18.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 25.6.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 2.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 9.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 23.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) 30.7.2026 at 18:30–20:00 (CET) Zoom link for all sessions: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89766267672 Welcome all! Visit our home page for more information www.openheartofallbeings.com

\*\*\*\* Practice Foreign Languages with Native Speakers \*\*\*\*\* === \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* at the Language Conversation Table \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* === \*\*\*\* Practice Foreign Languages with Native Speakers \*\*\*\*\* === \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* at the Language Conversation Table \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* === The caffe Cukeraj provides us with a back-room reserved just for this event, where we get to practice Croatian and other languages three hours for free.The entrance is free, but to be sure that Domenico will continue to host us, please have at least one drink when you're coming.at Cukeraj, Petrinjska 61See you soon!P.S. IF U HAVE ANY PROBLEMS FINDING THE PLACE BE FREE TO CONTACT THE ORGANIZER: +385953913346 \*\*\*\*\* Vježbajte Strane Jezike sa Izvornim Govornicima \*\*\*\*\* === Za organizaciju događaja se ne mora nista platiti. Radi korištenja prostora u kafiću (koji se nalazi u dvorišnoj zgradi) , bilo bi poželjno kad bi svatko naručio barem jedno piće. Nedjelja 18:00 - 21:00 sati Cukeraj Petrinjska 61

🇭🇷 U **Extreme Programmingu** koristimo **BDD** i **TDD** — prakse temeljene na automatiziranom testiranju. Svaki iole ozbiljniji softverski sustav zahtijeva više različitih vrsta testova. Na ovom razgovoru (više diskusiji nego predavanju) analizirat ćemo nekoliko varijanti različitih pristupa testiranju kako bismo bolje razumjeli njihove sličnosti i razlike. 🇬🇧 In **Extreme Programming**, we use **BDD** and **TDD** — practices built around automated testing. Any reasonably large software system needs multiple types of tests. In this talk (more of a discussion than a lecture), we’ll analyse several variations of different testing approaches to better understand their similarities and differences. 📣 Speaker 1: [Marko Bjelac](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markobjelac) ⏰ Schedule: \- Introduction \- What is a test? \- Discussion \- ⚡Lightning talks⚡ 🇭🇷 Za *munjevita predavanja* (⚡*lightning talks*⚡) se ne morate prijaviti unaprijed. Samo javite domaćinu na početku okupljanja da želite održati munjevito predavanje. Munjevita predavanja traju 5 minuta (ili manje) i mogu biti na bilo koju temu. Na pojedinom okupljanju će se održati onoliko munjevitih predavanja koliko ima zainteresiranih predavača. 🇬🇧 You don’t need to register in advance for ⚡*lightning talks*⚡. Just let the host know at the beginning of the meetup that you want to present a lightning talk. Lightning talks last 5 minutes (or less) and can be on any topic. At each meetup, as many lightning talks will be held as there are interested speakers. **🫵 You have a topic for a ZSC meetup?** 🇭🇷 Javite se domaćinu (Marko B) i sve ćemo dogovoriti! 🇬🇧 Get in touch with the host (Marko B), and we’ll sort everything out! Cover image: [Magnific](https://www.magnific.com/free-vector/flat-science-template-with-scientific-research-experiments-scientists-flasks-tubes-bottles-bulb_11061632.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=1&uuid=3a953207-aee0-4332-a989-6ba744b8e648)

**Navigating the challenges of exiting hyperscalers in favor of EU cloud providers.** Are you in a toxic relationship with a major cloud provider? It’s expensive, overly complicated, but somehow... comfortable. Are you staying just because it's a known safety zone, even though the monthly bills and architectural overhead are causing constant anxiety? It’s time for a group therapy session. At this meetup, we are opening up the floor for an honest conversation about breaking up with big hyperscalers (AWS, GCP, Azure, Oracle Cloud) in favor of European alternatives like Hetzner. Using the metaphor of psychotherapy, we will dissect why exiting a comfortable but restrictive environment is so difficult, the real risks of staying, and what the path to infrastructure recovery actually looks like. **What's on the Agenda?** **Facing the Dependency:** Why do we stay with hyperscalers and how do you know when it’s time to leave? **The Developer’s Journey & Open Source Contribution:** A deep dive into the builder's mindset. Eduard will share the backstage story of creating a custom solution: * Why he decided to write a dedicated plugin instead of relying on existing workarounds. * The tech stack used, the development process, and the actual time investment required. * How to promote an open-source tool and the real-world feedback/impressions from active users. **Case Study:** A practical look at the **Hetzner Rancher nodedriver provider**—a plugin designed to make provisioning and managing Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner simple, smooth, and trauma-free. **Meet Your Therapist (Speaker)** **Eduard Bulai** – Coming all the way from Romania, Eduard is the very first international speaker to join the Karlovac Developers group. As the CEO of [zsys.ro](https://zsys.ro/), a boutique infrastructure engineering company, he brings 15 years of deep infra experience to the couch: * One half of his career has been strictly focused on OpenStack, Kubernetes, Rancher, Canonical MaaS, and Juju charms. * The other half was spent managing the full lifecycle of deployments on AWS, GCP, Azure, and Oracle Cloud. Having authored a custom Rancher plugin to bridge the gap between enterprise orchestration and European hosting, Eduard has lived through both sides of the cloud spectrum and is ready to share the raw, unvarnished truth.

June 17, 2026: Worthington Library. Wild Ohio: The Best of Our Natural Heritage. Jim McCormac. Worthington, Ohio. 7 pm.

We meet to learn and practice American Sign Language and to grow our familiarity with Deaf culture. Facilitated by hearing folks (with a connection to a professional interpreter) using Deaf-created content. People of all ASL skill levels are welcome! As we learn, we hope to connect more with the Deaf community in Central Ohio. Join us as you're able! Come regularly or just once - whatever you're looking for! Each meetup will explore different topics related to ASL/Deaf culture, and will feature time to practice conversation with one another. Just bring yourself and a willingness to learn!

**History** The [Franklin Park Conservatory](https://www.fpconservatory.org/)’s roots trace back to 1852 when the Franklin County Agricultural Society purchased 88 acres of land to host the Ohio State Fair. After the fair moved to its permanent home, the city of Columbus transformed the grounds into Franklin Park in 1884. This transition shifted the space from a temporary event site to a dedicated public green space for the growing community. The park became a central hub for outdoor recreation and early civic gatherings in the neighborhood. In 1895, the landmark Victorian-style Palm House opened its doors, drawing heavy inspiration from the Glass Palace of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This iron and glass structure became an immediate icon, housing exotic plants that residents would otherwise never see in the Midwest. It remains the oldest part of the facility and serves as a primary link to the conservatory’s 19th-century origins. For decades, it stood as a singular testament to grand horticultural architecture in Central Ohio. A major turning point arrived in 1992 when Columbus hosted AmeriFlora '92, an international horticultural exhibition. This massive event prompted a $16 million renovation and expansion, adding significantly more greenhouse space and the Dorothy M. Davis Showhouse. The festival put the conservatory on the international map and fundamentally changed its scale and ambition. Following the event, the facility transitioned from a city-run park to a private, non-profit organization. In 2003, the conservatory’s identity was further defined through a long-term partnership with world-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. After a successful exhibition, the Friends of the Conservatory purchased most of the glass installations, creating the largest permanent collection of Chihuly’s work in a botanical setting. These vibrant glass sculptures are now woven throughout the biomes, blending art with nature. This addition helped cement the conservatory as a premier cultural destination rather than just a botanical garden. Recent years have seen the site expand beyond the glass walls to emphasize community engagement and outdoor education. The 2018 opening of the Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation Children’s Garden added two acres of interactive landscape designed for hands-on learning. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Community Garden Campus also provides local residents with space to grow their own food and learn sustainable practices. Today, the conservatory balances its historic Victorian charm with modern commitments to local ecology and the Columbus community. **Maps of the Conservatory** Here is the [main map](https://www.fpconservatory.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/franklin-park-zones-scaled.jpg) of the Conservatory grounds. Here's a [map of the areas](https://www.fpconservatory.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/ConstructionMap-2026.jpg) in which the Conservatory has ongoing construction (see below). **Summary** For this event, we'll explore Columbus's highly-rated and very popular Conservatory. As mentioned above, the Conservatory is doing renovations on parts of the facility. These renovations are scheduled to be ongoing until the Fall of next year. Basically, no matter when you go to the Conservatory over the next 18 months, you're going to see some metaphorical orange barrels. So let's just go now. **Tickets and pricing** On the first Sunday of every month, the Conservatory is free for residents of Franklin County and the city of Columbus. You must bring an ID to receive this discount. (Yes, they do check.) Otherwise, tickets are $25.20. Members of the Columbus Zoo (of which I am one) do get a discount on tickets, though I have never actually bought a ticket to the Conservatory (I've always gone on free days). I believe the discount is $4. Parking is always free. If you have additional questions about pricing or whether and for what you qualify, you can reach the Conservatory at 614-715-8000. **Where we'll meet** We will meet just outside the main entrance. I guarantee there's going to be a line. The Conservatory is always popular on free days, and especially in nice weather. **Your GPS is stupid!** Be careful simply typing "Franklin Park Conservatory" in your GPS and going where it tells you. The only way to access the parking lot to the Conservatory is off of Broad Street. Unfortunately, since Google Maps is unable to find its way out of a wet paper bag, it has a tendency to want to take people to a mythical, non-existent Conservatory entrance on Nelson Road. If your GPS does this, just drive to the north side of the Conservatory along Broad Street. Your GPS should then redirect you to the main Conservatory entrance. If your GPS doesn't, then throw your phone away\* and look for the big Conservatory sign on the south side of Broad Street between Nelson Road and Franklin Park West. You also should be able to use the map pin I've provided, below, and it should properly direct you to where you need to drive. \* Don't really do this. **After the event** After stopping to smell the roses, for those that are interested, we'll head to the nearby [Columbus Brewing Company Beer Hall](https://columbusbrewing.com/location/beer-hall/) for [drinks](https://columbusbrewing.com/location/beer-hall/#draft-list) and [lunch](https://columbusbrewing.com/location/beer-hall/#food-menu). The Beer Hall's actual address is [200 Kelton Ave, Columbus, OH 43205](https://www.google.com/maps/place/200+Kelton+Ave,+Columbus,+OH+43205/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x883889a94ac4acad:0xadb2e60240dbc38b?sa=X&ved=1t:242&ictx=111) (it's literally just on the south side of the Conservatory). Be sure this is where your GPS is taking you when you use it, as the Brewing Company has a taproom on Harrison Avenue that is *not* what you want for this event. We should be at the Beer Hall by 1 if you can't make the Conservatory and just want to join us for drinks.

Let's stroll the artists' booths and enjoy some of the festival's opening day! The Columbus Art Festival features a wide and vibrant range of visual art from local and national exhibitors, plus, live music, and all kinds of food and refreshments, along the waterfront downtown. (The featured painting is by Columbus Arts Festival exhibitor, Joe Engel - joe-engelart.com)

Ciao a tutt\*! Let's meet Monday at 6.30pm at the Upper Arlington Library (**Tremont** Branch) in **Meeting Room A** to speak in Italian for 1 hour.

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who enjoy talking to people from other countries, and those who would like to discuss international travel and culture, and who enjoy getting together for good conversations."