Application Llubljana BOOM! Oh, that wasnt an explosion; its just the Dutch word for tree :).

Hi! Im Niels, 19 years old, 3rd year engineering student at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. I specialize in Materials and Chemical engineering, because I am fascinated by what things are made of and how they are made. In my free time I enjoy going to the gym, parkour, playing guitar and piano, finding obscure artists on spotify, making cocktails and partying with friends. I was drawn to this course because Ive always wondered how they actually make something functional out of wood, especially back when advanced wood cutting tools were not available. When I was a child I tried to make my own tree house with branches, but it failed and fell apart so I decided to stick with Lego . I also find wood in itself a very interesting material because it is so complex. Why do different woods have such different properties? When you study materials science, most of what you learn about is metals because they are easy to describe. Wood as a natural composite behaves differently in all different directions when placed under a load; it would be nice to learn about that for a change. Im a very active, outdoorsy, out-of-the-city kind of person. That is why I prefer climbing up glaciers in Iceland over tanning on the beach. Belgium is very densely populated, so its hard to find real nature. Ive never been to Slovenia, but the Internet tells me it is a beautiful green country that makes a great place for hiking and enjoying forests! In all cases, I love travelling and learning about another culture (especially the culinary aspect of it ). So how about I bring some Belgian beer and chocolate and trade it for truklji and some Slovenian wine? Overall, I very much look forward to this course. Meeting engineers from other countries is a special experience that can expand the mind by getting introduced to all kinds of cultures. I look forward to seeing Slovenia, its nature, its towns and its people! And Im very excited to learn about something completely different from metals. Hvala in zbogom Niels

Oak, thanks to the association I make with professor Oak. Thanks to him I could go on the greatest adventures in my childhood, even though they were virtual. But I guess I could get to like the Linden tree since it seems special in Slovenia :). According to wikipedia, it's 58.5%, who am I to believe here? :P But let's use your numbers. .7*20273 = 14191 km^2 is wooded area. According to the US dept of Energy there are on average 700 trees per acre. 1 km^2=247.11 acre. 3506738 acres is then the wooded area. This means there are 2.45*10^9 trees in slovenia. This is a silly estimate since different species of trees are spaced differently. Also, constantly trees are being planted or getting cut down; the number is always changing.

I think Id spend most of my day at Triglav National Park. Maybe if there were time left I would go sightseeing in Ljubljana or Maribor. In the evening Id hit the pubs and try as many different kinds of beers I can before passing out. Id start with the local beers, then move on to suggestions from other people at the pub. Later, Id wake up from the ground and then hit the clubs. There Id find a pretty Slovenian girl and take her back on the plane with me.