Andrea originates from Kosice in the east of Slovakia and although it’s only a few hours away as the crow flies, getting there is not always straight forward and the cultural differences would place most Brits way out of their comfort zone. I have been there a number of times now and am just getting used to how things work. The first time Andrea and I drove from the UK making the journey part of our holiday stopping off in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Going home usually consists of seeing multiple sets of family members, sharing food, drink and stories of what has happened since the last time you met. Slovaks do things in exactly the same way, but imagine going home and not understanding the language, eating foods that you have never tried before every meal time and consuming a whole lot of strong local alcohol from breakfast (I’m not joking) through the day to the evening. That is generally what the experience is like when I visit.
Now that may sound a bit strange but for me life is all about experiencing new things and discovering new cultures through being out of your comfort zone. I won’t lie, on my first trip to Slovakia I was so drunk I wrote off several days, that in combination with driving 3000 miles and having foods that were a little alien to me (Frankfurter sausages and Vodka for Breakfast) plus the language barrier meant that I was worn out mentally and physically.
To explain, the relationship with alcohol runs deep in the culture and is a way of traditionally socialising, home brewed spirits are popular and are not only cheaper, but also a part of Slovak tradition. It is more than just Slovak tradition serving home-made alcohol is also a sign of respect. It’s a show of appreciation if you serve your guests genuine slivovica (plum brandy) for example.
After learning how to handle the alcohol and foods the next barrier for me was the language. I’m not one for languages but learning the basics has really helped me communicate and sharing the odd shot tends to make us all fluent 😉
I spent many hours with Andrea’s parents and grandparents asking them as much as I could and telling them about my own family. This trip I spent time with Andrea’s 80 year old Grandad Bartolomej who proudly showed me the mass of wood he had chopped for the winter and multiple potato fields he had planted by hand this year. I could not believe how he had managed to do so much, but it made a lot of sense as he had always worked so hard not only throughout the times of communism but in supporting his own family and land.
On the drive back to the airport through Hungary, we stopped off for the obligatory schnitzels (a road trip favorite) and I was able to reflect on the trip. In some respects things are so different in Slovakia but in my eyes the time and effort they spend on family and friends is unrivaled.
