4 Life Lessons I Learned From Slovaks
What do you know about Slovakia?
I must be honest.
I knew close to nothing before coming here.
Now this country is my home. There are qualities in Slovaks that inspire me every day. And in this article, I’m going to discuss them by sharing what I learned after living in Slovakia for three years.
Treasure Your Personal Time
The first lesson I learned was to treasure your personal time. A typical Slovak isn’t the person who would answer a phone call on vacation or go to work outside their operating hours.
Once, I came to the food stand, and I was choosing what to order for about 3–4 minutes, letting other people forward in the meantime. When I opened my mouth to make an order, the worker gently pointed out that it’s 8 p.m. and he was done for the day. I didn’t mind what happened, but it surprised me.
Depending on what culture you come from, this experience might look ordinary or strange to you. I come from Russia, where people are often expected to be available outside working hours. However, now things are changing and people are trying to set their boundaries regarding this issue, but they don’t always succeed. I believe that in Slovakia that isn’t such an immense problem. Here it’s not typical to contact a worker when they are not at their job.
So, if you are spending time with your family or friends, don’t let other circumstances distract you from that. Try to minimize answering work phone calls or taking your projects on vacation if it’s possible and treasure every chance to relax or have fun.
Explore Your Surroundings
Slovakia is famous for its number of castles per capita and over 40% of the entire country is covered with forest, so there is a lot to see here. I personally live less than 100 kilometers from at least three castles, possibly even more.
There are numerous parks, lakes, rivers, and other wonders of nature and history. And after talking to Slovaks, I realised that they truly like to explore their own country. Slovaks are proud of their land and curious about places they haven't visited before.
Such a strong desire to go sightseeing in your own country has always inspired me. I know many people who get used to the place they were born in and they never truly explore it. Some people think there is no point in planning their trip to a local landscape because they can do it any time they want. The only problem is that when they want to go there, there are always things that are more important. Work emergency. Family responsibility or a birthday coming up. Others might think their local museums or galleries are not interesting enough.
How could they compare to the Eiffel Towers of the world?
I think we should try to learn from Slovaks to appreciate what is around us. Be curious! Try finding local museums, resorts, and other places you have never visited before. They might surprise you.
Be Proud of Your Achievements
Slovaks are not afraid to speak loudly and proudly of what they’ve achieved. Remember all of those titles people get after getting their degree? BSc, MA, Ing., and many others. How often do you or your friends use it? If you work in education, you probably use it every day for your professional correspondence. What about your personal matters? Would you mention your titles when you’re contacting a vet about your dog’s appointment? Many Slovaks would.
At first, it looked a bit arrogant to me, but then I realised something. When people are getting a degree, they dedicate several years of their life to higher education. They become a part of a university’s community and find friends while striving for academic achievement. This experience will forever be a part of them, so why can’t it also be a part of their name?
This Slovak quality goes further than putting a title before their names. Slovak people are not shy to talk about what they’ve achieved throughout their life. I think this life lesson is especially valuable to me, as I’ve always been a person who is afraid of standing out. If you’ve achieved something great, you deserve to get praised for it.
Value Human Interactions
Do you know what shocked me the most when I came to Slovakia? Their self-checkouts are always empty! It’s especially surprising to see when there is a huge queue to a regular checkout and people still don’t go to self-checkouts.
Another example of preferring a human interaction is the way Slovak people deal with emails. When you write an email to a Slovak organisation, they will often call you instead of replying to your email. At first, I didn’t understand why. After talking to a few Slovaks, I found out probable reasons.
Many Slovaks are still cautious about using technology and digital means for getting things done. They usually prefer a traditional non-digital option when they are presented with a choice. Slovaks enjoy spending time with other people. They appreciate a chance of getting to know a new person and they’re often very positive about it.
As a person with social anxiety, this was completely foreign to me at first. I always chose self-checkout and I certainly don’t call when I can email. So, living in Slovakia really helped me to get out of my comfort zone. Constant human interaction allowed me to learn Slovak much faster because I had to answer phone calls and go to different organizations instead of emailing them. This also helped me greatly to get used to the Slovak culture and ways of living.
I must say that living in Slovakia is helping me to become more culturally aware. Each culture can offer a lot to you if you’re willing to learn from it. Be open to the world around you and will teach you something you never knew you needed.
