Slovak Culture

- Slovaks NEVER wear their shoes in the house. Entryways are filled with an abundance of shoes, both outdoor and indoor. Adults normally wear a pair of slippers or sandals in the house. Some young children wear just socks around the house. It is customary to have extra pairs of slippers to offer to guests when they visit.

- Slovaks love to drop in on their friends. The closer the relationship, the more likely this will happen. It is expected that the host stop whatever he/she is doing, serve tea and/or coffee with a treat, and visit for a couple hours. It is rude for either side to cut the visit short.

- Slovaks eat their largest meal at lunch. Much of this is due to the fact that employers are required to pay for their employees' lunches (a hold-over from Communism). Restaurants do a booming business at lunch time. They often have several selections already prepared so that workers can quickly sit down, order, eat, and leave in a short period of time. Wives then prepare what we would normally eat for lunch for dinner.

- Slovaks typically eat soup before their main meal. A favorite is "Sunday Soup" which is basically chicken noodle soup (much better than Campbell's variety). We ate this three times while there. They also have a cabbage soup with meat, garlic soup (quite good in a bread bowl!), or goulash.

- Rice is frequently eaten with meals, as are potatoes. They are often both included in a meal. Chicken is a popular meat, with pork and beef following. Seafood is rarely eaten in Slovakia, probably due to their land-locked status. Little dumplings are also a favorite, particularly paired with a meat-filled sauce.

- Slovaks often eat bread with lunch meat, butter, cheese, and even raw vegetables for breakfast. The family we stayed with also served cereal and yogurt.

- Gas is $6.00 or so per gallon. Although our gas prices are rising, we have nothing to complain about in comparison!

- The Roma, or gypsies, are the second largest minority group in Slovakia. During WWII many Roma were sent to a special camp at Auschwitz. They have continued to face some cases of racism and many live in third world conditions without electricity or running water. There have also been reports that they have at times been forcibly sterilized.

- There are some English speakers in Slovakia, but compared to many other European countries, the numbers are small. The three pastors we met spoke English, but in the churches, etc. we only met a few that could speak to us. Children are required to learn either English or German in school (beginning in kindergarten), so this will probably change in the future. Under Communism, students were required to learn Russian.

- Slovak children are quite bundled up compared to American children. They frequently wear a hat when going out of the house and babies/toddlers (both boys and girls) wear tights under their pants. Babies are rolled around in strollers with blankets and a zipped cover over top of them.