“Sooo...how did you end up in Slovakia?”

 

This is the classic question that I get greeted with by nearly every person I meet in Slovakia. For some reason, they can’t fathom why I’d choose to come here from the U.S. “But you’re from New York! You can do anything there!” is a line that I hear a lot. The truth is (besides the fact that I'm from Connecticut, not New York), there’s not one straightforward answer as to how I ended up co-oping here in Slovakia. It’s sort of a combination of factors that ultimately got me here in the land of goat cheese dumplings.

  1. My great-grandparents are from here!

    A big reason why I was drawn to Slovakia is the fact that ¼ of my heritage is from here (well, it was Czechoslovakia back in the day). My great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S. way back in the 1880s, so I thought it’d be cool to come back here and “get in touch with my roots”. It was a cool feeling the day I arrived knowing that I was the first person to step foot on Slovak ground in my family in generations.

2. I wanted to live somewhere in eastern/central Europe

    Having lived in Spain for 6 months last year, I was all around western Europe--Spain, Portugal, France, England etc. This time around, I wanted to try something new! I had heard such great things about this little corner of the world and knew that I already loved Europe, so it was my goal to get over here and try something new.

3. Bratislava is close to a handful of amazing cities

    Slovakia’s capital city Bratislava (where I’m currently living and working) is nestled between a handful of stunning cities that are only a short bus ride away--this includes Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Munich. Plus, there are a ton of cheap Ryanair flights at Bratislava’s super-accessible airport, and if you need more options, Vienna’s airport is less than an hour away by car.

4. I wanted to work at a big company this time around

    Having only worked at startups before, I really wanted to get a sense of what it’s like to work for a huge company! Therefore, when this opportunity with IBM in Bratislava opened up, I was eager to jump in and see what the corporate life is all about. So far, I’ve been super happy with my decision and have already learned so much in my first two months of co-op. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All the Airbnbs I've Ever Stayed in, Ranked

Image
Oh, Airbnb—you gotta love it. It's my go-to for finding cheap yet comfortable places to stay when traveling. Hosts are usually willing to spill all their local secrets and seem to always jump at the chance to help you in any way they can. To me, Airbnbs offer a much more authentic way to experience a city you're visiting. Here's a ranking of all of the Airbnbs that are in my login (some others were booked by my friends—I've unfortunately lost those!) 9. Gran Canaria, Canary Islands This Airbnb was pretty overpriced and under-furnished—my bed had only one thin sheet without any blankets on top of it. That paired with the rainy weather and freezing cold shower made it a pretty uncomfortable stay! Plus, the kitchen was weirdly separated from the living room on the other end of the apartment.  8. Ibiza, Spain This apartment was in a pretty convenient location, close to the water, Ibiza's old town, and famous nightclub Pacha. However, it wasn't the th
Read more

Halle's Visit to Slovakia

Image
This past week, my best friend Halle hopped on over to Slovakia for a visit! She's a true trip buddy of mine —we've been to Puerto Rico, Spain, and Greece together already. Hal is always a fun person to hang out with, dancing and acting goofy at all times, so I was super stoked to have her visit me here in Slovakia. We'd been preparing for this week for months, chatting almost daily about the fun things we wanted to do and see! We started off with a spontaneous trip to Budapest because she's always dreamt of seeing the famous Szechenyi Baths (which she was right to, they're soooo  relaxing). It was a fun two days gallivanting around the city, tasting traditional Hungarian goulash and taking a boat cruise of the Danube. This was already my third time in Budapest, and I think it's safe to say that it's my favorite city I've ever been to. The streets have an unexplainable atmosphere of grandeur and weirdly feel like home to me. I think I'll return i
Read more