I dare to disagree with some things...
Hi there.
I got my Slovak passport in the drawer here in Belfast. Expiring exactly today on the dot /after 10yrs validity/. So I s'pos' I can give an opinion on the subject.
Zero tolerance mentality? Shouldn't you say zero mentality?? Yeah. Slovaks do not 'throw up all over our sightseeing spots' but we're not those "Peace-loving Slavic doves" either. There's loads of drinking, spirits, schnapps abuse. Not just nice EUROPEAN, Czech etc beers for coupla dimes.
I could go on and on. I ain't gonna live there. Yes, got my family there but that's it. There's good and bad things everywhere so I don't have reason to thrash everything.
Yes. Nice countryside, lots of history, castles, forts, etc /not much appreciated by locals let me tell you/.
Let's get down to money. Yes. It's CHEAP, but only compared to Western /or Scandinavian/ levels of wages. Come to SVK with monthly income from UK, Ireland etc sent over and you'll be great.
But try to live on your own on crappy local wages and you'd be gobsmacked.
My Irish friend, Dubliner I met in Edinburgh when I lived there, could tell me what it's like. And he's the lucky one working in Vienna for EUR and commuting back home to his girl /Slovak art grad/ and almost 2 yr old son.
Working from home, for an IT guy getting paid UK salary and Hey-ho. Great. Or as a businessman for int'l company in Bratislava. Could be.
As an English teacher? Crappy salary. Not much else to think of.
Slovakia and many Central and Eastern European countries are nice to visit, travel around on a budget, but not that great for average people living there on local wages. IF THEY CAN GET A JOB AT ALL.
Since I'm Czech national as well, I'm fed up with people not just confusing countries and capitals /when bragging how big travellers they are - bah/ but only ever going to Prague to get pissed and fly back.
We're starting to see the trend in Bratislava too.
Finnish can be worse than Brits or Irish regarding binge drinking in SVK.
Yeah. That stupid flat rate tax is bollocks. Idiotic politicians were so amazed by the 'simplifying' idea. All it helps are filthy rich bastards.
Or removing inheritance tax completely. No brackets, no scaling. Just to get rid of it and that's it. One has to see below the surface.
IF I didn't spend my first 21-22 years in Slovakia I could have been much closer to real helo pilot career than I am now. So much to save up. Only thanks to living in the UK I realised I could eventually make it.
That's why 'being realistic' never allowed me to daydream about flying for living as it's so prohibitively expensive. All the more for a guy earning peanuts and paying over the odds for the basic living costs.