Slovak vs America Food – Top 3 Differences

There are quite a few things here in Slovakia that are different than food in America. Now, I can’t say for certain that all of these are true, as I have only been here a week with only one family. But here is what I have observed to be different between the two cultures.

1. Meals: There is a definite difference between the meals here in Slovakia and the food in America. They eat soup so often, it is almost impossible to believe. Not that I am complaining, I like the soup, especially Goulash. Side note: I am not sure if Goulash is technically Slovak, because it is a Hungarian dish. However, I believe that Slovakia was controlled by Hungary pre-Czechoslovakia so does that make it count as a Slovak dish? They also eat much more food than I would expect. I go sit down for a meal, eat a large bowl of soup, being very full, then they offer me a whole bowl of spaghetti. Again; don’t take it as me complaining, it is just a lot of food.

So much soup!

2. Sweets: The sweets here are much more “bland” if that makes sense. What I was told by some others, and the internet somewhat agrees with this, is that Europe has restrictions on high fructose corn syrup, thus making the possibilities to have sweet candies like we do in the United States limited. Although it would not be fair to compare the candies and sweets of Europe to those of America, they are completely different in style and taste. The Slovak candies that I have tried don’t try to hit you with the straight up sweetness like they might in America, but they give you different textures and flavors. I don’t know if it is my words being lost in translation or not, but when they ask me if I want a candy, it brings in things like pretzels and these little peanut snacks. Either way, I think that the differences

Sweets are fantastic!

3. Costs: I lightly went over this in my daily update here, but the cost of food is absurdly cheap compared to the United States (at least where I am from). I want you to try and guess how much all of this came out to: full loaf of bread, large Czech chocolate, small chocolate muffin, 600ml Kofola, cheese spread (for bread), medium sized package of pretzels, and two Horalky bars. When I was picking out these snacks to try, I was ready to spend something like 15-25 USD, but when I had everything rung up at the register it came out to just over 6 Euros, or about $7.50!

All of the food I bought

Here is my quick list, what do you think? I might try doing another one some other day when I have more time, but for now, here is what you need to know about the food differences between America and Slovakia!
All of these pictures were taken on a Sony A6000. If you are looking for a great light weight camera that takes fantastic pictures, I would definitively recommend this setup here.

Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

Slovakia Day 3 – Slovakian National Uprising, Tanks, and Halushka

*EDIT* for all of those concerned, yes, I do know how to count. apparently this is day 3, not 4.

Today has been a fricken blast. I am currently writing this mid-day, because I am slightly worried that I will not have enough time to write about everything! Now just a bit of a fore-warning, this post is going to have A TON of pictures, because I don’t want to try and limit myself. If you are alright with being able to see what living the life in Slovakia is like, then I dare you to read on.

Today I could have slept in till 10 or 11, but I had thought to myself, “No, I don’t want to give the impression of a lazy bum and be sleeping in all day.” So I woke up today at 9:45. I got up, went to our balcony and looked outside and was absolutely stunned. I still cannot get over the fantastic view we have from our little flat. I had breakfast, and then the family went out to what I think was a job interview? Google translate only goes so far. Once they had gone, Sophi asked if I wanted to go to the SNP, which stands for Slovenske Narodne Povstanie (with more accent marks of course but I don’t know how to write those on an American keyboard). The SNP is a building/monument dedicated to the Slovakian National Uprising, which I think Slovenske Narodne Povstanie translates into. I said yes and off we went.

When we got roughly to the SNP, when we saw a large line. And at the front of this line was a whole police squad and a metal detector. Normally, I wouldn’t have had a second thought, but I have made it a habit recently to carry my knife with me, especially in a foreign country. I thought that the Slovak police would not take very kindly to a person from a foreign country carrying a sharp object into a crowded place. So I hid the knife behind a rock and hoped that it wouldn’t get stolen. But it apparently didn’t matter anyway because we were not going in at the time anyway.

We walked down to this plaza area, where we walked around for a bit and went to a park and played for a bit. It was very relaxing, and the weather could not have been more perfect. We did get yelled at by some skater because we were apparently in his way, but doesn’t really matter to me because I had no idea what he was saying.

Once we had gotten back, we had lunch, which was the first time I tried halushka, a very popular traditional Slovak dish. It used potatoes and sheep’s milk, and other ingredients that my family told me that I don’t quite remember (sorry). It was very very good, it was like a better creamier macaroni and cheese. Except no noodles. Either way, it was very good.

I had started writing this right before dinner, and it is now 9:30. And I am not even half way done with what I did today. Never the less, I will push through! After lunch, we walked down to the SNP, where they were having quite the ceremony in celebration of the Slovak National Uprising (apparently today was the holiday). When we got there, I was so excited it took me a good half hour to stop smiling. I knew there were tanks, but I just hadn’t quite understood. There were tanks, and model tanks, and so many other military demonstrations that I almost passed out from excitement.

The first tank that I saw, was the Soviet T-34-85. This tank boasts the infamous 85mm gun, the ZIS S-53.  The T-34 saw mass production during WWII, and is the largest produced tank in all of history. I have never seen one in person, so I was very excited. I hope you can tell.

This next tank is a Czechoslovakian tank, the LT vz. 35/8. I know there is a difference between the two, I just couldn’t tell the difference. I could look it up, but I have to try to get all of this written down before I have to go to bed! Anyway, the 38′ was produced by the Czechoslovakians until the Germans overtook their factories. Production ended in 1942, but the chassis was still used for other iconic tanks.

Next is probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. This tank is the Pz. IV Ausf. J, the spearhead of the German Blitzkrieg in mid WWII. This was the successor to the Pz. III and Pz. II, which many people would know for their roles in Poland. This tank was highly successful in dealing with Russian opponents in Operation Barbarossa. Ok, enough with the historical stuff. This tank is so cute, the spaced armor on the turret is just so pretty I can’t stand it.

Finally, not a tank. That’s what you’re saying right? This is the ML-20, a 152mm Russian cannon. This thing is a monster, produced from 1937-194 was pulled in tandem by other veihicles, or it was mounted on tracked carriers, such as the SU-152. In other words, this gun was put on a tank. Haha! You thought I would leave tanks out in this? Nice try!

Well those are the big four that I saw at the SNP, I am using this little jot to kind of space out the rest of the images I am going to dump. Sue me.

Today was the first time I went to the actual monument, and I am fairly sure I would have enjoyed it more if I could have read what the signs and the posters said. Either way, I really liked the monument, and it was really cool to see all of that old memorabilia inside of the museum. If anyone is in the area, the SNP is definitely something that you cannot pass up!

I really did enjoy my time here today, and I know I am missing some things that happened today, but it has been a really long day, and tomorrow I have to get up early to go and get my temporary permanent residence card, or TPRC. Kind of ironic, temporary permanent. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this, and if I have time tomorrow I will try and do a kind of half way update! Dobrú noc!

 

Where I will be for a year: Banská Bystrica

As some of you may or may not know, I am going to be an exchange student to Slovakia for the 2017-2018 school year. However, I myself have not done excessive amounts of research on where I will be staying, so to somewhat force myself to learn and to show others where I will be for the next year, I have written this short piece on the wonderful city of Banská Bystrica.

Banská Bystrica has had a rough history over the past couple hundred years, and it was first settled by Germans, and it was considered a permanent settlement in the 9th Century. However in 1255 it received the “municipal privileges of a free royal town of the Kingdom of Hungary”. This means that it was identified as one of the most important cities in the Kingdom of Hungary, and certain privileges were available for the city. Through the next 600 years, the city continued its ties with Hungary, until the country of Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Hungarian state on October 28, 1918, right after the first world war. During the World War II, the city became part of the largest anti-Nazi opposition in all of Europe. The resistance began on August 29, 1944, however the anti-Nazi forces were defeated and the city of Banská Bystrica was occupied by the Germans until March 26, 1945 when the city was liberated by the Soviets. After the war, the city thrived becoming a home for many schools, such as its largest Matej Bel University.

The city was first formed over an ancient Slavic settlement, however the main reason the city exists to the extent it does to this day is because of the large amounts of copper that used to be hiding underneath the surface. However, the copper reserve underneath the surface would not last forever, so when it finally ran out in the 18th century the city was forced to look into different industries. Currently, the city derives most of its income (60%) from metallurgy, which is the the branch of science and technology concerned with the properties of metals and their production and purification. Other important sources of income are woodwork, engineering, chemistry, pharmacy and food processing.

The city is located right in the middle of the Hron River Valley, which funny enough the city hosts the Hron river which flows south through the city. The city is also surrounded by mountains, which are the Low Tatras to the north-east, the Veľká Fatra to the north-west, and the Kremnica Mountains to the west. The city of Banská Bystrica is known for its scorching summers, and its blistering cold winters.

When I will be arriving into Banská Bystrica I will have to fly into Vienna, which is the only flight I can get from LAX. I will then have to drive around 4 hours before I am able to get to Banská Bystrica, which in California it wouldn’t be that bad, but in Slovakia that is crossing nearly half the country! The climate will be extremely different than what I am used to in Southern California. I have been to the mountains and been in the snow, but I have never experienced sub-zero weather. In the city of Banská Bystrica, it is known to get below the freezing point for months on end! And the weather as of writing this on July 20, is 90° Fahrenheit! I am very excited to be able to go to such a unique and different place than where I live now, and I will try to update this as soon as I get anymore information!