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Today I'm talking to Alain Colpaert, A Brazilian who came to Slovakia four years ago and had stayed until recently. He is now living and working in Prague for an international company. At the same time he runs his own business, including a website connecting stylists, make-up artists and hairdressers with potential clients. What is it like to own a small business in Slovakia? For answers to this and other questions listen to episode 18h

Hello and welcome to MySlovakExperience podcast. In this chilling December, I’m bringing you Ramy, an IT manager from Egypt who has lived in Slovakia for more than 14 years now. No matter where he’s from, he just cannot imagine living anywhere else than Slovakia. I recorded our conversation at the beginning of October, it took a while to bring it to light and I’m glad today you can enjoy it. Thanks a lot for following and being part of MySlovakExperience, one year of great conversations, thanks to you listeners and thanks to the guests who came to the show. 2020 will bring some new things to the show, wait4it. And now without further delay please welcome Ramy.

Two years ago, in this very season when I’m posting this, that my today’s guest came to Slovakia for the first time in her life, directly from India. I’m talking about Shimpy, a software developer in an international company,  Slovakia was Shimpy also the first country to visit outside her native land. Her Slovak experience has been transformative. With merry happenings like seeing the first snow, and lonesome ones like feeling very homesick for the first time ever. Enjoy listening to Shimpy Kumari, and namaste.

Ok, ready for another MySlovakExperience episode? Today I’m talking to Roberto, who came to Slovakia from the Dominican Republic 13 years ago and after he survived his first Slovak winter, he decided to stay. He has since become a slovak citizen, made many good friends here, but the main reason why he is staying is his son. Roberto is also a fisherman, a fluent Slovak speaker and he works for an international company. Enjoy and as always, thanks a lot for listening.

Welcome to MySlovakExperience podcast. Today I am glad to bring you Hiro, a Japanese man who came to Bratislava totally alone seven years ago. He works at an IT company in the capital and calls Bratislava cozy. Why does he like Slovakia better than Japan? Listen to the podcast to find out. Welcome to MySlovakExperience podcast. Today I am glad to bring you Hiro, a Japanese man who came to Bratislava totally alone seven years ago. He works at an IT company in the capital and calls Bratislava cozy. Why does he like Slovakia better than Japan? Listen to the podcast to find out.

Hey hey, it’s time for another episode of MySlovakExperience. Today, we go to Kenya to interview Ned (or I should say DJ Ned) who has been living in Slovakia since 2016. Ned, or Naheed Nizar Saburali Mawji works in an international company but he’s also a professional DJ so if you are familiar with Bratislava’s enjoying the nightlife, perhaps you have already danced to his music. Ned’s first winter in Slovakia was the worst ever so what convinced him to stay and consider this country his home? Listen to this podcast to find out.

Hello everybody, this is MySlovakExperience podcast and today I’m finally leaving Bratislava. My guest Vicky Sheppard is an editor, writer and science teacher originally from Britain has lived in Piestany for 11 years now. Vicky came to Slovakia with her husband and they have been living in Piestany for more than a decade despite the fact that they only came for two years. She’s about to go back to the UK this summer so this interview is a bit of a farewell to Slovakia. What does it mean for a foreigner to live in a small Slovak town like Piestany, and what are her opinions and thoughts before her departure. I hope you will enjoy our conversation as much as I did. So please welcome, Vicky Sheppard.

Today I bring another continent into the picture with Mazvi from Zimbabwe. Mazvi first came to Slovakia to work for the British Chamber of Commerce in 2010. She studied in South Africa and landed in Slovakia because of a job opportunity and also to see something else about the world. I was happy to learn that she considers Slovakia her second home now. She enjoys the experience, her job and connection. But there is also something missing: a particular vibe, some of the tastes, something of the people. Unsurprisingly, Slovakia doesn’t match her home country. Listen to our talk to hear more from her.

Today is the first time I interviewed two guests: Humberto and Elena Abad, Mexican siblings who had lived in Chicago for more than a decade before they landed in Slovakia. Humberto came in 2011 and his sister followed him a couple of years later, to stay with the family but also because her brother seemed to be having a good life in central Europe. Through this story, I also want to show how stories of foreigners living in Slovakia are a powerful influencer to our family and peers back home. Foreigners living here are the first ambassadors of that experience, and people back in their home country see Slovakia through their eyes. We talk a lot about the differences between the three countries Elena and Humberto lived in, about the upsides of living in Slovakia but also some downsides - like the lack of chances to buy really good Mexican food here. With a few genuine tortillas available here, Slovakia would be a perfect place.

My todays guest is a very nice lady with a Russian Name, Ukrainian Surname and a white-and-bordeaux Latvian heart. When she’s in Slovakia, she misses the sea, when she’s in Latvia, she misses the Slovak mountains. Jekaterina Nikolajenko is an adventurer. Before coming to Slovakia, she lived in Portugal, guiding tourists around the Porto wine cellars. The first time she saw Bratislava, in 2009, she thought: “This is a city I would never wanna live in.” Two years later, Bratislava became her home. She talks about how she got to like the city and the life in Slovakia, and much more.

My today’s guest is Ewelina Agata Zbyszynska who came to Slovakia from Poland in 2006. Her first experience was a job interview in Zilina. She wanted the job because she felt she could get more than what she had in her own country, and she wanted more than the factory job that many of her peers who emigrated to UK had. Ewi has had a lifechanging Slovak experience, which started in a call centre with “a bunch of Polish people” and so far led her to become a project leader in a multinational company. Twelve years on, Ewi still enjoys her Slovak experience. We talk about Slovak dreams and Slovak nightmares, the good and bad things about living in Slovakia and, spoiler alert!, it all ends with a smile. Because for Ewi, Slovakia now feels like home.

Olga is a humanitarian and a community organizer, she experienced the diplomatic life and she’s a member of the International Women’s Club Bratislava. She didn’t choose Slovakia as her destination, it is more of a transit place for her, due to the job of her husband in the diplomatic community. She knows she is leaving at one point, but in the meantime she makes sure to keep herself busy helping the local community and raising awareness about issues she believes in. Food is one of them. She is the founder of the wefoodie Facebook group that counts thousands of members, focused on discovering the best ethnic food in Slovakia. Olga is an active and motivated Russian who wants to make a change with her volunteer work. To learn more about the International Women’s Club of Bratislava https://www.iwc.sk and about the WeFoodie group that Olga launched at the beginning of 2018 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1243051579129544/

In early November I travelled to my Italian hometown, Udine, where I met my today’s guest, Lorenzo Luci, to have him share his story about Slovakia. For the first time in this podcast, we share the Slovak experience of someone who chose to leave the country and return home. Lorenzo is a good old friend of mine, we met many years ago and we enjoyed countless days and experiences together till the time when I moved to Slovakia and he stayed to finish his studies and work in Friuli Venezia Giulia. He later decided to join me in Slovakia for his Slovak experience that lasted for a couple of years.Through Lorenzo, I bring the Slovak experience of someone who chose to return back home. Now he lives and works in Italy again. Enjoy the talk with Lorenzo Luci and thanks for listening.

The Slovak experience of my today’s guest is as rich as it is long. Billy Altanshuch was born and raised in Mongolia. He came to Slovakia in 1998 after he decided to come and study in Europe. Back then, Slovakia was a whole different world compared to how we know it today. Billy has a lot to say about that. A linguist and fluent Slovak speaker, Billy is a good person to ask about the Slovak language, but also about how to get the slovak citizenship. And what’s the favorite Slovak dish of a native Mongolian? Listen to my interview with Billy Altanshuch to find out.

Today’s guest is Anca Dragu, a journalist who came from Romania 18 years ago with just a few crowns in her pocket, to attend a media workshop. Currently she’s working in the English section of the Radio Slovakia International covering a range of topics but particularly focusing on health care. You can hear Anca’s voice on the radio almost every day (on https://enrsi.rtvs.sk ) but only here, in this podcast, you can hear more about her Slovak experience. Thank you for listening! More about Anca here https://enrsi.rtvs.sk/people

Slovakia raised me a little bit, I became my own human here. My today’s guest is Nasi (her full name is Nastaran Alaghmandan Motlagh) who came to Slovakia from Iran with her family. She was 15 years old when they arrived.  “Slovakia raised me a little bit, I became my own human here,” she says. You might have seen Nasi either on the Slovak TV or on stage as stand-up comedian. I think she’s really cool at what she does, both in English and in Slovak. I found her clarity of reasoning and respect for inclusion remarkable. In this episode of the podcast we covered Nasi’s journey from Iran to Slovakia as an immigrant,    but also her love for borovička and feeling for her new home, Slovakia. “It’s worth it!” she says about her Slovak experience.  For more info about Nasi follow this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Jokesonyoucomedy/  Enjoy!  You can follow and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube  or iTunes on Stitcher or Tunein 

My next guest is Diego Loyola. You might be familiar with his name, like I was: I read it many times on Facebook posting and collaborating in the Foreigners in Bratislava group or in some articles read on the Slovak Spectator blog. Several of my friends and colleagues attended his parties and events. So I was curious to know more about why he’s so active for the community, what brought him here from Ecuador and how he enjoys life in Slovakia. He learned an interesting rule: if you make it through the first 3 years in Slovakia , then you are likely to stay indefinitely. That worked for me and for him. What about you?

Life, opinions, story and experiences or Paul Burt

I decided to start this podcast to record and share the experiences of foreigners who have lived in Slovakia.We might have similar reasons why we came to this country and made a life here, but we all have our unique stories that might interest our fellow foreigners living here, but also Slovaks who are curious to hear how it feels to be a foreigner in their homeland.You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on Stitcher.Thank you for sharing!