I teach English at the local equivalent of Amazon, a company called Alza. It is located somewhere in the middle of nowhere between the small towns of Pezinok and Senec. I have to get up at 5 am to get there on time.
Because the company is located in such a remote area, you get an atmosphere that helps to bond more easily with whomever is waiting swith you at a bus stop far away removed from civilisation. Bratislava, the main village of Slovakia, is tricky to reach by bus from here.
We strike up a conversation after he asks me if the bus goes straight to some town I’ve never heard of. His name is Zilko or something like that. He is mumbling and he is talking in Serbian. I suspect it is more like a dialect than the typical Serbian you hear in Belgrade.
I understand him well enough to make out that:
- In Serbia he would make about 200 to 250 euro for the same work he is doing here. Over here I suspect he’s getting about three times more. If he is lucky perhaps four times more. He says that the prices in Serbia are about the same as the ones in Slovakia…
- He shares a house with 15 (!!!) people somewhere near Senec.
- Eventually he says that the US has basically destroyed his country with their bombing campaigns
- His brother is also here
- He can only work here for three months, then he has to go back, because he is Serbia
I talked to Slovaks about this situation later, and one said: ‘Why is he here? If you are going to work abroad anyway, go to Germany, it’s further, but he could make so much more money there.’
Note how accepted this situation is. It is considered normal that this guy needs to work in a different country if he wants to have any chance at a decent life.
Slovaks do it too of course. Slovaks go and build houses in The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, England… Slovak women become nurses or go and work in homes for the elderly in Sweden, Germany, England, France, the Benelux, Switserland… The young ones go to the Middle East and try their luck as a stewardess. These young women are pretty, they are subservient, polite, hard-working, and quick to learn the language, and they are white, something the rich elite over there appreciates… It is about exploiting human beings and separating them from their families.
I would not call it slavery, but I would not call it freedom either…
His name was probably Željko. I am not surprised Slovaks didn’t question his decision, since we have a relatively long tradition of moving away for work and better life. The best example of that is migration to the US at the beginning of 20. century, when more than half a million of Slovaks moved there to work in mines, construction or local factories. And of course, today we also recognize that the standard of life and salaries are higher to the west from our borders, so moving out still makes sense. Overall, Slovak migration is a part of a world migration that will probably never stop. On the other hand, that shouldn’t be an excuse for poor living conditions that these people have to endure. The situation of Serbian workers in Slovakia has been already noticed by some of our newspapers, so it’s a known fact by now. I just hope it doesn’t stop there and someone will do something to make the living conditions better for them. Also in general, I wish we were more understanding and welcoming towards people who come to Slovakia because of the same reasons we move to Austria, Germany, UK or even Czech Republic.
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Yes, Željko sounds right. I must add that he himself wasn’t complaining, he seemed to be taking his circumstances in stride. It’s just me who felt sorry for him. It was sad to hear him say that he makes a lot of money here, when to me it’s still a pittance, and for this pittance he left his home country. I’ve given up on most newspapers -having worked for one for three years, my trust in the newspaper field is very low-, so I’ve never come across any articles about this. I wouldn’t say that Slovaks are unwelcoming towards foreigners, but they are just very puzzled when you are from the west and are planning to stay here. They seem to think the west is some sort of paradise compared to Slovakia. Well, in some respects it is, but it’s also dull and predictable, at least here I get some adventures, even if they are somewhat masochist in nature at times.
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