Study of Slovakian Sociology

I'm going to really miss Halloween. They celebrate it here, but on a much smaller scale. It seems no one does the holidays like America. Call it gross commercialization, but it makes for a build up of excitement and a great time!

Learning more and more about Slovakia and Slovakians. Most of what follows is my opinion and own observations mixed with what other Slovakian 20 something year olds have said.

In Slovakia it is very common for a child to live with their parents into their late twenties or thirties, getting married does not mean moving out here. A lot of times households are multi-generational with people living with their parents in their parents house with their spouse and children. Life is expensive and the average Slovakian only makes around 700-800 Euros a month. When I ask about the option of renting or buying your own home I was told that renting is much more expensive than buying, they don't have apartment complexes, they don't have 'managed' property like HOAs or leasing offices. People can get a traditional 30 year mortgage if they qualify but the general attitude towards this isn't acceptive. They also told me banks openly discriminate on singles applying for home loans. They plainly say if your not married don't even try. People my age out here cannot fathom taking out a 30 year loan on anything.I don't know why, maybe it has something to do with this countries roots in communism which did not change until the early 90s. Creating a 'nest egg' with a home purchase is a very American free market concept. Americans are very comfortable with acquiring 'good debt' like student loans and mortgages. Thats not the traditional thing to do in Slovakia and I believe the same is true in many parts of Europe.

Maybe thats why there is a different attitude towards something like sex in this part of the world. Sex and sexuality especially on TV and in advertisements is not as taboo as it is in States. I don't think you can attribute it to the amount of religion in the culture because Slovakia is largely catholic and there are signs of catholicism all throughout all of the towns I have visited. I think it has something more to do with the lack of privacy in Slovakian households force people to deal with sex realistically. Its just part of life here, not a big deal. I could be way off base and there are a lot of generalizations in what I just said.

In other news I'm really loving the dental office I got into out here. I am already learning a ton including some Slovak:)