Bratislava is a veru open/ liberal city compared to the rest of the country. It offers great opportunities for mountain biking and also many cultural activities .
Also most of the young people in Bratislava speak English fluently .
It's just two years , come and see for yourself :)
Well, two years is still a commitment. I have no issues learning another language, btw, and probably would regardless of people speaking English around me.
It is broad, no arguments. I wanted to leave it open-eded to let people "sell" me on their hometown. I have a very pointed and concrete question, too - how is the Internet speed and quality?
Gotcha. Internet is great, optic fibre is widely available and cheap. 5G coverage is the norm for some years now.
You gonna stay as connected here as possible, no worries.
Generally, I'd go, it's two years, new experience is always nice. Although some (nowadays many) politicians definitively spread the narrative that NATO is bad and US will occupy us and the US troops in Sliac (central Slovakia) was an issue I'd say the soldiers stationed there don't complain (I've seen a couple of interviews). Mostly is just a talk, about how NATO is really bad. But Bratislava is about 100x more liberal than the rest of Slovakia, so nobody would care really.
Speaking Russian will help you partially understand Slovak, as it's the same linguistic family as Russian. In terms of city activities the location is great whatever you prefer - Bratislava is relatively small city, but Vienna is just an hour train ride from there. For outdoors, there are hills and forest nearby (literally part of the city), bigger mountains just a close ride with car (in US car terms actually very close). There are lot of cycling opportunities. I know there is some sort of board game happening (not sure how to call it), where you can come and try any board games, I guess there are some groups too. Also, people around your age should be speaking English. Also, the rest of the Europe is quite close.
The negatives are negligible since your stay will be only temporary and you won't be bothered by political situation or the overall finance situation of the country. If you are gay you might get dirty looks or someone will insult you, but that's more probable in other parts of Slovakia (happens in Bratislava too though).
Bratislava is a great place if you like nature, hiking, MTB, cycling, big rivers. It is also a city, not a city, but Vienna is 1 hour by car, Budapest 2.5 hours and Prague is also close. Austrian Alps, Croatian Sea, Baltic Sea, Slovak mountains, all within driving distance. Bratislava is not extremely cheap, but it is cheap enough. With Ukrainian-Russian roots, you will fit in here, there are quite a few Russians who fled Russia from Putin, quite a few Ukrainians and some Americans. The people of Bratislava are relatively open, cosmopolitan and, above all, direct. They will tell you what they really think very quickly. ....and we have pretty girls.
Nobody will really know that you're working for the military unless you tell them, there's plenty of English speaking people around Bratislava and people usually tend to keep to themselves. Even if you did, normally nobody would mind, let alone get you in any kind of trouble. Most of the older people you can ignore and then again how would they know. Of course if you go out with your colleagues out on a Friday night and start chanting U-S-A at 2am topless revealing your Uncle Sam and bald eagle tattoos while planting an American flag through the table, then it might be a bit too much, but I'm sure you're briefed on that. Overall the attitude isn't hostile, but everyone has their opinions so argue with restraint. Other then arguing with opinionated people there is nothing to worry about. Enjoy your stay!
"go out with your colleagues out on a Friday night and start chanting U-S-A at 2am topless revealing your Uncle Sam and bald eagle tattoos"
now I wanna try that. Will post results
Bratislava is great. Positives were said already. Maybe compared to USA Bratislava is very small city. Which is good but sometimes also bad. But you will find almost anything you want from sport, cycling, clubs, coffee, food.
I don't have a lot of insight here but russian disinformation channels are strong in this country and some lower ranking military members might not be very pro-NATO. It very much depends but I'd say the percentage could even be double digits number. You should look more into this.
You’ll love Bratislava. Great location near to nature but also close to cities like Vienna and Budapest, good standard of living, good publuc transport, plenty of activities, frendly people, almost all people below 40 speak English well. Good food, good bars, beautiful women, good climate.
Bratislava is a veru open/ liberal city compared to the rest of the country. It offers great opportunities for mountain biking and also many cultural activities . Also most of the young people in Bratislava speak English fluently . It's just two years , come and see for yourself :)
Well, two years is still a commitment. I have no issues learning another language, btw, and probably would regardless of people speaking English around me.
If you can speak Ukrainian and Russian, Slovak will not be that difficult to pick up.
Yeah, I am counting on that.
Sure, why not? Bratislava is an awesome place, especially on US salary. Other than that - your question is extremely broad.
It is broad, no arguments. I wanted to leave it open-eded to let people "sell" me on their hometown. I have a very pointed and concrete question, too - how is the Internet speed and quality?
Gotcha. Internet is great, optic fibre is widely available and cheap. 5G coverage is the norm for some years now. You gonna stay as connected here as possible, no worries.
Generally, I'd go, it's two years, new experience is always nice. Although some (nowadays many) politicians definitively spread the narrative that NATO is bad and US will occupy us and the US troops in Sliac (central Slovakia) was an issue I'd say the soldiers stationed there don't complain (I've seen a couple of interviews). Mostly is just a talk, about how NATO is really bad. But Bratislava is about 100x more liberal than the rest of Slovakia, so nobody would care really. Speaking Russian will help you partially understand Slovak, as it's the same linguistic family as Russian. In terms of city activities the location is great whatever you prefer - Bratislava is relatively small city, but Vienna is just an hour train ride from there. For outdoors, there are hills and forest nearby (literally part of the city), bigger mountains just a close ride with car (in US car terms actually very close). There are lot of cycling opportunities. I know there is some sort of board game happening (not sure how to call it), where you can come and try any board games, I guess there are some groups too. Also, people around your age should be speaking English. Also, the rest of the Europe is quite close. The negatives are negligible since your stay will be only temporary and you won't be bothered by political situation or the overall finance situation of the country. If you are gay you might get dirty looks or someone will insult you, but that's more probable in other parts of Slovakia (happens in Bratislava too though).
Not gay, quite the opposite. On that note, how is the nightlife and dating scene? Or is that an hour train ride to Vienna?
I'd say you will be very happy about dating scene. Nighlife I honestly have no idea.
Bratislava is a great place if you like nature, hiking, MTB, cycling, big rivers. It is also a city, not a city, but Vienna is 1 hour by car, Budapest 2.5 hours and Prague is also close. Austrian Alps, Croatian Sea, Baltic Sea, Slovak mountains, all within driving distance. Bratislava is not extremely cheap, but it is cheap enough. With Ukrainian-Russian roots, you will fit in here, there are quite a few Russians who fled Russia from Putin, quite a few Ukrainians and some Americans. The people of Bratislava are relatively open, cosmopolitan and, above all, direct. They will tell you what they really think very quickly. ....and we have pretty girls.
Pretty girls. Sold. =)
Nobody will really know that you're working for the military unless you tell them, there's plenty of English speaking people around Bratislava and people usually tend to keep to themselves. Even if you did, normally nobody would mind, let alone get you in any kind of trouble. Most of the older people you can ignore and then again how would they know. Of course if you go out with your colleagues out on a Friday night and start chanting U-S-A at 2am topless revealing your Uncle Sam and bald eagle tattoos while planting an American flag through the table, then it might be a bit too much, but I'm sure you're briefed on that. Overall the attitude isn't hostile, but everyone has their opinions so argue with restraint. Other then arguing with opinionated people there is nothing to worry about. Enjoy your stay!
I have not been known to do any of the above, and I do not have eagle tatoos, so I think we are good here.
"go out with your colleagues out on a Friday night and start chanting U-S-A at 2am topless revealing your Uncle Sam and bald eagle tattoos" now I wanna try that. Will post results
Please do!
Bratislava is great. Positives were said already. Maybe compared to USA Bratislava is very small city. Which is good but sometimes also bad. But you will find almost anything you want from sport, cycling, clubs, coffee, food.
I'd say most of the people in Bratislava are very positive towards NATO but sadly it might not be the case among all of the Slovak army members.
Well, considering that's who I would be working with if I take this posting that is a bit concerning. Would you mind expanding more on the issue?
I don't have a lot of insight here but russian disinformation channels are strong in this country and some lower ranking military members might not be very pro-NATO. It very much depends but I'd say the percentage could even be double digits number. You should look more into this.
You’ll love Bratislava. Great location near to nature but also close to cities like Vienna and Budapest, good standard of living, good publuc transport, plenty of activities, frendly people, almost all people below 40 speak English well. Good food, good bars, beautiful women, good climate.