butterflylizard: Hi, I am English and have just been moved from a small village to a more urban area. My neighbours are Polish and Slovak. I have never has neighbours from Europe before. I am on here because I am concerned about my neighbours, but recognise that this may be a prejudice that I did not know I have. I hope I am not prejudice, but feel that perhaps my ignorance of alternative culture maybe causing this. Please don't take offence I am writing on here because I want to overcome this and understand ways different to my own. When we moved in our neighbours, who do not speak English well, insisted on helping and I mean insisted and then charged us, which is not my way. When I help people I help if offered unless of course I am at work whereby I am contracted to be paid. I have no problem with paying for help, but feel this should have been clarified in the first instance. They do play music loudly and talk loudly, but in fairness all noise is stopped by 9pm. Also I said 'nice to meet you' to one of the gents two doors up to which he replied 'OK.' I am very paranoid that the neighbours are going to con us or burgle us and I know this prejudice is within me. I worry too as the whole community around us know or are related to eachother and there are people in and out. I would like very much for someone who is from Europe to talk to me about this. Am I right to be worried? Do they mistrust me too? I want to overcome this and get on in the new community but we are the only English in our road and I feel overpowered by this different culture. Its like permanently being on holiday. Thankyou. Please do not be unpleasant in response to this thread I know how it sounds but it has taken a lot to come on here and try to gain some understanding.
Hi,
I am Slovak. I have lived back in Slovakia for 3 years since I left UK last time. I used to live in the UK for only about 4 years if I count it. My English is not that good, i apologize, but when I found this thred by surfing the web I could not just to refuse a quote and my opinion.
On the basis of I can feel from your talk, well at least from that I understood, I can declare that your Slovakian, Czech neighbours are 100% Slovak gypsies, which 100% does not mean they are Slovakian either. Ok they live in our country as they do in any other of our surrounding countries (Poland, CzechRep., Hungaria etc.) but their nation just moved here long long time ago. I assume their origin is somewhere in India as we learned at school, although personally I do not agree, because I met and knew few Indian people when I lived in England and from my point of view they are incomparably different from our gypsies (tsikgani in slovak or as they wish to be called by us is Rom a-gypsy ). Our gypsies moved in probably from Romania. I do not know much about Romanian gypsies but I suppose they are the same. And maybe not. I hope.
First of all I would like to tell is that they speak completely different language which has nothing to do with Slovak language. They can understand and speak quite good Slovak as it is only official language in Slovakia but they have their accent which I believe must be easy to recognize in English as well. If you want to be sure just try to listen to deeper their accent and try to compare with Polish. Why? , because Polish and Slovak accent is almost same especially for you as Englishman unless your Polish neighbors are not gypsies either. Slovak people can easily understand Polish language. Many words are same pronounced and our accent is similar. So if their accent is in contrast to Polish different, then your Slovak neighbors are definitely Slovak gypsies. And if they are darker as you mentioned later it must be Slovak gypsies.
Well, to be honest, sometimes it is not easy for our country and Slovak nation to live with this people. I do not want to worry you by this, but you have to be careful.
As I know English people from time and location I lived and spent there (it was a village in Guildford area, Surrey), they were very nice, polite, patient, open and had tolerant answers to foreigner as me. Maybe because I met people on average over 30 years old and also I attended church I don’t know, but their behavior was a good example to me very often. Sometimes I found myself I belong there as I’ve always searched for similar characters. That is why I like English people and England and would love to return there anytime. Slovak people are colder and more selfish I would say. Mainly east Slovakians where also most of our gypsies live. My suggestion is not to talk to them much, (I mean to gypsies). Keep them away from you as much as you can unless you will get to know them closer. But it takes some time. Do not open your polite and tolerance character as well until you know each other more closely that you can be sure what they mean.
80% of these gypsies cause a lot of despair to Slovak people. They take all the benefit from our state and have never worked. They are supported by EU funds so they carry on with free accommodations for them as it was in the past, also during Communist regime. Gypsy families are in-numerous, they have many children although their financial situation is bad. They carry on without thinking how many they can afford, because they know that they get social support benefits, child benefits etc. from state anyway. Of course our government want to avoid any problem with them because of potential pressure which comes from EU and therefore gypsies are allowed to take social benefits and any other benefits and never worked for it. There is no law in Slovak legislative that could affect them.
The population of gypsies rapidly grew in last 15 years. They build their hovels or houses anywhere they like without any permission, even on someones private lands. They take electricity without paying bills. They destroy new clean and comfortable flats provided by our government and EU. They are very messy. They product a lot of junk and throw the rubbish away just at the front of their door, so there is a lot of rats and various insect around. They do not pass elementary school education because kids do not have support from their parents as they spend their money for alcohol and cigarettes. They rob everything that is worth some money (e.g. any metals from anywhere and then sell as scrap to a scrap yards) especially when they run out of their money from social benefit at the end of month. Most of them have no education or very poor or even reading and writing is problem for them. But they have their bosses and leaders “vaaida” who does all the paper work and similar issues for them. Most of them are not religious and do not attend church, but not all. Some of them have no moral border and many communities are even degenerated. They smoke and breath hard stinky glue and chemicals and becomes dangerous and aggressive I think. They are absolutely untouchable under EU and law. We do not know the exact number of their current population as it is very hard to get into their communities and settlements to count them. But Slovak statistics assume that there is about 500 000 gypsies living currently in Slovakia. In 1989 there was 250 000 of them. There is a rapidly growing pressure between Slovakians and gypsies. I am afraid that one day it might to grow up into a civil war if we do not find a way how to resolve the gypsy problem in our country. It would be the best for us to let them go from here and live somewhere else, not here and let people of other EU countries know how difficult it is sometimes to live with them if EU keeps protecting their crime and their minority instead of justice. A similar problem occurred in France but French president Sarkozi kicked them out of France. Their typical words are “we are discriminated because of our minority group”. Yes I can prove they are at the moment which is not right by Slovak people and by this way I feel sorry for them, but the problem is that they got use to it and is comfortable to protect themselves by simple sentence “we are discriminated” so it means in other words “we can do anything because they will never punish us for anything”. If white people do something bad just in little thing, they are immediately prosecuted, but black(gypsies) are not. They are protected. Same if white would do anything to black it is a disaster and rude oppression of Gypsy's minority, but it does not work opposite. Even sometimes if they cause a crime no one in Charge wants to involve into the problem. Whites are sometimes scared of them (mainly they are worried about their kids at school) and so keep them away from themselves and then talk to them aggressively. We can not call them “tsigani” as we did at least 100 years, now they are “romas” for us. If someone call them officially tsigan, it might become a problem. They go to England, take lovely benefits from there as well, so I suppose some of them are maybe double paid. They of course keep returning back to Slovakia. They buy expensive cars, clothes. They built newer houses of course without permissions, etc. I wonder who and when is going to stop them doing this.
Slovak people are fed up, desperate, aggressive from that, because of their all life striving and hard working, paying taxes in spirit of better future life, having once more children that can afford by own financial situation, have better flat, or maybe improve general Slovak situation and interests by their own effort as it is in every state instead of wasting money for this sort of community.
But of course not all of them are same. You can find better but also worse than that.
I hope you are not terrified because there is no reason. As I said about 80% of them. But another about 20% are different. They can be nice hard working people and unfortunately these are “thrown” into the same bag with others from their community by Slovak nation and I personally feel sorry for them.
I wish all of our gypsies were nice clean hardworking people once and I wish we were in a great relationship ever, one day. I pray for that. Lord God bless them all and give them and to us so much power and wisdom to understand what we need to do for both of us, so we can find the best way of living life as one nation without any difference, please God help us. Thank You Lord, Amen.
If you would like to know more about them, please let me know or write email address and I will post it.
I hope it was a bit helpful. Thank You for reading.
|
