Slovakia

Journal

After our wonderful journey in Belgium, we went to Slovakia, a country in Eastern Europe. We arrived on August 29th, the Slovak National Uprising Day, it's the day when they rose against Nazi Germany and regained independence. In Slovakia, people also celebrate Christmas and Easter. As well as, January 1st, Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic, January 6th, Three King's Day, April 5th, Good Friday, May 8th,Day of Victory over fascism, the day after World War II had ended. Other religious holidays include, July 5th, St Cyril and Methodious Day, September 15th,Day of Our Lady of Sorrows, November 1st, All Saints Day. and December 26th, St Stephens Day.

We squeezed through the loud, crowded streets and finally arrived at our first destination, the Slovak University of Technology and Science. One of the best university in Slovakia, ranked 800 in the World. It has a very new and advanced campus as well as other important facilities. As we entered the university, we talked to a professor about the education system of Slovakia. He told us that in Slovakia, children start to attend kindergarten from 3 to 6 years old. primary from 6 to 15 and secondary from 15 to 19 and universities starting from 19. He also added that there are three types of schools in Slovakia, public, private and schools owned by the church. 

After leaving the Slovak University of Technology and Science, it was already six so we decided to head back to our hotel. On our way back, we saw this huge event crowded with a lot of people wearing fantastic dress seems to be celebrating the National Uprising day. It was pretty obvious to us that they should wearing be cultural costumes since we had never seen it anywhere else. We were later informed that it is called the Kroje which is the folk costume worn by Czechs and Slovaks and are usually used in special occasions nowadays. Beside traditional costumes, Slovakia is also well known for its fashion design. We also met Dana Kleinert, who is a fashion designer and the winner of the YCE award which is one of the most famous fashion design awards.  She was inspired after winning the award and found the Slovak Fashion Council last year, which greatly increased the quality of Slovakia's fashion design.

Newspaper

A Fifth Carmaker Could Come to Slovakia

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20477111/a-fifth-carmaker-could-come-to-slovakia.html

Slovakia, the country with the biggest number of cars produced per capita could add a fifth carmaker in the future. The country has been negotiating with Mitsubushi, the Japanese carmaker looking for its new plant in EU. The value of this investment should allegedly be as much as €200 million. Mitsubishi, on the other hand, requires stimuli in the form of tax holiday and government aid. The carmaker could potentially create hundreds of jobs – maybe even in the east of the country, as the last arrival to Slovakia, Jaguar Land Rover, exhausted the possibilities in western Slovakia to a great deal. 

Fewer people support dictatorship

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20465604/fewer-people-support-dictatorship.html

According to INEKO, 16 percent of the Slovaks prefer to abolish the democratic system and replace it with a dictatorship. This number has actually dropped from 24 percent after a year. The INEKO has decided to make this survey again in the second half of January 2017. In the poll, they divided the respondents in two groups. While asking the former same but modified question. The first poll showed the drop in the number of the Slovaks who prefer dictatorship, while the people who support the departure of Slovakia from the EU also fell from 35% to 28%

Slovakia chief hygienist warns of measles epidemic 

http://famagusta-gazette.com/slovak-chief-hygienist-warns-of-measles-epidemic-p38908-69.html

An epidemic of Measles  could arise in Slovakia, it’s chief hygienist Jan Mikas warned at a press on Wednesday. Measles is a contagious infection caused by the Measles virus and can be transferred by touching a infected body part or contaminated air. It is one of the most contagious diseases. Scientists have not found a cure but a vaccine has been discovered in the 1960s. The reason why the epidemic could be arising is because of the dropping trend of the vaccinating against the disease. The vaccination rate in Slovakia during recent years has dropped  from 99% to around 95%. According to Mikas the epidemic can be spreaded to Slovakia from nearby countries like Austria, Hungary and Ukraine.

Post Card

Hey Patrick,

What's up man? We're in Slovakia now, and we went to a very beautiful place. A huge castle, 200 meters above ground located on a dolomite rock. The Spiš Castle is one of the largest castle in Europe. It was a huge architectural development from the 12th to 18th century and has an area of 41426 m squared. We would've been completely lost in the castle if there wasn't a guide. The history of the castle is very rich. It was built in the 12th century and soon became a political, administrative, economical and cultural centre of Szepes county. This huge castle had been owned by the Hungarian kings, the Szapolyai family, the Thurzo family, the Csaky family and finally in 1945, it was owned by Slovakia. 

Andy and Daniel