PragueBuzz!

My friend’s father has a mistress from Ukraine. In every way, this woman fits the stereotype of Ukrainian immigrants in the Czech Republic. She has a University Degree in Chemistry, but ended up working in a supermarket, slicing cheese and packing meat.

After a few years, with hard work and a little help of her boyfriend, my friend’s father, she bought an apartment in the suburb of Prague. (If you know how expensive properties have become in Prague, you will appreciate her accomplishment.)

Back in Ukraine, she lived about 50 km away from Chernobyl nuclear power plan which explosion made international headline news. The destruction was powerful that the smoke could be seen in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Though not affected as much as the people who lived nearby, she was hospitalized for lung problem.

Like the Mexicans who cross the bordered illegally to the US to take on left-over ignored by American, Ukrainians hurry through Slovakia and many of whom stay in Czech instead of flocking to Western Europe, a more attractive destination for immigrants. This is understandable given the slightly similar language between these two countries. It is much easier for older Ukrainians to learn Slavic Czech and adapt to Czech culture than to pick up a new life somewhere else.