The Slovenes are the smallest South Slavic ethnic group living on the sunny side of the Alps in a little country called Slovenia, which is surrounded by Austria to the north, Italy to the west, Hungary to the northeast and Croatia to the south. Slovenia has jut two million inhabitants and is a very small country beautiful by nature. What about people? What do you think makes a person Slovenian? 🙂

You are Slovenian when…

1. Knowing dual makes you romantic.

Slovene is just one of the few languages in the world that have dual as grammatical number. That makes them pretty romantic.

2. You get upset when people say you are from Slovakia.

You better know the difference.

3. You eat »goveja župca« (Traditional Slovene beef soup) and listen to »goveja muzika« (Oberkrain music) at Sunday lunches.

Beef soup is very praised among young Slovenian people. Nothing better than grandma’s soup for Sunday lunch after a long Saturday night. But the meal must always be accompanied by music of the famous Avsenik Brothers Ensemble or other oberkrain ensemble on the radio.

4. Regional pride is more important to you than national pride.

Quite strange, huh? Slovenians were divided between historical lands for hundreds of years in Habsburg empire so they are extremely connected to their regions. So you will often hear something like “I’m first Styrian/Littoral etc… and then Slovene”, debates about which regional wine is better etc. But when hard times come they all stand together as Slovenians.

5. You were on Triglav at least once in your life.

The Slovenians have chosen the Triglav mountain as their national symbol. Triglav is Slovenia’s highest mountain. It is located in the Julian Alps and is 2,864 meters high. It also appears on the Slovene coat of … khm… it is better if we say emblem. For Slovenians, mountaineering is in a way a national sport (after ski jumping, of course) and it is said that you are not Slovenian until you reach the top at least once in your life time.

6. You drink a lot.

Slovenia is one of the top countries in Europe by alcohol consumption measured in equivalent litres of pure ethanol consumed per capita per year. Slovenians are maintaining this high score with weekends reserved for accordion parties with friends in village inns and bars.

7. You don’t get along with your neighbours and relatives.

An old Slovenian joke goes like that: “What will you do if your cow dies?” “I will pray hard that the neighbor’s cow also dies”. Slovenians are stereotypically very jealous people and aware of their neighbour’s material well-being. When it comes to materialistic things, even relationships with relatives suffer. So we say “žlahta strgana plahta“, which means that you cannot rely on your relatives because it will not end well.

8. You are very good at learning foreign langauges.

Most people in Slovenia speak at least one or two foreign langauges. This is also associated with the fact that Slovenia is a small country and has to adapt to other dominating cultures to a greater extent than, for example, other larger countries.

9.You spend summer vacation in Croatia and winter holidays in ski resorts in Austria.

Slovenians love to travel around the world but many of them spend at least a couple of days on the Croatian coast in summer and go skiing with friends in Austria during winter holidays.

10. You are the only one who is recycling among the EX-Yu countries.

Many say that Slovenia is the Switzerland of the Balkans 🙂 At least this is true when it comes to recycling. They are the only Ex-Yu country that recycles everything (glass, biological waste, paper etc.).

Other articles about Slovenia that you might like:

So have you ever met any Slovenians?