Bogdan moved from Toronto to Ostrava, Czech Republic, in the summer of 2021. In September of the same year, Silvia temporarily moved to Ostrava for a research project, knowing absolutely no one and speaking zero Czech. After one week, desperately craving some human interaction, she decided to try this meetup she found online: English Coffee Ostrava, having no idea what it would be like. She walked into a pub expecting to hear English… but it was all Czech. Loud Czech. She stood there looking lost, checking her phone to make sure she was in the right place, and even walked outside to double-check the address. When she came back in, still confused, someone noticed.

That someone was Bogdan.

He saw the panic on her face, the frantic phone-checking, and asked, “Are you looking for the English speakers?” Then he helped her order a beer, becoming the very first person she spoke to at ECO, and the first friendly face she met in Ostrava.

When they walked in together, Zach, the organizer of ECO, looked at them and immediately asked Bogdan:
“Is she your girlfriend?”
Bogdan replied, “No.”

…Not yet.

And that’s how our story began — with a lost girl in a pub, a kind human who happened to walk in at the perfect moment, and a simple question that turned out to be more prophetic than anyone expected.

We spent the next eight months together in Ostrava. Then the project ended, and Silvia had to move back to Spain.

We entered long-distance mode — thank you, Ryanair and Wizzair (not sponsored) — and we crossed borders to see each other for about three years, then, finally we reunited in Ostrava.

And that’s how two people who never expected to stay in Ostrava… ended up building their future there. For now at least!