Rollie back on track | gHive | Immigrant notes | The Begining : How my life changed after February 2022

Hello Hivers,
Long time no see. Actually, my last post was back in 2023 when I shared an interview with @lordbutterfly—who’s still doing an amazing job supporting the Hive ecosystem with top-tier marketing efforts.

This one’s going to be long, so grab a coffee and read on—or feel free to close the thread and bounce. ☕👋

How my life changed after February 2022.

I never thought I’d end up in a situation like the one that hit us that crazy morning in February. Missiles, panic, rushed decisions… my amazing wife confused and scared, holding our 1.5-year-old son, while I silently prayed we’d make it out safely.

We were evacuating—chaos all around—heading west on a long journey through closed borders, negotiating with military officers, volunteering where we could.

And I was angry.

Angry at myself, because deep down, I knew this was coming. All the signs were there—years of political warnings, and yet I stayed.

Last photo from the pre-war life 

First photo I made after the war started, Kvasy village, Zakarpattia region

In May 2022, a friend of mine got stopped and mobilized just for crossing the road in a mountain village.

By June, I had made up my mind.

We left the country for good in mid-June 2022.
I called my mom from Poland and told her:

“I’m not coming back.”

Before the border taking off the tint film

Me, much better looking and younger in 2022

We got our temporary protection in the Czech Republic in June 2022 and managed to rent a great apartment in Prague for a reasonable price—thanks to a newly made friend who was volunteering for a local Ukrainian organization. We’re still good friends to this day, and I’m so grateful I met him.

Then came the hard part: integrating into Czech society.
I had to relearn the language, study the culture, and meet new people. And honestly, it wasn’t easy. Czech people are friendly—but also quite reserved when it comes to newcomers. You constantly feel like an immigrant in a society that, day by day, is growing tired of the wave of Ukrainians who came here.

Here’s one example.
We started visiting a local bar (they're called "hospoda" here)—a very specific kind of place where neighbors and older folks meet to drink and chat.
The reason we chose that spot? The beer—Svijany—my favorite, and hard to find in Prague. Back in 2022, it was only 37 CZK (around 1.5 EUR), so it became our regular hangout.

It took me six months just to have a proper conversation with the owner, a local woman. A year in, she finally asked my name. Around that time, her son—who’s about my age—started saying “Ahoj” to me. (That’s an informal “hi,” and it actually means a lot here. You only say “Ahoj” to someone you know well or if they’ve allowed you to.)

Two years later, my wife also started saying “Ahoj” to the owner, and we felt like we had become part of this little inner circle.

They slowly began to forget that we were immigrants.
But then, during a random conversation, the bar owner asked whether we were living in government-provided social housing and getting any kind of support.
(We never got any.)

About two and a half years in, she brought up a new concern: all the Ukrainian kids and teenagers studying in Czech schools.
She wondered aloud whether they would eventually take university spots from Czech students.
And the way she said it… it was like we weren’t exactly Ukrainian anymore in her eyes—but still not really Czech either.

That’s how many older people here think.
The younger generation? Different, of course.

My Czech language study-book from 2022

My Mother cam and visit us in August 2022 and I started supporting local 3rd division football club Viktoria Zizkov

I also visited Nearcon in Lisbon and my last @hivefest in September 2022, and realised that time in the immigration flies even worse.

It was only few months before my first immigrant Christmas and my son came to the kindergarten.

When you become a father, and you’ve got a family to take care of—especially in these kinds of circumstances—you have to fully commit to the small moments.
To making them happy.
To supporting them in every way you can.

That’s something I’m truly starting to understand now.
Here in 2025.

But before we get to that…
There are still a few more years to talk about. Let’s go back and go through them together. 😉

Our first xmass tree in our first apartment in Prague

This is the first post in a series—a kind of confession, really.
Something I felt I needed to write to help me figure things out.
To look back at my mistakes, reflect on them, and hopefully avoid repeating them in the future.

What to expect in the further posts?

• Web3 in Czech Republic my first P2P deals and a Police interrogation
• ETH Prague, and why it's becoming worse year by year
• Entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic: How I Became a Taxpayer
• How I Found My First Job in Web3 and What I’m Doing Now

and many more

yours @rollie1212