Moving to a new country can certainly be a very strong life experience. No matter how much I was travelling before, and all the knowledge and experience I had accumulated on intercultural learning, culture shock and stuff like that, the fact of actually moving to Prague, Czech Republic in 2015 still hit me like a truckload of bricks.
Granted, Prague is a wonderful place to live in (and one of the main tourist destinations in Europe) and I don’t regret at all my decision. Still, at times it may be hard. That’s why I decided to write this post which will be a bit more silly than the rest of the stories I publish on this blog.
Hope is, this may help others not to make the same mistake and never leave home to adapt more easily when moving to a different country. Or maybe not, but it feels very liberating to be able to put these thoughts in plain text. And anyway, learning about a different culture is also the best way to learn about our own culture, and ourselves.
A bit of a disclaimer here: I certainly don’t want to offend anybody. The post intends to be humourous and has to be read with a bit of a satirical tone in mind. Plus, if you think that my observations are not complete and comprehensive, it’s because they aren’t. They are just that: observations.
If in the post there is something that offsets you – hey, peace. We can breathe the same air and have different opinions on stuff. Hard to believe, but it’s possible. Maybe you don’t like the music, but please don’t shoot the pianist.
Edit (after 3 days and about 5,000 visits):
A BIT MORE DISCLAIMING. As I feared, the first wasn’t enough. The post got an unexpected visibility (great!) and with visibility, come people who read quickly and are willing to get offended even more quickly (not so great!). To hopefully end the arguments, the meaning of the word “satire” can be found here.
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Anyway, ready for the list? Here we go!
1) For Czech Republic, Prague is “The Capitol” from The Hunger Games.
In Italy, Rome is the political capital, but there are many main cities with their own distinct identity, and sometimes something interesting happens there too (except in Viterbo, because nothing ever happens there). It’s like the country has more than one centre of gravity, and it’s fine.
But here in the Czech Republic, Prague is really THE city. Everything happens there, and all the power seems to be concentrated in one place. Politics, culture, media, jobs, opportunities. People just live different lives than in the rest of the country, can do strange things like being vegan or have an Asian brunch, they wear fancy clothes and have blue or purple hair.
Prague natives are also somewhat proud of their local accent (which to me sounds funnier, slower, with longer vowels, and seems to be really hated by everybody else in the country).
Salaries are way higher than anywhere else, but so is rent (like two, three times more), eating out and basically everything else.
But if you travel just outside of the city, you will enter a different country. Small-town Czech Republic will present different challenges of course (be prepared to attract puzzled looks as a foreigner, and almost nobody will understanding a word of English, for example), but it will also provide with unique rewards and many hidden gems.
Like having a full meal or a round of beers for an incredible price. Or meeting people who love to live a simpler, slower life and will be genuinely interested in hearing about you. I had experiences especially in the area around Brno and Ostrava. New companies, farms, NGOs and the local university are very active to create an alternative to the “Capitol City” lifestyle.
If you love art and history, the country has the highest concentration of perfectly preserved castles in Europe, apparently. And the nature is also really diverse, peaceful and beautiful.
Seriously, plan a trip to explore Czech Republic outside Prague, when you have a chance. You will be rewarded.
2) A lot of people seem to be in a bad mood. Always.
Aaah, there is something true in every stereotype, isn’t there?
The average Czech you meet in the street will most likely be in a great hurry to be somewhere else than in your presence (see point #7, below), and will look like they just had a very bad day. Even if it’s early in the morning – maybe even worse. This grumpiness extends to driving (= no patience at all for the slightest hesitation or mistake) and public transport (= if you stand in the wrong line or place, someone will correct that. Probably by pushing, elbowing or stomping on your feet). At least, in Prague. Having to rely on a random act of kindness by a stranger can be an experience that requires patience. For your own good, try never to be confused by the bureaucracy in a public office, and never, ever get stuck with your car on the side of the road.
In a way, it’s a very encouraging learning environment. In the sense that you are encouraged to learn fast. Or die.
3) Language is hard. I mean: real hard.
No, seriously. Sources disagree, but I read that it’s one of the hardest in Europe, and possibly in the world. It’s estimated that a person needs about 4 years of study to reach fluency (and I am not studying).
First of all, there are some factors that don’t encourage you to learn it at all. You can live in a social bubble that doesn’t speak Czech, for example. Or, you can just panic and stop going out altogether. I would know, I tried it.
But if you try to learn the beautiful language, at the beginning you feel like everything is against you. Accents and digraphs make for a stunning 42 characters in the alphabet (nice, uh?). Some sounds are also very specific to learn, with the terrible Ř that will give me troubles until the end of my life. It sounds like a drrj, by the way.
And then, grammar starts.
7 cases (for the first time in my life I am happy I studied all that Latin at school) and 4 genders (!): masculine, feminine, neutrum and masculine inanimated. The latter still doesn’t make any sense at all to me – as well to anybody else I asked, including native speakers. It’s for objects that are not objects enough to get the neutrum, maybe. I don’t know. The word for car (auto) is neutrum, while the train (vlak) is masculine. Go figure.
There are also (a few) good news. At least there are no articles, thanks to the cases. Which explains why many Czechs don’t know what to do with articles in languages like English or French. And the verbs and prepositions are not such a horrible mess as in Italian.
Not only Czech is a slavic language, but it’s considered the model for many other languages of the group. Which means, more “pure” and with less foreign interferences. Arranging an appointment or a date is a challenge, since you have to learn even the names of the week days and the months from scratch. Your only hope for help is if you speak Polish or Slovak, and that’s not exactly helping my case here.
The longest sentence without a vowel seems to be: Strč prst skrz krk (“stick your finger through your throat”). Try that next time, as a tonguetwister!
Edit: as Petr E commented, the longest sentence without a vowel seems to be different. “Blb vlk pln žbrnd zdrhl hrd z mlh Brd skrz vrch Smrk v čtvrť srn Krč.” (A dumb wolf full of bad drinks proudly excaped from the mist of Brdy forest through Smrk hill into the deers’ district Krč).
“Full of bad drinks” surely indicates that the wolf is not Czech. Polish, probably.
4) Eating & Drinking habits can be equally intense.
Czech Republic is famous for its beer, and rightly so. Czechs are well aware of it. They seem to be the biggest beer drinkers in the whole world (followed by the Seychelles. Which makes sense. What else are you supposed to do, if you live on a paradise island? Drink until you explode, obviously).
A Czech drinks an average of 142 litres of beer in a year, which makes for almost a pint a day, each day, for every man, woman or child living in the country. Not bad at all.
This helps to put a lot of things in context, for example the first time I met my father-in-law, and we all ended up totally drunk, before having dinner. But no worries, Czechs also love drinking wine, as well as everything else with alcohol. All in the name of health (na zdraví) of course. Of course.
When you are at it, try Kofola. It’s the national alternative to Coca Cola. I find it more refreshing!
Same for the food. Czech traditional cuisine is like other parts of the culture: rich, solid, intimidating. It’s a paradise for high protein, meat eaters. Bara, my wife, has approximately half my body mass. And yet she never ceases to surprise me when she digs into her Svíčková (roasted beef with onion, double boiled in cream and served with dumplings) like it’s a piece of cake. But then, she would never eat fruit after a meal, because “it’s bad for digestion”. Makes sense.
5) People like to be naked and to go around just like that.
Now, nothing could prepare me for this. Czechs have a very casual approach to nudity (which somehow extends to sexuality at least in part, but that’s another story). Be warned when you accept an invitation to go to sauna, for example. In most places it’s actually forbidden to enter with your swimming suit on!
A visit to a “Beer Spa” however (picture above) is one of the things you have to do, before you die. Yes, you are actually bathing in beer. No, the girls are not always there.
But not only. My friends here have absolutely no problem at all getting naked for a quick swim in the local river or lake, even with people having their picnics all around. It’s just a thing they do.
If I can imagine a scale going from total prudishness to absolute love for nudity, it would probably look like this:
And I was thinking to be more or less in a comfortable middle position.
But actually, I still feel terribly embarassed about that one time I had to take a swim in my underwear…
Being in the Czech Republic and engaging in social activities here, challenged me on how prude I really am.
6) Xenophobia is on the rise. Except, maybe not really.
Now that’s worrying, when talking about Central Europe. Don’t take me wrong, it could be much worse (think Hungary, or Poland). Things here are still much softer, and Czechs don’t like to take an extreme point of view on racism – just as on many other topics. It’s not a culture of strong, radical opinions.
The country, and Prague in particular, has a very strong international vocation and is right in the middle between Eastern and Western Europe, which is why it has always been a natural crossroads of cultures.
But here is the thing, the whole place is a paradox. The international presence in the country is strong (about 4.5%), and in Prague, almost 10% of residents are non-Czech. And yet, politicians and opinion leaders manage to pull out incredibly racist or aggressive stunts, like President Zeman who manages to insult someone with every other speech, or like that time when a group of “activists” held an event in the Old Town Square involving a jeep, a camel and firing shots in the air with a fake kalashnikov – creating general panic to “warn against the danger of a Muslim invasion”. Crazy.
Also, to add to the general confusion, two of the most visible political leaders in the somewhat-nationalist-area are Tomio Okamura (Czech, of Japanese origins) and Andrej Babiš (Slovak), media tycoon, Finance Minister and possible next Prime Minister. One would think that the country must be really welcoming towards foreigners, except… they try to convince everybody that it isn’t so.
To make a comparison: imagine a Canadian citizen who moves to USA, manages to join the Republican Party and becomes a member of the US Government; then, on top of that, he makes a coalition with the Democratic President, and together they work to warn people against the danger of a “Mexican invasion”.
It’s not a perfect example (and Zeman certainly is not Obama), but it more or less gives an idea of how intricate things look.
Look. I don’t want to sound too strict or ungenerous. The truth is that the vast majority of the people I have met here have a big heart, a strong sense of hospitality, and are generous beyond words. And every time I try to remind them that I, too, am an immigrant indeed, the comment I receive is “naa, you are fine“.
And after all, I guess that’s the bottom line about racism. People from a different background look and feel scary at first, but after you meet them in person, you realise that naa, they are just fine. And this is valid everywhere.
(The fact that one of them may end up marrying your daughter has probably also a role in how fast you accept that fact, I guess).
So my final opinion on this is: maybe because of the media pressure or the general international situation, Czechs would like to portray themselves as intolerant and unwelcoming. Just to feel like everybody else.
But they fail, because… they aren’t!
7) Time keeping and planning stuff is not a habit. It’s a national obsession.
Now this came from the words of Sabrina, a German (I said, German) volunteer who was in Prague for a period. “Czechs are totally obsessed with time!“, she cried. As I found out, it’s completely true.
Czechs are almost always in a hurry getting someplace or another, and they just love to keep their agendas as packed as possible, and then some. From the (early) morning till sunset, they just need to be busy. Work, leisure, culture and social time, everything is organised and planned and the more details, the better. When you are 5 minutes late, you are late (and people will be grumpy, see #2).
This is also reflected as they travel. When abroad, if things are not super organised, clearly described and planned to the tiniest detail, they will feel slightly lost and without direction. Which will result in more grumpiness and some (always polite) passive-aggressive complaining.
One of the first sentences I learned is “máte plán na vikend?”, which means “what’s your plan for the weekend?“
I came to fear the sound of these words, since when I am not somewhere working I love to keep my weekends as empty as possible, like desolate desert islands where only dead projects and ideas lay, shipwrecked. A space for reflection, inspiration and pure and simple lazyness.
But Czechs always have a plan for their weekends. Sports (the harder, the better: see point 8 below), trips, family meetings, events. When they really have nothing else to do, they move to their little country houses, where they spend saturday and sunday “relaxing”: that is, working their ass off to repair the roof, fix an old bicycle or weed out the garden. And then, have barbecue.
8) EVERYBODY is sporty and outdoorsy.
Aaaand – I am not.
Please take a second to appreciate how hard this must feel, sometimes. Really, every Czech is a natural born sportsperson and they all – I haven’t found an exception yet – love physical activity. Whether it be cycling, skating, running, swimming, parachute, indoor gym, martial arts – it doesn’t matter, as long as it involves moving, and sweating. And they do it with enthusiasm and total commitment.
This also applies to outdoors activities. Czechs love and respect their nature, and try to spend time in it as often as they can.
A hike that lasts less than 6 hours is not even considered being outside. They all seem to be mushroom and berries experts. In summer (and I suspect, in winter too) the rivers are packed with canoe and kayak enthusiasts. Entire families, babies included.
And a certain disregard for anything even remotely related to safety and prevention of risks contributes to making it a very exciting picture.
Czechs love their outdoor equipment and keep it in perfect efficiency. It’s a second skin for them, and in fact they consider it normal to walk in the city streets dressed as they would be in a forest: boots, backpack, packed lunch, 2 different sport bottles, and all the rest. Which for me is, like, the opposite of “sexy”, but certainly must have some advantages too.
Really, if a zombie apocalypse or if nuclear war breaks out, I would feel really relieved to be surrounded by Czechs. These people are natural survivors. And they can always spare a sandwich.
9) Public transport takes you everywhere, but people still take their cars.
This must be one of the few really good things that Socialism has left in the country. The public transport is excellent: rides are frequent, the system is organised and efficient. I take my car maybe once, twice in a month (how does it feel compared to Italy, I leave to your imagination).
In Prague metro and tram tickets are still a bit of a funny business, relying (incredibly) on the little obsolete, yellow machines which are out of order 50% of times, and only accept coins. Weird. But since I have my yearly pass, I feel I can get anywhere, simply and reliably. This includes extra-urban transport, and every little town seems to be connected to the network in somewhat of a satisfying way. Again, the comparison with Italy is brutal – there, if you live in a small town, you simply need a car to get anywhere; and if you live in a big city, better forget the public transport and take your car anyway.
So why do Czechs still own – and drive – cars? Finding a parking place in Prague is as hard a job as in Napoli, and that simply doesn’t make sense to me. Probably the answer has something to do with #7 of this list, the time obsession. I hear people saying: “Sure, I can go to work by tram, but if I take the car it will save me 12 minutes“.
I still can’t help but smile, every time. In Rome, if you can save 12 minutes by taking a car, it still means you will probably be 48 minutes late for your appointment.
Edit: in the comment section, Vladimir helped me to get a more complete view on this topic. He writes:
“Perhaps if there really is a special Czech affinity for cars, it’s not because of obsession with time, but rather status. This is a common thing for whole central and eastern Europe. We had to (and most still have to) live in relative poverty, therefore we want at least not to FEEL poor. Average Czech would drive to work even if it takes twice as much time as with public transport, because, you know, public transport is for losers. Very common derogatory nickname for public transport is “socka”, as in “social case”. Go figure”.
It’s also true however that, Czechs being the nature lovers that they are, the environmental awareness is growing really fast all over the country. I have seen in person a lot of brave and progressive projects to reduce CO2 emissions and switch to renewable energies, or to reduce the environmental footprint of life in general.
So, let’s not lose hope, becase Times, they are a-changing!
10) Czech Republic is a place where Etiquette still matters. A lot.
This was a big surprise for me, and it can be very important in a relationship, so listen up, don’t repeat my mistake and don’t underestimate this aspect.
The Czech culture is based on a certain level of conformism. Traditions are important and nobody is expected to cause any trouble. There is no such thing as “speaking in a loud voice” (a common discussion between two Italians on what to have for dinner would appear like an incredibly aggressive brawl, here) and I have never heard people shouting – except when drinking too much, of course.
In CZ, people really care for things to be – and look – proper. You go to theatre, you dress up. There is no limit “up”. But you just don’t walk in a theatre (or God forbid! Opera) in your jeans, unless you want to attract a lot of attention of the wrong type.
As well, men are supposed – no, expected! – to perform little actions such as opening a door, holding the chair, helping ladies with their luggage or taking on and off their coats. Apparently in the local understanding, there is no “gender inequality” value attached to it. So don’t try to judge it with your metrics: it’s just the way things work. If you want to blend in, you just adapt to it.
All boys and girls take ballroom dancing lessons as part of their education, and many companies and organisations hold balls in the festive season, which are attended with enthusiasm. Also, in a country that is surprisingly not attached to any religion, people still follow traditional festivities, go to church on Christmas eve, visit the cemetery to pay their respects.
All this, combined with what I said in #2, can be dangerous to the unsuspecting foreigner. In a tram, failing to leave your seat to an elder will attract so many bad looks, you will wish to disappear. Equally bad is when you mess up with the tipping in a café or a restaurant.
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And that was my decalogue this time. Thank you for reading! You can follow our facebook page here. It means a lot to us!
Edit: an article with my reflections and comments on the insane success of this post can be found here.
Again, my point was not to offend anybody with this post. This is not a scientific study and has not been validated by a panel of experts (although if you made it reading so far, you probably got that).
I will be happy to react and edit any information that might be incomplete or wrong. Writing was mainly my way to celebrate my almost 1 year and a half in Prague. I love the city and the life here, and I continue to discover more and more parts of its rich and fascinating culture.
And how is it for you? Did you have a similar experience when moving to a new country? I would love to have a little discussion in the comments section. All stories are the welcome!
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2018 Edit: this article is still getting a lot of clicks, it’s awesome! Thank you!
In the meantime, I started my activity as a stand-up comedian! If you want to check out my activity in Prague (and elsewhere), you can follow the page https://www.facebook.com/carminestandup/.
I would really appreciate it!
Maybe you want to check out also the follow-up story, about ways Czech people love to spend their free time:
5 very Czech ways to spend a weekend
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To say nothing of the cat 
Just excellent!
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Just perfect. And you have been very polite :-)
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I am learning etiquette.
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Very nice article – even with the hint of satire it’s very accurate! Strangely, the thing I disagree with the most is the Vladimir’s comment about the reason why Czech drives a car in Prague. I get what he has in mind, experienced it a lot when spending some time in Albania few years back, but I must say it never crossed my mind to think that’s the reason in here. At any people. Apart from the time-saving reason, that is actually valid in most cases (even though I prefer to use public transport), the simplest explanation is rather laziness and comfort. At least in my opinion and observations :)
Thanks for the nice reading!
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I agree. I think another reason is to be able to carry all the stuff we have to our cottages back and forward all the time which is pretty hard thing to do by bus.
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Ahahah I see :)
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Exactly! absolutely agree with Mila :) Vladimir’s opinion is more like Russian opinion – CZ is not a materialistic country ;)
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One more thing about d pollution and us using cars in Prague.. ones I read a topic from a foreigner living in CZ called Czech just don’t give a fuck :))) also sooo true…
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One more thing about d pollution and us using cars in Prague.. ones I read a topic from a foreigner living in CZ called Czech just don’t give a fuck :))) also sooo true…
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Interesting, that was one of the moments when I thought – spot on! There is definitely a big group of Czechs who don’t really need a car (no family, no weekend cottage) but will go to work by car rather than by metro/tram for status reasons. Even if you come from outside of Prague, there are parking lots at major metro stations where you can leave your car and continue by metro, which is really helpful.
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It’s often more comfortable, especially when you have to change the bus like four times, you’re pregnant or sick, there is no good in infecting others. Also when you have a lot of stuff with you or you plan on returning really late (like around midnight or later) and you don’t live exactly downtown, it’s better.
Part of that concerns also the stature, being a high manager and having a meeting you won’t risk that someone will spill something on you or you get sweaty etc…
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What a great article! I just want to add a few things. :) First of all, the genders, it must be extremely complicated for foreigners. It is more about a natural feeling (auto x vlak). When there’s a new thing such as the iPhone, people will naturally feel the right gender – it is TEN iPhone (he). It’s complicated. :)
Secondly, the people you refer to as sporty and outdoorsy are a specific group of people, I wouldn’t say that there are so many of them, they’re usually dressed in Rejoice! Me and my friends wouldn’t ever associate with those sporty equipped guys lol. I agree that sports are popular in general!
Then about cars, the social status thing definitely exists but not for everyone. We don’t own a car for a simple reason – it is simply just not worth it, we use public transport for both the efficiency and to save money, when getting a huge grocery shopping we use the delivery options.
I get what you mean by time obsession, I personally still feel embarrassed to be late, I think you got it right!
Lastly, the radical and xenophobic group of population is sad, especially lately. However, I still think it is a minority as the latest election showed, none of those parties supporting anti-immigration politics succeeded.
I’m living abroad myself and it really reminded me of home, thank you for the article. I hope you’ll have more great experiences in the Czech Republic.
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Hallo, brilliant notes and very true: Well, most of them. And I am Czech, living in Prague but coming from Brno. Nect time add more details about bohemian-moravian relationship…Can be fun! :) Barbora
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I need more observation first. It’s a topic that can eat me alive :)
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Very good article, thanks for sharing your impressions. I would also like to point out Czech’s gun obsession. There is more than 300 000 gun owners in Czech Republic, more than 700 000 legal guns hold by citizens. Our gun law is second most friendly to gun owners in the world. There is shooting range in almost every village (it is because during communist times Goverment encouraged citizens to join Svazarm (Svaz pro spolupráci s armádou – Union for cooperation with army) an practice shooting. They didn’t give us guns but they allowed us practice). We also produce great guns (CZ brand is very popular among US shooters, CZ75 will be in almost every list of most iconic handguns of the world, together with Glock and 1911). Try to ask your friends to take you to the gun range.
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Uh. I really didn’t know about this. Helps to put some things in perspective. Not sure if I like them, though.
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Well, 300 000 gun holders is like less than 3 percent. It does not seem to me to be a huge number. Thus, maybe 1 of 20 of your friends is able to take you to the gun range.
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Just few things to add to this fact – we have lots of guns, yet the Czech republic is considered to be the 6th safest country in the world. The law is friendly, but only to law-abiding citizens without prior crimes, and after passing state exams on safe handling and manipulation, knowledge of the laws about guns etc(pretty hard one)… as in comunist era very few had guns, after revolution it becomes symbol of our freedom – the abillity to own a gun. And thats why we opose the ridicullous atempts of EU to ban all sorts of guns….
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I respect that, but any kind of pro-gun argument just makes my skin itch.
I have seen guns. Bad guys use them, where I come from.
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Unfortunately, knowledge of Slovak or Polish won’t help you with month names at all. Slovaks stick to the “international” latin-based names, such as “január, február, marec, …”, while Polish have their own, completely unique set of month names. And I don’t recommend you to try to match the Czech and Polish set. For example, they have “kwiecień”. We have “květen”. The same word, right? Bam! In Polish it’s April, in Czech it’s May :D
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Really on point :) Not offended at all (being czech that is)
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I liked your article and found it to be very accurate about living in the CR. I have lived here for 20 years and am still surprised with customs especially local customs. It has been a learning process and at times frustrating. But despite it all I have made many good friends and would not move back to the states (especially after the elections). I was born in Prague but we emigrated to the states when I was a year old and lived there till I was 47. I have had an easier time with the food and language then you, but the language is very difficult to master. When I write ‘Czech’ I only use the 26 letters of the alphabet I am use to, let the reader figure out where the accents and digraphs go.
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I bet a lot of people secretly despise you for this.
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Haha!! I had fun to read this article. Never thought about 10 things I should know before moving to Israel (and I’m originally Czech) but now i will. You inspired me! Good luck!
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And to you :)
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I feel like I just read Mayers Briggs results for our nation. #10 totally got me because I always thought I was just being uptight about wanting to have things done the way they are supposed to be. I ran into that a lot with my US boyfriend who was used to do things the way he wanted without really considering much else. But yeah, I recently got nasty looks and a comment from a retail guy when I did not put a skirt back on the hanger after trying it out and finding it didn’t fit. I mean, come on, putting skirts or pants back on hangers is a pretty tough job. Anyway, well done!
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Lovely article!
I was born in heart of Prague, but moved to London 10 years ago. I still visit home 3-4x a year and I miss the culture and social life as well as outdoor adventures.
London is it’s own country as well, but I suppose you can say it about any capital city.
Bára
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Great article! Thank you.
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Nice one! Do you love hobbits? I do. Are we like hobbits? Just say we are, cause otherwise i will be grumpy, I mean GRUMPY!
Agree here with Mila regarding cars – it is laziness in the sence of not having to change lines and be more free on where you need to go after work (You got to pick up stuff from cheap auctions, get the best sale on almost rotten meat and other goodies – btw the obsession with “sales”, and the fact many people wait till there is at least 1 Crown down from the regular price before they buy stuff is nice, right? – a car is a must to try to stick to the shedule). In a car you can shout on other people and swear as well – and no one gets insulted, cause you are hiding in the steel can…
Strange, i consider myself lazy, but realy love to go hicking in the forests, swimming or at least I build a wall, dig a hole or just do anything involving body-movements during the week-end. Must re-think about laziness – thanks a lot. There will be a lot of “not-doing-anything” in the grave, life is on the move..
And one more thing: eating a fruit after you ate your meal would realy be bad for digestion – try beer instead! Beer helps you if you are hungry – it feeds you, beer helps you if you ate too much – it settles your tummy, beer helps you if you are thirsty – it refreshes you, beer helps you if you drank too much – it stabilizes you, if you are hot or cold, you know what to do – beer is your best friend. Beer helps you when you feel lonely, it never lets you down. Tired? Have a beer… Either you cheer up, or fall asleep – solved, by beer! Beer is a life saver, it is liquid gold, the drink from heaven!
Live long and prosper, and drink beer! Cheers!
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Now I understand why my brother calls beer hydraulic sandwich.
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Cheers. And I do love hobbits.
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I am a Czech living more that thirty years in the USA so I somewhat disconnected from the country.Nevertheless I would like to comment on few of your “observations”
Mushrooms, berries and love of being in the forest. Once you are out of city or village there is no difference between public or private land. You can go whenever you want. The tradition goes back over thousand years. The local noble owned all the land but there were many people living on it. They needed to travel over the land and they were allowed to pick mushrooms, berries and dry wood from the forest. Most of small children, from early age, are taught to respect the land and behave so everyone can enjoy it. No screaming or breaking anything, no walking through crop etc. You can’t drive a motor vehicle in the woods. You can walk, ride bicycle or horse.
Another thing is food. If I tell my American friends what delicacies we eat in CZ they step several feet away from me. My wife (born in USA) would eat most of the food as long as we don’t tell her what is she eating.
Beer. Local pub is a business center of every village. This is where your friends and neighbors are. If you need anything you ask people in the pub and there is always somebody who know somebody who has what you need. People drink lot of beer but the favorite strength is 10 that has about less than half of the alcohol content that in example US beer. In other words you can drink lot of it without being drunk quickly.
Religion. CZ is probably most atheistic country in Europe. In fact many customs associated with religion such as Christmas tree have roots in pre-christian pagan religion. 1150 years of Christianity never completely wiped out pagan customs. It is so prevalent that many Czech think that what they do has Christian origin.
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As i find it as very interesting and open-minded read, I have to strongly disagree with 8). While outdoors, you may find many sports, or outdoory people, there also many very lazy, or just antisocial people. Especially amongst youth. Older, or even elderly yes, they´re used to hiking, or even sporting, but as well many others are not.
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There are two things I find not accurate. First of all, Vladimír’s comment. We are just too comfortable, it’s not like we are ashamed to take a bus. I live in Prague 1, so I take the subway every time, since parking here is a nightmare, but when we have some big shopping to do, we always take car, simply because it is much easier than dragging those huge shopping bags home by public transport.
I also don’t agree with the sporty comment. I think there is a very specific outdorsy group actualy prepared for anything. Rest of the people just like the comfort of the outdoor clothes but they never actualy hiked. It’s just my opinion though. But nevertheless, we are survivors, that’s true ;)
I agree the Czech language is hard but as you said- for me it’s really hard to understand the rules od ‘the’ and ‘a’. Articals are just so confusing!
I think your article was very nice, I had fun reading it. Thank you :)
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Nice article:) But one thing is really stupid. Saying that Polish or Hungarian are more Xenphobic than Czech people. Any evidence?? Rest is fine.:)
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I see that this really got a lot of people the wrong way.
I didn’t say that PEOPLE are. Governments and policies seem to be. Hungary built a WALL to keep immigrants out. Now tell me how that’s “normal” foreign policy, since the Chinese Great Wall it simply isn’t.
Unless we want to transform Europe into what is now Israel-Palestine. Two countries in one, divided, where everyone feels at war and under siege. I don’t want that. Strongly not.
The fact that I write a word, and people read their names instead, says something about how hyper sensitive we are about anything related to identity nowadays. I think it’s a sign of immaturity and lack of self confidence. I mean, if my ideas are strong and grounded, I don’t get offended if an unknown guy on some silly blog writes something that seems against them. I just close the page and keep on with my life.
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Awesoomeeee:)
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Yeah, well you’re a bit biased when talking about my country – Poland. Nationalism is on the rise in the whole region, there’s many articles written on it so I’m not gonna get into that, but in politics Zeman, Orban are on the same level when it comes to hatred towards newcomers whereas in Poland polish president has a Jewish wife and underlines his respect to Jewish communities, PM has condemned racism and just recently a guy who had burned a Jewish puppet in Wroclaw was sentenced to 10 months in jail for hate crime. So yes, nationalism is on the rise, yet in terms of politics Czech and Hungarian presidents are blameworthy.
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Hey, nice article, thanks. Having lived in Prague for a year now I have seen all of these peculiarities in action :-). The one thing I have not quite figured out though and which you mentioned on the side is the tipping. How does it work?
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You always tip. 5% to 8% rounding up is probably the right thing to do, depending on how satisfied you are.
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I love this piece, it’s pretty much spot on and written in a non-offensive lovingly way.
It seems like you’ve managed to find the beauty in Czech beyond the busy people of Prague. I have been in an out of Czech Republic for 3 years now and absolutely love the country. I work with many Czech people on a seasonal job and love the culture – though somewhat different to my home country of Australia :)
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I was naked when I read this article.
100%
Vivá La Prague!!!
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Ewww!
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I am czech a nearly laughed my head off!!!! This article ESPECIALLY #10 is just sooooo true!!
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Perfetto! I am a Prague-girl who has moved to Rome. I subscribe everything – and also the reverse for Italy. :D I was shocked how the people in the fully packed bus can still be so calm and talk to each other in such a friendly and relaxed way about dinner (sic! food AGAIN). The fluidity in time, no plans. Also, the fact that people do not walk on the right is still baffling for me even after almost 7 years. There is though the thing that I admire the most about you Italians, and that is the friendliness. A stranger is not so much danger as a friend and a interest-raising object, you are so welcoming and friendly people, you care and value others before busy timetables. I am still learning, it is still freaking me out, but it is good freaking out, I just need to learn to relax – and in Rome especially. Thank you for the post.
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That edited longest vowel only sentence makes no sense. But with just max one vowel per word, you can make perfectly fine story like http://clavis.vrana.cz/rocnik7/c0106/?id=17
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I will add:
– Though Czechs like planning, they are always late! ALWAYS! I am Russian, we come like 10 min before the meeting. Czechs come 10 min after. Business meetings, real estate agents, friends – always late.
– They have special attitude to sexual topics. They cheat, they discuss their personal life etc etc. I am not used to that but after 6 years living here, I shock my friend back in Russia when I come for a short visit =)
– And I disagree about “grumpy” – have you even been in Moscow metro? That is what is grumpy :-D
D.
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I have been to Moscow :)
That’s for another post maybe.
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Good, but please notice that most of the topics are mostly “a Prague thing”.
As you mentioned earlier – there are many differencies between Prague and rest of the country.
Basically – #2, #5, #8 and #10 definitely do not apply across the country.
But hey, I’m Moravian guy, we always need some special treatment :D
And regarding the point 10 : A director was recently honored by a “state award” wearing a jumpsuit. From the hands of our grumpy president. Go figure.
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Hi, thank you for the post, it made me laugh out loud many times as a native from Brno. One thing I’d point out about the grumpiness though – although some general sense of it is somewhat a part of the whole Czech culture, it is especially prominent in Prague. As I live in Brno, when I go to Prague occasionally, it always surprises me to see it around. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to live more than two years there. I absolutely agree that Prague feels like the Capitol of Hunger Games. But given the Czech culture, that naturally makes the rest of the country scoff and look down on it. My comment is a proof. :D maybe one more interesting point: I spent 4 years in the USA and that made me realize how differently these two cultures look at success. In the US, if you hear someone talk about their promotion or business or passed exams, you give them kudos and say ‘Good for you.’ On the other hand, a Czech response would be more like, ‘Yeah I know she was always close to the professor’ or ‘Sure he could do it with all that money he stole from the taxes.’ It might have historical reasons that Czechs are suspicious of people who are successful. Of course, when you’ve earned your way honestly and by law, some people will still give you awry looks. That being said, it’s not always the case as more well-wishing people are showing up amongst us every day. That goes along the lines of Czech people being extremely warm-hearted and hospitable.
Anyway, I’m shutting up now, these are discussions that can last hours. Especially with beer. :)
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I am learning a lot with your comments, guys. Thanks a lot :)
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Carmine, it was a delight to read this! Thanks a lot for making me laugh, my regular day-to-day grumpiness is away. My girlfriend is moving with me to Prague next year and this will help her to get ready for what she’s getting into :)) I’d love to write more, but I’m running late. Cheers!
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Ahahah cheers to you!
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I totally disagree with nr.10… Czechs just don’t care about proper behavior and their surroundings. For example, public urination. It’s a huge problem in Prague, can’t pass by certain streets without holding your breath. Also it’s very common not to clean after dogs. I live in Prague 7 and there is always dog shit on every street, seriously.
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Must be the dogs of the immigrants. Maybe Italians.
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No, this is problem everywhere (I live in Děčín – northern Bohemia). But I think that it is because we love dogs (so nearly every family I know has a dog) and many people are just lazy… To be honest, I think that just Prague is so hurry – although I am too obsessive with time planning but in my family I am the only one. :)
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Thanks for an excellent article. I was laughing so hard that my collegues gave me some strange looks ;-)
I am from Prague but have been living abroad for five years.
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you write super funny, loved it :)) as a Romanian, I had no cultural “shocks”, as we have the same about dressing up on occasions, men being gentlemen, public transport vs. cars, heavy food, respecting traditions, etc… :)) but from among the former communist block, CZ is the best developed country, and this difference we see in every other aspect, also appreciate it a lot.
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It’s Tomio Okamura, not Akamura :)
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Whoops, thank you. Edited :)
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a.k.a. ploskolebý Asiat (flat-headed Asian). He himself admitted he was too foreign for Cz and too gaijin for Japan. Yet he still makes for some of the most far-right and anti-migrant comments on the political scene these days. Obsessed and idiotic and self-centered.
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Super:) and true
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It must be funny to an expat to experience these things!
We enjoyed your post very much!
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Excellent article and very very accurate! One more thing ..it was funny reading to lol
Walter
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I don’t think I’ve ever read a more insightful view. Thank you!
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Can I just ask about the longest sentence without vowels, shouldn’t it be ‘ve ctvrt’? Sorry to rain on the parade.
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It’s not wrong with just “v čtvrť”, the sentence makes little sense together though.
Consider this for testing all accented characters in one sentence: “Příliš žluťoučký kůň pěl ďábelské ódy”. (a too yellow horse sang diabolical odes.)
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if a yellow horse sings, there must be something devilish indeed.
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Superb! I enjoyed your post very much! :D You have a funny style of writing and your ability to describe our culture is amazing!
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Good article!
I was born here in Prague, and therefore I am what you would call a “native”, however, you completely missed one point – not everybody is sporty. I am not. I dislike outdoor sports. And I know plenty of Czech people who do, too. So I’d say Czech attitude to sport is more like – you either love it or you dislike it. No middle ground.
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Hi, thanks for this reflection. I am an imigrant from Switzerlan, and it is interesting to share the perception of another culture. I also dont want to offend anybody and I am grateful to be here in Prague.
I would like to comment on #2, the overall grumpiness of the people, for which I have to find an explanation, just to understand this unpleasant phenomena! 1) I think its an attitude of a metropol, where people in general (in Switzerland its Zürich) show a more arrogant/grumpy behaviour. 2) Anti-reaction to communism, speak dictatorial socialism. I can see, that younger generations show themselves more friendly 3) I think one can relate #2 to #4, speak high alcohol consumption. Grumpiness is a classic withdrawal syndrome.
Cheers! :D
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You forgot about typical Czech sarcasm and black sense of humor. In the beginning of the article you’ve said you’d write this in a bit satirical tone. But this is not satirical at all (or at least for Czechs). In regards to racism, Czechs have absolutely no problems with any foreigners but Muslims. They don’t mind americans, italians, french, chinesee, Japanese, Russians, Poles….they just mind muslims.
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Leaving the seat to elders – as a pregnant woman I have not experienced this kind of curtsy. Young people especially were sitting comfortably with a big belly standing next to them. Once the baby arrived, they seem to notice the pram and offered help.
I’ve met also entitled bitches – women who wanted a certain seat in the bus, even if it meant for a mother with the pram to get out of her way. Disturbing.
I’m mostly disgusted by the foreign police, whose personnel refuse to speak English.
And rudeness: as soon as you leave office and your polite czech colleagues, the “real” world seems like a jungle. Restaurants, public servants, nurses… Thank God not everyone is like that!
I’ve met really nice people, which makes the contrast even starker.
To give just an example: you’re at the dr. Your first encounter is with the pit bull nurse. But once you go past the nurse, you meet the most polite dr, who has no issue speaking to you in English.
I think manners are still a thing of class in CR…
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Excellent article ! It is very funny and I must agree almost with everything what was written there.If you are Czech you just not see something what is really automaticall for you. Nice to know how we are appearing to others :-). Enjoy your stay in our country :-).Jolana
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A very well written article. Thank you. I get incredibly frustrated by the number of expats on facebook who constantly complain and belittle the Czech way of life, refusing to adapt to customs, refusing to even attempt the language and demanding to have foreign sourced foods etc. Having worked in London for years, commuting for 2 hours a day and working another 9, living in Czech is a breath of fresh air. Ok, less money but a richer and less stressful life.
I do live 40km from Prague in a village and the residents have been nothing more than welcoming. I get invited to everything going and with some embarrassment find myself getting bought more drinks than i can return!
And yes, we cycle, walk, skate, canoe, ski, collect berries and mushrooms and grow our own veggies. Very similar to being bought up in my native Yorkshire. Modern living could learn a lot from these traditional pastimes.
Some of the food can be hard to stomach i must admit but i tolerate it with a smile. The second quality of brand named food products is irritating and exploiting the lower incomes of the average Czech family (not wealthy expats in Prague). And the etiquette is superb – how we were taught in the 70’s.
Thank you for an honest, unbiased, article. A breath of fresh air
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I honestly think there is a lot to love, and to learn from, in each culture. The Czech one looks only tougher at first sight. And there are many reasons for that.
I think the whole expat attitude “I am posh and I am complaining” is more of a defense mechanism, than a real thing. People are just people after all.
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very nice article, i pretty much agree with everything…I would add the Czechs’ obsession with saving money and buying properties…in general, the typical Czech person in prague eats cheapest and dresses even cheapest, while saving money for a 3rd flat that they want to put out for rent…:) also , i am not sure about their generosity in general…
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I also noticed the great saving attitude. Czechs are hard workers and they don’t love to waste their hard earned money :)
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It is really funny to read this post. Thank you.
I just wish you to spend some time in countryside in South Moravia. Somewhere in lazy quiet wine area. Many things you wrote are specific for Prague. Here, down in heart of Moravia are people more polite and nice, they don´t hurry so much and they are smiling. :) I was living in Prague for one year and I moved because of the hurry and mood you described.
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So many people are telling me exactly that. I have friends in Brno and also Ceske Budejovice and they confirm exactly what you are saying.
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I have enjoyed your article as we have recently relocated to Czech Republic and my boyfriend found himself in similar shoes to yours, just in Brno.
So… in 30 years speaking Czech I never heard the sentece about the wolf, so I am sorry for some “rýpals”, who always have to have a last word.
What I find strange, that no one told you yet, that there is much more to Svíčková than beef, cream and onion…. carrot, parsnip and celriac are very important ingredients for the sauce, no svíčková can be made without that! :)
I agree with your wife Bára about the fruit after meal, apparetnly it starts ferment in your stomach because it needs to wait for your meal to be digested first. Hence fruit should not be eaten on a full stomach, especially after czech meals as you described them.
P.S. No one from Prague can possibly be proud of their accent, it sounds like if you pull goat’s tail.
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weeeeell saiiiiiid !
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Lovely article, I was laughing all the way through it. It is nice to see your point of view of our funny culture. And sometimes it made me a little wee bit proud, which is nice considering how embarrassed I’m for our politicians and president.
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I would have to work really hard to find a country where politicians are not embarassing. Which says a lot about the state of democracy, and of ourselves. Don’t forget I come from Italy. We had Berlusconi elected Prime Minister twice, while Havel was President.
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