The Most Common Questions

Please do not base your opinion of Europe on EuroTrip

So I have had a few friends ask me over the last few months "Why the hell would I move to Czechoslovakia? Isn't that place dangerous?" First off its called the Czech Republic and anywhere is dangerous if you go to the right place. Well, I'm here to set the record straight today and answer some of the most commonly asked questions... no matter how stupid I think that you are for asking them.

What your parents probably remember Czechoslovakia 

Before I drag yall up and down the street for asking stupid questions I have to take a moment and remember my first meeting Tyna. When she first messaged me on the very illustrious dating app we all know as Tinder. She told me that she was from The Czech Republic..........I honestly had to look at a map for a moment to locate it. I knew it had been communist, I also knew it was a hotbed for the beginning of WWII. Things I didn't know were if there were chickens still running through the streets or if movies such as Borat or Eurotrip were correct in their portrayal of the region.

The Current Czech Republic

1. Isn't it dangerous living there?

When I first arrived here in Prague I was extremely hesitant to wander into dark alleys, walk through dark parks, and go into sketchy bars. As an American, we train ourselves to avoid these situations Because at an early age we are told: "This is where bad people reside". When I first visited Tyna In Chvaletice the walk from the train station to her families home was the darkest walk I have ever done in my life.

Never had a problem here

Tyna had met me at the airport so she was with me all the way, as soon as we hit the edge of the street lights I stopped dead in my tracks. I was walking with a rolling bag and a backpack. Clickity clack clickity clack...(almost announcing I was coming) all the way out of the train station and heading up into a quiet dark town I had never been in before, in a country I had never been in before. Now before any of you decide to call me a pussy, Tyna has beaten you to it. In the moment I hesitated about stepping into the darkness Tyna then explained to me that there is nothing to worry about here. That it is much safer here than in the USA as gun ownership is considerably harder and much less common. Meaning that if you are going to get robbed it's going to be much more personal...... at knifepoint or billy club.... nice.... that's less.... worrying..... Surprisingly it has been true. Although I have been in some places and in some very sketchy situations where everyone is staring at me in not the nicest way, I have never had anything bad happen. Europe is just a dark place and that is the just the truth of it. (They also have much more severe punishments for these crimes)

It's just dark here.

The people here don't want you to bother them as much as they don't want to bother with you. You will see warning signs on the subways and the trams about people pickpocketing but I have never seen it happen or heard of it happening....just don't be stupid with your belongings. That being said, there are gypsies here. Now I am not going to dive headlong into a political debate but everyone here, EVERYONE (except for gypsies) says watch out for gypsies (Do some googling on your own). Now I have never met said gypsies nor could I pick one out on the street. The locals use the term to describe homeless or close to homeless people.  But I have only heard bad things. Enough said. Moving on. 

2. Is it like a modern city? 

I get this from most of yall 90% of the time. Yes, Prague is a modern city, No there are no chickens in the street, Yes there is a large number of very large apartment blocks around the city and No Communism is not very popular here.

Prague's very modern international airport. Its named after Havel, He is the Czech republics first president, Kinda a big deal 

The first feeling you get when you first arrive in Prague through the airport is one of any modern city. The airport is modern and well appointed. Security guards look a little less enthusiastic about doing their jobs than American TSA, but the police here.... they pack bulletproof vests, tear gas grenades, and what look like semiautomatic weapons ALL THE TIME. Do not mess with the police here. They don't speak English and they are underpaid and mistreated by the locals so don't give them the chance to abuse a foreigner.

They look super friendly, right?

Stepping out into the main city you will find the hustle and bustle the same of just about any American city. Depending on what time of year you get here depends on the overall feel of the city. In the Summer everything is green. You will see un-manicured lawns and overgrown bushes thought the city. There is a severe lack of care for landscaping here. Grass springing up through every crack in the pavement. If you come during this time of year this will be the first thing noticed. It's like someone threw grass seeds everywhere. If you come during the winter you will feel more like what you are used to seeing in the movies. Its a more industrial feeling, more hard lines, and contrast. It doesn't snow here very often (according to the locals) it just gets very wet and cold. Come in the summer, it's nice to be able to walk the city without fighting the cold.

One thing you will notice right away if you decide to stay here is that online business and franchises have not ruined the mom and pop stores yet. Most people will buy food from butcher shops and clothes from smaller locally owned stores rather than mega-marts. A glaring difference between the USA and Czech, they make you buy plastic bags here to carry your food home. You either bring your own bags that are usually a little thicker and reusable or you have to buy them in the checkout line. I don't see why this isn't a thing in the USA, just seems logical to reduce plastic waste. For those of you wondering, no, paper bags are not even an option here.

Hardly any difference from an American Supermarket

Almost every corner here you will find a small market. Inside you will find a random assortment of fruit and veggies with the odd number of frozen foods. They usually always have a large selection of alcohol and sweets as well. This store 90 percent of the time will be owned by "The Vietnamese" as said by the locals and yeah it is usually owned and run by folks of Asian descent. I learned a little Vietnamese to just be pleasant with the couple down the street when I walk in.

Clothes dryers. Swear to god if there was one thing I miss the most. If you rent an apartment here you will only find the washing machine in the bathroom.  You will also be hard-pressed to find an electric dryer. First, the reason for the washing machine in the bathroom. Its the only tiled room in the house and usually the one that's most flood resistant if the machine leaks. The lack of Electric dryers can only be attributed to the size of the apartments and there just not being a large enough space to fit them. Electricity is also incredibly expensive. They use clotheslines and drying racks to dry their clothes. Not the most time efficient way to it but definitely the most cost-efficient.

Another thing I do notice here and I picked it up while staying in Ireland is the smell. Europe has a very Earthy smell. Maybe I'm crazy but the smell of the city and countryside is something that just is always a surprise when I go outside. I cannot tell if it is the mix of wood burning stoves with food cooking across the city... please let me know in the comments if you noticed the same thing.

3. Communism....?

The communist party was not as much fun as it sounds.

Ok, this is most likely the most common one I get, some question relating to the political system here. I'll just recommend watching a movie called Pelišky pronounced "Pel-ish-ke". Its a story of the life people lived during the communist rule. Most people did not like the communist era government. If you can remember from history the old state of Czechoslovakia was re-invaded by the Russian government because they drifted too far away from the very strict communist agenda. Personally, the first time I watched the movie it didn't make much sense to me. I had to do some of my own research to understand it better. Understanding how the Czech republic evolved to its current political system is fascinating. If you want to learn more check out http://www.localhistories.org/czech.html. It also helps to understand the movie a bit better.

Statue of Stalin looking over the city. 

This all being said, when communism was outed the local peoples demolished most of the communist propaganda and statues. There are almost no remnants to this time period except for the occasional monument that condemns the oppression that occurred. You can still find small remnants of the Soviet occupation but nothing that is glaringly communist.

After de-Stalinization, the locals put together 1,800lbs of explosives to erase him from the landscape Circa 1969.

An unfortunate side note: The communist party still exists in this country. It ranks usually in the 4-6th most popular political party in the country. From what I have garnered from locals and trying to understand what little I can from the news is that the areas of the country that were hit hardest by de-industrialization. The only understanding I can rationalize is.... that they had just as much money, goods, luxuries that anyone else had in the country at the time (during communism) and when communism fell the equal opportunities also fell as well. Tyna tells me the only ones still supporting communism are the elderly, the nationalized healthcare keeps everyone up and voting. All in all the era of communism fell a long time ago here and there is nothing to fear while living here.

4. What are you doing for work?

OK. Working here has been a nightmare. Finding work, Work Visas, and dealing with companies that will hire you only if you have certain work visas HAS BEEN THE MOST NERVE RACKING EXPERIENCE. So Tyna used to tell me all the time when before I arrived here that finding a job would be extremely easy. "Plenty of people just find jobs speaking English and teaching English in Prague" This is not true. Not only is this not true but because English is taught in schools here at an early age most of the city can speak English or at least a little bit of English so you are not in high demand.

Any English speaking jobs you find here are Severely underpaid, You will have trouble making ends meet if you think you will only teach English. You also get paid in crowns. Not dollars or Euros, The average person here makes right around 35,000 Czech crowns per month. That translates to roughly 1,200 dollars. Now that being said you could come here and live a very comfortable life on that much money. 

overall it has been a great experience living here and getting to know another culture. I would highly recommend anyone thinking about moving here or visiting to reach out and shoot me a message. I love helping folks around the city and the surrounding countryside!

If you have any other questions feel free to ask me in the comments or on my facebook page.