Although it’s been a while since I’ve moved away from Prague and even longer since I’ve written a blog post, I decided it’s time to capture my thoughts and reflect on my four years living in Prague, Czech Republic before focusing on the Middle East (there may be a couple additional lingering posts I haven’t managed to get around to coming). It’s said hindsight is 20/20 or thoughts become more objective and clearer when you’re removed from a situation and I must say that after leaving Prague, I realize how much it had become my home away from home. I moved to Prague in 2017 intending on staying one year and before I knew it, four years had flown by. I was able to experience the best of the best of this country and the worst of times, living there during the depths of the COVID-19 epidemic. This blog post is dedicated to highlighting the wonderful and well, not so wonderful, cultural aspects of the Czech culture and overall why, this city became my home and some place I’d recommend checking out.
Outdoor Living & Wellness
When it comes to the nature and outdoor enthusiasts, Czechs are the biggest outdoor nature fanatics I know, and there’s good reason for that. The Czech Republic has some of the most beautiful nature. From sprawling forests, where you can pick wild blueberries, forage for mushrooms or simply hike on the many marked trails. It has a bit of everything, from mountains, rivers, rock formations, and fresh water lakes. If you ever need to find yourself again and get away from the world, the nature in the Czech Republic is the place to be. Also, in general, Czechs are also exercise and wellness enthusiasts. From saunas and spas, cycling, swimming, hiking, running or general walks in the park, you can be sure to always find someone staying active around the city. Almost around every corner, there are beautifully, well-kept parks for people and dogs to enjoy and spend the day in. And this bring me to my next reason and maybe the greatest reason why I loved living in the Czech Republic…dogs.
Dogs > Humans
Dogs run this city, or so it felt from my time in Prague. From what I could tell, there were more dogs than people in Prague! Parks dedicated just for dogs to go run around, and not the ones like in the US, where they are fenced in and a space dedicated just for them, entire parks for dogs! It might be a tie on whether Čzechs are greater dog lovers or nature enthusiasts! Truly, they are loved by all in this country and are allowed in almost all drinking and eating establishments, and whenever a dog enters a restaurant, bar or cafe, a staff member will be sure to bring them a bowl of water or a treat. Also, the dogs are in a class of their own as they are beyond well behaved. Walking off-leash, sitting outside waiting on the sidewalk while their owner pops inside to the supermarket or to grab a kolač (look it up), and truly not giving a care in the world about any stranger wanting to pet them (unlike US dogs, lol). Additionally, Czech people truly light up when interacting with dogs. If you ever want to strike up a conversation with a Czech person, be sure to have a dog around, because it will surely be your conversation starter!
Attitudes
This brings me to the next point and something I want to touch on, because it did impact me during my time living in Prague, which are the personalities or attitudes of some, definitely not all, Czech people I interacted with during my time living there. Although it depends on where you come from, the openness and sense of welcoming when moving to Prague was hard for me to cope with. Coming from Minnesota, where everyone is “Minnesota nice” and overly helpful, friendly and eager to get to know any random stranger on the street, it was quite the adjustment for me throughout my time in Prague. I would say, there’s a lack of “friendliness,” and it could be attributed to a general lack of English speaking abilities and that some Czechs are worried about saying the wrong thing, but in general they are just a more “closed-off” group of people, typically spending time with a close-knit group of people. However, that being said, once you’ve “broken through that barrier” and gained their trust and friendship, they are the most caring, protective and supportive people. Additionally, this made simple day-to-day tasks, such as going to the supermarket or post-office my least favorite places on earth, lol. (IYKYK = If you know, you know).
Work vs. Life Balance
Moving on to another wonderful thing I want to highlight is the work/life balance in the Czech Republic. I am going to go out on a lim here and say, that Czechs have got it down. They know how to prioritize their life to ensure they are keeping plenty of time for activities outside of work. Of course, I am writing this from a teacher’s perspective, but with the multiple holidays each month, and school days finishing earlier than what I’m used to in the US and the Middle East, there is plenty of time for kids to go to their after school activities and for others to just enjoy life. After a typical day of work, you can usually find people hanging around along the Vltava river, grabbing a beer at a pub, taking a walk or doing some form of exercise. Additionally, family is very important and you will often times see families including the grandparents together, mothers with multiple young children out and about. This brings me to my next major point and one of the things I believe the Czech Republic does great at. This is providing maternity leave for mothers. In the CR, women are provided up to three years of maternity leave. They are given an allotted amount of money which can be disbursed over the course of 1-3 years, depending on what the mother chooses. Not only is there a minimum maternity leave of at least 1 year, but a mother could take up to three, plus money given for each child, if taken. That is the most incredible thing and shows great value of family and importance of motherhood and taking care of oneself and their child after a major life event.
Saying all of this, it can be argued though that sometimes there is too much of a work/life balance and work isn’t done with a sense of urgency or sense of joy (but I guess, who can blame them, work is work). I could go on about this lack of of urgency in the public work places, but that’s for another time. ;)
Simple Living
Lastly, I think I’ve come to realize that as I’ve gotten older, I really enjoy the simple things in life, like spending time with friends having wine, cooking together, enjoying the outdoors, etc., and after leaving Prague and coming to a city like Dubai, that is completely opposite to Prague in every shape and form, I think I can safely say that I am much better suited for a smaller, more simple city like Prague. The city just has this ease about it, wonderful transportation, the walkability of it, farmers markets on a Saturday morning, unique cafes to grab a flat white, and gorgeous architecture on every street. Things move at a much slower pace in Prague and on an average weekend, I’d find myself walking from one side of the city to another, exploring streets I’d never come across before. Comparing to Dubai where everything is at your fingertips, and many people have most things done for them, such as house cleaning, food delivery, laundry service, someone else filling up their gas tanks, at-home massages, and the list goes on. In Prague, its nice to know where your food is coming from when buying it from a local business at the farmer’s market, or going to the brewery where the beer is made, picking your own mushrooms and berries and using it in a dish. This is exactly what I call simple living (however, I wouldn’t say I foraged for my own fruit and fungi). Its also nice to easily hop on the amazing public transport around the city and of course since its so centrally located in Europe, easily visit nearby countries.
Overall, my time in Prague was absolutely fantastic, where I had some of the most memorable moments and trips of my life, made and met some of the most wonderful people and gained incredible life and work experience. Of course its easy to only remember the wonderful things about something after you’ve left, but I can say with confidence that I would highly recommend visiting or spending some quality time there, you absolutely will not be disappointed.
Dekuju Praha! Ciao for now!
