Life in Czech Republic
Intro
We are two exchange students from Taiwan. We love traveling and experiencing different culture. In February 2019, we flew 5,606 miles to Prague and fell in love with this gorgeous city at the first sight.
All the things we’ve been through in this journey are the best stories in our exchange life, so we want to record them from our viewpoint and share them with everyone.
Compared to well-known western European countries such as France and Germany, Czech Republic is much stranger to many people. Lots of them may ever heard of Prague or Bohemia without knowing Czech Republic.
Czech Republic (aka Czechia) is located in central Europe, surrounded by Germany, Poland, Austria and Slovakia. Its capital and the biggest city is Prague.
Completed with architecture in various styles and winding streets paved with cobblestones, Prague is a historical and lovely city which is nicknamed “City of Hundred Spires.” Standing at a higher position, you can see not only high-density towers but also the remarkable red roof houses.
People and Communication
My Czech friends told me that Czech people are usually not very friendly. They seldom wear a smile on their face or greet you happily when you go to restaurants or supermarkets, even our Czech language teacher said so. Though it is a truth when you go shopping for some groceries in Billa (a supermarket chain store originally from Vienna, but very common in Czech Republic), you will found Czechs kind and humorous if you get to know them more.
As Prague is an international city thriving in tourism industry, English is widely spoken in areas that are popular with tourists, whereas in places that are not for sightseeing such as post offices, the staff might need Google translate to smoothly communicate with non-Czech speakers.
Below are some of the most heard Czech phrases which you will feel closer to the locals when using.
Dobrý den: formal greeting
Ahoj: informal hello and goodbye (used between friends)
Na shledanou: formal goodbye
Děkuji: Thank you.
Prosím: You’re welcome. / Please. / After you.
Yet, when you need help, knowing these basic phrases is not enough. A practical tip is “turn to youngsters”, because they are more likely to have a higher English proficiency.
Besides, the gestures for expressing numbers are totally different from what we use in Taiwan.
Wrong number gestures may confuse Czech people and lead to unexpected outcomes. My experience is that one day while the waiter was taking my order, I unconsciously used the “Taiwanese number gesture”, and the result turned out to be two meals while I just want one.
Currency and Consumption
The official currency used in Czech Republic is Czech Koruna (sign: Kč), and the smallest unit is 1 Kč. However, you will find the numbers on price tags not integers, because it was not until 2003 that haléře (abbr. h, 1h = 100 Kč) was withdrawn from the market. When shopping, the final price will be noted as the total amount after rounded off. The receipt on the left demonstrates how the mechanism works.
“Everything costs a lot of money in Europe” is a stereotype widely shared among most Taiwanese. In some European countries like Switzerland and Norway, that’s undoubtedly true, but not in Czech Republic. Thanks to the similar consumer price index, living in Czechia is not a tough thing. Products related to animal farming are especially much cheaper than in Taiwan. You can enjoy fresh and high quality dairy products at a price even lower than half. Such a paradise for milk lovers!
Still, in Czechia, stores are closed early in the evening and you will be charged for using toilet, just as other European countries.
