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Blog -
expat problems
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It is important to note that I'm not a big risk taker and before living in the Czech Republic, I had only ever considered living in English speaking countries. Moving to the Czech Republic went against most of my sensible judgement and I knew it would be a real challenge to be accepted here, however my wife is Czech and she eventually twisted my arm, and as they say the rest is history.
I was apprehensive to say the least when I first moved here. I didn't speak much Czech besides knowing a few bad words, and although I had a love for the culture and beer. I was seriously concerned about finding work.
For a lot of the first year I was waiting for my paperwork to be resolved, so I couldn't legally work. During this time I experienced my "Czech Golden Age". A lot of parties, money in the bank and everything seemed cheap. You might say I was a typical dumb foreigner and I guess in many ways I was. In retrospect I made 2 huge mistakes that a lot of people make when they first come to Czech Republic. Firstly I didn't understand the real value of money or how hard it would be to earn that money back here. My advice is be careful when you come over here flush. Don't spend like there is no tomorrow. If you are planning on living here a while invest that money in a house or put down a deposit on some property or something. Just don't go crazy spending like there is no tomorrow. Once you are on a Czech salary - things look a whole lot differant.
The next crucial mistake I made was not to get an early start learning the language. And I mean making a serious effort! When you're new here people forgive you quickly for not knowing the language - I took this as "I have loads of time to learn it later". Time flies by and next thing you're 4 years in and still can't speak properly. Still struggle to hold a conversation and still finding workarounds to get basic stuff done - Learn the language!
In my 4 years I haven't learnt the language much, but this year I'm giving it a full effort. I found I got dispondent a lot while trying to learn the language to the point where I basically gave up and it became a negative thing. I know its hard, but at the end of the day there is no other choice but to learn it. No pain, no gain! And it will be plenty painful. If you want to enjoy life here - you'll need to speak Czech.
Another thing you learn after 4 years is, if you are serious or not about being here. My advice is if you are not that dedicated to living here and making this great country your home, then get out early and cut your losses. It can be an exceptionally difficult country to integrate well. The locals are friendly and supportive but they too have their limits.
A lot of expats complain about Czech people. There are full threads dedicated to complaining about Czech people over at expats.cz. Obviously Czech people are just human like the rest of us, but I have found them to be generally accepting towards foreigners, but it differs from place to place and person to person.
What I have found is that initially people are exceptionally curious about a foreigner. They'll treat you like a rock star of some kind until they have explored their initial curiosity. I've experienced this many times at parties. Everyone is drunk and having a good time and the beer is flowing and you're a legend. However outside of this party zone, you won't end up with many friends unless you can actively participate in the friendship. So either the Czech person needs to speak English or you speak Czech. If this isn't the case, my experience is they'll never be truly good friends.
This can add to the loneliness of being here. Expats tend to come and go. A lot are here for teaching jobs and once they've done their 9 months, they head back home. This really sucks because a lot of the time you end up with just good drinking buddies, not real friends.
I think you can generally see where I am going with this. Your overall long term happiness in the Czech Republic really depends heavily on your ability to learn the language so you can make true / real Czech friends. But occassionally you will find expats who are here for the long term, and that is a very good find indeed.
My last advice is don't move to some small isolated village if you can't communicate in Czech. Keep to the bigger cities where you will find more Czech people who can speak English.
Finally don't be negative too much thinking about what you're missing out on. Let's be honest living in Czech Republic is pretty awesome and there are much worse places to be in this crazy world. All in all Czech is a pretty stable country without too much crime and the people are mostly friendly and sensible. So learn the language!
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Expat Problems
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