5 ms·

may you please elaborate more on why the Czech Republic wins hands down?

by maayank 16y ago

mapleoin 16y ago
I'm also interested in this, since I moved to Czech Republic a few months ago. I was planning on also moving to Germany some time in the future.
david927 16y ago
The first time I went to Prague, I was so blown away that I canceled the next stops on my itinerary so I could stay. Later, after I moved there, I realized it was the whole country that just hit me in the right spot. There are no reasons; it just happened. Like with my wife, it was just love at first site. Love doesn't have enumerable reasons; it just is.
- gaius 16y ago
  There is a real energy in cities in that part of the world, even tho' Prague and Tallinn (etc) are as ancient as anywhere there's a vibe that the best is yet to come, people getting involved in lots of different projects, technology, art, music... Everyone's open to new ideas and opportunities. Whereas you hop just across to Baltic to Helsinki and it's like a museum, there is a city that believes in its heart that its glory days were in the past. Same with Paris or Stockholm or even Amsterdam. Right now those cities have a lot of accumulated wealth tho' they've lost the spark that created it in the first place. Work in Western Europe, party in Eastern Europe, it's the only way.
- maayank 16y ago
  Borrowing PG's terminology/idea from http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html, what would be the message of Prague/your favorite city there?
  - david927 16y ago
    For Prague it's "create". Everyone I knew was in some form or stage of the creative process, whether film, music, play writing, painting, starting a company, etc. It may a Czech or expat, it may have been on the side or what they did full-time, but everyone was doing something creative and new.
- zachallaun 16y ago
  Before going to college, my girlfriend and I hit a number of locations in Europe: Madrid, Venice, Rome, Prague and Paris. My story doesn't quite have the same ending as yours - after all, we eventually had to leave - but looking back on my trip to Europe, I can safely say that Prague left upon me the most significant impression. The streets are clean, the people kind, and the city... just beautiful.
  - refresheduk 16y ago
    my story doesn't have the same ending as yours either, went to six countries/cities in euroupe in the summer of '10, Prague was my least favourite, budapest was my fav followed by krakow, barcelona, munich and vienna all equal in 3rd place. Prague seemed like it was trying to hard and had become like a disneyland of europe due to its over exposure in films etc. it was like a zoo, pretty yes but over commercialised and lacking the same buzz i got when i reached my other destinations.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
pardo 16y ago
I may be able to answer to that too. I've been living in Prague 4 of the last 6 years. I've lived also in Madrid, Frankfurt and Barcelona for extended periods of time. Things that are great in Prague for a foreigner (expat): * Most people speak English, specially young people and specially in Prague. They will tell you that they don't speak English, but they do. * There are a surprisingly big number of IT jobs for English speakers available. Even at startups (like the one I work at, 360cities.net). * If you want to be a freelance, the tax treatment is very very favorable. Adding all the payments that you have to make to the government (including personal income tax, compulsory health insurance, and unemployment insurance), you'll end up paying less than 15% of your gross income at the end of the year to the state, in one form of another. That compares with the ~ 50% that gets deducted from employees for the same concepts. * Life is affordable. Having a good life, I mean, not just surviving. Even on a local salary, you can get a decent apartment not too far from the center, eat out every day for lunch, have dinner out a couple times a week, go to the movies/theater/clubs on the weekends, and still have money left to save a little. Of course, those savings will not amount to much out of the Czech Republic, but as long as you are living here, they'll provide a comfortable cushion. If you get an English speaking job, you'll probably make significantly more than a local salary. You will not live like a king, but you'll life very very comfortably. * The health system is good, efficient and cheap. So it is the public transportation (one of the best systems I've tried, and I've used a few in my life). * The fact that even local salaries afford for a decent live means that you won't find extreme poverty in Prague. That also means that there's no dangerous areas that you should avoid (of course, in the touristic spots there are pickpockets, but I mean that there's no wrong neighborhoods that you have to avoid, like there are in Madrid or, as is said, in US cities, for example). * Cultural life is rich and varied. There's a lot of clubs with life music, concerts, theaters, operas, … Of course, there's also thousands of pubs (almost one in every corner) that serve what I would argue is the best beer in the world. And very cheap (less than 1.5 euros per half liter). * The city is gorgeous. * The girls are even more gorgeous. * You are in the middle of Europe, which means that there's a lot of places to visit within 4 hours (train or plain). * The attitude of Czech people is very relaxed. Live and let live. Consumption of sof drugs, for example marijuana, although not strictly legal is not prosecuted by the police. * Personally, I think another advantage is that the Czech Republic is the most atheist country in the world. 70% of Czechs declare themselves atheists when asked. That means that the interference of religion in the lawmaking or social attitudes is minimal. There are also some disadvantages, of course: * The hard long winters. * Service in restaurants and pubs, although improving slowly, is still not comparable with more western countries. Unhelpful or plain rude waiters and shops assistants are very common. * The food lacks variety, and specially vegetables, fruits and seafood (like most Central European kitchen). * Some rules in the administration are plain stupid. And civil servants will be, generally, unhelpful. A lot of the old socialist mentality can still be found in the government's employees. * The language is very difficult to learn. Most people speak at least some English, but really fitting in is difficult without speaking Czech. * When you want to travel abroad, everything is suddenly very expensive.
LiveTheDream 16y ago
Good, very inexpensive beer.

may you please elaborate more on why the Czech Republic wins hands down?

by maayank 16y ago

may you please elaborate more on why the Czech Republic wins hands down?

I'm also interested in this, since I moved to Czech Republic a few months ago. I was planning on also moving to Germany some time in the future.

david927 16y ago

The first time I went to Prague, I was so blown away that I canceled the next stops on my itinerary so I could stay. Later, after I moved there, I realized it was the whole country that just hit me in the right spot. There are no reasons; it just happened. Like with my wife, it was just love at first site. Love doesn't have enumerable reasons; it just is.

gaius 16y ago
There is a real energy in cities in that part of the world, even tho' Prague and Tallinn (etc) are as ancient as anywhere there's a vibe that the best is yet to come, people getting involved in lots of different projects, technology, art, music... Everyone's open to new ideas and opportunities. Whereas you hop just across to Baltic to Helsinki and it's like a museum, there is a city that believes in its heart that its glory days were in the past. Same with Paris or Stockholm or even Amsterdam. Right now those cities have a lot of accumulated wealth tho' they've lost the spark that created it in the first place. Work in Western Europe, party in Eastern Europe, it's the only way.
maayank 16y ago
Borrowing PG's terminology/idea from http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html, what would be the message of Prague/your favorite city there?
- david927 16y ago
  For Prague it's "create". Everyone I knew was in some form or stage of the creative process, whether film, music, play writing, painting, starting a company, etc. It may a Czech or expat, it may have been on the side or what they did full-time, but everyone was doing something creative and new.
zachallaun 16y ago
Before going to college, my girlfriend and I hit a number of locations in Europe: Madrid, Venice, Rome, Prague and Paris. My story doesn't quite have the same ending as yours - after all, we eventually had to leave - but looking back on my trip to Europe, I can safely say that Prague left upon me the most significant impression. The streets are clean, the people kind, and the city... just beautiful.
- refresheduk 16y ago
  my story doesn't have the same ending as yours either, went to six countries/cities in euroupe in the summer of '10, Prague was my least favourite, budapest was my fav followed by krakow, barcelona, munich and vienna all equal in 3rd place. Prague seemed like it was trying to hard and had become like a disneyland of europe due to its over exposure in films etc. it was like a zoo, pretty yes but over commercialised and lacking the same buzz i got when i reached my other destinations.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

pardo 16y ago

I may be able to answer to that too. I've been living in Prague 4 of the last 6 years. I've lived also in Madrid, Frankfurt and Barcelona for extended periods of time. Things that are great in Prague for a foreigner (expat): * Most people speak English, specially young people and specially in Prague. They will tell you that they don't speak English, but they do. * There are a surprisingly big number of IT jobs for English speakers available. Even at startups (like the one I work at, 360cities.net). * If you want to be a freelance, the tax treatment is very very favorable. Adding all the payments that you have to make to the government (including personal income tax, compulsory health insurance, and unemployment insurance), you'll end up paying less than 15% of your gross income at the end of the year to the state, in one form of another. That compares with the ~ 50% that gets deducted from employees for the same concepts. * Life is affordable. Having a good life, I mean, not just surviving. Even on a local salary, you can get a decent apartment not too far from the center, eat out every day for lunch, have dinner out a couple times a week, go to the movies/theater/clubs on the weekends, and still have money left to save a little. Of course, those savings will not amount to much out of the Czech Republic, but as long as you are living here, they'll provide a comfortable cushion. If you get an English speaking job, you'll probably make significantly more than a local salary. You will not live like a king, but you'll life very very comfortably. * The health system is good, efficient and cheap. So it is the public transportation (one of the best systems I've tried, and I've used a few in my life). * The fact that even local salaries afford for a decent live means that you won't find extreme poverty in Prague. That also means that there's no dangerous areas that you should avoid (of course, in the touristic spots there are pickpockets, but I mean that there's no wrong neighborhoods that you have to avoid, like there are in Madrid or, as is said, in US cities, for example). * Cultural life is rich and varied. There's a lot of clubs with life music, concerts, theaters, operas, … Of course, there's also thousands of pubs (almost one in every corner) that serve what I would argue is the best beer in the world. And very cheap (less than 1.5 euros per half liter). * The city is gorgeous. * The girls are even more gorgeous. * You are in the middle of Europe, which means that there's a lot of places to visit within 4 hours (train or plain). * The attitude of Czech people is very relaxed. Live and let live. Consumption of sof drugs, for example marijuana, although not strictly legal is not prosecuted by the police. * Personally, I think another advantage is that the Czech Republic is the most atheist country in the world. 70% of Czechs declare themselves atheists when asked. That means that the interference of religion in the lawmaking or social attitudes is minimal. There are also some disadvantages, of course: * The hard long winters. * Service in restaurants and pubs, although improving slowly, is still not comparable with more western countries. Unhelpful or plain rude waiters and shops assistants are very common. * The food lacks variety, and specially vegetables, fruits and seafood (like most Central European kitchen). * Some rules in the administration are plain stupid. And civil servants will be, generally, unhelpful. A lot of the old socialist mentality can still be found in the government's employees. * The language is very difficult to learn. Most people speak at least some English, but really fitting in is difficult without speaking Czech. * When you want to travel abroad, everything is suddenly very expensive.

LiveTheDream 16y ago

Good, very inexpensive beer.