DID I MOVE TO THE WRONG CITY? (PRAGUE v. my other favorite city)

I moved to Prague 10 years ago sight unseen. And now I’m applying for Czech citizenship. Did I make the wrong choice?

00:00 Intro
02:19 My other city
03:24 Language
04:25 Cuisine
05:40 Safety
08:12 Digital safety with NordVPN offer
10:02 The national beer
10:48 Payment systems
12:42 Bicycles vs. Pedestrians
15:34 Public Transportation
16:13 Topography
18:16 Did I pick the wrong city?

[helenstrevens]

I am living and working in Prague for 6 months. I think it is wonderful and I could live here. I am from New Zealand. I like Czech people a lot and I think the food is excellent! But the architecture is absolutely incredible!!! Thank you Prague people for your hospitality!

[ChristineConway]

I came to Prague from San Francisco in 2019 for the location, affordability, TEFL certification programs, and the opportunity to learn/study a Slavic language. I had lived in France in the early 90s and always thought I might make my way back there but I am in love with Prague. Totally agree that the public transportation system is superior, it is safe, the beer is delicious, and the healthcare is excellent. As for the language, whew, that is going to take some time. But most of all, I really like Czech people! Their dark sense of humor, direct natures, and hearty approach to life and leisure is an inspiration to me. Once I can get a grasp of the language, I know I will appreciate them on another level. I realize I am biased in that most of my experience is in Prague, but I am so happy to be here getting to know the people and the culture.

[MarleyDrives]

I'm Dutch and I absolutely agree with you on the personal safety thing. It's definitly safer in Prague. And yes, Heineken sucks.

[genickaS]

Narodila jsem se v Praze, žila tam do 19 let, už 40 let žiji 30 km za prahou na vesnici, ale Praha je pro mě stále nejhezčí město na světě a cítím se tam doma. Vaše vyznání Praze mě skoro dojalo. Je milé slyšet, že ji někdo vnímá stejně jako já.

[gvantsakevkhishvili]

I'm from Georgia and I visited Netherlands 3 years ago, I liked it, was impressed but it never crossed my mind to live there. After that I went to different countries and only 5 months ago I visited Czech Republic and fell in love with Prague from day 1. At the end of the first day I knew I could live there easily, it felt like home

[paulinemably]

As a Brit living in Slovakia I really loved this video and felt really seen because I wanted to move to Prague, a city I still love and was in only this weekend for a Halloween party, but I took a job in Bratislava as a first step to the dream and ended falling in love with a Slovak, having a family and falling in love with Bratislava and SK and have now been here 11 years. I completely agree with everything you say about feeling safe in Prague and it is exactly the same in Bratislava where we also have great public transport and every other city just compares unfavourably for me. I know Vienna has great public transport, beautiful buildings and fantastic healthcare but for me it is just too strait-laced by comparison to the Slavic world. 
However, we travelled from BA to Wales by train in the summer and I was so excited to visit Amsterdam for the first time but unlike you I was not at all charmed. I hated it and I felt unsafe all the time. I was terrified and on edge because of the bikes and am glad that it wasn't just me and there were so many drunks and people on drugs even first thing in the morning and I know it is celebrated for its sex trade but for me it was just all so seedy and seemed so exploitative. We saw human excrement twice in two days!!!! We took our little daughter and it took us 90 mins to find a playground for her something that has never happened anywhere else. We also went to London and Paris and they were both just so much more child friendly and I was shocked at how much safer I felt in both places. I could easily imagine raising a family in Paris but not at all in Amsterdam. Also, the food may have been delicious in Amsterdam but you have to pay a lot for that. Paris just seemed cheaper for so much more. I have never been so glad to be home as I was at the end of trip tbh so I guess I have to agree with you that sometimes you don't choose your city, it chooses you! And I know that BA isn't for everything being as small as it is but we don't all have to agree, right?

[Mimi_]

I'm Czech and i use to live for 18 years in Holland. My children are born there and my husband is Dutch. In 2021 we all moved from Holland to Czechia and I regret it so much! I miss Holland culture and mentality so bad. I hope one day we return back to there.

[jeffnotnuts]

I changed my plans to move to Amsterdam (Americans a plus, see The Dutch American Friendship Treaty) and I moved to Prague. Now, you can ask my Niece, who has lived in Amsterdam for 18+ years, about the dude who was murdered in front of her place if you want :) The big plus is, in the Czech Republic, if you are over 60, you do NOT have to learn Czech. The Netherlands has no exemption, making the choice instant. PS I have been to Amsterdam over 20 times, starting at 12 years old. I made the choice to move to Prague after a 1-weekend visit.

[terkabastianova]

I am from the Czech Republic and I am lucky because Prague is my dream and real home. I love traveling, but as you said, it's about feelings. I feel the best here. I feel free and very safe as a woman. And as someone who doesn't have a driver's license, I find it very easy to travel around town.

[JohnsonPadder]

As a Czech/Moravian who lived in Australia for 30+ years, your view of Amsterdam is like my view of Prague when comparing it to Brno. It has all the beauty and infrastructure of Prague, without all the tourists and higher prices. Interesting video, thank you!

[ulfbrodin]

Yes, moving to a new country or continent depends a lot on who you are and what you are looking for. Personally, I would move to Prague if I had the opportunity to turn back time twenty-five years. Now I am fifty-eight years old but I am glad that I have had the sense to travel every year to the Czech Republic and Prague for the last twenty-one years. I fell in love with Prague in 1989 beautiful city and nice people a big plus for me is that I learned Czech helpfully it has opened many doors. So I'm jealous of you who took the step to move there. Czechoslovakia was a good country, we in the West got a lot of propaganda that everyone was locked up, but the openness and welcome the people gave me there was not found in all places in the West.Great respect to the people of the Czech Republic. Kind regards from Ulf Brodin Halmstad Sweden.

[patriciaabel]

That's such a good point about the topography of Prague, I never thought about it :)

[Longjohnsilver]

I love Europe and have always wanted to live there. It will likely never happen because my family is in the states, but if it did, I always thought we would do Portugal. That was before I went to Prague. I loved the Czech Republic.

[tolosate]

I moved from France to Czechia because it's a safer country. Maybe it's not as bad in the Netherlands but I'm not sure it's going the right way, I'm happy with my choice and I'll stick to Prague!

[samknetsch]

I'm from Netherland, But my place where I feel the most home is Prague, it makes me feel relaxed and give me creativity

[maboitegitou]

Nu a já z moravské vísky pod Brnem miluji naše Brno, kde žiji svůj dospělý život od r 1982. Nejsem zarytou kontroverzní Brňačkou, ale toto město má nesrovnatelnou vyjímečnou atmosféru. Praha naše matka pro mě ční na výši, ráda jí navštěvuji, ale jsem šťastná na Moravě.

[dreamtube]

I am Czech, actually born in Prague, but grew up in Vienna. Also lived in Germany and Italy too. For the last 15 months I have been living again in Prague, mainly because of Corona.Well, I suppose not many will like what I have to say. 1. As long as you don't speak the language, Czech. You will never get a glimpse of who, us the Czech People" really are. 2. Americans or anybody that is from an English speaking country is treated like royalty, there are many reasons for that but that would bend the frame of this short monologue. I am just saying capitalism and politics. 3. We adjusted to being occupied over hundreds of years and this is why we turned tourism, the peaceful occupation into an art.4. Prague has a simple lifestyle, honest in its own very specific way. 5. Everybody is talking about you, you can count on that. Every detail of your life is part of any discussion of your social circle. There is a lot of things happening in the shadows. On the surface it looks like Disneyland but underneath there is tons of mafia and illegal activity.

[barboraschejbalova]

Hi! It is so funny to bump into your video. I come from Czech rep. but now living in Amsterdam. Though never LIVED in Prague, I can see the differences.. Btw - good to mention what you can add to your list - the living costs and especially health insurance costs are here in the Netherlands much more challenging than back home. I can surely say... and with the bureaucracy, you won't gain much anywhere... it's always the same no matter in which place you are 🙈 On the other side, all of my family and friends just love to visit Amsterdam time to time so I can definitely say this place has some magic too☺

[MatusHorecny]

Loved the conclusion of the video 💙. And I have just now realised how strongly I agree about the topography of the city. I was once told that one prefers the topography of the surroundings based on the type of countryside one grew up in.

[szpflyer]

This may be the most thought-provoking episode Jen has given us yet. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’ve been around the block a few times…but the question is: Which block? Born in Vancouver, as a teenager I had to escape its endless rain, and thus moved to Los Angeles’ sunny San Fernando Valley…but after a few decades moved again to Nagoya, Japan for family, career, and its fascinating Asian lifestyle. Two decades later Honshu’s horrifically high heat and humidity finally drove me to the rain-shadows of Washington State’s blessedly cool but isolated north coast. Still I feel the allure of an idealic life in Moravia with my Czech wife, where today I would likely reside but for Covid and the current existential threat to peace in Central Europe caused by you-know-who.

No neighbourhood is perfect, but akin to the Stockholm Syndrome, I grew to love the places where I’ve lived. As the Japanese say, 地獄も住み処 (jigoku mo sumika), “even hell can be home.”