What is it like to be a foreigner in a small town in the Czech Republic

It depends on the year.

Seriously there are a lot of variables, including which country said foreigner is from.

I live in Vsetin, which has a population of a little less than 30 000 and I’ve been living here for 12 years; before that I lived in Valasske Mezirici, RAdhost pod Radhostem and (briefly) Sokolov. (Avoid.)

When I hire new teachers from abroad (nearly always British or American), my teachers come here with a decent job, accommodation already sorted, and someone to hold their hand as they navigate the bureaucracy and anything else they need to get set up here, including finding a GP and so on.

So they have:

• a sort of security network to ease their adjustment
• a number of English speaking colleagues(Czech and foreign) so they have someone to talk to and perhaps do things with
• a decent job
• accommodation

Most of them are pleased enough to stay: three years ago I hired 3 teachers and re-hired an old one back: all 4 are still with us now; and while one is finally going back to the USA this summer, she’s being replaced by another former teacher, so they all be content with their life here.

But when I came here 13 years ago, things were different for me: I had no net, no job and only $300 to get myself started. And, though I managed to find a room and a job, believe me I had a rough time for the first six months. (Don’t do what I did!) After that, though things steadily got better as I clawed my way out of the considerable hole that I’d landed in.

For people in small towns here, I would saylife is pretty good. There’s little you don’t need for every day needs and you can always travel for the other things(mainly clothes.). Here are some notes:

• Sport is big: people do a lot of cycling and hiking and the lot in my area, which is hilly and beautiful. In the winter both downhill sking and cross-country skiing are big. If you’re an outdoorsy type, you’ll love it. If you’re not, well, then you should consider becoming one. You don’t have to be extreme about it(I’m not.)
• There’s a surprising amount of culture in these small towns: folk concerts, classical concerts, rock bands (no big name bands, but a lot of smaller bands from all over.)
• Along these lines, if you look for it, there are a lot of interesting folk traditions and festivals—town ‘grill parties’, folk music events; events called ‘gulasfest’(similar to chilifests in Texas); Christmas markets; folk dancing festivals(with competitors from around the world) and so on.
• IN my region there are several towns that range from 15 to 30 000 people; it’s easy to travel between towns: you can easily go to one town and see a concert and make it back to your town before the trains stop running; or, if you’re young enough and it’s up your alley, stay in the second town, party all night and then come back in the morning.
• AS long as you don’t have kids and don’t have a job that requires high mobility you don’t really need a car in a town like mine: I went seven years without oe and bought one only after I had started my own school: I need to drive over 100 kms a day nowadays. If you have kids, though, it’s inconvenient to be without a car as parents need to take their kids to school and various after school activities(you know, art, sports, ceramics or dance or whatever).
• If you are open to people and experiences you’ll find a lot of Czechs will seek out your company and invite you to various functions or activities. They are closed at first, but once they know you are foreign, some they will open up. They can be very hospitable to new people at first. After a few years, when one is a familiar figure, this behaviour kind of fades away, but at first it’s a real thing.
• Not everyone speaks English, but enough people do that you can navigate your way through most situations. You are much less likely to fall into what I call ‘the expat trap’ of Prague, wherein English speakers tend to spend much of their life with other English speakers and essentially remain cut off from their host culture. You are therefore much more likely to learn Czech here. However, I have known people who lived here for YEARS and still didn’t say more than a few words in Czech
• Like everywhere in the Czech Republic, pub culture is ubiquitous and expats must be careful not to spend too much money and time there. I have known teachers who use their money and travel all over Central Europe; and I’ve known other teachers who blow it all in pubs and have difficulties.
• One negative thing is that clothes shopping is pretty sub-par in smaller towns. If you want to buy some decent clothes you really need to travel to a bigger town: in my case Zlin(30 kms) or better yet, Ostrava (60 kms).

Caveat:

I have to admit all of the above certainly applies to white Western foreigners: i.e., Western Europeans or Americans or whatever.

I don’t think that Eastern Europeans(Ukraineans) or poorer EU workers(Romanians, Bulgarians) get quite the warm welcome and, of course, are also in much lower-paid positions.

And now, sadly, anti-immigrant attitudes towards Middle Easterners or Africans is at an all time high. Other dark-skinned nationalities might have a tough time too from some quarters; I do know a dark-skinned Iranian from the UK who’s married to a local girl who has had some discrimination at the airport in Prague; but in Vsetin itself, he is fairly well liked: but he’s a big, loud, funny Scotsman, and that kind of boisterous personality wins people over everywhere.

Similarly, I think African Americans or black British people would do all right here, if they didn’t mind people staring, as long as people know they were from the West and not economic migrants from Africa.

Written May 24th