When you arrive in Prague

When you arrive: First things first:

For being a capital city, Prague is incredibly manageable and easy to get around in. It’s a calm place and one of the safest cities you’ll ever encounter. It’s not too big, but it’s not too small either. You can easily walk about the city, and you’ll find yourself strolling from one end to another without any complications.

Of course, newcomers will experience culture shock and a bit of stress in settling in and adjusting, but as Prague is home to a thriving expat community, and more and more Czechs speak English, the transition into a comfortable lifestyle in Prague can be very smooth. There are plenty of expat groups, meet-ups and social activities especially targeted at newcomers to Prague. You can even start exploring this community before you arrive on web portals like www.expats.cz or www.prague.tv , and start interacting with other expats, who are very willing to offer advice and address your questions and concerns. You’ll find that Prague has a highly efficient and very user-friendly public transport system, and the city’s condensed size allows you to get from one part to another in no more than an hour, maximum. Bakeries, butcher shops and vegetable markets (mostly owned by members of the thriving Vietnamese community), as well as supermarkets, are easily found in every neighbourhood, as are shopping malls and practically any other type of service you might be looking for – all for very satisfactory prices. Although the Czech Republic is technically considered to be Central or Eastern Europe, the city feels Western European, and nowadays, as Prague absorbs more and more expats and caters to a growing number of tourists, the city can offer a very comfortable and very affordable standard of living to keep its newcomers happy and stress-free.

First things first:

Register with your country’s embassy. This is a precautionary measure to take in case of any emergencies.

Prepare an emergency plan
Before an emergency occurs, work out a plan of action with your family. This includes mapping out the nearest 24-hour medical facility and registering your family there (you don’t want to have to worry about paperwork in the event of an emergency). Prepare an emergency folder listing all of your family’s medical conditions, allergies, medications and surgical histories. Make cards for your children to carry with them listing your home address and the address of your preferred hospital in both English and Czech. It also helps to get to know your neighbours (and landlord) and their phone numbers, especially if they speak English. If not, have the numbers of some Czech friends, your lawyer or another Czech person you can trust or get help from in case of an emergency.

A side note: If you hear the long wailing of what seems to be an air raid siren, this just means it’s noon on the first Wednesday of the month, the time and date chosen by officials to test the city’s emergency sirens. Wherever you are in the city, you can hear this test siren wail on for about five minutes, but there’s no need to run to the nearest bomb shelter (plenty do still exist in Prague, they’ve just all been converted to bars and pubs).