hey guyz, i was just readin some of the posts from different categories (the expat section in particular) and i have a question regarding the partying and stuff in prague or czech republic for that matter? is it true that random people can attend a private party (i read a guy's post inviting people on this forum!!!) similarly in another forum altogether, a student (planning to study in Prague) asked another student (already in Prague) about partyin and this other guy invited the US guy to his party and when the US student asked if there would be any girls attending, the guy said "We'll look around the town and convince the girls to party with us..."...does this actually happen?? i know its a random question, but surely an intriguing one... anyone who has an idea? can you tell me some cheap clubs in prague? and perhaps also the amount required to bring to these clubs? thanks it's surely a great help!!!
And you wonder why someone considers you interested only in girls, food and partying... Hey, Prague is a big city! Anything is possible! Just write on this forum, that you want to go partying with someone etc. and maybe someone will respond! We are normal people. It is true that our country has some pecularities but there is not so much of them, We are the same people as "you guys" in America, we are the same species, we do breathe oxygen (and not xenonic gases), we do drink water (and not H2SO4), we do eat carbohydrates (even in very various forms!) and we are not hermaphrodites (neither sequential nor simultaneous)! We are normal, friendly as long as you stay civilised and do not behave like in a zoo (which impression you might have evoked in some people there already). The life there is not particularly hard, nor particularly easy. Maybe the people there are a little bit reserved and not so careless as you may be used to, but still they are not darksy spiders hidden in their cobwebs waiting to hunt down a poor poor American (if his is not a simpleton or tourist). So as I said, calm down, pack your thing and stay civilised (and never say you love Your Mister President George Bush :lol:, Europeans don't like him :twisted: )
Oh there are several Americans who don't like him either! :wink: But I love him, as many of you already know.
I can't imagine party crashing being very popular in the Czech Republic. I'm not sure which party invitation you are referring to, but I assume it was someone who was specifically looking for extra company. I definitely don't think this would be considered either the norm or even acceptable in general. With an open invitation, you're probably okay. Otherwise, err on the side of caution and respect the privacy of someone else's "private" party. In general, I've noticed that Czechs don't tend toward the big-party scene like American teens and tweens. That's not to say that they don't party, but their parties tend to be with smaller groups of friends, than in America, where one may invite, say, half of one's senior class.
hey sova actually i think its quite the opposite. I know for a fact that the partying lifestyle is much more common with the teens in European countries (as they don't have many extracurricular/reacreational activities like in the US)....my friends tell me that this is very much true in the case of Prague as it is known as "the" party town.... One of the medical students (in the final year) on another forum just told me that the partying lifestyle is less personal here, in the sense that you can invite anyone for a private party as it's considered to be quite normal. In the US also, its quite common for acquaintances to attend a party for complete strangers are usually never invited (there might be exceptions to this)...
hey eleshar i DO NOT like george bush...so let met make that clear as i am staunch democrat who was very much against him from the beginning (sorry no offence to dzuriosovak)...and secondly yes i will admit it...i am interested in "girls, food, and partying because when i go to a foreign country for a loong time, i would like to get some feedback about that place and after all as i'm paying a hell a lot for my education, i certainly have a right to ask whatever question i want...its you who has the choice to answer it or not...as in no way am i forcing you to do so...so please, lets first get that thing clear...i do appreciate for all the advice you have given me in my previous posts, but if you find it irritating then you'r very much welcome not to answer them.... and for your info. i have also posted some threads in the language category asking for a pen-pal for language tips; and i also posted a thread to another lady (as her daughter went to Charles Univ.), asking her to give me some feedback about the Univ...and finally i personally dont think that the americans reading my posts would come to a conclusion that i'm just a party freak....becuase thats one thing we believe in...not judging people based on appearances (in this case based on trivial posts)....i guess thats something you should consider learning you know it's quite a respectable, and valuable quality in a man...
Mmm, interesting. Just a few days ago you didn't know pretty much anything about Czech people, language, culture, lifestyle etc and now you even know that most Czechs are judging people based solely on appearances. Seems you're a quick learner :/ And if I might be so daring and offer you advice: I don't know how it is in the USA, but here (most) people still value proper spelling and grammar and when someone doesn't bother to write how it's supposed to be, it indicates not only lack of education at the writers' side but it can be also considered quite rude. You can't be bothered to spend some more time on preparing your post, yet you expect people to spend their precious time answering you? Even if it's "only" a forum post. EDIT: I'm of course speaking about writing in one's native language(s), when it comes to foreigners trying to communicate in Czech, we are of course generally very forgiving, appreciating even the effort. end of EDIT. And yes, I'm well aware my English is bad as well, but at least I'm trying. I also admit I'm one of those who find most of your posts to be quite childish and maybe annoying (even when considering your age) or at least redundant - I think just one thread about parties and girls ought to be enough. Anyway - since you will be a student, you shouldn't have any problems socializing here. Once you get here, it will be easy. As it was pointed out several times before here, the differences between Czech Rep and USA (or pretty much between any two "western" cultures) are not that big.
Well hello there Mr.B, thanks for a very constructive post. Well I guess the first change I shall conform to is my grammar and spelling. It's not that I don't spend time on my posts, I just rather feel that the content one posts (in terms of the questions they're asking--note, just your grammar-check, "they're is a word -- it's a grammatical cotraction used very frequently in written english, and in case you'r wondering why I'm explaining grammatical syntax to you, well maybe because it's a reason to avoid a chance of wrong grammar or spelling as you put it) is of more signicance rather than other trivial elements such as spelling and grammar. And if I maybe daring to say so, people generally don't have the time to post threads devoid of grammar or spelling errors. I mean what are we? writing a high- school essay on grammar and syntax? or are we kids to keep pointing mistakes to each other...mistakes that don't really count...I agree that when we are posting, we should do it so in a presentable manner...but again I must tell you that this is just a forum, where people just post their ideas, questions etc...not something where you'r graded upon for writing grammatically error free-posts...and if you think that people in the US don't care about using good grammar, then I must say, you'r mistaken, as people in several european coutries also do the same thing (for one, they would find your argument much more childish than any of my previous posts)!!! Well, about my posts being redundant...there's something called getting a "second opinion"...I don't know how it's in Czech Repub., but here in US (many) people consider getting second opinionsas valuable and consequential and in seeking this, they might ask the same questions to more than one person and in more than one forum (so that they can get the good/pro and the bad/con side of something)...if you don't believe me, please check some other "professional" fourms such as the Valuemd forum (www.valuemd.com). But I'd expect you to be even more annoyed if you looked at that site, as many posts there are "redundant" and conicidentially posted by several American students....all of who might seem childish to you. Finally, I've tried my best to posts my thread in a better manner (hopefully devoid of grammar and spelling errors; however I have used quite a lot of contraction why i may say so, is gramatically correct)... and who said that I did'nt know anything about Czech people, language, culture, lifestyle etc...if you'r actually saying that, then how is it that I knew a bit of the Czech language or that I am aware of the somr of the cultural aspects myself (please!!! think before you say something as that's more mature and wise)...I was merely obtaining a rather wholistic idea regarding the country which I will be living in....I don't in any way claim that I know everything about Czech Repub. But by saying this would also like to ask you not to assume every bit of info. (go back to my previous posts, and check them---you'd wonder how I knew some of those czech sentences or how I knew about the pancakes or about the language)!!!
I guess I should thank Sova for being so mature that he has replied my "redundant" (according to Petr_B) posts with utmost dignity and patience....I sincerely thank him for this
ShreyPeter: there's so many things I believe are incorrect in your post that I won't comment on them individually. Just keep in mind that I never personally attacked you saying you're stupid/childish/whatever, only expressed my opinion about some of your posts. This forum is flame wars free and I'd like it to stay this way. When it comes to second opinions, believe it or not you really can have more than one opinion per thread. Just one last thing about grammar/spelling - check posts of other native writers here, to me they seem to be quite different than most of yours. I just don't get why to not write it properly, it's not like it costs any more time or effort than to write it the wrong way (of course, except people who are dyslexic). Well, I guess in the end I'm just uptight old fart. * shrugs * Btw, I have no idea why are you specifically mentioning "they are" vs "they're", even if my English is pretty bad it's not THAT bad so I wouldn't know about things like this. With this, I consider the issue to be concluded for me and I won't comment on it anymore.
yes you might not have seen other natives post the way I do...perhaps because they're not exactly in the same group as I? (I mean I've just finished my 1st year of undergrad and I haven't face any problems with grammar or spelling for sure)....I would just like to emphasize that the writing style (grammar, spelling errors) really should'nt matter much as long as one can get the point across...I mean these forums/boards are quite informal and they don't expect people to be proffesional and perfect in the way they post their threads. And yes, they are open to everyone...which entitles anyone and everyone to ask what ever questions they want how many ever number of times they want. Regarding my language, I've not had any other person point this out to me except Sova (who I'm thankful to for pointing out a genuine mistake), who did ask me to refrain from using slang/lingo as there are certain people on this forum who are trying to learn English....and I've tried my best to do that, but I didn't think making petty grammar mistakes was considered offensive. I mean if that's the case, then I think this is the first forum that I've come across which makes everything seem so formal..... anyway I am sorry if I was rude in my previous post (which I was) and I'll try my best not to repeat it. If you find my posts to be "redundant", then I can only ask you to just ignore them as that will save your time as well as mine. Or you could just reply back, asking me to check the previous topic or so...because I do forget what I've posted sometimes (which I think is quite common when you are reading so many other posts on many other forums)....and I don't mean to be rude but isn't "Btw" also more of an abbreviation (which you know could be incomprehensible for many other foreginers trying to learn the language?)...and what do you mean by saying "I've seen the way the others natives post and it's quite different from yours"? (if you would be so kind to tell me)....
Nor I feel that I attacked you somehow. I only made a commentary why you may appear to someone as you had appear to someone. I know well about your posts in different topics but as Petr_B already said.. your questions here may seem to someone a little bit repetitive. I understand that social life is important but here in Czech Republic we consider to be much more important the part "with whom" than the part "where, how long, how much"... What I am trying to say is that you will surely find some friends there. And you will enjoy yourself with independently on the size of the party (however it will be small)... Or so you should, otherwise they could feel insulted if you are more interested in the party itself than in them. The sense of a party is to go out with friends and enjoy... not to invite five hundred people just for being able to boast "I had a party with five hundred people". It is true that yougsters about the age of 14,15,16 or sometimes even 17 think that the coolest part of a party is drinking bottomlessly no matter with whom or under what circumstances (because it is ah-so-cool to be drunk). Do not think that your life there will be a party every day, or even every week. You will surely go out with friends but for nothing big, you won't have a time to party every night. The part with Bush was meant to be a little joke refering to my former American teacher who introduced himself with words "I am XY, I will teach you English and no, I don't like Geogre Bush" ironising some of our European attitudes (as the people were asking him too often on which side he is...). Concerning the orthography - as you have maybe noticed people there tend to be well versed in English... some of them more, some of them less. But they have experience only with standard English with standard orthography and mainly the British accent. There is no problem with misspellings, everyone makes them. The problem is that you sometimes use a really different orthography that probably records the way you pronounce the words but does not correspond to any words we know. And sometimes your posts are quite difficult to read. For example: "readin" (yeah, I know it is "reading" but the image of the word is different so it is much more difficult to read) "partyn" - what? "you'r" - I understand that it is supposed to be "you're" but seems to me on the first sight as "your" "somr" - undecipherable for me I do not mean any offense but our perception of written words is not as a chain of letters. This is common misconception. Our perception is in images created by the letters (as spoken words are perceived as sound images, not as chains of phonemes). You might have noticed that if you see a mistyped word where there are all of its letters but only in deffirent oerdr and the fisrt and lsat letters riamen the same, you can raed it amolst wihtuot any diffcluity, while if the image is completely unknown to you, you have to read letter by letter, which is slow and unpleasant. But iff u ryte az u here id an weethoud regaard to ani konvenshun, you must first reenact the auditive image of every word which makes the lecture very difficult and slow.
Oh I see Eleshar....I really didn't know that my so-called "orthography" was so incomprehensible (so much that it would sound like lain or greek)....anyway, I am sorry again for having written in such a manner. I will try my best to avoid that (but FYI, not many people here have problems with my "orthography")....and regarding the word "somr", I actually meant "some" (a typo--because I type really fast and generally with mistakes) About the partying? Please don't remind me that I won't be able to party everyday. I very well know that (I mean I will be going to med school). I just thought it would be fun to gather as much info. as I could (little did I know that it would become this big a problem). Many of my friends have said nothing but negative things about the University and here I was...trying to get some inspiration by at least listening to some positive things about the place....well I guess its all my fault to do such a thing like this. I am once again sorry for if I have been rude to Petr_B or you. If will say it time and again that if you find my posts "childish and redundant" (acc. to Petr_B), then please, just ignore them for it will save all the meaningless arguments.....and also time for sure!!!
Back to the original question, shreypete. My earlier comments were meant to include Czechs in general. I tried emphasizing earlier that this was a generalization, but will do it again for clarity. That your friend/acquaintance who's finishing med school has found such partiers in Prague is no big surprise to me; however, I would not take that experience as the norm among Czechs. Sure there are many young Czechs that fit into that category, and remember, Prague has over 1 million people, so even a small minority of the population can be a sizable number. Also to put this into perspective, my personal experience in the Czech Republic is about 12 years old, now, and things have changed since then; however, I would be surprised if the general Czech attitude toward big parties has changed significantly.
Well... I am not sure anyone here will be able to tell you more than all concerning partying and allied things will depend most likely on the people you will meet. As Sova pointed out in his last post, Prague has over 1 000 000 inhabitans which is probably not that much as the biggest American cities but surely it is as much as the bigger ones of them. You can meet almost anyone here... it is possible that among your mates there will be a fellow American just like you or there may be a fanatic transsexual Krishnaist, or a son of some African dictator (which is not improbable, they really do tend - or at least tended - to send their sons to study here, especially the medicin!) or anyone other you can imagine. It depends on you with whom you will become friends. Maybe it will be a group of humble foreigners timidly avoiding the others... or it may be a group of local money-bags with whom you will go frequently on lavish parties in luxurious nightclubs and villas. Neither possibility is probable but both of them are definitely possible. No one can tell. And... as Scrimshaw said - there is no need for such a confrontationism (you surely love my word-formation skills, don't you :twisted: ).
Hey, thanks Sova and Eleshar. I sincerely do thank you for all your info. I think the best thing I'll do for now is just to wait till I get to Prague as I will be experiencing this whole culture shock once I get there myself. Once again, I do thank you guys for being resourceful and I do apologize for my being argumentative and immature (at times)....
Honestly, I cannot imagine, what kind of culture shock you could experience in Czech republic. I´ve been twice in Canada, first time in 1996 and then again in 1998, and I did not have any culture shock at all.. I noted few things, like that people in Calgary were very friendly and all over the city felt more like a big village, but that was all fine and nice. There was no special things, that we would not have here (o.k., maybe except the huge Edmonton Mall 8) ). Maybe we don´t have Native Americans (aka Indians) in CR, but okay, not a culture shock at all, after all, it´s normal! And they made really good hot chocolate 8) Mind you, my husband was in USA about a year ago, in Chicago, and he was terrified and said he´d never want to live there and does not want to visit again, ever :lol: Btw. he´s Spanish, not Czech and he travelled all over the world, including China, so I guess he can compare.
hey Karkulka, few of my friends said that they faced quite a bit of a culture shock especially dealing with the education (they faced a lot of challenges and differences there but I guess they have coped with these problems now)....
But there are enough Vietnamese in CR ! And we look like Indians, don't we ? Come to see what do Vietnamese eat, how do they live ect... You will have culture shock ! Just say "Ohhh !" "Ehhhh !" and do as :shock: :shock: :shock: and then, taste Vietnamese Spring-rolls or Pho, you will see culture shock is OK ! Just kidding! :lol: I had a Czech friend ! He was credulity to unbelievable. Once, he asked me a question: "Jsou u vas domy ?" With somes Vietnamese, that's slightly question, but I knew him well, he's just didn't know or he's less visionary. I answered "Nope, we didn't have any house, as you can see in American movies, we lived in jungles, only rich people could live in somes of palm leafs houses. In day-time, we climbed on the trees and ate fruits, in night-time we slept on branches..." And he trusted it in a long time until his first visit in Vietnam. He had had got really culture shock ! :lol:
