Hi all! I'm planning on moving to the Czech Republic next year with my fiance and I'm from the United States. I've just graduated from college and the main reason I'm thinking of moving is because of him, he's from the Czech Republic. We are trying to decide on whether we want to live in Prague or Brno but I have a few concerns/questions: 1. Racism: we are an interracial couple. I'm mixed race (black/white) with fairly lighter skin and he's white. I've rarely experienced racism but it's still something that's always on my mind. I've been to Prague once before and had the best time and absolutely no problems. However I know it's different living someplace than when you are a tourist. My fiance says we should have no problems but I wanted to get others perspective. 2. Communication: I am still learning Czech and am still not the best at it. I know the basics like greetings and stuff like that but do you think I'll have a problem trying to communicate? 3. I'm an EU citizen (Ireland) and will that help me at all when moving to the Czech Republic? 4. Is Brno or Prague a better place to live in terms of tolerance, starting a family, traveling to other countries, etc. P.S. I know that the Czech Republic isn't a very diverse place and I'm aware that I will stand out/I'm not accusing anyone of being racist, you can't define an entire country.
Hi Leonie, I'm not going to be able to answer all your questions as I don't have any first-hand information (such as friends of different races living in the Czech Republic) and I am not familiar at all with the situation in Brno. 1. Personally, I don't think you'll run into much racism in Prague. Czechs are quite tolerant in general and I see people of various races go about their business in Prague without ever being hassled. There is also a large Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic with a whole generation having been born here and speaking fluent Czech. Of course you may always run into certain closed-minded people who may give you a hard time but this is definitely not a specifically Czech phenomenon. 2. As far as communication goes, you won't have any problems getting by with English in Prague. English is widely spoken here by the young generation and by many people in the service industry (restaurants, doctor's offices, phone companies...). A lot of foreign expats live in Prague and we also get millions of foreign tourists every year. You'll probably need an interpreter at government offices (úřady) and your plumber may not speak English but you should be fine most of the time. I don't know about Brno but I'd expect the situation to be similar there. 3. I think being an EU citizen should make your move much easier. 4. I can't say which city is better to live in as I don't really know Brno. Lots of people love Brno and prefer it over Prague. I love Prague and my American husband and I have been raising a family here quite happily. Traveling from Prague is easy thanks to the airport. Can you do a "trial run" and spend some time renting an apartment in each city, so you can experience living there first-hand? That's what we did before we moved to Prague from the U.S. and it was extremely helpful for us. I hope you like it here. The Czech Republic is a great place to live! Good luck! Dana
