Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
#16
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 12
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Yes thats the place, we are about 10km from the border crossing.
MyPolish language is still very basic but I get by.
We have seen numerous properties with the blue tiled roofs, not my cup of tea!
When we bought this new build house it was not decorated inside but they shew us what they were proposing, we asked them not to use the colours they wanted but instead we spent a day or so deciding what we wanted, suffice to say on competion of the purchase they said we had a surprise in store for us.............yep they had painted blue ceilings on the first floor,yellow on the ground floor and oak panneling upstairs. we have our own decorators putting things right now, more expense...
We find it quite frustrating at times to have to argue with some tradesmen to get what we want, rather than what they want to do.
As we have elderly parents we have decided to wait until they pass on before our move so who knows, maybe 5 years or so.
MyPolish language is still very basic but I get by.
We have seen numerous properties with the blue tiled roofs, not my cup of tea!
When we bought this new build house it was not decorated inside but they shew us what they were proposing, we asked them not to use the colours they wanted but instead we spent a day or so deciding what we wanted, suffice to say on competion of the purchase they said we had a surprise in store for us.............yep they had painted blue ceilings on the first floor,yellow on the ground floor and oak panneling upstairs. we have our own decorators putting things right now, more expense...
We find it quite frustrating at times to have to argue with some tradesmen to get what we want, rather than what they want to do.
As we have elderly parents we have decided to wait until they pass on before our move so who knows, maybe 5 years or so.
#17
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 41
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Yes thats the place, we are about 10km from the border crossing.
MyPolish language is still very basic but I get by.
We have seen numerous properties with the blue tiled roofs, not my cup of tea!
When we bought this new build house it was not decorated inside but they shew us what they were proposing, we asked them not to use the colours they wanted but instead we spent a day or so deciding what we wanted, suffice to say on competion of the purchase they said we had a surprise in store for us.............yep they had painted blue ceilings on the first floor,yellow on the ground floor and oak panneling upstairs. we have our own decorators putting things right now, more expense...
We find it quite frustrating at times to have to argue with some tradesmen to get what we want, rather than what they want to do.
As we have elderly parents we have decided to wait until they pass on before our move so who knows, maybe 5 years or so.
MyPolish language is still very basic but I get by.
We have seen numerous properties with the blue tiled roofs, not my cup of tea!
When we bought this new build house it was not decorated inside but they shew us what they were proposing, we asked them not to use the colours they wanted but instead we spent a day or so deciding what we wanted, suffice to say on competion of the purchase they said we had a surprise in store for us.............yep they had painted blue ceilings on the first floor,yellow on the ground floor and oak panneling upstairs. we have our own decorators putting things right now, more expense...
We find it quite frustrating at times to have to argue with some tradesmen to get what we want, rather than what they want to do.
As we have elderly parents we have decided to wait until they pass on before our move so who knows, maybe 5 years or so.
It´s good that you can get by in Polish. It sounds like you weren´t able to avoid the colour blue with the "surprise ceilings"! ! I can well imagine it must be frustrating at times when you discuss what you want and then the decoraters go and do "their own thing"! ! As you said it ´s also unnecessary expense.Hopefully you have everything as you want it now ? Maybe tradesmen take advantage because you don´t live in you house all the time ? ? I have heard of similar problems happening here when ,for example ,a Czech buys a weekend house in the country and wants it "doing up" but lives in a city so has to employ local tradesmen who have the keys and are supposed to work .The work is often "dragged out" taking much longer that it should.Cheeky people seem to be just everywhere don´t they?
When you go to Poland ,do you fly or drive?
Gail
#18
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 41
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Chris,
It´s great that you and your partner can do the same work either in ČR or England. I must say that there advantages to living here ,generally properties are cheaper here but I think that there are maybe Brits who would consider living here but if they don´t speak the language they could be a bit worried if they could get by with just speaking English.I know many Czechs speak English but I must say that I if I imagine living here and my partner was also English ,life could be quite difficult and expensive if we had to pay for a translater from time to time .My husband is from Morava so life is a bit easier with at least one fluently speaking Czech.! ! !
I was suprised how many Brits live here as you said most of them will be in Praha.
I must say that hubby did lots of work on our house and I was his assistent,I´ve done a bit of smooth plastering and got quite good at mixing concrete in the concrete mixer ! ! plus of course painting etc,.I must say we also did a lot of work ourselves to keep costs down ,when you start paying firms to renovate the money can soon go. You never know if you try a bit of renovating you might like it ? ?
Gail
It´s great that you and your partner can do the same work either in ČR or England. I must say that there advantages to living here ,generally properties are cheaper here but I think that there are maybe Brits who would consider living here but if they don´t speak the language they could be a bit worried if they could get by with just speaking English.I know many Czechs speak English but I must say that I if I imagine living here and my partner was also English ,life could be quite difficult and expensive if we had to pay for a translater from time to time .My husband is from Morava so life is a bit easier with at least one fluently speaking Czech.! ! !
I was suprised how many Brits live here as you said most of them will be in Praha.
I must say that hubby did lots of work on our house and I was his assistent,I´ve done a bit of smooth plastering and got quite good at mixing concrete in the concrete mixer ! ! plus of course painting etc,.I must say we also did a lot of work ourselves to keep costs down ,when you start paying firms to renovate the money can soon go. You never know if you try a bit of renovating you might like it ? ?
Gail
Hope I didn´t offend you when I mentioned about you renovating, I meant it in a light hearted way .
When we talked before about the Czech language, I actually never mentioned one of the biggest problems I still have after all these years is with "formal"and " informal" speech. First names figure quite high in England but I have had some very funny situations with names ,since I´ve lived here.Have you had similar problems ?
Gail
#19
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 61
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Hi Gail
There was no offence, I just have not been on the forum for a few days. Renovating the garden is enough for me.
I was in Prague last week. Pleased I don't have to live there, even though it is a beautiful city. I really think that the best things about the Čzech Republic are outside Prague.
I haven't got in to a mess with the formal/informal thing in Czech yet but the language gives plenty of other opportinities! I was up at my old house in the mountains last week and noticed that one of the drainpipes was solid with leaves and water was flying everywhere off the gutter. On the way out, I had a chat with one of our neighbours in Czech and attempted to explain the issue with the drainpipe. I caused great confusion when I used the wrong word for leaves. I remembered that leaves and pages are the same word in Czech, which is correct - "listy" but I used "stranky", which are only pages in a book. He couldn't work out how my drainpipe had got bunged up with pages. No doubt he now thinks I’m an eccentric English gentleman who has nothing better to do in his spare time than stuff books up his drainpipes! He obviously found it highly amusing because he got his wife to come outside to hear me repeat the explanation.
Chris
There was no offence, I just have not been on the forum for a few days. Renovating the garden is enough for me.
I was in Prague last week. Pleased I don't have to live there, even though it is a beautiful city. I really think that the best things about the Čzech Republic are outside Prague.
I haven't got in to a mess with the formal/informal thing in Czech yet but the language gives plenty of other opportinities! I was up at my old house in the mountains last week and noticed that one of the drainpipes was solid with leaves and water was flying everywhere off the gutter. On the way out, I had a chat with one of our neighbours in Czech and attempted to explain the issue with the drainpipe. I caused great confusion when I used the wrong word for leaves. I remembered that leaves and pages are the same word in Czech, which is correct - "listy" but I used "stranky", which are only pages in a book. He couldn't work out how my drainpipe had got bunged up with pages. No doubt he now thinks I’m an eccentric English gentleman who has nothing better to do in his spare time than stuff books up his drainpipes! He obviously found it highly amusing because he got his wife to come outside to hear me repeat the explanation.
Chris
#20
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 1
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Been thinking of moving to Prague for a while, visited it a few times and loved it.
Currently I work from home in the UK but rental prices are insane here so would love to try living somewhere else for a while.
Currently I work from home in the UK but rental prices are insane here so would love to try living somewhere else for a while.
#21
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 61
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Hi,
Do you have any Czech-speaking friends to help you with at least the initial issues relating to getting set up in Prague? Tax, residence documents, health scheme registration and so on. You'll probably find a rental agent in Prague that speaks English but a lot of the other things will be difficult to do in English.
Chris
Do you have any Czech-speaking friends to help you with at least the initial issues relating to getting set up in Prague? Tax, residence documents, health scheme registration and so on. You'll probably find a rental agent in Prague that speaks English but a lot of the other things will be difficult to do in English.
Chris
#22
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 41
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Prague is a nice city but expensive and as Chris said it´s good if you have some Czech-speaking friend as paying a translater wouldn´t be cheap.Renting is also very expensive and it really is important to have all required documentation in order as the Czech "sytem " is quick to give financial penalties.Do you have a job to come to in Prague ?
Gail.
#23
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 41
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Hi Gail
There was no offence, I just have not been on the forum for a few days. Renovating the garden is enough for me.
I was in Prague last week. Pleased I don't have to live there, even though it is a beautiful city. I really think that the best things about the Čzech Republic are outside Prague.
I haven't got in to a mess with the formal/informal thing in Czech yet but the language gives plenty of other opportinities! I was up at my old house in the mountains last week and noticed that one of the drainpipes was solid with leaves and water was flying everywhere off the gutter. On the way out, I had a chat with one of our neighbours in Czech and attempted to explain the issue with the drainpipe. I caused great confusion when I used the wrong word for leaves. I remembered that leaves and pages are the same word in Czech, which is correct - "listy" but I used "stranky", which are only pages in a book. He couldn't work out how my drainpipe had got bunged up with pages. No doubt he now thinks I’m an eccentric English gentleman who has nothing better to do in his spare time than stuff books up his drainpipes! He obviously found it highly amusing because he got his wife to come outside to hear me repeat the explanation.
Chris
There was no offence, I just have not been on the forum for a few days. Renovating the garden is enough for me.
I was in Prague last week. Pleased I don't have to live there, even though it is a beautiful city. I really think that the best things about the Čzech Republic are outside Prague.
I haven't got in to a mess with the formal/informal thing in Czech yet but the language gives plenty of other opportinities! I was up at my old house in the mountains last week and noticed that one of the drainpipes was solid with leaves and water was flying everywhere off the gutter. On the way out, I had a chat with one of our neighbours in Czech and attempted to explain the issue with the drainpipe. I caused great confusion when I used the wrong word for leaves. I remembered that leaves and pages are the same word in Czech, which is correct - "listy" but I used "stranky", which are only pages in a book. He couldn't work out how my drainpipe had got bunged up with pages. No doubt he now thinks I’m an eccentric English gentleman who has nothing better to do in his spare time than stuff books up his drainpipes! He obviously found it highly amusing because he got his wife to come outside to hear me repeat the explanation.
Chris
I agree with you about Prague.I like the city but there really is more to see in the Czech Rep and there are so many beautiful historic towns and cities to visit.
It´s really nice that you have a house in the mountains as you can retreat from the city when you want peace and quiet. I think I mentioned that we have our house for sale but we want to buy something that is still within easy reach of the countryside.
You must have had "fun and games" explaining to your neighbour and his wife about the "listy"I must say that it´s still quite "new" for some Czech people to listen to a foreigner speaking Czech but they really like the fact that we´re trying ! !
Gail.
#24
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 61
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
We're trying to sell the spare house in the mountains. It's only about 4km from where we live now.......and 400 metres above, which makes a huge difference. I don't know what the housing market is like near you but it's dead around here - we had not a single viewing last year, barely any enquiries either and I think we are being very realistic on price.
Does your husband believe in Czech traditions and will you be getting a dose of the pomlázka on Easter Monday? Unfortunately, my partner is a thoroughly modern girl and thinks these traditions are old-fashioned and out of date!
Chris
Does your husband believe in Czech traditions and will you be getting a dose of the pomlázka on Easter Monday? Unfortunately, my partner is a thoroughly modern girl and thinks these traditions are old-fashioned and out of date!
Chris
#25
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 41
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
We're trying to sell the spare house in the mountains. It's only about 4km from where we live now.......and 400 metres above, which makes a huge difference. I don't know what the housing market is like near you but it's dead around here - we had not a single viewing last year, barely any enquiries either and I think we are being very realistic on price.
Does your husband believe in Czech traditions and will you be getting a dose of the pomlázka on Easter Monday? Unfortunately, my partner is a thoroughly modern girl and thinks these traditions are old-fashioned and out of date!
Chris
Does your husband believe in Czech traditions and will you be getting a dose of the pomlázka on Easter Monday? Unfortunately, my partner is a thoroughly modern girl and thinks these traditions are old-fashioned and out of date!
Chris
The housing market is also quite slow in our area,though houses do get sold from time to time.Our neighbouring village ,Dolní Morava is a popular ski resort and there has been alot of investment from Brňáci.There has been some interest in our house but it was bulit as a farm house and we have quite a big garden so for people who just want a "weekend" house it´s too big ,our house is more suited to someone who would like to live in the country,though I must say we are in easy reach of schools and shops etc,.
I have heard that the economy is slowly picking up in ČR now so hopefully it could be good for us both house selling wise.
As to Easter,we have two daughters and from a very young age they hated the pomlázka.The "locals" only came to our house a few times and then we decided to either get up early and went out for the morning with the dogs for a long walk or we just didn´t answer the door and all sat quietly in the living room watching TV ! ! The "locals" soon got the message and stopped comimg to us ! ! You could say that we have the same views as your partner.Talking of Easter,hope you have a nice break and that your partner doesn´t have any "visitors" on Monday ! !
Gail.
#26
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 61
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Gail
Yes, our spare house is a bit similar - it's in a location that has lots of recreational properties but is a bit big to be one itself. The garden is quite small though. You can't drive to it in winter either - not that it's a long walk from the parking spot.
The Czech teacher I had last year had a husband who was very keen on traditional Easter traditions. After beating her himself, he instructed his two young sons in the use of the pomlazka on their mother's bottom. They had two appartments above them where two unmarried women lived and so he went up there and thrashed them before driving off to his mother's home to administer the same treatment. Back home he had a beer and then slept off his morning's exertions until lunch-time.
My current teacher is male and he is also very keen. He explained to me yesterday how he had made the pomlazka according to a method his grandfather taught him. Apparently, far thicker and more effective than the weak things you can buy in the local Tesco.
I hope you enjoy Easter too!
Chris
Yes, our spare house is a bit similar - it's in a location that has lots of recreational properties but is a bit big to be one itself. The garden is quite small though. You can't drive to it in winter either - not that it's a long walk from the parking spot.
The Czech teacher I had last year had a husband who was very keen on traditional Easter traditions. After beating her himself, he instructed his two young sons in the use of the pomlazka on their mother's bottom. They had two appartments above them where two unmarried women lived and so he went up there and thrashed them before driving off to his mother's home to administer the same treatment. Back home he had a beer and then slept off his morning's exertions until lunch-time.
My current teacher is male and he is also very keen. He explained to me yesterday how he had made the pomlazka according to a method his grandfather taught him. Apparently, far thicker and more effective than the weak things you can buy in the local Tesco.
I hope you enjoy Easter too!
Chris
#27
Just Joined
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 4
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
We are currently living just outside of Brno.
We can afford a life here that we could only dream of in the UK and we certainly have no intention of returning anytime soon.
#30
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 61
Re: Any Expats in The Czech Republic ?
Actually, outside Prague I've hardly found any British residents at all. I only know two and one of them I work with.
Like you, I really like what the Czech Republic has to offer and can see no good reason for returning to the UK.
Chris