Prague’s Lifestyle

For those living in Prague, the city is an expensive one. With the average monthly wage at about 35,000 CZK, the average resident of Prague can’t afford to go to all of the restaurants and other attractions that tourists frequent regularly. The fact that tourists can afford these places, though, shows that, for those not from the country, Prague can, in fact, be a cheap place to visit. How cheap really does depend on the country that the tourist is visiting from, though.

Despite the financial troubles many people in Prague go through daily, and etiquette is still an important value shared by nearly all. Everyone will say “Dobry den” to anyone when they enter a shop or restaurant and “Na shledanou” when they leave. Even being invited to someone’s house is cause for etiquette, and most people in this situation are expected to bring some gift along – flowers usually suffice. It is also considered a good form to dress correctly for a night out on the town, especially when attending an event such as a classical concert or banquet.

One of the biggest problems that still blights the city of Prague is that of corruption, which is still rife among many of the government’s departments. Most people from Prague will usually bring gifts for public officials when meeting with them to ensure that they treated well. This corruption problem in Prague has even been given its own name (Jánabráchismus) – which essentially translates as “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”

Most people in Prague love a few different things, with the main one of these being beer! It is not unusual to even see workers drinking a pint before heading to work. Such is the love of this alcoholic beverage. Other things that the people of Prague seem to love in abundance are dogs, not cleaning up after dogs and surreal humour – think “Monty Python”, and you’ll be on the right lines.