Act Like a Local

At orientation, we were given a number of handouts to help us figure out the public transportation system. As I have talked before, it is made up of trams that run on tracks along the street, as well as busses, and an underground subway.

One of the handouts they gave us was a brochure put together by a group called Use-It ©. This company is all over Europe and interviews local students for their best travel tips for tourists. One panel discussed how to act like a local. I’d like to share a few excerpts from it with you before talking more about some of my adventures in Prague. I am aware that some of the English is incorrect, but I reprinted it here exactly as it appeared on the brochure.

• “Just after the Velvet Revolution, Prague experienced a touristic boom. Maybe the 40 years of communism when we enjoyed Prague with much fewer tourists spoiled us…maybe we just do not want to get used to crows of tourists…who knows? But one thing is certain, if you want to act like a local, DO complain about tourists.
• “Don’t shout too much on the night tram. In fact, don’t shout during the day either. People get angry and that’s one reason Czech’s can’t stand tourists.
• “Do not block the streets or entrance and let the local ‘runners’ go ahead. On escalators in the [subway], stay on the right side, one-by-one and leave the left side free the ‘runners.’ Want a bit of advice? Become the ‘runner’…
• “If you want to get somewhere, avoid the main tourist streets. Use a ‘pasáž’ (Czech for “passage”) and always choose a back street. Even one street over is OK. See? You can walk straight ahead and no need to watch out for pickpockets—what a relief! Avoid the ever popular “Royal Way” from Old Town Square Charles Bridge to Prague Castle.
• “Normally we leave about 20 CZK as a tip in typical restaurant. Usually less in a bar or pub, so always round to nearest 5 or 10 CZK. But if one goes ‘for one beer’ and they want to rob him by requiring 45 CZK for one [beer] or they are really unfriendly with you, just pay what you have to pay. (No tip is plausible!)
• “It is not [typical] for us to kiss or hug when we meet. It might feel awkward to shake hands also, but sometimes it’s weird not to do anything—we are quite difficult about that. We suggest you wait to see what the other person does and then follow.
• “Let elderly people sit on the tram. It is polite and you avoid the unpleasant arguments with retired grandmas and grandpas of Prague, often ‘armed’ with canes.
• “If we need to buy something when the usual supermarkets are already closed or we are too lazy, we buy stuff in small Vietnamese shops. You can find them almost everywhere and they have almost everything from bananas to a toothbrush to AA batteries. How come they are Vietnamese? Well, they kept coming here during our long-term socialist friendship with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and ended up staying. Now, they are among the most populous minority here. Typically, they do not speak much Czech since they live in separate communities and work much longer hours than most Czechs would.
• “Order the lunch! Usually between 11:30 and 2pm, sometimes with soup and drink, sometimes just a cheaper choice of a [typical] main meal, every restaurant in Prague serves [a special lunch] and we depend on it.