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Xuexiu Jia
When I see the list of topics to share, I had a strong feeling to share with you my tips of making “living in Brno” like “living at home”.
I believe if you have already made the decision to study abroad, you might be a person with proper abilities to adapt to new environments. But it also depends where are you from, how different the food, culture and life style are. It would make a great difference that you moved here from Britain or Beijing. Studying abroad alone is not easy, especially when you don’t know almost anything about the language and culture. Are you afraid you will miss your home from time to time, or not able to fit in local life? Here are some of my “tips” based on my first-hand experience and observations for you to make living here like living at your home.
The key words are “active adapt”, and “Finding Nemo”. These are general tips that would work not only for adapting new lives in Brno but any other new environment. I will generaly introduce them and then share more specific experiences of living in Brno/Czech Republic.
Active adapt is a piece of general advice for all students who are studying abroad. It means you have to be actively prepared and get ready mentally (also physically, of course ;)) to adapt to the new environment. Do not just wait until the arrival day and realise “wow everything just becomes so different and it feels so hard”. What can you do BEFORE you come here? For example, collect information of your destination, learn basic czech lanauge, and maybe also find some “living in Brno” groups to get a little bit of how it looks like of living here. Search the price of living in Brno and prepare a brief financial plan so you won’t find yourself in the embassying situation of “bankruptcy” in one or two months. Active and even proactive, that’s the point. For me, my biggest effort to active adaption is to learn the Czech language, which easies my life in many many ways. Daily lives become much more comfortable (especially when you encounter some problems, visit doctors/dentists), local people are more friendly and communitive, knowing what’s going on around you and feel more involved with the local life. If you are studying in English and don’t have the motivation to learn the Czech language, set an offical lanauge test date and go for it! Learning languages for exams is different from practical purposes, but at least it keeps you exposed to the language and increase your vocabulary. Listening radios helps a lot with increasing vocabulary as well as get the “feelings” of speaking too. Czech lanauge is simple and complex in its own way, and it is also very rich and beautiful lanauge. You might be amazed by even its complexity.Brno city center
It is exciting to explore the new lives in a new place, that’s why we are here. But when you are down and feel insecure because all your familiar things are changed. Your families and friends are not here, you did not see your favorite restaurant around the corner, and that small café where you studies every afternoon is missing from the street, etc. Of course, you can throw a video call to your families and friends when you miss them, but when you miss your familiar living environment, I also have a small tip for you. I call it “finding Nemo”, means to find similar things here as in your home town. It was not so difficult for me to find my Nemo in food, decoration, drink, even in the language (what a surprise!). Czech dumplings (knedliky) is the first thing I found similar to Chinese food. It’s not similar to Chinese dumplings, but a typical north China side dish – Mantou (馒头), I would say its basically the same food with different names. The second one is Czech gulaš, it is very similar to the Chinese Stewed Beef Brisket with Tomato (西红柿牛腩), the form and taste are very very similar. Of course, I would also cook our traditional dumplings when I really miss my home tastes. Also, you can go search for a restaurant to comfort your stomach, and after a great home meal, you feel be alive again. Brno is becoming more and more international in terms of food, all types of Chinese food, Indian food, Vietnamese food, Thai food, Greek food, Japanese food, Koren food and many more. Home cooking is also a great way, the process of cooking the food is also very curing.dumplings and dumplings
A last small spoiler for the coming ones, what’s typical in the Czech Republic? There are really many to be listed, but I selected a few for you as a starter to explore. Typical czech food are listed based on my own judgements. Fried Chicken Fillets (Smažené kuřecí řízek) or řizky in a local way is my favourite Czech food. Freshly cooked řizky is crispy outside but soft and juicy inside, and with tartar sauce it is the best. Other typical Czech foods are svičkova, gulaš, and so on. Another need-to-mentioned desert is makovec, it‘s like a cake rolled with poppy seeds.
Poppy seeds are banned in many countries as they are considered as “drug“, so some people are just curious to try it. Yes another one, is also worth methoed - Olomoucké tvarůžky, because of its very distinguished smell (smelly J). Beside food, the most typical Czech drink is of course beer, what they call „liquid bread“. In south moravia, there is also very good wine and slivovice, which is a spirit made of plums. In Brno, homemade lemonade (nonalcoholic) is also very popular. It is usually made with syrups, fruits, flowers, or cucumber, etc. My favorit two kinds are cucumber and elderflower. After eating and drinking, you might need some sports to keep fit. In summer you can enjoy the amazing nature in the north CZ with biking or hiking. In winter, a must to see is ice hocky, being in the statium and surrounded by screaming fans is an exciting and unforgettable experience. There are also lots of driting and motorbike racing in spring until autum. Besides all these exciting activities, there are many beautiful villages, especially in the South Moravia region, where are traditional foklor and krojs. Many villages in south Moravia also have annual hody festival, where you can enjoy foklor dance, singing, wine, and delicious food.
Moravian folklor
Responsibility: Martina Halouzková