Out and About

Out and About

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

How do you say "FML" in Czech?

Adjustment to life in Prague has been smooth, for the most part, with the exceptions of some turbulent bumps. I needed to register in the Foreign Police office, as I am a foreigner. In the first meeting with my new boss, she told me to go register myself and that the people in the office would speak a bit of English. I went straight from my meeting with her to the Foreign Police office. As soon as I entered I had a feeling that something was not going to go right. First of all, I had an inkling that the 65 year old, obese man behind the "Informace" (Information) desk where I got in line just might not know any English. I waited in line to speak to him, and lo and behold, English, not so much. I handed him my passport and what my boss had written in Czech to get the point across of what it was I needed. He looked at my passport, smiled, and said American, eh? I only know this because American in Czech is americky, not too hard to figure out. He then went on to make what I can only imagine to be a snide comment, snickered, and handed me the passport back. He then said a few sentences in Czech, looked at me, and figured out I had not even the slightest clue what he just said. He then directed himself to the line and asked if anyone spoke English. Fortunately, a guy in the line did speak English and told me I needed to go to another office on a different floor than this office. He then proceeded to tell me the name of the office I was to go to, to which I pleaded he write down the horrendous, 57 syllable name of whatever office he just said. At that very moment, another worker at the office happened to pass by and the guy behind the counter asked her to show me where to go.

We walked to another building very close by, and at the door she signaled where I was to go and said everything in Czech, of course. The only reason I knew where to go was because the English speaking guy said 3rd floor, and this lady pointed to the left at the end of the hall. Using these clues, I made it with no problem to the actual Foreign Police office. I went to the computer that generated tickets. It was in English and Czech! This was a good sign; I relaxed. I figured out what I needed in English and printed the ticket, which was in Czech. I waited about 15 minutes and when they called me up I showed the lady my ticket and gave her my passport. She looked at them and then said things to me in Czech. As is my usual feeble response, I shrugged my shoulders and said "English?" She gave my passport back to me and the only English she then said was "You must speak Czech." After a moment of confusion, I asked if there was someone in the office who did speak English. She shook her head and said no. I was flabbergasted. This was the Foreign Police office. Surely they deal with English speaking immigrants on a daily basis, and no one in the office speaks English???

Before arriving to the Czech Republic, if I had to guess one place in the whole country that would speak English, I would guess the Foreign Office in the capital, A.K.A. Prague. After living here for a few days, I can now tell you that your best bet for English is the bank, pharmacy, and post office. The places where I would expect some level of English, like the Foreign Police office and the ticket booth for public transportation, are a bit lacking.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. Lesson learned. I came to Prague for excitement, right? Well, excitement I got!

3 comments:

  1. Love it Angela. Don't tick off the whole Eastern Block. Allan

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  2. You should get a translation app on your phone to help you out.

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