February MeetUp in Prague

This is the fourth time that the MeetUp was held at Café Domecek. It’s always exciting to know what people precedents MeetUp, I can meet new people that are coming for their first time. And I really like to make a small interview with a foreigner 🙂

Cafe Domecek

Lot of fun and great encounters

The event attracted around thirty people. I felt that the atmosphere was quite different than the previous Meet Up because we were a bit less than usual. Although, it was much easier to talk to almost all of the people. It is also the first time I met Erasmus students at a Meet Up. I also had the opportunity to chat with a Malaysian who comes from Kuala Lumpur and did a little tour through Europe with Couch Surfing. He left Prague the next day for a ride to Krakow, Poland before going to Moscow where he will spend a semester studying medicine.

I also had the opportunity to see our Italian friends who have attended every Meet Up. It is also nice to chat with Czechs living in Prague and want to meet foreigners.

Before the ice breaking game

My favorite part of the Meet Up is the ice breaking game. The game changes every month. My colleague Hana introduced the game, “Mafia”.

Hana Gives the rules

Little explanation: each person has his name on a sticker & we give each participant a piece of paper with the name of another person in the room. You must keep the name secret. The goal is to take the sticker of the person whose name you have. When you get the sticker of the person, you get the name of the person whose sticker that person had. The goal is to get a maximum amount  of victims before you are figured out.

With this game several strategies adopted to hide ones name, coming like a spy for their target. When the game got started, there was initially a lot of suspicion and a wind of madness took hold of the room, with lots of laughter.
Unfortunately, I did not luck out, I was quickly killed by my boss, Andrea. I said its okay, it will give me the opportunity to take photos 🙂

Remember if you want to see all pictures of the event join us on our facebook page.

The interview

After the ice breaking game, I took a foreigner for a small interview. I will briefly present him: His name is Rishabh, he is 32 years old. He is originally from New Delhi, India. He works in advertising Freelance. He arrived in Prague in 2005 and thinks he will stay in Prague for another year.
Question: How did you hear about the event?

Answer: Internet, in fact I was looking for a friend who wanted to change apartments through the site Foreigners.cz and after I went to your facebook page, I saw the event, I thought why not, it could be a good experience.

Question: What is your favorite place in Prague?

Answer: My favorite place is the Kino Lucerna near Wenceslas Square. It is the second oldest theater still running in Europe, it is over 100 years of existence. This theater offers a program quite varied, you have movies that you can find in other theater, mainstream movie, or author’s movies. Or the cinema organizes events during the year. I usually don’t go to the cinema to watch a movie especially because I can watch them in my house. But, Kino Lucerna has a special atmosphere, it is never too crowded. I can have a balcony  to myself. In the rooms you can see the chandeliers, the frame is so special that you feel immersed in another era. People who go to Kino Lucerna go there because they love films and cinema. This is not a large or complex area, also Kino Lucerna does not sell Pop Corn.

There are also other places that I like in this atmosphere that makes you feel time is stuck in the year 1920’s 1930’s such as Le Café Louvre or Café Zlatvia. It may be a bit touristy, but the atmosphere is not typical. The decor comes from an other era, and people are still discussing it. Kafka often went to this cafe.
If you want a good restaurant in the center, I suggest you U Knihovna (The library) you can eat typical Czech food for reasonable price. I especially recommend the duck, it is delicious.

Question: For you what is the difference between Indian culture and Czech culture? Answer:In India when you meet someone you say right away that you are friends. While the Czechs take their time to become friends. But when you are friend with a Czech, it is a solid friendship.

Question:What are your next trips? Answer: I’d love to go to Israel, I am interested by this culture and I would like to know them. But if I leave Prague next year, I would like to live in Italy near Rome. For me, Italian culture is close to Indian culture in many aspects.

Question: Do you have a dream or dreams? Answer: Yes, my dream is simple, it is to live in many countries as possible, not just visiting.

A big thank you to Rishabh for giving me his time to answer my questions. This is the real chance with the Meet Up – someone can be looking on our website for an apartment or other services and ultimately meet new people.

Next Event

You can go to our Facebook page Foreigners.cz Prague to see pictures of the event and to stay updated on next month Meet Up. I look forward to seeing you on March the 14th for the next Meet Up, which is also my last one. So I hope to see many more people. Take care and see you soon 🙂

Foreigners.cz