Due to covid, he fled from the Czech Republic to the largest island in Europe. The pub and the church work better there than the internet

Moving to Britain was not a bet on uncertainty for Smolík, rather the opposite. Both he and his current wife had experience in the south of England, so they knew what they were getting into. They found a new home near Manchester and Liverpool, i.e. in a former industrial center in the north of the country. “It’s cheaper there than around London, and the people came to us like in Moravia, that is, friendlier, and not in such a hurry,” says Smolík in the introduction of the podcast.

The Czech couple chose the area near Manchester in advance even before the start of covid. “On the basis of about a three-day trip, we decided that we would try our luck there. We found it to be an affordable city and at the same time comparable in size to Prague. After all, London is a metropolis that has the same number of inhabitants as the entire Czech Republic,” he states.

However, the move at the beginning of the pandemic and just before Britain’s exit from the EU brought with it a number of bureaucratic challenges. However, they successfully overcame the Smolíks and after the initial vicissitudes and the lockdown, they started to settle down. According to Smolík, spring was spent in England in a more positive and free spirit. “I remember that we sent photos to our friends of us having a beer, while the curfew was the strictest in the Czech Republic,” he smiles.

Integrating into British society is not a problem for foreigners, according to Smolík, if a person is hardworking and does not cause problems. The British themselves, at least those from the north, are friendly and very communicative, they say they start talking to practically anyone in pubs.

“Just order at the bar and the regulars will immediately tell you if it’s a good beer. Then they react, for example, to your accent and ask where you are from, and simply want to have fun. English pubs are such cultists, the word pub is short for public house,” explains Smolík. “Even if you walk down the street, strangers greet you, unless you’re in some impersonal big city.”

According to Čech, British pubs and churches also outperform Internet search engines in many ways. “When a person throws something in the yard and says that he is looking for something or someone, someone will immediately help him. The vicar may mention it during the service,” Smolík highlights the community spirit that prevails in smaller towns or in the countryside.

According to Smolík, British politeness and sociability, which can often be perceived as cultural stereotypes, are strongly present, they are not just untrue clichés. This also applies to the love of alcohol, or rather beer, which the British share with the Germans, but also with the Czechs. “In some pubs you won’t meet anyone during the week, but on weekends they have to hire bouncers because it’s packed. People really go there and purposefully cancel on Friday,” laughs Smolík.

Adaptation in the new environment was easy for the Czechs, who also had a son in Britain, but they encountered some cultural differences. A big difference compared to the Czech Republic is a strongly class-based society.

“We had communism, which tried to destroy the middle class. They didn’t have that in England, so in the cities you have neighborhoods where the working class lives, then there are areas where the middle class lives, and somewhere there are palaces of the nobility. We also do not know such generational wealth from us. In England, you have families that own entire regions, have investment funds, and they are generations and generations of nobles.”

For that reason, elitism is still felt to a certain extent in Britain, differences are also made between people who studied in public and private schools. This is not the only reason why Smolík grew fond of the north, which he would compare to Ostrava and which he does not perceive as so aristocratic.

Although the British did not experience communism, it is an exaggeration to say that they still like one of its symbols. Queuing, but not for bananas, is a British specialty. “You’re at a bus stop where the bus leaves in ten minutes, and there’s a queue depending on how people came. To be fair. So whoever came first is first in line and so on. In short, that everything is in order,” confirms Smolík.

According to Čech, a tea break is equally essential, but tea does not have to figure at all. It can also be beer, whiskey or a sandwich. “It’s simply a social event,” he states.

Are the British similar to the Czechs? And what are they ahead of? Why is it more worthwhile to find things in a pub or a church than on the Internet? Are excessive politeness or dry humor just a worn-out cultural cliché? And how are foreigners doing in Britain? You will not only learn that in the complete one-hour interview, this article serves only as a summary of selected topics. You can watch the interview on video or play it in the audio player at the beginning of the article.

Do you enjoy travel stories and interviews? Do you have any comments, criticisms or praise for them? Let us know the address michael.svarc@novinky.cz and state in the subject “Blind Map”.