Freelancing...

I've always been a 'freelancer' or worked 'volne na noze' as it's known here.  I've never been much of a one to work in a permanent job, arrive at the same desk everyday and do my 9-5.  Of course it comes with many disadvantages like no stable income/ no holiday/ sick pay/ pension, but even in my old age I wouldn't have it any other way.  I like the 'free' in freelancing too much.

However, since we're staying in Prague I've had to get my act together and sort out my official paperwork and get something called a Zivnostensky List, or 'traders licence' - a self employed status where I'm responsible for my own tax and social security contributions.

The problem is this involves sorting out my official paperwork and that's no mean feet here.  I read somewhere that bureaucracy is as part of Czech culture as beer. There's a lot of rubber stamping and signing, a bit more stamping, another signature, oh then you need to go across to another office on the other side of Prague to get another stamp.  I can see why Kafka was so inspired...

It's only taken us 11 months to get a Czech licence plate for the car  (it's just as well we decided to stay for another year)  So with this in mind I headed to the local 'urad' or offices to get my licence with not much hope that I'd get anything sorted quickly.

My first problem was that I had to determine which office I needed to go to.  Eventually after a bit of wandering around I found the lady that deals with 'L, M and Ns' (luckily she was in that day as I'm in no doubt that the H, I, J and K lady wouldn't have been able to deal with my case).

In my bad Czech I somehow made myself understood and an exasperated lady sat me down and tried to process my application with a lot of huffing and puffing.

But you know what?  I didn't care.  I was proud of myself because a year ago I couldn't have done this on my own, my husband would have had to hand hold me all the way, and although I have to return again next week with the 'correct' paperwork,  I'm happy!

Food...glorious food?

There's nothing quite like it....

Unless you're shopping in a supermarket in the Czech Republic that is.  It's a bit of a shock after Waitrose, M&S, Sainsburys...and frankly even Tescos in Leytonstone.

Supermarket food here is pretty grim.  Don't get me wrong  - you can buy most things nowdays, from pesto to parma ham, curry paste to sesame seed oil.  But it's the low quality meat, the so called 'fresh' produce that just leave a bad taste in your mouth.

The veggies are rank and last about 3 or 4 days, if you're lucky, but most end up like this;

or this

I complained to a Czech friend of mine who told me it's because the supermarket chains (including good old Tesco here) use the Czech republic as a kind of large disposal bin - they ship the products they can't sell anywhere else here because Czech's want cheap food.

But the thing is, it's not much cheaper and a lot of Czechs are beginning to realise they are being duped.  Outside of the cities of course, people like our Czech Rellies, still live a subsidence living and grow their own - but we all rely on the supermarkets at one point or another.

Slowly Czechs are waking up and smelling the coffee, realising that there are other choices - even around near me in deepest darkest suburbia a neighbour told me about a vegetable box delivery, and there is a van which comes once a week selling fresh milk and dairy produce, supposedly direct from farmers.

I've even read stories of Czechs driving across the border to Germany and Austria loading up their cars with groceries - it all sounds a bit extreme.

But if the old adage is true, 'you are what you eat', I'm afraid I might be a rotten tomato.

Home is where the heart is...

Ok I know, it's been radio silence here on the old blog front.

It's that I didn't want to write, it's just that I couldn't write.  It's been a stressful month or so deciding whether we should stay in the Czech Republic or return to the UK.

And finally we've decided to stay for one more school year, we weren't ready to go back yet just because school beauracy was forcing our hand.  Instead for better or worse we've made a decision and we hope it works out....one more year in Prague then starting secondary school back in Blighty.

Although we are having a great time here, and family is happy I can't quite imagine spending the rest of my life here, or certainly 8 more years of school education.  And if I'm honest too, I want my kids to have their secondary education in English.  No offense but Czech ain't exactly internationally recognised.  I also miss being back at 'home', it's not time to go back yet....but it's on the horizon.

Humans are adaptable creatures really, give us a bed, some creature comforts, give us a task like making sure the kids are settled and ok at school, and a job to go to, and there we go boom suddenly a year goes by.

But it's getting a bit of squash and a squeeze Chez Nous.  While the kids are growing every year, our home always seems to be shrinkin', we currently living in the family's small flat.  We're getting it all wrong - instead of upsizing, we keep downsizing.  When the kids have left home we'll probably be moving into a mansion.

So we've had to do some creative re thinking about how we're fitting in, and as our brood gets old and needs more privacy.  Good old Ikea to the rescue.

Before....

...and after

Whenever I think the walls are closing in on me, or start salivating over 4 bed Victorians on Rightmove, I have to remind myself that we are still lucky to be on an adventure, living life....and this is the small price we have to pay.