Culture shock in Prague: why the first year can feel so hard

You arrived full of plans: the beautiful old town, the trams, the new job or studies. A few months later, things feel different. The shop assistant seemed rude, the paperwork never ends, and you miss things you never noticed at home. If this sounds familiar, you are not failing at expat life. You are going through culture shock, and almost everyone does.

The four stages most people go through

• Honeymoon: everything is new and exciting.
• Frustration: small differences start to feel big, and you feel tired, irritable or homesick.
• Adjustment: you find your routines, your shortcuts and your people.
• Adaptation: Prague starts to feel like a place where you belong, not just a place where you live.

The stages are not neat, and you can move back and forth between them, especially around holidays, birthdays or big life changes.

What helps

• Name it. Knowing that this is a normal phase makes it less frightening.
• Keep one or two familiar rituals from home: a food, a sport, a weekly call.
• Build a small routine: the same café, the same tram line, the same Saturday walk.
• Learn a few words of Czech. Even “dobrý den” and “děkuji” change how daily interactions feel.
• Talk about it with other people who have been through it.

When it is more than culture shock

If low mood, anxiety, poor sleep or loneliness last for weeks and start to affect your work, studies or relationships, it is a good moment to talk to a professional. Adjusting to a new country is one of the most common reasons people come to us, and it is much easier with support.

Prague Integration offers counselling for expats and locals in over 10 languages, online or in person in Prague 1. Book a free discovery session and we will match you with the right person.