University of Economics (VSE), Prague, Czech Republic
Fourth Year, Semester One 2014, BCom (Finance)
I loved my time in Prague and the Czech Republic and I highly recommend it as an exchange destination. The low cost
of living, its central location in Europe and VSE’s very social atmosphere makes it a great first choice.
BEFORE PRAGUE
Organising the visa is the biggest issue with the process taking up to 2 months. I left NZ the November prior and
organised all my documents to lodge in London early December (which from then takes around 4-6 weeks to process).
Most Kiwis generally have to send their application and passports over to Australia for 6 weeks or so. However I have
also heard of people entering the Czech Republic on a 90 day tourist visa and then lodge a short term resident visa in
Berlin (a 5 hour bus from Prague) if you have the documents with you from NZ – saving a lot of stress.
VSE itself has a very well-established exchange program including its great “Buddy System” so from that respect
everything runs pretty smoothly (accommodation, courses etc). Your Buddy is a local Czech student who will collect
you from the airport/train station and help set you up at the dorms as well as generally helping you out for the
duration of the semester.
ACOMMODATION
I stayed in the dorms (Jarov 3F), which, as according to the other reviews, are of a simple ‘Communist chic’ style but
totally fine – especially with respect to the price! They are located on the outskirts of Zizkov (Prague 3) at the
Chmelnice tram stop, which is 15min from VSE and 20min from town. Both international and Czech students live in the
dorms.
With 90% of the exchange students living in the dorms, living here is the easiest way to meet everyone. It has a fun and
relaxed atmosphere that pretty much mirrors the first year hall experience at Otago. I was lucky - my roommate was
Portuguese and an absolute dream. The other two girls were Swiss and French-Canadian and also lovely. However it is
very easy to change rooms if you do not get along with your roommates.
It was approximately $600NZD for 4 months rent including power and internet. There are four people per “flat” – two
per room each with a single bed, desk and shelves, a shared bathroom and a “kitchen” which consists of 2 hotplates
and a mini fridge (which is fine as everyone ends up eating out majority of the time because it is so cheap). The internet
is pretty dodgy in 50% of the rooms, which can be fixed by buying a cable from an electronics store. There is a girl’s
gym on the 5th floor (which I never used but apparently is cheap and sufficient), a guy’s gym in a neighbouring Jarov
building and a swimming pool at Hotel Oslanska (10min tram). There is a little shop/dairy at the end of the street and a
big hypermarket (Kaufland) 1km/two tram stops away.
The “Mensa” (dorm food hall) provides very cheap big meals. Nicer options close to the dorms are Pho Nem near the
Ohrada tram stop (very good cheap Vietnamese) and Don Vitos and Bambinis (cheap Italian/pizza). You could spend
5NZD if not less at these places for very filling meal.
If the dorms are not for you, I know a few who used the 10 day trial period in the dorms to find an apartment or
organised an apartment and group through the Exchange Facebook page which was set up early December.
GETTING AROUND
Language wise, English is pretty prevalent so you will generally not have too much trouble. The language barriers at the
post office and supermarket provided for some light entertainment. The receptionists at the dorms however speak
next to nothing so you will find you generally resort to mime and Google translate. Rule of thumb everyone who has
been educated since the early 1990’s will have some conversational English.
Prague has a great public transport system, with the trams running 24 hours allowing you to get anywhere at anytime.
A 3 month pass costs around 50NZD. Taxis are also relatively cheap compared to NZ but the taxi drivers are well
renowned for taking advantage of foreigners so make sure the meter is running or order one.
VSE tram stop
UNIVERSITY
The exchange courses at VSE are very relaxed and require a lot less effort than Otago. The classes run a little longer
(either 1.5 or 3 hours) and are smaller – mine ranged from 15-60 people. They also tend to mark attendance so try to
bulk up your classes on specific days to allow you to make the most of travel and exploring Prague (I only had classes
Monday – Wednesday). Reiterating other reviews, try to avoid scheduling classes on Wednesday’s after the Buddy
System’s Tuesday night Nation to Nation parties - I had one class at 12:45pm which every week felt like the equivalent
of an 8am. The final grade is generally determined by attendance, a presentation (a huge bonus having English as a first
language) or mid semester exam and a final exam. You can choose when to sit your final exams, but most exchange
students choose to sit in the final week of class. This meant in my particular year everyone was finished by the 23 May.
Make sure you take advantage of the intensive courses. They are announced at the beginning of the semester and
some more come up over the duration of the semester - allowing you to drop out of some full semester papers and
take an intensive course over 3 days instead. Both of mine were assessed on participation and a final presentation.
If you study Finance, International Financial Markets 1BP425 (FINC302) and Derivatives I 1BP426 (FINC306) are both
lectured by Jiri Witzany and are technically ‘Masters’ courses so won’t come up on the online platform when initially
choosing papers in January. Harder than the typical VSE exchange course, they still require a lot less work than Otago.
Once you arrive in Prague, a quick chat with the international office and an email to the lecturer will allow you to join
the course. These courses were 90% Czech students so provided a good way to make some friends outside of the
‘exchange bubble’. www.VSEborec.cz is a student run black market website for notes/past exams etc so get chatting to
a student in class or your Buddy to obtain their username so you too can gain access. These papers were both assessed
via two homework assignments, a mid semester (which is optional to sit) and a final exam. The mid semester and final
exams have not really changed in the past 5 years.
PRAGUE ITSELF
Praha is truly beautiful and safe city with a very interesting history. It is renowned for being the “City of a Thousand
Spires” and for having an awesome nightlife. However it is also becoming more and more hip and often quipped as
being the “new Copenhagen” with a lot of cool new restaurants, cafes and food festivals which are half the price of
what they would be in NZ. I met the lovely couple behind www.tasteofprague.com/pragueblog which has a lot of great
suggestions on what to do and where to go.
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My favourite suburb was Vinohrady (Prague 2) which has all the beautiful buildings of the centre and some great
food places minus the hordes of tourists. I also enjoyed going up to Vysehrad cathedral (opposite end of town to
Prague Castle) which had a beautiful park and a great view of the city.
The Czech’s love their dogs, their parks and their beer. One of the best things to do on a sunny afternoon is to
combine all three (particularly at the Riegravy Park behind Uni) and get a $1 beer with friends and soak up the
atmosphere.
The farmers market by the Palacky Bridge also puts the Dunedin one to shame, particularly as it gets warmer. You
can easily spend two hours wandering up and down on Saturdays. Divjecka (end of the green metro) also has a
good one.
Try to see something at the Opera house purely to go inside. Tickets are cheap.
My favourite cafes: EMA (5 minute tram from VSE) and Muj Salek Kavy
My favourite restaurants: Cestr (meat eaters heaven), Sansho, Note Bene and Rest (restrest.cz) which is at the
bottom of Vsyehrad.
TRAVEL
The VSE workload and Prague’s location in central Europe means travel is cheap and easy. If you time it right, flight
prices are low and the busses are great. Student Agency (yellow busses) tend to be the best (even though it has a very
dodgy looking website). In the Czech Republic, make sure you visit Cesky Krumlov (near the Austrian boarder) for a
weekend and a day trip out to Kutna Hora (which is mostly known for its Bone Church but is a beautiful historic mining
town with some pretty impressive cathedrals). Skyscanner and Edreams are good for comparing flights and
www.rome2rio.com for sorting out logistics.
The majority of exchange students live a pretty transient lifestyle going away most weekends. This is apparently even
more so in the summer semester with the warmer weather. Although there is no scheduled mid semester break, due
to Easter and Public Holidays I was able to take 10 days off to travel and only miss one day of class.
FINAL COMMENTS
I had the time of my life in Prague and I think it is a great exchange destination allowing you to immerse yourself in a
different culture while providing excellent base for exploring Europe. However wherever you end up going you will no
doubt have a fantastic time if you take every opportunity all while meeting and making friends with people from all
over the world!
Vinohrady