Being a newbie in any city can be quite a challenge but it is easier to start your new life as an expat if you also get to meet new people and even more importantly, create friendships. Here we are offering you some tips on where to find new friends:
Join a local sport club, dance school or gym
Is there a better way of meeting someone new than while doing what you like? Joining a local sport club, dance school or a gym can give you many opportunities to start talking with people and getting to know them. It also gives you a chance to see them every week, even if your schedule is quite busy.
Join a language class or find a language exchange partner
Learning a new language has many benefits but, in this case, it gives you a chance to meet others that are trying to learn and it expands the chances of getting to know the locals and immerse yourself into the local community and culture. You can either join a language school or find a language exchange partner. At Locus there are many individuals from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and we even organise events that focus on a specific language. You can join French, Czech, and Spanish language lunch breaks, or even a Czech language meetup.
Volunteering
Would you like to meet people that care about the same problems as you? Would you like to give a hand to another person, animal or nature? Then an interesting way to meet new friends is volunteering. A good way to find something you are passionate about is writing directly to specific associations, organisations or animal shelters (one of many). Since for example shelters are many times a bit out of the cities, we can recommend this group where volunteers connect and drive together.
Meetup.com
Meetup.com is a great platform to find different events that are happening in Prague or in other cities. You can find everything, from language classes to sport events, singing, dancing etc., but also events that are related to your professional development such as for example a Public Speaking Workshop. At Meetup.com you can also find different groups such as Expats & Travellers in Prague or Locus: FUN STUFF in Prague.
PragueToday
Another Facebook group to follow if you do not want to miss any opportunity to be around people is PragueToday. They regularly post events that are going to happen in Prague and also share interesting facts about the city.
Did you arrive with a dog?
Dogs are awesome ice breakers, so if you arrived with a dog, we would recommend visiting dog parks or even organising a playdate with other dogs. One of the ways is to join a FB group called Doggie Community Prague, where people are often looking for friends for their dogs and in the meantime, you will have a chance to maybe get a new friend yourself.
Facebook, Couchsurfing, Instagram
We already mentioned Facebook as a good source of information for a newbie that wants to get to know new friends. You can also join a Facebook group of other expats or even groups of expats from your country.Other two sites worth mentioning are Couchsurfing and Instagram. There you can find diverse people or groups and different events that give you a chance to meet new “bestie”.
And last but not least…
Join a coworking space
If you are working from home but would like to work somewhere else, a great chance for you is a coworking space. Here at Locus, you can meet people from all over the world and join our weekly lunches, pub nights, coffee breaks and more. We are more than happy to create a community in which people do not feel forced to join events but are instead excited to meet with each other and spend the time with other members even in their free time. Another great international place we can recommend here in Prague is Coffice. They offer different events which give you a chance to connect with others.
Building new friendships abroad will give you a chance to immerse into the culture. It will give you a chance to create even more long-lasting memories of your life abroad. Friendships made overseas many times develop into a lifelong relationship that you will cherish forever.
Another interesting article for newbies in Prague: 12 pages you’ll need to follow if you’re new in Prague
