It's great to see that you've made it here in case you're interested in staying with us. We're pleased with your choice and hope you will find this page somewhat useful. We will try to show you what it looks like when you stay with us.
First off, we will introduce our country and our city.
The Czech Republic
Since you've decided to come here for an exchange, you probably already know, where we are situated. The heart of Europe - in the middle of Middle Europe, surrounded by Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovakia.
Around 10 500 000 inhabitans are living in The Czech Republic and about 1,2 milion from that are living in our capital, in Prague. Most of Czechs are atheists, around 85%. The rest is mostly christians. The biggest minorities are Slovaks, Ukrainians and Vietnamese people. The official language is Czech. The currency (No, we still do not have Euro) is Czech Koruna (CZK) with the exchange rate roughly 1 EUR = 25 CZK.
Historically, Prague was and still is one of the most important cities in the eastern part of Europe. We have a really long history, but we will tell you more about it during our national event Get-to-know Czech! during the Introduction Week.
Time zone is UTC+1 (CET) and UTC+2 in summer time (CEST), as at the most of european countries. We are a member of United Nations, European Union and NATO. Our political system is democratic republic - so in the head of our state is a president.
Czech Republic is a wonderfull land full of old castles, beautiful river valleys, historical towns and amazing landscape. Don´t worry, you will have planty of time to discover your new home!
Budweis
České Budějovice (Budweis in German, also used in English) is the largest city of South Bohemian Region. It is located in the center of a valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše river. The city has population over 90 000 inhabitans and around 20 000 students, so we truly can say Budweis is a student city!
City was founded in 1265 by Ottokar II of Bohemia, so nowadays the city is celebrating its 750th birthday! During the last couple of years, the councilors of the city are trying to enlarge the green areas in the city, supports sports and preserving the beautiful historical center.
Geographically speaking, the city is on a plain, without any hills or valleys. The center of the city is filled with a very old buildings, protected by wall and river. Outside of the center, you can find all kinds of city-faces. You can see the comunism era in Máj or Šumava neighbourhood as well as the modern era with our shopping centers and stores. Over and over, Budweis is truly amazing city, we are sure that you will fall in love with it!