Expat Next Door

Expat Next Door: Kiyani Johnson’s Football Passion and Cultural Experience in Prague

Recently, Prague Morning had the pleasure to meet Kiyani Johnson, a talented football player whose athletics journey took her from her early years on the field to the vibrant city of Prague. Like many expats, Kiyani’s story is one of passion, cultural discovery, and the pursuit of her dreams. Now, her journey is in Prague thanks to Sparta Prague Football Club, where Kiyani is happy to have her contract. Kiyani’s connection to football began at a young age, and it quickly became a significant part of her life. But what fueled her journey to becoming a professional football player? We sat down with Kiyani to learn about her background and the role her family played in shaping her career. Kiyani’s journey from her native Canada to Prague was marked by significant cultural and lifestyle differences. “So I would say we don’t actually currently have a professional women’s football league in Canada,” she explains. “A lot of players go overseas to play either in America or they cross over to Europe.” In Prague, Kiyani discovered a new level of passion for the sport. “I feel like there’s a lot more passion because there’s history to a lot of the clubs here...

 by Andrii Kolisnychenko Sep 05, 2023

Expat Next Door: Nicolaas from South Africa

We met with the owner of Saffa Maso, Nicolaas Uys, who moved to the Czech Republic in 2017 with his “main goal” being to play rugby at a international level. Fast forward five years and Nicolaas is not only playing for the Czech Republic national team but is also playing at club level for Tatra Smichov rugby club, fell in love with and married a Czech woman and has now set up a South African biltong company. The South African community in the Czech Republic is fast growing, with “around 1000” South Africans currently living here. Nicolaas tries to organise monthly events for the community in Prague where they have a “braai” (a traditional South African grill) and other monthly get-togethers. When asked what inspired him to start a biltong company in the Czech Republic, Nicolaas was clear that not only did he want to bring the flavours of South Africa to this part of the world, but he was passionate about the practicalities and health benefits of this protein-packed snack. “I was unable to source good quality dried meat in the Czech Republic and was running out of supplies from my friends and family back in South Africa,” says Nicolaas...

 by Prague Morning Aug 08, 2023

Expat Next Door: Marc Tatossian from Australia

Originally from Australia, Marc Tatossian is a Prague-based DJ, YouTuber, and IT project manager. His passions? Trance music, music production, and Call of Duty soundtracks. Marc moved to Prague in 2019, after having lived and worked in London. Originally, he did not plan to stay for long, but he ended up falling in love with the city soon after arriving. “I said to myself that I will come for a year, then go back to Australia, settle down, and do all the normal things people do. And then one year passed, and I realized how much I love Prague. I’ll probably spend all my life here. I’m having too much fun,” says Marc. Indeed, Marc sees Prague as the perfect city for his music career – not too big, not too small. “For example, London or Sydney have a lot of competition. In Prague, you actually have a sense that you can make it,” he explains. Marc is a resident DJ of Music Club Jilská 22, but he also played venues including Vzorkovna, Atelier Club, and Erpet. His preferred style is trance, a subgenre of electronic dance music which he describes as “a vast genre which centers on the dance...

 by Prague Morning Jun 30, 2023

Expat Next Door: Kilo Blimp

Julien Mikton is a full-time painter living in Prague, better known as Kilo Blimp.

 by Ana Lešković May 28, 2023

Expat Next Door: Marcin From Canada

Let’s discover, how many wonderful and creative foreigners live in the Czech Republic! Marcin Dochnal has lived in Poland, Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and now the Czech Republic. He and his wife Ema know what it is like to be expats and they operate their business in different languages: English, Czech, Polish, and some Mandarin. Expats will definitely have a comfortable experience with communication at Roots Health chiropractic clinic, which offers chiropractic care, acupuncture, and functional yoga. Marcin is a foreigner who might live next door. 1. Why did you decide to move, and how long have you been living in Prague? I have been living in Prague for 15 months. Having grown up in Canada with Polish roots, I have always wanted to return to this part of Europe. After finishing university in Canada, I then moved to the UK to study Chiropractic and worked in Cambridge for about 6 years. After meeting my wife Ema who is from Prague, we decided to have a family and agreed that it would be important for her and our child to have her social circle and family near. It was also an exciting opportunity for us to start Roots Health Clinic, move closer to...

 by Prague Morning Mar 15, 2023

Expat Next Door: Brendan Hannigan

Born in America, Brendan Hannigan is probably best known to Praguers as the guitarist and vocalist of Not A Phase Band, which plays, among other venues, at Vzorkovna on Wednesday and Friday nights. He can also be found playing covers at Irish Times with his co-project with Vlaďa Hajek, 2Mofos, as well as at The Dubliner and the Marriott Hotel. In this interview, he shares his almost-accidental story of coming to Prague, his thoughts on song covers, and his advice for musicians and expats. What brought you to Prague? I was living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, literally a few blocks away from my childhood home. I was working as a guitar teacher, which I enjoyed up to a point, but I turned 30 and I could start to see the trajectory of my life unfolding. I would get married and keep working as a guitar teacher less than a mile from where I was born. And I wondered: is this really all there is for me? And so for a better part of a year, I ruminated on this question – and then finally my sister, who was living in China at the time, invited me to come to visit...

 by Prague Morning Aug 14, 2022

Expat Next Door: Stoyan Yankov

Born in Bulgaria, Stoyan Yankov is an internationally recognized productivity coach, speaker, podcaster at Productivity Mastery Podcast, and book author of PERFORM: The Unsexy Truth about (Startup) Success. Stoyan began his expat journey in his early 20s, and since then, he has been moving around Europe and beyond, helping teams with productivity, performance, and spreading the message of his book.   When did you become an expat, and how do you reflect on the experience? “Back in 2008-2009, I spent two summers in Massachusetts (US), which can be considered my first ‘expat experience.’ It was a wild adventure. In many ways, it inspired me to go and study abroad afterward. So in 2010, I got accepted to a Master’s degree program in Aarhus, Denmark. I believe that everyone who is an expat might relate in one way or another: No matter how much you get accustomed to the ‘local way,’ you will never feel fully at home.” “What really helped me to adapt to life abroad was making friends with the locals, getting to know and respecting the culture and customs, and learning the language. If you haven’t lived abroad yet, try it, at least for a while. Personally, it...

 by Prague Morning Jul 12, 2022

Expat Next Door: Frank Haughton

A larger-than-life figure in Prague’s entertainment sector, Frank Haughton’s three decades in the Czech Republic have gone from success to success, introducing Irish pubs to the capital and becoming a partner in one of the city’s top nightclubs: DUPLEX. A former banker and stockbroker in Ireland, Haughton first came to Prague in 1992 to help a friend launch what is now Radio Kiss. “While I was here,” he said, speaking to Prague Morning, “I observed the huge interest in beer and pub life and thought, okay these people already understand the concept of an Irish pub”, and moved ahead with plans for what would become the James Joyce. Haughton has “always wanted [his pubs] to be authentic”, he said. So much so, that he bought the interior of a Belfast church, which had been bombed in the Northern Ireland Civil Conflict, and shipped it to Prague to create the James Joyce and ensure the place had the right feel. “We bought the church pews, we bought the floorboards, we bought the front of the organ gallery, which became the front of the bar, and we shipped it all out here,” he said. To serve authentic food and drink at the...

 by Jody Druce Jul 07, 2022
Zach Harrod prague lions

Expat Next Door: Zach Harrod

This weekend brings the 2022 Snapbacks Liga semifinals, and with it, a chance at glory for the Czech Republic’s original American football team, the Prague Lions. Hosted at Sparta Rugby at UNYP Arena, the hotly-anticipated game sees the Lions take on Přerov Mammoths at 4 pm on Saturday, July 2nd. The pandemic hit the American football scene in the Czech Republic hard, forcing the game to grind to a halt and hurting years of hard-fought wins for a sport that has seen huge growth over the last 20 years. For Lions Head Coach and part-owner Zach Harrod, though, this semifinal is like any other game. Speaking to Prague Morning, he said: “Before the season we set goals for ourselves. This semifinal is another goal and another opportunity to be 1-0 next week.” “It doesn’t sound sexy, but that is how we look at it.” The son of a high school American football coach in Wisconsin, he first arrived in the Czech Republic for a 5-week training camp back in 2002. “If somebody would have said that that first summer in 2002 would turn into nearly two decades, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Harrod said. “I thought I’d do other things,...

 by Jody Druce Jun 29, 2022
carlo capalbo

Expat Next Door: Carlo Capalbo

The RunCzech annual Volkswagen Marathon in Prague is back on May 8 in full swing and brings with it a new agenda. After two years of continuous uncertainty and anxiety, RunCzech is proud to be bringing positivity and enthusiasm back into the heart of Europe. RunCzech founder Carlo Capalbo created the infamous Prague marathon in 1995 and its popularity has since spread worldwide. Just in 2019, RunCzech had participants coming from 131 different countries. The idea of this marathon has always been to have a world-class international marathon hosted here in the beautiful, historic city of Prague. The international inclusiveness has brought boundless joy and pride to participants and bystanders alike. This year especially, the message is at its strongest. Keeping in mind the last two years of bundling in quarantine and the current political uncertainty spreading throughout the world, Carlo Capalbo has decided that it is time to “reintroduce a sense of normalcy” through a set schedule of events and create an energy of excitement towards the future. Having the assurance that the upcoming RunCzech races are scheduled and will always happen according to schedule is the most important message Carlo wants to be communicated. The certainty of fresh...

 by Alexa Wandersee Apr 27, 2022

Expats Next Door: Cameron and Ross

Prague’s first Detroit-style pizza makes a welcoming and sought after appearance in the city.  Third Coast Pizza– a pop up business specialising in the unique Detroit style pizza makes its way to Prague- leaving their customers with the taste for wanting more!  Founded in May 2021, owners Cameron and Ross began their business as a pandemic project during lockdown, which later turned into a business which they are both passionate about today. The spark for Third Coast Pizza came during this time when Ross decided to give it a go with his love for hosting dinner parties, cooking new recipes and getting creative in the kitchen. Using traditional cooking methods and high-quality ingredients, they began to make a unique style of pizza- traditional to Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Detroit-style pizza is a thick, pan-style square-cut pizza with a crunchy, cheesy ring of crust that’s fluffy on the inside and overflows with different ingredients. Like most rectangular pan pizzas served in America, Detroit-style pizza is a variation of the Sicilian pizza. Their creativity is showcased in the flavours that are produced at every pop-up. Some favorites include Tiberian Sun, a chicken pizza in a delicious buffalo sauce, and The...

 by Prague Morning Mar 11, 2022

Expat Next Door: Stefan Radstrom From Sweden

The Mozart Prague – the beautiful and historical hotel which faces the Vltava River and Prague Castle continues to stun visitors time and time again. The hotel welcomes all guests to enjoy the experience and magic of staying in the famous hotel.  We met with Stefan Radstrom, the hotel’s general manager to discuss his own personal journey of how he ended up working for the iconic hotel.  Born in Sweden, Stefan always had the ambition to put 100% effort into everything he did. Beginning his hospitality career as a teen during a summer job as a garbage collector in a hotel, he made a promise to be “the best garbage collector the hotel had ever seen.”  With his smiley attitude and lease for life, he was soon approached by the hotel manager to move on to start another job within the hotel – the hotel restaurant. With his love growing for interacting with guests and all walks of life, Stefan stayed in the hospitality sector – a journey that allowed him to travel the world.  In his career, Stefan has been involved in thirteen hotel openings, including Grand Hyatt Muscat, Paramount Hotel Dubai. His first hotel opening was in Oslo,...

 by Cara Stevenson Feb 23, 2022

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