LivinginBrno

As you probably know, we already applied for the state kindergarten and on 13th May, the school director already gave me an answer via email that our son got accepted, earning enough points and they called me to the office to pick up the admission confirmation paper. Next step is that we must bring a filled in paper from a pediatrician at the kindergarten, somewhere in June 2019. We are truly happy and grateful that he got accepted, as you can see in  this vlog . Here  you can listen to the enrollment process as experienced by us this year or read it  here . Thank you for reading.

Is not a secret that the Czech Postal Services are working great but for newly arrived expats it might be something easily disregarded. Will be starting a weekly series with short step by steps guides on how to ask some paperwork via email from various Czech based offices. I am doing it first for me, to have these details in future, in case someone asks me or I might just forget and is handy to have it here. If you are on a maternity leave and the term for your Parental Leave start is close, you might need a paper from MSSZ office which states you are on a maternal leave.  If you are Czech native speaker, this guide is not for you and you might even find it funny, this guide is just for new expat moms of Brno - sorry to say it:  exhausted moms, like me who really don't wish to make that trip to Gajdosova street and wait in line to take the paper. First, you can call them but I haven't try that as I cannot speak Czech on that level or any level... if it matters.

Finding a free place to a state Czech kindergarten is quite difficult , not only for us as expats but for the Czech people as well. I do trust there is no difference between czech and non-czech kids in this country, the people of Brno and Czech Republic in general, really respect and put children on the first place. I try to think and trust that we are not competing against czech families because I have seen how difficult is for them, as well. Now, that we know we have equal chances, how do we enroll our kid to the state kindergarten. Except for few broken pieces of information available on hidden Facebook groups there is little to almost no information available for the non-czech speaking people.  Maybe you work fulltime and don't have time to read all FB group discussions, that information stays buried there as opposed to having it on a forum or blog. It's odd to me that no other expat parents made such information available to help the rest of us, there are many out there

Before even thinking to start typing an email to that real estate agency for renting a place in Brno, take the time to sit back and relax for a little. To think. What are you searching for? How do you choose and find a place to rent in Brno? Here are my tips, feel free to add more to your own list or use them as a starting point: 1. First, plan your budget and state your maximum  (not here on my blog but to your own attention and notes) - how much are you willing to pay for renting a place in Brno? Write the number down and take into consideration an 8-10 % yearly increase because of the energy recalculation that are counted every 12 months. It might be minus 8-10 %, for us it was always plus (we cook a lot at home, work from home and so on). To that, the landlord might increase yearly around 2% but that is always negotiable and must come with real improvements to the living space. Always try to negotiate 2. Brno is divided into 29 city districts - use online information like Goo