Lunch

My lunches are in Prague are very different than when I was in the U.S. Like I imagine the majority of workers in the greater Boston area I had been in the habit of eating at my desk for many years. Yes, there were always days when I would eat out somewhere but most days was either take out sandwiches at the desk or food from home because buying a sandwich was exensive in Boston and even Maynard.

In Prague, as in much of Europe I suppose, there is a greater emphasis on the importance of stepping away from work and having a little personal time. Most of the people in our office eat out for lunch on a daily basis. Those that bring food often eat in one of the kitchens instead of sitting in front of their computers. I do sometimes just get food and eat in front of the computer because sometimes I feel too busy to take a break. However, I make an effort to take a cue from this culture and get some much needed away time by taking lunch out of the office. Often it is at a sit-down restaurant, of which there are many in the center of Prague. There are also some cafeteria, or canteen style, restaurants that are quite nice. I went to a new one the other day that served good soup and a wide range of meals and had plenty of tables for eating with others or stand up bar tables for those by themselves eating a quick lunch. For quicker lunches these places are great and makes a good alternative to McDonalds or other fast-food style places when neededing a quick meal by yourself.

Another thing that encourages this behavior are the food vouchers. With their paychecks every month employees receive 20 80Kr food vouchers, of which the company pays 55%. These passes are a general Czech Republic thing and not purely a company benefit but it certainly does make it easier to eat out knowing that for every 80Kr I spend on lunch (typical lunch may be around 100Kr or so) 44Kr of that is not out of my pocket. While many days it's still hard to force myself away from work and email for an hour for lunch I certainly feel like it's much healthier mentally so I continue to happily embrace this adjustment.