Fleppensteyn

In Prague the line between private and public space seems blurred. Like, a footpath ends and the only way to continue is to walk over what appears to belong to a private business, of course full of cameras all over. I’m a bit further from the center, with a lot of rich people in big homes. They all have huge fences and walls around their gardens, often with cameras on top, so they can still spy on what happens outside their walls. Sometimes they’re so high up, you could think they want to know what happens in the entire street. Prague is one of the safest cities ever, so I really wonder how much of this is security and how much is curiosity. I mean, if you want to catch a burglar, you hang the camera down low so you can see their face.

Of course the city has traffic cameras and there’s police surveillance cameras in the center too, but at least you know what they’re for. The fact that any random person or business can film you is more worrying imo.

In NL, I’m staying in the North. I walk a lot. Instead of cameras, there are many curious people staring out of their windows :)

I’m in the Netherlands right now. You may have a different perspective if you’re a car owner, but I really noticed I’m not being spied on as much. I believe it’s not really allowed for a private person to film a public street neither, and I simply don’t see any cameras.

I live in Prague. When I go for a walk there, there’s hundreds of cameras following me. It’s like every home has at least one camera and they’re not just filming their own property. It feels uncomfortable: you never know who’s watching or what’s done with the footage.

Businesses are forcing everyone back into the office. You can count yourself very lucky if you can work remote.

For me, there’s 3 supermarkets within a 15-minute walk, my GP the same, hospital 20 minute walk. So yeah an ambulance would be here in minutes. I don’t feel like a prisoner and I’ve never had stuff delivered. That’s just wasteful and more expensive.

They really got the rest of us with that incomplete slogan “never again”.

We thought it meant one thing but you can fill in something else too. Well played, Germany

I tried the online poker thing a little bit. With friends IRL it’s fun but online it’s boring. People work it like it’s their job.

I tried an IRL casino once, won a bunch of money on the first machine and I was thinking I’m done, but had to wait for my friends so I kept doubling a small bet on black on roulette. It landed on red 9 times in a row. It’s all a scam

My gf studied Dutch for years, came over to NL, spoke to my parents in Dutch, all good.

Then we ordered things in a café. She kept speaking Dutch, the waitress understood, but kept replying in English with a heavy accent. Then switched to Dutch when speaking to me.

I’ve always heard those stories and couldn’t imagine anyone being so rude but yeah.

I tried to buy cigarettes. “Winston, s’il vous plait,” while pointing at them. Lady started screaming for her colleague, “anglais!” Then I had to ask for them in English.

No need to bother with French.