06/20/2026
Hello folks! Kyle checking in with the annual updatešš¼
Iāve got a great network here but this is my best friend in Prague - Edmond. His father is Czech and his mother is American. They met around a German army base when his father fled from communismā¦and Edmond was born there.
She was a nurse in the US army, and that caused his family to live in about 5 different locations around the USA while he was a child. They would go visit his fatherās family every summer here outside of Prague, so Edmond also built his familiarity with this country. He lived in New York City from about 2012-2018, and then decided to move here to Prague, so he has been living here about 8 years now. His parents retired in Arlington, Virginiaā¦so they arenāt here with him. But they do visit 2x a year for a few weeks at a time.
We spend a good amount of time together, trying restaurants in Prague, lifting some weights, going on regional trips in his car. Weāre both single guys so we chat with the ladies here and there, of course. Itās been nice having a great friend here. He understands the US culture and helps me also make sense of this place too.
I will say, Iām starting to feel a pull to come back to the States. I said I wanted to do a 3-5 year experiment when I arrived here, and itās now been a little over 3 years. So letās see what next summer brings. I will say Iāve learned some great habits from living over here, especially in the kitchen - making certain things from scratch!
Living in Czech Republic has made me even more thankful for America, to be honest. Itās home and we have things quite good there. Many things are different than what youāre used to when you live abroad - at first exciting and less so as time goes on. Perhaps if I had chosen a Western European country like Netherlands or Germany, it would be more familiar and some of my dissatisfactions about life abroad would dissolve.
For example, the Czech language is so hard to learn and so I will always be a bit of an outsider in this linguistic respect. Also, since itās not spoken widely, the motivation for most foreigners to learn it is low. You donāt really need it in Prague but itās still something you deal with talking about daily (āSorry, my Czech isnāt great, can we do English?ā). More than language, I will never truly fit in as a Czech. Having a Czech partner would certainly help. Which brings me to dating. Itās already hard enough to find the right person. Then you add a whole different culture on top of thatā¦even tougher. But even if I did find someone, then weād have to decide if we were gonna live here or in the USAā¦with one person being away from home.
So as you might imagine, certain things in life would be a little smoother back stateside. Work is going well and I may pursue a relocation with the company. That would have to line up correctly for me. By the way, there are things I like about living here like safety, clean food, more vacation time, etc.
But anyway, summer is a great time of year and wishing you all the best! If youāve read this post, I really appreciate it. Have a good weekendš
P.S. And even though I am not with Family Heritage anymore, the customer service number will help you with anything you need. I believe the phone number is still the same as what it says on this page. I still have friends working for the company and Iām glad to hear their news from time to time.
