By: Chloe Hum
If you ever want to visit the heart of New York, don’t go to Times Square, go visit a local coffee shop. Baristas are juggling 10 things at once, students argue over the latest gossip, and caffeine-addicted individuals rush in-and-out of the shop, desperately seeking their next fix. This environment encapsulates New York perfectly– the chaos, the haste and the tightly packed spaces that hold far too many people.
After living in New York for a year, my favorite place in the city has to be the inside of a coffee shop. When I’m there, I can feel the buzz of caffeine without even drinking a drop. This was what gave me the energy I needed to get through my day. When I got to Prague, I was set on finding this sort of coffee shop which I could escape to. I was set on finding a coffee shop that could remind me of home.
However, I found out on my very first day in Prague that coffee shops here are much different. Plastic to-go cups are replaced by porcelain tupperware, accompanied with the assumption that you will stop for a bit and stay. There is no option to grab and run. There is no option except to relax and take a moment to enjoy.
My brain had trouble adjusting to this new disposition, as if I could not possibly see the connection between coffee and relaxation. Yet, the more time I spend in Prague cafes, the more I understand how a cup of coffee is not simply a means to stay awake.
In Prague, this simple beverage is an indication of an accepted mindset– a more prominent “to-stay” mentality that directly contradicts my usual default of “to-go.” In New York, I was trained to maximize every action. New York cafe culture cultivated the use of coffee as a tool to jump-start my day. Yet, an increase in productivity also came with an increase in stress and anxiety.
In Prague, coffee is simply a beverage to enjoy while relaxing in the cafe. Now, every day I sit in a cafe surrounded by strangers with whom I have nothing in common. I cannot even speak the same language yet I feel a greater sense of belonging than I did in New York. Despite the fact that the extent of my interactions with Czech locals are limited to being asked “is this seat taken?” I feel a stronger connection to the people around me, leaving me to wonder how a simple cup of coffee could be so different in Prague.
In New York, the tense and fast-paced environment is perfectly experienced in the first moments you spend in a coffee shop. Everyone does their best to ignore one another, or to prove with dirty glances that they have no interest in any acknowledgment. Yet in Prague, cafe culture is undoubtedly much different. Conversations are more friendly, tables are communal and there is no rush to leave. I am constantly greeted by kind smiles, and locals are always happy to share a space. Strangers do their best to communicate with foreigners like me, and do so with patience and warmth. During a time where I have felt overwhelmed and alienated, this specific atmosphere gives me comfort.
No matter where you are, coffee shops are the gateway to the heart of your environment. Where coffee in New York is used as a quick method to acquire fleeting bursts of energy, coffee in Prague is an experience. While coffee in New York feeds my anxiety and stress, coffee in Prague relieves it. That tiny little porcelain cup holds the key to my sanity, and I can’t go a day without it.