Further to my earlier post, and the update in a later post marking the fourth birthday of my blog, today I became the proud owner of a Czech Driving Licence. I now have a driving licence, valid for the next five years, which inevitably also includes a far from flattering photograph of me 🙁
Compared to my two previous visits to Magistrát hl.m. Praha / the HQ of Prague City Council, today’s visit went remarkably quickly and smoothly. Following my second visit on Monday 4th February 2013, when I successfully proved that the Chaplaincy Flat where I live, is my family home, I was given a little slip of paper telling me to return today, with my passport and residency permit, to surrender both parts of my UK Driving Licence and collect my shiny new replacement Czech Driving Licence.
On both my previous visits, I was accompanied by Lisette, an American member of the St. Clement’s congregation, who read Slavic languages at university in the USA, and speaks fluent Czech. But because of health issues, she has since had to return to the US. However, as a result of my earlier posts here, about all that is involved in successfully registering a right-hand drive car in the Czech Republic, I have recently been contacted by a Czech-British couple, Vlad & Jan, who kindly offered to provide language help in future, should I need it, as a ‘thank you’ for meeting with them and giving them the low-down on how to register their British right-hand drive car here.
Unfortunately Vlad had to pay a brief visit back to the UK this week, making himself unavailable. So he organised for his good friend Pavel to substitute for him and, together with Jan, they were both waiting for me when I arrived at Magistrát hl.m. Praha / the HQ of Prague City Council at 3.00 pm this afternoon.
The whole place works on a numbered ticket system. On my two previous visits, Lisette and I had been required to wait for about twenty minutes before our number came up. Today, no sooner had Pavel worked out which button to press to produce our ticket, the ticket number immediately came up, summoning us to cubicle 56. I produced both parts of my UK Driving Licence and my ID, and then my new Czech Driving Licence was shown to me. A quick visit to the cash desk to pay the fee of CZK 50 (about £1.70), produced a receipt. With that, the Czech Driving Licence was mine.
As I have previously explained, the Czech authorities would not allow ‘Rev’ or ‘Rev’d’ as my title as they officially do not recognise religious or hereditary titles. So my new Czech Driving Licence has also made me a layman. But just to make my point, I today deliberately wore my clerical shirt and collar. Therefore here I am, outside Magistrát hl.m. Praha / the HQ of Prague City Council, with my new Czech Driving Licence, having successfully obtained a small victory over Czech bureaucracy, but at the expense of my title 🙁
Today my blog celebrates its fourth birthday. I wrote my first ever post four years ago today – this post today is post number 213.
Whilst today is a day for a little celebration, I still am somewhat disappointed with myself. A year ago when writing a blogpost to mark the third birthday of my blog, I promised to write at least fifty-two posts during the following year that ended yesterday. I fell short – I only managed fifty.
It is not that I lack things to write about as I have at least four topics noted down for future posts. It is the problem of finding the time to sit down and compile a coherent post when I also have a rather important day-job to do. Of course, it isn’t a job but rather a vocation. And I hold an office rather than having a job description to fulfil. But I hope my blog readers understand what I mean.
I am also very aware that I’ve written about certain issues or events in the past, but never given a further update. So let me use this fourth anniversary post to correct that omission.
Czech Presidential Election
Further to my earlier post, the second round of voting took place on Friday 25th & Saturday 26th January. The outcome was a victory for Miloš Zeman, who gained just under 55% of the vote, with just over 45% going to Karel Schwarzenberg. Sadly the outcome has resulted in bitter recriminations and left a somewhat divided country.
Schwarzenberg polled extremely well in Prague taking two thirds of the vote. He also polled well in other major cities, especially Brno, and was very popular amongst educated young people. On the other hand, Zeman polled well in the rural area and smaller towns, and also in those areas where there was once heavy industry which now no longer provides employment to any great degree. In simple terms, those who have prospered in the last twenty years and those who through higher education, see good future prospects for themselves, voted for Schwarzenberg. Whilst those who have done less well since the Velvet Revolution in the rapid move to a market driven economy, voted for Zeman.
Recriminations have been around the tactics used by Zeman and his supporters, during the final days of the election campaign. These have been variously described as populist, nationalist and xenophobic. They included complaining that Schwarzenberg’s wife doesn’t speak Czech, (she is Austrian), that Schwarzenberg isn’t really a true patriot because he lived abroad during the time of the Communist regime, and over remarks he made about how the Beneš decrees, which resulted in the expulsion of the Sudetendeutsche in 1945, would now be regarded as ethnic cleansing.
The complaints from the Schwarzenberg camp about Zeman, relate to his personal character and those who supported his campaign. His campaign was well funded but without total clarity as to who did so. He is known to have connections with some Russians and other dubious characters and the fear is, that these supporters, will expect some form of financial payback during the next five years.
By presenting a signed and stamped document on headed notepaper in the name of Farní obec Starokatolické církve pro verící anglického jazyka v Praze, the legal entity of my congregation with the Czech Ministry of Culture, in which I stated in Czech, that Sybille and I have permission to live in the Chaplaincy Flat where we have lived in for the past four and a half years, I successfully proved that this is my permanent family home. Success came because I was also able to also present a notarised copy of the congregation’s registration with the Czech Ministry of Culture, which shows me as the authorised person to sign on its behalf.
But at the same time, I was turned into a layman. Despite having my title of ‘Rev’ on two official documents, (driving licence and passport), of another EU state, I will not have ‘Rev’ in front of my name on my new Czech Driving Licence which will be issued to me on 21st February. I do find it very poor that, a nation for whom having academic titles in front of their names is so important, that they will not accept mine. I am given to understand that only Czech academic titles are acceptable. Clearly this is a decision made by JUDr Czech Bureaucrat. 🙁
I am hopeful that this will be my last run-in with Czech bureaucracy. However, if it is, I might struggle to find material for at least fifty more blog posts in the coming year 🙂
Ever since coming to live and work in the Czech Republic, I have been driving my car here on the basis of holding a valid UK Driving Licence. I had been told previously that, if I was here for longer than six months, I should really exchange it for a Czech Driving Licence. I have had the completed form & new photograph to do so for some time, but have never got around to doing anything further about it. After all, my UK Driving Licence declares that I live at The Rectory in my former group of parishes in North Oxfordshire, which is the address the Czech Foreign Police firmly believe to be my permanent address because they insist that every foreigner living here, must have a permanent address outside of the Czech Republic. So, for better or worse, that was the one both Sybille and I put down when we registered with them in 2009.
However, whilst my UK Driving Licence is valid until 25th February 2022, the day before my seventieth birthday, the photocard part needs to be renewed every ten years, to include a more up-to-date photograph. My current photocard is due to expire in early March 2013, which has therefore prompted me to act and seek to exchange it for a Czech Driving Licence.
So this morning, I went to the Magistrát hl.m. Praha / the HQ of Prague City Council, together with a fluent Czech-speaking member of the St. Clement’s congregation, to apply for the exchange of my UK Driving Licence for a Czech one. Along with my completed form & photo, & both the photocard and counterpart of my current UK licence, I took my passport. This contains my Povolení k prechodnému pobytu v CR, my certificate of temporary residence in the Czech Republic which is neomezený / unlimited. And I took my Potvrzení o prechodném pobytu na území / Proof of temporary residence, which confirms that my address is Pat’anka 2614/11A, Praha 6-Dejvice
The lady who we saw, kindly informed me that the law changed in March 2012. Despite my passport with my Povolení k prechodnému pobytu v CR, valid ‘neomezený‘, in it, and my Potvrzení o prechodném pobytu na území, being perfectly acceptable documents to enable me to register my car and for Bishop Dušan to get me recorded by the Ministry of Culture as the person who can sign on behalf of Farní obec Starokatolické církve pro verící anglického jazyka v Praze, the legal entity of the Prague Anglican congregation, they are not now sufficient to prove that the Chaplaincy Flat at Pat’anka 2614/11A, is my ‘family home’.
To prove that the Chaplaincy Flat at Pat’anka 2614/11A is my ‘family home’ where I live, I must also produce Sybille’s passport with her Povolení k prechodnému pobytu v CR, valid ‘neomezený‘, in it, and her Potvrzení o prechodném pobytu na území. That is not a problem as I can easily do that. But I also have to produce a document in Czech, by the owners of the flat, that declares Sybille & I live in the flat and have the permission of the owners to do so.
The flat is being purchased in the name of Farní obec Starokatolické církve pro verící anglického jazyka v Praze and the Church are just over seven years through paying off a twenty year mortgage. I am the person who can sign on behalf of Farní obec Starokatolické církve pro verící anglického jazyka v Praze and I have a notarised copy of our registration with the Ministry of Culture which says that I am.
Therefore it appears that if I produce a statement in Czech, on a letterhead with our correct Czech congregational name and registered number and registered address, saying that Sybille and I have permission to live in the flat, and sign the statement myself – and most importantly stamp it – that will be sufficient proof. In other words, beyond the necessity of getting a statement written in grammatically and legally acceptable Czech, I will be writing and signing a statement which gives myself permission to live in the flat that my wife and I have lived in for nearly four and a half years. I wonder if Franz Kafka is listening or reading this?????
The other problem the lady raised was the question of having ‘Rev’ or ‘Rev’d’ as the title in front of my name. This despite my UK Driving Licence declaring me to be ‘Rev Warwick John Yates’, (‘Ricky’ comes from the diminutive of ‘Warwick’ for those who don’t know), and my UK passport stating on the page reserved for official observations, that ‘The holder is the Reverend Warwick John Yates’. She claimed that the only way my title could be included on a Czech Driving Licence is if I had a document, translated into Czech, explaining that the title had been awarded to me!
As I’m sure most of my blog readers are aware, ‘Reverend’, usually abbreviated to ‘Rev’ or ‘Rev’d’, is the normal title given to an ordained priest/minister throughout the English-speaking world. I do have two documents, both signed and sealed by the Rt. Rev’d John Taylor, Bishop of St. Albans, one confirming my admission and ordination to the Holy Order of Deacons on 2nd July 1989, and a second, confirming my admission and ordination to the Holy Order of Priests on 1st July 1990. What I do like about both of these documents is that they say about me ‘of whom sufficient learning and godly conversation We were assured’ 🙂 🙂 🙂 But neither document states that my title now is ‘Reverend’.
I do find it ironic that here in the Czech Republic, where titles are deemed to be so important, a topic that I shall be referring to very shortly in a planned future blog post, Czech bureaucracy is doing its utmost to deprive me of mine. However, rest assured that I will somehow find my way through this latest example of Kafkaesque Czech bureaucracy. But there just might be a few strangled Czech bureaucrats en-route 😉
The card and message left under my windscreen wiper – name, email & phone details removed by me for obvious reasons 🙂
At the end of October, I took the last week of my annual leave for 2012 and with Sybille, visited Berlin for a few days, before travelling back to Prague via Wittenberg.
We were kindly hosted by our two friends, Alex and Bernd, who live in Wannsee on the south-western edge of the German capital city. On Monday 22nd October, we drove north-west from Prague along the motorway to the Czech-German border near Dresden, before heading northwards on the German autobahn to the outskirts of Berlin. Then, following Alex’s instructions, we carefully made our way to the street where their apartment is located.
Unfortunately, Alex’s last instruction, said ‘turn right’ when it should have said ‘turn left’. But we eventually spotted the correct house number on the opposite side of the street and, as there was the ideal gap between two parked cars, I pulled across the street and successfully reverse parked into the gap. We locked the car, rang the doorbell and were warmly greeted by Bernd – Alex was out walking the dog.
We had not been in the apartment for more than five minutes when the doorbell rang. Bernd went and answered it. It was the resident of another apartment in the block, an Erster Polizeihauptkommissar of the Berlin Police.
“Do you have guests from Prague staying with you?”
“Yes,” Bernd replied.
“Could you please ask the driver to go at once and turn his car around one hundred and eighty degrees? It is facing the wrong way! If their car is allowed to stay parked like that, others will start doing the same thing and will completely disrupt order in the neighbourhood.”
Bernd returned to us in the sitting room and, with a wry smile, recounted his conversation at the door with his near neighbour. Not wanting to cause any future hassle for Alex and Bernd, I duly went out and moved my car. Already under the windscreen wiper was the Erster Polizeihauptkommissar’s card. Written on the back was his clear instruction – ‘Bitte richtig herum parken‘ – ‘Please park the right way’.
Sybille has not lived in Germany since 1999 and describes herself as a ‘Germaphobe German’. After that little incident, I fully understand why 🙂
My sister June & brother-in-law Garry on their wedding day 31st March 1962
I am the youngest of three children. My eldest sister June, is nearly nine years my senior. On Saturday 31st March 1962, at the tender age of eighteen, June married my brother-in-law Garry, the wedding taking place at Warwick Road Congregational (now United Reformed) Church in Coventry. The picture on the left is of the happy couple outside the Church following their marriage and the boyish face behind Garry’s shoulder is none other than Yours Truly, aged ten!
Exactly fifty years later, on Saturday 31st March 2012, June and Garry celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary. They marked the occasion by holding a most enjoyable buffet lunch in the Branksome Dene Community Rooms, Poole which overlook the beach near their home for the past twenty years in Westbourne, Bournemouth. The Prague Church Council kindly agreed to me having a pre-Easter rather than my normal post-Easter break, which allowed Sybille and I to be present and join the celebrations.
Our trip to the UK was only my second since moving to Prague just over three and a half years ago and was Sybille’s first during this same period of time. We flew from Prague to London Gatwick late in the evening of Thursday 29th March and stayed that night and the following one, in a little cottage in the grounds of Bishop’s Lodge, Worth, on the outskirts of Crawley. The Bishop’s Lodge of Rt Rev’d Dr Geoffrey Rowell, Anglican Diocesan Bishop in Europe, is deliberately located only ten minutes drive from Gatwick making it very convenient both for him and us!
In order to make the most of our four days in the UK, I had arranged online in advance, to hire a car at the airport. In order save money on both hire charges and fuel, I chose to hire a vehicle from the ‘small car’ category. You can probably imagine my amusement when I discovered that the car allocated to me was a brand-new Skoda Fabia – made in the Czech Republic!
Whilst I am well used to driving my own right-hand drive (RHD) car on the right (as opposed to left) side of the road here in the Czech Republic, what did seem strange was driving a RHD car on the left side of the road, something I hadn’t done for over three and a half years. Several times I came very close to driving on the right with Sybille regularly telling me ‘links fahren’, in order to remind me not to cause an accident!
Just before 9am on Saturday 31st March, we set out from the cottage, to drive to Bournemouth/Poole. The journey took us diagonally across West Sussex, a part of England that was new to me having only previously visited the very north-eastern corner of the county to get to Gatwick Airport on several previous occasions and having once driven further south to Brighton. However, once we reached Hampshire and the M27 around Portsmouth, we were back on more familiar territory. We arrived at the Premier Inn in Bournemouth, where we were booked to stay the night, with plenty of time to park the car, get appropriately dressed and then walk down to the sea front to the celebratory lunch venue.
It was interesting to realise that I was one of a handful of people present at the Buffet Lunch, who had also been present fifty years previously at June and Garry’s wedding. Most of the guests last Saturday, were friends that June and Garry have made locally since they moved to Bournemouth from just outside Leamington Spa in the Midlands, more that twenty years ago. Sybille and I also had the distinction of being the two who had travelled the furthest in order to join the celebrations.
June and Garry have two children, Tim and Tom – the arrival of Tim into this world making me an uncle at the age of twelve. Tim and his partner Deborah have since made June and Garry grandparents and in turn, have made me a great uncle! It was lovely to see my great niece Lilith and my great nephew Silas, for only the second time in theirs and my lifetime.
Below is the, probably never to be repeated family photo, unless that is, we all come together again to mark June and Garry’s Diamond Wedding Anniversary, now due in less than ten years time!
