How to not look like a tourist in Prague

Step 1: Ditch the map. That's the most obvious sign. Getting lost isn't a terrible thing, just keep your wits about you.

Step 2: Speak quietly or not at all. When you're on a tram and you're American, you are the loudest person on that tram, especially when with other Americans.

Step 3: Stop taking pictures of everything. You're not here for all the pictures, but to see and remember the places you've been and the experience of being there. If you can't stop taking pictures, then you'll never actually see the places you visit.

Step 4: Look perpetually irritated. Czechs generally don't smile while walking around in Prague. This one is hard, especially for Americans (or at least Californians) who are used to smiling when catching someone's eye or for no reason at all. With friends, that's OK. But by yourself, do the "Czech face."

Step 5: Buy souvenirs before you leave, but don't wear them around. I've learned from experience that wearing a beanie that reads "Czech Republic" gets you odd looks if you follow all the other steps, because their name for their country is Česká republika.

Step 6: Bring your dog. Everyone walks their dogs here and you will soon fit in with your small cute dog on a leash.

Step 7: Smoke and drink a bit. Everyone here smokes and has a cigarette with their beer, or at least enough people do. You can smoke in bars, restaurants, anywhere except the tram stops and on the trams. Coming from California, that's something new and exciting for me. But don't drink too much or else you're just obnoxious.

These are just observations of mine from living here for nearly two weeks with some people who act too much like tourists.

We're here for three months and therefore I am not obligated to go see everything right now. So I relax and just hang out. Listen to people talk and how they interact. How they communicate with each other seems different but in many ways it is not.

People are more interesting to me than castles and statues, but I will see those in due time as well.