Today was a very interesting day. The morning started with a lecture at the Charles University about the Czech language. It started with the history behind the language and how it was developed. Then, we learned some of the basic phrases and letter sounds. It was fun because it was a group of adults repeating back the sounds that each letter made to the professor, it reminded me of kindergarten. I had lunch at one of the restaurants in one of the malls a few blocks from the building where our lectures were. After lunch we had another lecture about the history of engineering in the Czech region. It was interesting to look at history from the perspective of how it influenced engineering, and shifted the market towards different products at different times. In the afternoon, a group of us went to a museum. As I type this, I am getting ready to eat dinner at Lokál, a block away from the hotel.
College life in the Czech Republic seems to have some significant cultural differences. For one, the university buildings are spread all across the city, whereas the colleges that I am used to have all of the buildings centralized onto one campus. Also, the students here have to dress up in formal attire for their final exams. There is an oral exam as part of the final, and at least one other oral exam earlier in the semester. I am used to people wearing sweatpants or t-shirts to their finals, so I was surprised to hear that the Czech Republic had a dress code. A few things are similar between the two countries. For one, the building of the Charles University that we were in had a student cafeteria in it, which it similar to campus dining halls back home. Another similarity is that the students like to have parties to celebrate the end of their semester.