Today we had free time in the morning, so I thought I would get some souvenir shopping done. I got to wander around the city looking for cool things, and then it was time to return to the hotel and meet for our tour of the Kunsthalle (which is German for “hall of art” or “space for art”). The Kunsthalle is an art museum in Prague that is a renovated transformer station, and the basement still operates as an energy conversion station for the city. It was cool to hear about the restoration and architectural aspects that went into making this building what it is today. Their current exhibition is about Bohemia in various cities across the world and across different decades. They had one room that had hammocks hanging from the walls, and I determined that my future house will have a room with a hammock. At the Kunsthalle there was an alumni event that was organized for people who attended a study abroad program to study at the University of Pittsburgh, but who work in the Czech Republic now. After leaving the Kunsthalle, we went to the most narrow street in Prague and attended a concert on the Charles Bridge. The music part of the concert was cool, but there were supposed to be fireworks at 9:55 that did not go off.

It was interesting to talk to the alumni and hear their interpretations of how the Czech Republic compares with the United States in terms of practical versus theoretical education. After talking to them, I think that it would enjoy being an engineer in a foreign country because I would be able to add my engineering knowledge and background to theirs, which may be different.