Well today is my birthday and we took a wonderful tour of Prague Castle, Old Town, and New Town. It was a walking tour so we did a LOT of walking, but saw some beautiful architecture. I took so many pictures that my batteries went dead. Then six of us (myself, Darci, Nasim, Terry, his wife Andrea, and son Gus) went to eat at Mlynek and had a buffet lunch with beef, salmon, lamb, vegies, potatoes, cabbage, and several desserts. The scenery of the St. Charles Bridge and the river below were breathtaking to view while eating and socializing with the other graduate students. Three of us then went to shop for souvenirs in the city center and met up later with the rest of the group at the Prague Convention Center for a reception. We met Madeleine Jacobs who talked to all of us for awhile about careers in chemistry and encouraged us to never give up the job search in spite of the bad economy. Employers want what we chemists can do and that is to think critically. Ms. Jacobs is a very nice and down to earth lady. I enjoyed talking with her. We also met Dr. Peter Stang (editor of JACS publication), and Susan King, who also works in the publication department of ACS. Then I visited several booths, picked up journals and bags, and headed out with the group to the Medvicka restaurant for a socializing dinner with the European Young Chemists Network. We met two students (Frederic and Alex) also working on their Ph.D.s in Belgium and Switzerland. They both know an impressive number of languages, and one even told us he likes to dance (something I also love to do when not doing research). Tomorrow is an important day as I will discuss my poster during the poster session. Signing off until then…….
