The end of Week 2 in Lietuva

I can't believe I have less than 10 days left here!  

This week has been great. Last night I had  girl's sleep over with Emma (10) and Eva and Lana (twin 3yr olds). It was SO fun. We watched the Emperor's New Groove and ate popcorn and drank juice. We only had a few mishaps througout the night like juice spilling on the floor, and falling out of bed etc. I definitely have to hang out with kids more often at home! They definitely find joy in the much smaller details of life.

Tonight we had a talent show for the Summer Language Institute (SLI) students. I was blown away by the talent of these (mostly) high schoolers. We had piano, voice solos, guitar, ballet, modern dance, photography! Wow! 

Klaipeda is also currently having a Folk Festival. They have booths of traditional hand crafts and traditional dances and music. Today I watched a Bulgarian dance group complete with wooden clogs. I am hearing and seeing many accordians here! I love them. Now I have an interest in learning to play one. That with the fiddle could be quite a party.

I'm also quite smitten with a handmade brass ring I got at the folk festival so I'm including a picture of it. I just made a third album of Lietuva pictures... http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=35598063&l=17b31628c4&id=185002172

Hedgehog Hunting!

So, hedgehogs run wild and free here in Lithuania. That is all but one hedgehog that we captured last night!

Emma and I decided to hedgehog hunt after we pet a hedgehog in the wild last week. We found out that they are pretty docile creatures and safe to pick up so we set out on a quest to capture one. We searched throughout the long grass in the nearby neighborhoods where we had initially found one. After 45minutes with no luck, we headed home. Then out of nowhere James appeared! He told us he had spotted one across the nearby school field. He grabbed a towel from us rolled under a fence and sprinted back with a hedgehog in his arms.

Emma and I had pre-named this hedgehog "Sonic." We only kept "Sonic" for two hours since some of the students were concerned that he might have babies. During the time Sonic became more relaxed and opened up out of his tight prickly ball and walked around. He became so comfortable with us that he even decided to snack on James' finger a few times.

Week one of classes: done.

I am really enjoying it here! Have I said that yet?

The students are really enthusiastic. Jake and I are getting spoiled by how easy it is to plan and throw an event and have great attendance. Here are the programs and attendance so far (for all of you in Res Life).

Trip to Beach: 50-60
Movie night: 30-40
Tea and Games: 50 students
Coffee Trip to Downtown: 15
Ultimate Frisbee: 20
Barbeque: 150
Trip to Palanga on Sunday: 40 signed up

It was really fun to play ultimate frisbee with the students because none of them have ever heard of the game or ever played it. I let them know that learning it now is a great way to prepare for a study abroad semester in the U.S. We definitely have some all-stars here who were made for the game.

Yesterday I noticed a girl in the crowd who had amazing fashion style, so I had to go up and talk to her. Turns out her entire outfit was vintage from her grandmother. She also loves thrifting, so we bonded instantly. (photo to come later). I must compliment Lithuania on their thrift stores; good job! They have tons of them and their prices are unbelievably low. They have 3 lita days- where everything is only 3 lita or one American dollar. Definitely got some deals there.

In other random news, I got to pet a wild hedgehog the other night. Apparently they live around these parts. I saw one in a yard the other night, so decided to take a chance and pet it. I then later found out, they are safe to capture- so I will be hedgehog hunting this coming week sometime. Also, an interesting fact about Lithuania is that amber is their national gemstone. This area of the world is where the majority of amber comes from. And you can find it on the beach as it washes up from the sea. So today on my 10 mile hike  we found tons of amber pieces along the beach! 

There is lots of other news but little space and time. There are "praise the Lords" so if you would like to hear those you can send me an email, since I don't want to publish information about students. Also, I am enjoying getting emails from you all so keep sending em!

Love, Kaitlyn

The students have arrived!

I realized I failed to explain the reason I am in Lithuania and what I am actually doing!

I am at LCC University which is a 4 year liberal arts university that is one of only two universities in English in the whole country. During the summer the university hosts a 3 week long summer language institute (SLI) for high school aged up to adult students (the vast majority of the students are high schoolers). The staff at SLI is made up of north american teachers and staff who are in Lithuania for one month. That's where I come in! I am part of the Student Life staff and act as a summer hall director. It is the same type of job that I do in the U.S.

SLI is an intense language institute where students take 6 hours of classes each day and have homework. So my job starts when the students are out of class. On Sunday we had two activities- we took students to the beach and had a movie night. We had between 50-60 students walk with us to the beach (see the picture above of us walking through the woods to get there) and about 35 come to the movie night. Yesterday we had a Tea and Games night (which will be every Monday and Wednesday night) and today we are walking with a group of students downtown to go to Max Cafe to get coffee! I have been very impressed by the students so far. They are very outgoing and even came up to me and asked me tell them about why I had come! That would never happen in the states.

The majority of students who come to SLI are from Lithuania, but we also have students from Latvia, Poland, Russia and Belarus. So when we had our opening meeting for the hall we had to have three separate meetings- one in English, one in Russian and one in Lithuanian. We would've had another one in Polish, but we didn't have anyone to give that one! All of the RAs I am working with are at least tri-lingual. And Max speaks 5 languages (Arabic, Lithuanian, Russian, English and Spanish). So they are amazing resources! 

I was a bit discouraged by trying to pronounce the students names. Here are a few examples of first names: Vytautas, Aistė, Girstene, Lyudmyla,  Mindaugas. But the most common females names are a bit easier: Kristina, Anastasia and Anna. I felt a lot better after I realized that the students themselves cannot pronounce each other's names! Some of the students aren't even able to speak to one another because they do not share a common language!

Since LCC is a Christian university, there is a spiritual life aspect to the Summer Language Institute (SLI). The students who attend are not signing up for a Christian camp, and many are not Christians. Because of this, there is no preaching in the classrooms. But there are optional "Journey Groups" (which are discussion groups based on spiritual topics) and Bible studies. The focus for the staff is to build friendships with the students so that opportunities for talking about Jesus Christ can come up naturally.

One thing that has been really neat for me, and a good challenge is the amount of religious diversity there is amongst the Christian staff. What I mean by this is there are people from Catholic, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Baptist, Evangelical, Lutheran, Non-denominational and Charismatic churches here. During training we were challenged to look at the things we have in common between or denominations instead of our differences. It has been good for me, since I have never gotten to work with this type of group. It has stretched my thinking about the "body of Christ" and what it means to live in community. I have also been thinking a lot about religious elitism- where one person/denomination thinks they have a corner on the truth- like the pharisees in the Bible. Not that there isn't truth, because there is. It is the Bible. But I want to make sure I don't present myself as the one who knows everything- but instead ask more questions and learn and journey with people. This is something I haven't done before, and makes me uncomfortable- but I think it is a great learning opportunity.

If you would like to see more pictures check out this facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2154446&id=185002172&l=86c788efcf

Interesting differences in Lithuania

Wow! It does not get dark in Lithuania until around 10:30pm! It's pretty confusing when its still really bright out and you look at your watch and its already 10pm!

Also, going out to eat here is super cheap! We went to a really nice restaurant today and I had a baked chicken breast with french fries, along with a separate order of soup for $4.40.  I'm going to be so spoiled here since going out to eat is nearly cheaper than buying food at the store and making it.

Discovered that the Baltic Sea (and the beach) is only a short 30min walk from campus today! I will definitely be going there again. Just not to the nude beach area just up the shore.

Lithuania Arrival!

If you haven't gone through security yet at an airport, it is not the best place to sleep.
Sitting in the Liverpool airport en route to Lithuania, I decided against sleeping in the airport after I observed a crazy man walking a round and ranting things at passerbys. I kept myself awake for 6 hours overnight and then arrived in Lithuania at 11am on Sunday.

I needed to take a small mini-bus 2 hours from Kaunus to Klaipeda (where LCC International is located). The landscape in Lithuania is beautiful and a lot like the countryside in Wisconsin or Iowa (more hills if you're comparing). There are thickly wooded forests and acres and acres of farmland with few towns.

I had my first introduction to the culture after three men sat around me in the bus and then wanted me to drink with them while we rode. They did not speak English but understood my refusal. Apparently in Lithuania it is legal to drink in a vehicle as well as walk around with open containers. We then had to make two stops on the way so the increasingly intoxicated men could pee. Toward the end of the two hours I was afraid I might be puked on, since one of the guys was leaning over with his head in his hands looking ill.

I arrived at a shopping mall in Lithuania and was picked up by Steve and Diane (the director and his wife) and Jake and Lisa (the other Hall Director and his wife) and James who will also be working at the school.
We had a great lunch in the mall and I learned that it is almost cheaper to eat out than cooking at home! Meals are very cheap so I am going to eat out a lot here! I also asked Steve and Diane if "they had known James for awhile?" after a couple stories they told. I had missed the fact that he is their son!

I got settled into my apartment last night. I have included several pictures of my apartment, the campus, my office and the view from my office (with the pond in it). The campus is only three buildings since the enrollment at the university is 650 students. So it feels a bit like a small high school with residence halls. I also learned that in Lithuania culture students respect and understand authority, but do not have as much respect for women in authority roles. So that will be a challenge this summer.

Klaipeda is a city of about 200,000 people. It is located on a port and cruise ships stop here to visit. I got to walk around the city for a bit today and many of the streets are cobblestones and there is a section of town called "Old Town" with many original buildings. The city was founded by Germans and was once part of Prussia. There are also many traces of Soviet rule. The apartments surrounding the campus all have a similar design and many look dingy and run down on the outside buy are nice on the inside. I will take and then upload some pictures soon! There is a beach 40min away by foot and a penninsula that you can take a ferry to reach. I already love the city and plan to explore a lot (plus I saw a thrift store).

Nothing is in English here, and very few people speak English or only speak a few words. So it is culture shock! Thank goodness I get to explore with Jake and Lisa (the other RDs) who are really nice. The faculty (English teachers) arrive tonight, and the students arrive on Saturday. So, more to come!