Monday of this week was a record this year for the cold! It was -25 degrees C! The little elementary school students had the option of not going to school that day. No such luck for us! haha
Here are some pictures in the dorm with my roommates.



My three roommates from left to right: Oksana, Tania, and Lida


We made a Ukrainian food called Zrazy. It has potato dough with a mushroom filling. Delicious!



This is our room and part of the kitchen!

Here I am making the Zrazy with Oksana.

Going to church on Sundays has been a great experience. Right now, I’m going to Miesto Baznycia (City Church) in the mornings. It is a contemporary style worship service in Lithuanian. I know most of the songs in English, though. I always love hearing worship songs in other languages because, to me, it emphasizes how great God is and that he’s not limited to a certain language. There is translation in Russian and English for the sermon. In the evenings, there is another service that I’ve been attending that is led by the International Christian Fellowship. It is in English with more traditional worship and a smaller gathering. This Sunday we had a nice potluck after the service to start off the semester and welcome newcomers. It was a good chance to get to know other people from the church!
I’ve been busy teaching English for my practicum! On Mondays and Wednesday mornings another student and I teach an adult class at an unemployment center. The adults range in age from early 20s to late 50s. We have been practicing asking questions and saying important information about ourselves. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we also lead a children’s English club at the university. They are a lot of fun and have a lot of energy! They love our puppet, Norton the bird!

Pictures!

Here I'm eating a traditional food called Kibinai


Standing in front of a castle!



Can you just feel the cold from looking at this?! You can't see it from here, but I've seen people go ice fishing in the morning.



Here is the whole study abroad group

I'm standing in front of the president's house, Dalia Grybauskaitė. She is the first woman president of Lithuania and was just elected this year.

This is during the tour of Vilnius. You can see a tower with the Lithuanian flag waving in the background.

Standing beside the casket of a king, our tour guide explains the history of the different rulers and the catacombs underneath the church.

Survived the first week of classes!

Well, I survived my first week of classes! All of my classes are interesting, with a mixture of Lithuanian and American professors. I like having two Bible/theology classes as well. My psychology class is a little intimidating because I’m the only non-psychology major or minor and have had the least amount of psychology classes. In my Lithuanian language class, the professor speaks only in Lithuanian (Unless we really don’t understand her)! We are working on survival phrases and pronunciation. I’m surprised at how fast we are learning Lithuanian!
In this first week, I have already had some interesting adventures! On the second day of classes, I decided to the walk the half hour trek to school by myself (I thought I knew the way). Wrong! I got lost twice! Finally, I remembered 3 words from my Lithuanian class the previous day- atsiprasau (Excuse me), ‘angliskai’ (English), and ‘universitetas’ (university). These words were enough for a stranger to point me in the right direction. I finally made it to class with 5 minutes to spare!
This week I also started bell choir for the fun of it. What makes it interesting is that it is in Russian! I understand a lot of the musical terminology because that is in Italian and is somewhat similar to Spanish. They do try to translate for me, but sometimes they forget that I don’t speak Russian!
I’ve also realized that I’m not that great of a cook! Somehow, my oatmeal doesn’t turn out right and my rice looks more like porridge! Oh well! My roommates are already helping me a bit! We are supposed to make our own meals and buy our own groceries since there is no meal plan. Each floor has a kitchen for us to use.
Last Sunday, I met my roommates and they are very nice. They are from the Ukraine and have let me try some of their Ukrainian food, which is pretty good. Usually, I eat dinners with them and we cook together. We have tea everyday and usually for every meal. Drinking alcohol is also very common and it is surprising to me how often people will drink it at dinner.
Well, that is all for now! I will try to post pictures soon!

Sightseeing and Settling in

Wed-Sat.

Well, after 1 cancellation and 5.5 hours of delays, I finally made it! My first encounter with Lithuanian culture was in the airport bathroom in Vilnius. It is labeled WC for ‘water closet’. In Korea, I had issues in bathrooms because there were dozens of buttons! Here there were NONE. I had no clue what to do!
We had many people from LCC (Lithuania Christian College) greet us at the airport. We then settled in at a hostel and split up in groups to explore the city. For dinner I had my first Lithuanian dinner. I had grilled potato pancakes, raw salmon, and garlic paste. To drink I had sour buttermilk. I think it will take awhile for me to adjust to the food because it was hard for me to eat! The other food I have eaten has been really good!
The last couple of days have consisted of many tours! We went on a morning tour of a KGB (secret police) Soviet prison. It was during the holocaust and 9 out of 10 Jews in Lithuania were killed. We saw torture chambers and prison cells. We visited the U.S. embassy. Then we went on another tour of cathedrals. We got to go underneath a catholic cathedral and see the catacombs and burial places of kings and queens from a long time ago. On the tour we went to an amber museum (Lithuania is known for its amber).
We traveled a few km to Trakai, a nearby town with a famous castle. We walked around the castle and then ate the traditional food of that town- a pot pie with lamb inside. Then in the evening we traveled west to Klaipeda where LCC and our dorms are located. I have settled into the room but haven’t met my roommates yet!

In the airport

01-04-10 I wrote this in the airport but couldn't post until I got to Vilnius (capital of Lithuania).

I am now on my way to Lithuania and am waiting at the O’Hare airport! So far, I only know 3 phrases in Lithuanian, but that will hopefully change because I’m taking an introduction of the Lithuanian language. I will also be taking psychology, theology, and cross-cultural classes and completing a TESOL practicum. I will be staying in a dorm at Lithuania Christian College. We will also get to travel to surrounding countries during Spring Break. Even though it is a Christian college, I am told that a lot of the students aren’t really Christians. Please pray that I would see and take advantage of any opportunities to witness to these students and be intentional about sharing what I believe. Also, pray for safe travels, good adjustment to the culture, and that my roommates and I would be a good fit for each other.

A few things I’m excited about!!! :
-Having 3 European roommates and teaching them how to make arepas (a Venezuelan staple food)
-sightseeing and seeing other countries
-volunteering with a local ministry like an orphanage or the Salvation Army
-learning a new language and trying different food
-teaching English (I don’t know in what setting yet)
-getting involved in campus activities like Bible studies and intramurals
I'm excited about this study abroad opportunity. thanks everybody for your b-day notes!