My Lithuanian Adventures

Napoli, Italy

2011-05-10T11:11:00.000+03:00

Napoli

Well, we spent days 3-5 in and around Napoli. Considering days 3 and 5 were spent on our two hour train ride! I absolutely love the train, something about traveling by train and seeing the land is the best thing to me. I just wish there were more trains available to take in the United States especially in and around MN.

So Napoli the city itself wasn't that appealing. Gino's pizza was fantastic plus the Christmas street, it is Christmas all year in this street. But you will see many chilly pepper ordiments because they are good for boosting fertility in a couple. But I did need to be careful to watch where I stepped because there is a huge population of stray dogs, which means their business is all over the streets along with the trash, John compared it to Queens, New York....but I strongly recommend staying at Giovanni's hostel. It is in the perfect location plus Giovanni himself was wonderful! He gave us a short history lesson along with writing up colorful map with the places to see and the mafia area's to avoid, he even made us dinner once with a cooking lesson!

Outside of Napoli, we traveled to the island of Capri. It was beautiful! The water was this indigo blue color and just beautiful! When we got back to the hostel after our trip to Capri, Giovanni invited us to eat lunch with him and a few others in the hostel! His pasta was delicious!

That evening we met two girls, Cate and Bekah, from the USA as well but they are studying in France. We went out for gelato and chatted with them and walked along the pier/coast the view was breath taking!

The next outing we made was to the Volcano Vesssss and Pompeii which was one of the cities covered by ash after the volcano exploded. We got the opportunity to climb up and look into the volcano, sadly it didn't have any lave bubbling all we saw was rocks and some steam. I was a bit disappointed. We travel to the volcano with Denis, he was staying at our hostel with us and he is from London.

Pompeii was amazing! There was so much history and to see the city, bodies, homes after the explosion was a interesting experience. The homes, kitchens, streets in Pompeii were so modern and I could see things that that we still use in our homes today.

Well back to Rome tomorrow! Tata till later <3

People you meet along the way...

2011-05-08T23:11:00.000+03:00

While traveling in Italy I had the opportunity to meet new people from all around the world. The funny part is that some of these people gave me the feeling that I have met them before but getting to learn about them and what they want to do in their life or is doing was a wonderful experience.

Giovanni, the owner of our second hostel in Napoli. You could tell he has a passion for Napoli, even though it isn't the city he grew up in. He knows so many stories, fun places to see and were one must eat. Giovanni is also generally sincere and worries about our safety. He talked to us about safety in the city, sets a curfew so we won't be out when the city isn't safe, and he just takes the time to get to know you and what you enjoy seeing so he can find something we would want to see.

The American group, we met this couple of older tourist on our way home from Pompeii. The husband was so friendly. He was very interested in the fact that we are exchange students in Lithuania. This couple was from MN, with a daughter attending St. Olaf, just shows how small of a world we live in.

Cate and Becca, these two girls were in the same hostel as us. They kept reminding me of somebody back home. Like Cate had that same personality, same way of speaking and very friendly.

Traveling has opened my eyes to realize that you meet so many different people from different countries. Not only in Italy have I had the opportunity to meet new people. In Lithuania I have gotten the chance not only to meet people but be welcomed into their lives like a member of their family. I have been very blessed to have been given this opportunity and I will be sad to see it come to an end.

Rome!

2011-05-06T15:57:00.000+03:00

Rome!

Over the last week I spent some time in Rome, Italy. Actually April 28-30th and May 3-5th. Then a few days in Napoli, Italy.

Wow, Rome is just beautiful. The first day we arrived we went to our hostel, which was like only four blocks from the Colosseum! Perfect walking distance! The hostel wasn't to bad either, it was more like an apartment and we just got one room of the apartment. Although the shower was a tad bit cold.

On day two, we went walking and exploring the entire city. We saw so much, we walked for like twelve hours, I'm pretty sure John was ready to kill me because I just kept going and having more places for us to see. We saw the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, and a ton more! Plus we ate delicious foods!

Day three, we went out and explored some more. It was raining today which put a damper on our ability to explore which is okay because we took a train to Napolis that afternoon and got to see the scenery such as mountain like hills and more farm lands. It was just beautiful! Plus just I love taking the train!

Until later, I am now off to explore again.

Holiday in Šiauliai

2011-04-26T23:11:00.000+03:00

Holiday in Šiauliai

From Thursday until Saturday, I visited Šiauliai and spent the end of my spring holiday there with John, another exchange student.

During this visit we had many adventures plus it was warm enough for me to wear shorts the entire time! On Thursday I took a trail the three hours up to Šiauliai arriving just in time for lunch! After lunch we decided to visit the hill of crosses. Like 10-15km outside of town....we decided it would work best to just bike this distance. To bad one bike had a bent tire and the other bike had no air in the tiers. After 30 min of attempting to pump air into the tires we figure we can probably get air at a gas station. We ended up going to a bike shop and it took the employee like two minutes to fill both tiers. It was a fail on our part. After this we set out on our way, we made it there in an hour. The hill of crosses was amazing, it looks so small but in reality it isn't. There are big crosses, small crosses and medium sized crosses. I even got to put my own cross out there!

On Friday, personally I was so so so sore from biking. All over my body hurt. But John invited some of his friends over and we played card games and then beach volleyball! It was perfect weather for this! After volleyball we all took a walk down by the lake, the water was a bit chilly but not bad at all. Down by the lake I taught them how to play Spud, it is a game from my childhood, except instead of spelling out SPUD we used the word ASILAS which means donkey in Lithuanian.

Well that's most of my holiday, have a splendid Easter!

Final Family!

2011-04-24T23:11:00.000+03:00

Final Family

Well on Tuesday the 19th of April, I moved to what should be my third and final family.

I am now living with my counselors family. Which is good because I feel at home already. For those who are unaware, I have lived with my counselors family a few times for the past few months while my second family was out of the country.

This family consist of a mom and dad, a nine year old son and a twelve year old daughter plus a pet turtle.

I am happy at this family and very comfortable, I even got to peel potatoes yesterday.

Peace out!

Rome and Juliet!

2011-04-23T22:30:00.001+03:00

Romeo and Juliet!

Wow! So I had the opportunity to attend my second ballet and I jus loved it! Me and Jūratė, my second host mom, went to Romeo and Juliet on 4/20.

Before Romeo and Juliet we went and saw this collection of dresses. There were two different collections. One from the Victorian Age and another from the Fashion Age, 1920's-1930's.

The Fashion Age dresses were most interesting to me, because I recently presented a project on the 1920's and how their fashion changes so dramatically and how you can still see some of those changes nowadays. Although my favorite was the Victorian Age, these dresses were just magnificent and ladies during this time period were TINY! Their waist and arms and feet were just so so tiny it looked uncomfortable. Plus their shoes, very narrow and small. I laughed at them because I just know my feet would never have fit into those shoes. NEVER! I have very wide and big feet so I would not have lasted long during the Victorian Age.

After the dress collection we went for salads because we had a little under an hour before the ballet. To bad it takes salads about an hour to be made.... Like seriously how can a salad take around an hour? So instead we just decided we would come back after our ballet to eat the salad.

The ballet was beautiful but long. It was over 3 hours! But worth every minute of it! The dancers did an amazing job and were beautiful and incredible. We had front row seats and if you ever go to a ballet I recommended front row seats, you see everything and how well built the dancers are. For me it is interesting because next month I will have the opportunity to visit Juliet's balcony while I'm in Verona.

All in all, this was a beautiful performance and the theater, opera and ballets are something everyone should experience.

Viso!

Spring in The Air!

2011-04-09T23:11:00.000+03:00

Spring has come!

Wow! It is spring here in Lithuania and am I glad! It comes to that point during winter when I start to wonder, is this ever going to end!?! I love the snow, well actually I like it mostly for snowboarding and skiing. Sadly I didn't get a chance to get out at all this season. But I am planning to make up for that next season!

Winter though, is dark compared to a winter in Minnesota. In Minnesota you can usually count on having sunny yet bitterly cold days. While in Lithuania winters are dark and cloudy, it isn't like the sun doesn't rise because it does, there is just usually always overcast covering the sun. Luckily for me I am used to those Minnesota cold winters but it sure does make me miss those sunny summer days and evenings.

Spring, so far, though has been beautiful! The sun is shining almost daily, no constant overcast and no sun for a few months. We have had a few rainy days but it doesn't seem to last long and usually clears up by mid day just in time for my lessons to be over! But these weather men are predicting rain for the next THREE days! Yuck! I better find my umbrella, I packed it when I switched families and now I just don't remember where I packed it.

Have a bright day!

A day in the Life of an American exchange student; Take Two!

2011-04-04T23:11:00.001+03:00

Well, I thought sense I blogged about a typical day at the start of my exchange I would blog once more about a day that I have had.

I am going to blog about my Monday, April 4th, 2011. This wasn't a typical day but it was a busy and fun day that I have had!

8:00 am, Time to wake on up and get myself ready for school. This includes the usual shower, do my hair, find something clean to wear, and then possible grab something to eat (I am not a morning eater, never have been)

8:50 am, look at the clock and realize I missed my bus...My bad.

9:15 am, Take the second bus, better choice actually I get to school still with plenty of time! Only 15 min from school by bus at this house. (I am currently at my counselors house again due to some other stuff but I will be back home on Sunday)

9:40 am, I arrive at school only to find out my choir concert, which I thought was after lessons, was at 1100h. Meaning I got to miss my, canceled history lesson, my window(break/lunch lesson) and my Lithuanian Lit lesson!

9:50 am, I hurry to change out of my blue dess shirt into the required white dress shirt for concerts.

10:00 am, I have roughly 45 min repetition of us singing and going over the songs we are going to sing at the concert.

10:45 am, we hurry ourselves down the street to the University because that is where our concert is being held. It was some sort of German thing and we sang the European national anthem (in German, YUCK!), another song half in German and half in Lithuanian, then two songs in Lithuanian. We ended with Vasaros jūra (summer sea), otherwise known as the fish choking song. Because when Eva first translated it, that is one translation it could have been. About a fisherman choking a fish and the fish begging to be let go. When, in reality, it has to do with love and a man in love with a women and her telling him to let go but he is saying how he can't.

*Side bar: I dislike singing in German! I can handle singing in Lithuanian but German, not so much. They make all these difficult sounds when pronouncing their words. It is much MUCH easier to sing in Lithuanian. Okay side bar complete*

11:30 am, After our wonderful performance me and a few other choir mates decide before heading back to school we will go and get something to eat. We go to a Chilli's Pizza Cafe, I attempted to order my spicy mexican soup in Lithuanian but I got nervous and my words kept getting all messed up and with them all watching me so I awkwardly had to give up half way through the order and just ask in English. It was okay we just laughed it off, and went on with enjoying our meal.

12:35 pm, I go late to my Math class, but it is okay the teacher is very sweet and didn't mind at all. We are learning Trig, what fun! NOT! It is all that; Sin, Cos, and Tan, with the formulas and solving for stuff. I didn't like it in English and surprise, surprise I still dislike it in Lithuanian.

1:10-1:15 pm, I am done with math and get to go to my next class, gym class! It was a very easy day. Just a choir concert and then three lessons. I had a double lesson of gym class.

So in gym class, we got to go outside and do our warm up run out in the arena because the weather is just beautiful! After our run, we went back inside. I would have preferred to stay outside and played soccer with the boys gym class but we couldn't do that. Instead we played volleyball, we just did some drills and practice for the first lesson. During the second lesson we were joined by a couple of the boys from the other class and played a volleyball game! I am actually not to bad at volleyball, I do very well usually when it comes to serving the ball over the net, on occasion I hit the ball to high but usually it is nearly perfect.

*Side bar: Okay, nothing against volleyball it is a fun sport BUT I would have much rather have been playing soccer. It is a sport that I enjoy more. I like the running, bumping into people, stealing the ball, making goals, throw-in's, and just the excitement of the game. Side bar done*

4:00 pm, I walk over the my bus stop and wait for a bit until my bus comes. The one bad side of being with my counselor is that the buses to his house runs only twice an hour or sometimes once an hour. Unlike my usual home which has at least two trollybuses I can take from my bus stop or a few others but I just have to switch to another trollybus later on if I take on of them.

4:30-5:00 pm, I put on some water to heat up and get my tea ready. I have become accustomed to drinking tea after school, before school, during school, at night. I just over all like tea now. Especially dark tea with a tiny bit of honey or lemon in it. Yum!

6:00 pm, Dinner/Late lunch, We had blynai which is a potato pancake and then we added meat inside. It is good. I like them more with fruit but this was good.

7:00 pm, I start or well continue working on my history project. It is about the USA and some historic things that are interesting or just interesting things about the USA. I am including; The Roaring 20's (mostly about us banning alcohol which I guess is interesting to some of my classmates), baseball because they just don't seem to understand the joy of baseball plus it is the start of baseball season and I miss it and from there I am lost of ideas, I need to speak for like 45 min so I need more I just don't know what else. Any ideas?

10:00 pm, we eat supper, it is pasta with cheese and tomato sauce. Their tomato sause is like ketchup but more runny. Plus I had some more tea.

Now it is around 11:00 pm and I am just about finished and going to go off to bed. Well maybe go off to bed but at least finish this up. Good night all!

Also, I found this great author of a cook book, Beata Nicholson, she is Lithuanian but married to a British man and now living in England. I am going to hunt the internet for an english copy of her cookbook because there are so many yummy things!

Night, night don't let the bed bugs bite!

Opera's and Hot Chocolate!

2011-04-02T19:50:00.000+03:00

Laba diena!

Last weekend, I got the opportunity to attend my first opera with my host mom. I went to "The Marriage of Figaro" it is a comedy opera. The only downside to the night was that it was an Italian opera. So not knowing any Italian, I only understood a few words here and there. Luckily, there were subtitles...really though who would have thought to put subtitles with an opera, who ever did is brilliant! The subtiteles were located on the very top of the stage on a small screen. They were in both Lithuanian and English, luckily!

This opera, was a funny comedy sort of opera. It was a story about a maid and a male servant who are in love and wanting to get married, but they run into a few problems. One was because the Count loves the maid and the male survant is arranged to get married to a different lady, while this different lady turns out to be his.....MOTHER! Well, his long lost mother. Don't worry they didn't get married, he ends up marring the maid who he is in love with. So that pretty much sums up what it was about, a comedy love opera. Very good and I strongly recommend it! Just make sure you have subtitles or fully understand Italian.

Lastly, intermission! My second favorite part about going to the opera house! They have the worlds best hot chocolate! It is like rich melted chocolate! It is super sweet and absolutely to die for! It is one of my favorite things to get while at the Opera house, and I am looking forward to having it one more time when I go see Romeo and Juliet the ballet next month.

Have a wonderful night, and until next time. Peace out <3

Basketball LIVE! Spain Vs Lietuva!

2011-03-23T21:48:00.001+02:00

Well, about two weeks ago I was a spectator at my first live Lithuanian basketball game and I let me tell you it was some experience! I wasn't a big fan of basketball before coming to Lithuania, just the occasional high school games and then watching my brother cream the South St. Paul team, which was one of my proudest moments while watching him play. Good job Bruce!

So back to the basketball game, it was a big deal of a game. It would decide which team would go on to the next round in the tournament. We "Lietuvos Rytas" were playing against Spain. It was intense, everybody was so over the top and true fans, the Lithuanian fans easily out numbered the Spain fans by numbers and also by how loudly we cheered! Here is a picture about 30 minutes prior to the basketball game, this is the stadium located in Vilnius. Also, the Vilnius team has this cool mascot looking guy, I think it is a wolf but he would do the stretches and just mascot things during time outs.

Sadly for Lithuania, this time we lost to Spain :-(

The Lithuanian fans though, they are unlike anything else. Below is a video of the song, Trys Milijonai, it is like the Lithuanian basketball national anthem. It is played during the games but mostly only when the Lithuanian team wins. Fans, go all out, they have a gigantic flag they actually do wave during a time-out, they pain their faces, pass out from being to drunk, play a big drum, this video is an accurate representation of just what it is like at a basketball game.

Lastly, I kinda wish I would have been here in the fall of 2011. Because Lietuva is holding the Euro Basketball Tournament this year. Which means, teams from all over Europe and possible one team from the USA again are going to be playing in five different cities across Lietuva. So the exchange students coming to Lietuva next year are in for a real treat, and better be ready to cheer on Lietuva to victory!

100 Day Celebration

2011-02-16T11:11:00.000+02:00

The 100 day celebration is an event that nearly all Lithuanian schools hold. It is put on by the eleventh class for the twelfth class. It's purpose is to mark that there is 100 days until their first end of the year exam.

Each year there is a different theme which is chosen by the eleventh class. Our theme I believe was 'dream or dreaming'. This celebration consist of some sort of performance put on for the twelfth class and then gifts and notes from teachers are handed out to each of the students.

Our performance was interesting and difficult to sum up. Basically we had somebody playing a student who fell asleep while he was studding and had different dreams about famous books, not so famous books, tv shows, movies, dancing, singing, and we had somebody dressed in a bear costume randomly popping up through out the performance. It was a hit, I think so at least, I even performed in the play. I played Bella Swan from Twilight. We acted out the scene when she and Edward are in the forest and she tells him that she knows what he is. We were very good, we had many cheers and applaus! Į also participated in the end flash mob, which was a big group of people doing a dance routine.

All in all, it was a splendid performance and a wonderful night.

Ata

Natalie

Plus, I think this marks the start of my acting career. Who knows I might end up in Hollywood now.

Mexican food, ice skating and a concert! It must be the weekend!

2011-02-14T21:28:00.001+02:00

What a wonderful weekend I had! This weekend was very busy for me. I had my 100 day celebration for my school. See next post for more 100 day blogging! Also this weekend all of the exchange students got together to hang out.

So starting out on Saturday, at noon I met up with John, Elsa and Yu-Shaun in Vilnius to hang out. We ended up walking to the tower and enjoying the view of the city. Even though it was freezing the view of the old city was amazing. After the visit to the tower we got hungry and managed to find a MEXICAN FOOD RESTAURANT! It was so good, I got this big burrito which reminded me of home. It was Yu-Shauns first time eating Mexican food. I believe she liked it too! After filling our tummies we went ice skating! This was like a blast from my past. I haven't skated in years and it was a ball. They had these little penguins that were to help beginners, I names mine Henry and he is my new best friend! Later that night we visited a sky bar which you can see the entire city from above! I went there at night which was amazing because the night lights made the city look beautiful! To finish our night off we all went to a concert at a music club. We saw The Red Hot Chilly Pepper Project. This is a group which played only Red Hot Chilly Pepper music! It was a wonderful way to end my Saturday night.

On Sunday, I met up once again with the others and we visited Ozas, a shopping mall, and went to the movie 'No Strings Attached' not my favorite movie but it was decent.

Well that's my weekend for the most part. Look for the next post on the 100 day celebration.

Stay classy everyone,

Natalie

Swan Lake and Sickness

2011-02-04T23:10:00.002+02:00

Tonight, I went to see the ballet called Swan Lake. This was a ballet with Russian, Belorussian and Lithuanian ballerina's, it was absolutely breath taking. I am now looking forward to seeing Black Swan sometime in the near future.

We went to the Opera House in the city center, the funny part is, I past it nearly every day but I never realized it was the opera house. This building was beautiful and so was the view, not to mention the ballet it's self was beautiful.

During the intermission I tried the famous, Opera House, hot chocolate or how they call it over here Kakave. Personally I find that to be a better name then hot chocolate. This was a super sweet and rich hot chocolate. It pretty much seemed like melted chocolate with milk mixed into it. It was amazing but VERY sweet and rich.

Going to the ballet, made my week so much better. My week started off terribly. On Monday, I caught myself a cold. Just a simple cold like a runny nose and my voice sounded like Miley Cyrus, her man voice. Best of all, now I have this sun blister on my nose which makes it incredibly painful to blow my nose now.

Well I will write again sometime soon. Maybe. Also I am now addicted to How I Met Your Mother. It is an amazing show and super funny.

Christmas Time In Lithuania!

2011-01-25T11:11:00.000+02:00

Christmas time is always a magical time, the snow on the ground, the Christmas tree decorated, yummy food, around people who love and care for you, plus there is just an extra bit of cheer in the air.

This year I spent Christmas away from my family in Minnesota but with my family here in Lithuania. Christmas here is different which was to be expected because Christmas is different for everybody we all have our own traditions and cultures. Here in Lithuania I traveled to Kaunas, the second largest city and an hour from my home in Vilnius, to spend Christmas at the grandparents house. We went there from December 24th to the 26th.

Christmas here starts on Christmas eve when you don't eat ANY meat. We actually have a traditional twelve dishes including things from; fish, beats, poppy sead milk and mushrooms. Along with not eating meat they don't eat much dairy products on Christmas eve as well. This for me was a very big change because my diet includes mostly meat and dairy, I'm not a big fish eater but working on it. At the moment I just have a problem with the smell it taste fine once I'm past the smell. It is also customary to try a bit of each dish. Before this meal we all take a piece of the holy communion wafer sheet and wish each other blessings, atleast that's what I thought was going on. Following the traditional Christmas Eve dinner we leave the dishes unwashed because of a superstion and as an offering while retreating to the living room to open our presents from St. Nick. While this family had the tradition if you wanted your present you must either sing a song or reciete a poem for the family. For Christmas this year I recieved a beautiful bracelet, tons of sweets, and a pair of cozy woolen socks to stay warm with. Later that evening we headed to the midnight church mass in town. While we were a bit late getting there it was interesting to see how lively the downtown part of the city was and how majorly packed the church was.

Christmas was a relaxing day, we stayed at home and enjoyed each others company. For dinner we ate duck. It was good and tasted like chicken. I was a bit worried because the head of this duck was still attached but I got over that fact quickly.

That was really all we did for Christmas, small family celebration but I did attend a class Christmas party on December 26th once I returned which was also a lot of fun.

Enjoy your new year,

Natalie

P.S
I'm watching a Spanish SoapOpera on TV right now, it is kinda strange in an interesting way.

The End Of A Semester.

2011-01-24T11:11:00.000+02:00

On Friday, my school held a lock in for the students in grades 9-12. Which means from 8pm to 7am there was different activities going on through out the school and I think this was in celebration of the end of the semester.

During this night they had many different activities set up. Some of these were; folk dancing, karaoke, counter strike, basketball, blind volleyball, ultimate frisbee, flashmob dance groups, trying to win a 10, UV stick throwing/floor routine thing and other activities.

Well, I didn't try everything because playing counter strike is a bit out of my skills range. I can't do the shooting, head shots and killing people without usually killing myself. I'm what the gamer world calls a newb, somebody who isn't good or new at it, so I skipped that activity. On the other hand I did try the Lithuanian folk dancing. It was a slight epic fail but it was fun! Luckily, there were people there who knew what they were doing and could help me learn. I did learn though that I have a slight two left feet problem. Lastly, one other activity I tried was this glow in the dark baton throwing. For the opening program there wasp this professional group of people who put on a floor routine of throwing batons and dancing with glow in the dark clothes on. Afterwards they offered us the opportunity to come and learn for yourself. That is something I tried doing and if I say so myself I was pretty good. I do have a few bruises to prove otherwise but besides that I did good. I could probably even go professional....maybe.

All in all it was a very fun yet long night. I am very glad to have gone although I did sleep today until nearly 4pm but it was totally worth it.

Peace out till next time!

Hot and Spicy!

2011-01-22T16:37:00.000+02:00

Hot and Spicy, yum! My favorite types of food without question. Luckily for me my first host dad Arnoldas made the best Indian food I have ever tasted.

While I was staying with my first host family we had an Indian food dish a few times a week and it was always my favorite dish of the week! Plus it made for a good way to end the day! From the spices to the wonderful smell that filled the house while he was cooking it was all just amazing! These dishes usually include rice, chicken/pork/shrimp, tomatoes, and other little things. These dishes I already miss and I will have to learn how to remember how to make them once I return home to Minnesota because I know my family would enjoy them as much as i did.

Sorry for this post, I ment to publish it a month ago but I forgot to publish it.

Natalie

New Home And A New Experience.

2011-01-22T16:28:00.000+02:00

On january 3, 2011 the time came for me to switch host families. I have been staying with my previous family for the past 4 months, well sense my arrival in Lithuania.

I was moving to another farther out of the city cottage. Luckily for me it was closer to a bus stop then my first home. My first house was in a small village/neighborhood, to what I believe to be the north side of Vilnius. My new family lives in a cottage which is the same thing as a townhouse. This townhouse is located on the east side of Vilnius, or that's what I think at least.

My first family had two boys, 16 and 14 plus a dog. This new family also has two boys plus a fur-ball of a dog. The sons however are both currently studding out of the country. One in London and another in Scotland. Which means I am something like an only child, which is a bit strange being an only child, I miss having sisters and brothers around. Because back in America I come from a large family of five sisters and one brother, this only child business is pretty foreign to me.

What I didn't realize is how close I became to my first family. It was VERY difficult to leave. I became apart of their family and they became part of my family. I know for sure I will love and cherish the memories I have from spending my time with them. Plus the delicious Indian rice dishes we had for dinner some nights, yummy!

Now in my new family, I am prepared for new experiences and new opportunities. I guess you could describe it as a new chapter in my adventure in Lithuania.

But changing families was tough, I became very homesick. I believe it was because I had to pack my life up again and move someplace new and I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I was a nervous reck for a few days prior to switching families, I was worried they wouldn't like me and so on. I was sad about leaving and not getting to go home to my family in Minnesota. I mean come on my bags where packed and everything, even though I am not prepared to end my journey here in Lithuania. It is hard to put these feelings into words, you see I am not ready to come home yet but packing my bags made me homesick. Im not sure if that makes sense but it is how I felt. No worries though because the homesickness is in the past and I am really enjoying my new family. The parents are both very nice and excellent cooks. Plus I even get to take the trollybus to school when my lessons start at 10am.

Well that is my changing of the families. Sorry I haven't blogged in a while I was busy. Don't worry I will try to blog more and bring you up to date on my adventures in Lithuania! Until we meet again!

Ata, Nat

Christmas time at school.

2010-12-26T11:11:00.060+02:00

Well, it is Wednesday and the last day at school before my winter holidays! I am not sure how long my holidays will go for but they will be filled with many different things. This will be my last two weeks with my current host family and on January 3rd I am moving to my next family, I will have two brothers again but they are both in University so I wont be seeing much of them.

So back to the main reason of this post, Christmas time at school. On wednesday I had something like a fun day at school. While I was utterly confused for a good chunk of the day, yet it was still very enjoyable.

8 a.m, I'm supposed to be in my Chemistry class room. Of course when I ask a fellow classmate what is going on they are just like, you need to go to your first class. Okay, no big deal I can manage that. I go up to the second floor and walk into my Chemistry classroom, I knock first because I am late. What I wasn't expecting was that it wasn't my class in that room. I just walked in on the wrong class but luckily I knew most of the students in their and got pointed in the correct direction. Once finding the correct classroom, we started working on activities related to Christmas and traditions. It was interesting, while it was also boring because the entire thing was in Lithuanian, the bits and pieces I was able to get sounded fascinating, makes me wish I could understand Lithuanian better.

9:30-10 a.m, Church time. I had no idea once again to where or what was going on. For my classmates this is like a yearly thing they have been doing once a year sense they started at the school. With that, it wasn't really said what was happening that day so I had to figure it out. I ended up finding a friend and asking them what was going on and for the entire day what we were doing. We both then headed to our schools church for mass. Once arriving in the FREEZING church. It makes me miss my nice heated church back in America, here we were all wearing scarfs, winter jackets, and gloves through out the entire service. Once arriving, I learn that I am supposed to be singing throughout the service with the choir. It was an interesting service, this is a Catholic school so it was a Catholic mass. They are different from Lutheran masses which are what I am accustomed to back home.

After church, we had this large class gift exchange. It actually started in the beginning of the month. They call it "guarding angle" it is the same thing as secret Santa, that is how they described it too me at least. We all gathered in the auditorium, it was nearly the entire 11th grade class who decided to participate in this gift exchange. We made one big circle, at least attempted to because there wasn't much room to squeeze everybody in but we managed. We then went around and revealed who we were guarding by delivering them their last present, I was guarding Simonas, he is this big basketball player that plays I believe for some national Lithuanian team. That day was the first time I actually met him, and really knew who he was. An odd thing is later that day when I went to meet my new host family, I was informed that Simonas will be my new neighbor, it is funny how those things happen.

After our gift exchange was complete, we got these pieces of thin wafery things, it is what you get during communion instead of bread. I cant remember what it was called but it was decorated for Christmas. Well, with those wafery things, we went around and broke off a bit of a different persons and then got to speak to them. It was a kind way of getting to thank, talk, or speak to your fellow classmates.

Thats all I have to say for now, bye bye.

End of the world, or I thought so at least.

2010-12-23T13:45:00.000+02:00

Well, December 21, 2010. My new end of the world, forget December 12, 2012, it was going to be today Tuesday the 21st. At least that is how I had it pictured in my head. I was hoping for all sorts of things to happen, maybe lose my voice for the day, school to be canceled, my teachers to be gone. Anything to save me from this day.

The reason this day was not looking so bright for me was because of three things I had to do. First, I was to recite a poem I memorized in Lithuanian to my entire Lithuanian literature class. I have a slight fear of public speaking and a small class of 20 people isn't bad but speaking in Lithuanian had me scared to death. Secondly, I was to sing a song in English to my music class. This task was what I was most dreading, singing alone in front of people had me ready to lose my voice and run for the hills. Lastly, I was going to be preforming my skit in drama class for who ever wanted to watch. This one I wasn't worried about and it didn't bother me. Somehow I am not nervous on stage just all the other time when I am in front of a large group of people.

The big day came and I was a bit nervous. I carried my poem around with me to each class and just sat and re said it over and over again. I asked classmates how words were supposed to sound and if I was pronouncing them somewhat correctly. This is the poem (below), I attempted to say. According to some classmates it sounded Russian when I said it to the class, but never less I said my poem and only on occasion needed to look at my notes. I decided that it was a good accomplishment and somewhat of a success.

SU NEMUNU PATEKA SAULĖ

by, Paulius Sirvys

Su Nemunu
Pateka saulė.
Su Nemunu
Leidžias toli.

Prie Nemuno
Mano pasaulis,
Prie Nemuno
Mano šalis.

Su Nemunu 
Ašarą plovėm,
Su Nemunu
Griovėm stabus.

Su Nemunu
Pateka saulė.
Linguoja
Lopšinė gyva.

Prie Nemuno 
Mano pasaulis —
Gimtoji šalis —
Lietuva.

After my poem came my worst nightmare, the song. I had a few lessons prior to my performance so of course I got nervous and looked over the song nearly a      dozen times. I was to sing, "This Land is Your Land" not a difficult song               especially sense I can remember singing it when I was younger. This was an         interesting experience. My voice was a bit off tune and you could hear the shake in my voice but I did a good job and my music teacher was content with my       performance. For me it was a huge relief, I survived singing alone and the world  was still in one piece. So I crossed that off my list and moved on to my next task.

Drama, the easiest and by far the most fun task of my day. I was to act in a short skit for my friends and other classmates. According to some classmates I nailed my part. Now I just need to figure out why I am perfectly fine on stage but            nervous any other time I get in front of people. But I will worry about that later, it   is time for pizza! Yum!

Till the next post. Merry Christmas!

Winter Retreat with my School.

2010-12-13T21:36:00.001+02:00

Over the past weekend I attended a retreat with some other students from my 11th grade class. This retreat was located at a small "camp ground" roughly a half an hour from Vilnius. This retreat or you could call it a recollection is held twice in the 11th grade, once in the winter and once in the spring and it seems to me that nearly everybody wants to be apart of it.

This retreat started off on Thursday evening, and to be honest I was worried about what I got myself into. Once I arrived, I almost immediately wanted to leave. After our first group meeting, I started to have my doubts. This was all in Lithuanian, it is a special time for my class mates because they all seem to look forward to it, and it was a lot of Lithuanian, not to mention earlier that week I was feeling quite homesick. I can't go into much detail about the retreat because we are not supposed to talk about it because that way it will stay a surprise for the following groups who go but I will just sum up the main idea of the weekend.

Over the weekend from Thursday evening until Sunday evening, we spent this time getting closer to the students who attended this session of the retreat and learning more about our faith. While most of the retreat was in Lithuanian my small group was actually in English. Luckily for me, there is a Brother who is part of our school from America. His name is Brother Joseph and speaks fluently in both English and Lithuanian. I was put into his group so that we could discus in English and if the other group members wanted to they could also speak English or Lithuanian which ever they preferred. To my surprise and happiness the other group members also were okay with discussing mostly in English. I wasn't expecting them to speak and discus in English because it was mostly religious things we were discussing and it is usually easier to express your feelings in your native language. I was very grateful to the other members because being able to understand by myself what was going on was a nice change to the environment.

Over the weekend, I got a chance to meet students from different classes in my grade (it is split into class A, B and C) that I never got a chance to meet before. Also while the weekend progressed my homesickness faded away, it was a change of pace for me and just what I needed to cure my bit of homesickness.

I have learnt a lot about myself, the other students, the teachers, and god during the retreat and I am grateful that I was offered this chance and the ability to experience the retreat with my other students.

Also, some of my friends taught me new phrases which are both interesting and funny. They even got me to speak Lithuanian in front of the entire group of people at the retreat. I usually get nervous speaking to five or more people. I might have ended up shaking so badly from stage fright that i nearly dropped my notebook but I did it once again the following night that time I didn't shake nearly as much, just my legs but my voice stayed steady.

Labanakt, I need to finish my English power point.

Walking in a winter wonderland!

2010-12-04T22:45:00.001+02:00

On Saturday I traveled to a sauna house in the middle of the woods with my host mom and dad and some of their friends.

It was absolutely beautiful. I wish i had my camera with me to have taken pictures to share them with you all, so instead I will try my best to describe what I got to see. So try to picture this, you drive into the middle of the forest with no other houses around. There is fresh powder on the ground. It is that kind of powder which makes snowboarding and skiing perfect, it is light and fluffy and not the wet sticky snow which is good for snowballs but not fun to be in. The powdery snow is covering every inch of the ground and gives that winter glow to the forst and house. In this forest where the sauna house was located were these tall trees that had snow covered branches and it glittered from all the snow. Lastly behind the sauna home was a small pond. This pond was completely iced over and covered in snow. Across the pond from our house was another small cottage which had the beautiful snow covered trees as a back drop. I know this description doesn't do this scene justice but it gives you a semi good idea of how beautiful winter in Lithuania is so far.

The reason why we traveled to the sauna house was to collect branches from pine trees. After we collected our branches we went and made home made reefs. This was an interesting experience, my reef didn't turn out nearly as well as the others reefs but it was only my first time making one.

I have noticed something while at the sauna house, maybe it is just me but I think dogs have a thing for going after feet. Because my dog a home always like attacking my feet and my host families dog likes to go after feet.

Bye bye now!

New Pictures are here!

2010-12-02T11:11:00.000+02:00

Check out my picture website and see what I have been up to for the past THREE MONTHS! Time has flown and it has already hit that three month mark. I can't believe my exchange year is about a third of the way done. It is scary to think also that this time last year I was headed to my district interview.

Well check out the pictures and video's at,

http://mylithuanianadventures.shutterfly.com/

Peace out all.

Yeah I'm in choir!

2010-11-30T23:13:00.000+02:00

On Monday I had my first real choir concert like ever!

I joined the choir here in Lithuania nearly three months ago and it was one of my best decisions so far.

The concert on Monday was located at my school in our assembly room, I wouldnt refere to it as an auditorium because it doesnt look or resemble the auditoriums I am used to back home but this assembly room is used for all the same purposes as an auditorium.

The choir concert started off with an hour or so of prerehearsal while being shuffled all around the school. We kept changing rooms and I was just utterly confused during this time. After all the hustle and bustle of things we lined up and headed to our concert. We were to wear our school uniform with the blue jacket/blazer, and a white shirt underneath. This concert consisted of us singing ten songs in total. We started off singing a variety of songs ranging from Norwegian and even on English song but mostly we sang in Lithuanian. One of the songs we sang was called Vasaros Jura, translating into Summer Sea. This song was about a fisherman and the fish he caught. The fish was begging to be released but the fisherman wouldn't let him go. I am including a link to YouTube were you can watch us preform this song Vasaros Jura. If the video doesn't work for you try searching the title of the clip in the YouTube site, the title is VJB Choir- Vasaros Jura. I am in the middle of the video and mostly on the left side of our directors head.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrYomnCyFvw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I hope you enjoy! Night now!

A pie in the face!

2010-11-25T16:30:00.002+02:00

Over the last weekend I traveled to šauliai, this is a smaller city in Lithuania.

My journey started bright and early at 7:30am, when i met up with somebody who would be driving me to Šauliai. I traveled also with three members of the Vilnius roteract club and Yu Shaun(exchange student). Roteract is another branch of rotary for men and woman between the ages 20-30.

Once in Šauliai, I had no idea what we were doing or what they had planned for us. The one thing I knew was that I would get to meet up with the other exchange students! So that means all four of us; John, Elsa, Yu Shaun and me!

It turns out, we were to attend an official Roteract conference with members of other clubs across Lithuania and a representative from Demmark. The conference was interesting, while it was in all Lithuanian, one of the Vilnius Roteract club members translated pretty much the entire conference for me. He was like my personal translator for the day, or at least for the conference. He did a great job especially because this was his first time being a translator, well thats what he said.

After this amazingly long conference, we all went and competed in a bowling tournament. I've come to realize that bowling is a popular and common thing to do when there is a rotary function. This time we(as in the exchange students) even got to compete! Our team consisted of the four exchange students and one member of a different Roteract club. We were known as, drum roll please.....The World Junior Team!!! Da! Da! Da! Okay, so we weren't that good....to be honest we were the worst team and not even close to being any good. I tried channeling my inner Wii but I struggled and ended up in last place :-( but that's okay because we decided that next time, which there will be, we will have team shirts and maybe that will help us to victory!

Once the bowling came to an end, we proceeded out to the country side where we stayed at this guest house. It was an interesting place, there were rooms upstairs up and a hall sort of place downstairs. As the evening continued we were served dinner,yum, my favorite meal! We ate this chicken with rice, it was delicious! Also the Roteract put on a fundraiser later in the evening. This fundraiser was a pie throwing event. I'm not sure if they picked random members or volunteered members but either way people bid on throwing a pie at a members face! Of course this event was all happening in Lithianian but between John, Elsa and I, we managed to figure out that somebody bid over 400 litas(around $160 USD), which is just insane amount of money but it was going towards a good cause.

After the pie throwing was complete, we cleaned things up and got ready to bust a move! Oh yeah, we now started the dancing part of the evening! While personally I did barley little dancing. I have discovered, I have two left feet and will be taking up dancing when I'm back in the states, that's for sure. Otherwise I'll trip and fall all over the dance floors. Instead of dancing; Elsa, John and I decided we would play cards. We ended up teaching ERS(Egyptian Rat Screw) and Speed to some of the other members. While the party was fun and I even attempted dancing a few more times in the evening, playing cards until roughly 3:30 am was my favorite part. Especially with an 8:00am wake up call the next morning for me, yuck!

I'm now curious to find a Roteract club near my home in Minnesota and to learn how to dance.....

Happy Thanksgiving! And Happy Holidays!

Thats all Folks!

A day in the life of an American exchange student.

2010-11-17T23:09:00.001+02:00

I thought i would dedicate this blog to my somewhat typical Wednesday in Lithuania. The best way I can think of writing this blog is to start off in the morning and work until I am in bed trying to sleep, even though I have found it incredibly difficult to sleep lately. I think it could be from my lack of physical activities in my day, so I am looking into a football (soccer) team to join or dance but I'd prefer football.

6:00 am, a bright and early start to my day! I tend to get right out of bed and hurry to the shower, that way I'm first.

6:30 am, Rokas (host brother) knocks on my door saying i should hurry up because we are leaving at 6:40am. So I hurry and finish my makeup and pin back my hair.

7:00 am, we meet up with the neighbor and leave for school.

7:30 am, I promptly arrive to school just in time for that 8am class. So I finish or attempt to finish my hair and head up stairs to chat with friends before class.

8:00 am, my first class which happens to be a double lesson of Chemistry begins with a quick prayer and then the lords prayer. Lucky for me I have two very nice friends who help translate Chemistry when I feel like paying attention.

9:15 am, I'm done attempting to pay attention in chemistry for the day and chat with one of the guys sitting in front of me.

10:00 am, BREAK TIME! I have a "window lesson". That just means a free period. I head off to the cafeteria and grab a bit of lunch with Rokas, Vilte and a few other friends. I had this really good meat ball thing cooked in a fryer with mashed potatoes and a salad. YUM!

10:40 am ish, I am sitting in my religion class. We had an interesting discussion on good and evil. Well it seemed interesting.

11:30 am ish, I get to attend my double lesson of math.....ya. Usually I don't mind math even a double lesson but today we started talking about vectors and it is very difficult. All words and letters and no numbers, makes fallowing along by myself nearly impossible but Dovile helped to translate for me. I am certain I will never use that in real life though.

1:00 pm, DONE WITH CLASS!!!! So I head down to the milk bar to wait two hours for choir to start. The milk bar is just a small snack shop that we tend to spend our free time there.

1:15 pm, At the milk bar I met up with Rokas my host brother and another Rokas who is a classmate of mine. We had a great hour long conversation about basketball....I am constantly reminded how poorly Minnesota is doing, so Timberwolfs you better start winning! We also talked about global warming, hamburgers, gays, racism, and many other topics. We even covered construction of homes and how they differ between the U.S and Lithuania.

2:00 pm, I decided I better review my Lithuanian vocabulary. So Rokas decided to quiz me....it didnt go well.

3:00 pm, choir time! I am singing as an alto.

5:00 pm, after choir ended, I quickly change from my skirt to jeans and hurried to fetch the bus over to my host moms work for a ride home with Rokas.

6:15 pm, we stopped at Mc Donald's for dinner. I got a hamburger and fries with a coke.

7:30 pm, once at home I usually change into my comfy pants and chat with my host mom for a bit and then read. Currently I am reading well nothing I just finished my book. I am going to look into locating a library, I've decided that.

10:30-11:30 pm, I attempt to fall asleep but lately it has been taking FOREVER!

Well, that is a somewhat typical Wednesday for me but obviously it doesn't always go that way.

Tata till next time!

P.S Harry Potter comes out FRIDAY!!!!! I will be seeing it in English with Lithuanian subtitles.

Government

2010-11-13T20:31:00.000+02:00

On Thursday, I got the opportunity to visit parliament during a very important meeting. During this session of parliament the members were voting on weither or not to keep two members in parliament. This voting was a historic moment in Lithuania because being voted out of parliament hasnt happened in a very very long time.

Multiple of the members in parliament are also famous stars, actors, and making appearances on T.V shows. The first member up for vote was because he took an unapproved vacation and missed multiple meetings. The second member was covering for the first member who was gone on vacation.

While visiting parliament, I got a tour of the old palace which is now part of the parliament building. The castle was the location of many historical events of Lithuania. We were able to visit the location were their declaration of independence was signed. Also at the parliament building many years ago Lithiania defended their country when Russia tried to invade and conquer Vilnius and all of Lithuania.

After our tour of parliament we went back to the main meeting hall to watch the results of the voting. In our surprise only one of the two members up for vote was kicked. The member who was kicked out was the member that took an unapproved vacation. As of now the other member is still part of parliament while the other member was asked to leave.

What suprised me most about this was how the press took to the event. There were news reporters interviewing different members of parliament and following the member voted out all the way out of parliament. Our group was even seen in the news when we were talking with the member who got kicked out.

The Club Can't Handle Us Now.

2010-11-07T17:12:00.001+02:00

Warning, this post is not about a club experience.

The reason I picked this title for my post is because over the past week I heard about this song at least once a day. My classmates are currently liking this song very much, and i have gotten questioned if i have heard it before multiple times. It is a popular song currently in Lithuania and I can understand why.

Back on to the real blog post. I want to talk about traditional dances, costumes, and music here in Lithuania.

Saturday November, 6th 2010, I went to a concert put on by Vilnius University. This concert wasn't your typical music concert. It was filled with traditional dances, music, costumes and of course an after party for the members who put on the lovely concert. Lucky for me my friend was playing in the orchestra and she invited me to the after party.

The traditional costumes they wore at the dance were beautiful, each piece is specific to a different region of the country and it all depends on what dance they are currently preforming. The students in the orchestra wore one costume while the students singing in the choir had a completely different costume on. As you can see from the picture above these costumes had many different parts to them.

My favorite dance of the entire concert was an upbeat song, which made me want to jump up onto stage and dance along with them. Not only do they preform there complicated dance steps flawlessly they make you want to be apart of the dance as well.

After watching this concert, i have come to realize that, one i want to take up folk dancing, two WOW that was impressive and three i am jealous and wish i could dance like that.

Schools out for....a HOLIDAY!

2010-11-01T15:06:00.000+02:00

Lately in Lithuania we have been on holiday from school, which has been fantastic! Our holiday consisted of no school from October 23rd to November 1st, which is basically a week off of school plus a monday because of All Saints Day. So i've got to say this totally beats having MEA back in Minnesota. MEA for those who are not aware is a school break consisting of two days at the end of the week off giving us a longer weekend basically. So obviously the longer break is more preferred.

Over my holiday I met a friend and attended a few of her courses at Vilnius University, she is majoring in biochemistry. The two classes I went with her was to her English class and Lithuanian class. Her English class wasn't your typical language class, we didn't learn grammar, thank god, or how to write. We learned how to use scientific terms correctly and more topics related to their major. The Lithuanian class was also very interesting even though i understood about 4% of what was happening. In that lesson they were learning about slang words used in the Lithuanian language and how to pick out which ones are incorrect to use and which ones are okay to use. The best part about this lesson was I actually understood some of the slang words! After class we walked around Vilnius and ate at this amazing pastry shop.

Also over the break while I was in Vilnius I went to a party hosted by the interact rotary club. Interact is part of rotary but made up of teenagers my age! Which is wonderful for me because I got to hang out with kids my age, meet new people and see the other exchange students for the night. I included one picture which has the other three exchange students, Elsa, John, and Yu Shan. This party consisted of speeches given in Lithuanian but translated into English, food, food, and more food, and bowling plus a chance to talk with the other exchange students and compare and share stories of our exchange so far. I am even thinking about trying to attend the interact meetings and get involved with their group.

For the second half of my holiday I traveled to Kaunas, which is located only an hour from Vilnius. To my surprise and enjoyment I got to travel by TRAIN! Train has now officially become my favorite means of transportation. Not only did i successfully buy my own train ticket, speaking in Lithuanian fyi, I managed to get to the train station from my house by myself. The train station is on the opposite side of the city from where I am living, so i got to navigate the bus system, another thing I am really enjoying. I think Northfield... should get a bus system in place. Maybe from Target to downtown, at least something to spice up the town. Well, now back to my trip to Kaunas, while here i stayed with my host mom's parents. They are very friendly and her mother is a wonderful cook, I definitely did not starve. Also while in Kaunas, I went to the city center and met up with Elsa (exchange student). Elsa, Rokas and I walked around Kaunas and then ate some amazing Chinese food.

Because it was All Saints Day on monday we carved a pumpkin on Sunday evening. Well i got to carve the pumpkin! Which is something I haven't done for a couple of years and will be needing to start this tradition up again once i return. So mom, make sure to plant pumpkins in the garden come spring time!

P.S I am now a fantastic potato peeler! I might even go professional.

Pictures are here!

2010-10-25T12:02:00.000+03:00

Well, this post is basically to inform people that I started up a shutter fly webpage with pictures of my exchange year.

The link is as follows:
http://mylithuanianadventures.shutterfly.com/

You can also find the link to check out my pictures on the left hand side below information about me!

Just a warning the webpage is new and not all my pictures are uploaded yet. I do have pictures from Trakai and Kaunas up and ready to view!

Enjoy the pictures if you check them out.

Tata for now.

Baltic sea, train ride and the journey's only just began!

2010-10-14T18:44:00.000+03:00

Well, I am getting to that two month point soon and WOW has the time flown on by!
I have so done many things that I don't even know where to start, so I'll make a list.

• I have traveled to Kaunas during the first week for a language camp and I also met the other exchange students.
•I have started school. I am attending a Catholic school and I get to wear a uniform!
•I attended the Rotary Olympics in Druskani. Druskani is a small town about an hour south of Vilnius and it is basically a resort/spa town. Saddly my Rotary club came in second place this year.
•I've attended my first Dipolis, my rotary club, meeting and presented a speech about my self. I hope to attend more Rotary meetings in the future.
•I watched my first United States basketball game while I was in Druakani. They played Lithuania and the USA won.
•I ate my first McDonalds hamburger....and liked it :-(
•I traveled by train to Klaipeda, a city by the Baltic sea. This train had capartments like in HARRY POTTER! So obviously I felt like I was traveling to Hogwarts for a little bit.
•I swam in the bitterly cold Baltic sea, twice!
•I traveled by ferry to Nida and climbed the sand duhns and saw Russia....well just a chunk of Russia but it was still Russia.
•I've joined a Lithuanian language courses at the local university, in hopes of learning the language.
•I've now decided I want to take up Finish because it sounds intense and is fun to listen to.
•I played football(soccer) at school for the first time in almost three years and loved it! I am now incredibly sore but I did a decent job if I do say do myself.
•I've learned how to navigate around Vilnius, semi decently by bus.
•I've experienced using saunas and now want one back home...so mom and dad you should work on having that completed by the time I get home, lol.

Well, that only starts to sum up my experiences here in Lithuania. I've had so many more and i hope to have many more as the time goes on.

Tata for now!

Rugby, Saunas, and football!

2010-10-05T22:17:00.000+03:00

Rugby, saunas, and football (not American football). It seems like A day doesn't pass when rugby isn't mentioned or brought up in conversation. You should know that rugby isn't a popular sport in Lithuania, atleast not yet.

In my family both of my brothers play rugby, I can't help but say rugby in a more manly tone while pretending to be tough. Haha it is just the word rugby makes me laugh while saying it because it is a fun word to say. Admit it you just said rugby out load and if you didn't, you know you want to. For your information, rugby is not a laughing matter. It happens to be a serious and interesting sport. I attended my first rugby game this past Saturday and I had no idea what to expect but i wasn't dissapointed. The game consist of two thirty min halfs and it is intense and exciting the entire time. Unlike American football which has always confussed me, rugby doesn't. It is simple, take the ball and score. No pads, no helmets, just playing. Sadly for my brother Rokas his team lost :-(. Hopefully the next game will go alot better for him.

After watching this rugby game, I had a great desire to play football, aka soccer. The feel of being near the field and this time of year makes me miss the game. Luckily for me I convinced my youngest brother to play football with me! I came to the resliztion that I never was very good at the sport. I think I will just stick with snowboarding!

Saunas, I have come to notice these are very popular in Lithuania. Over the past weekend I traveled to a family friends sauna home near a pond. This was a fun experience. I went to the sauna, where I sat until I was nearly melted and then ran and jumped into a FREEZING cold pond. While I hated myself for jumping into the water it was worth ever freezing cold moment. I guess now I just have to convince my parents to build a sauna. This way when I return home I can share part of my experience with my family.

Peace out homies,

Natalie

Just a quick update on life.

2010-09-18T12:09:00.000+03:00

Recently i joined a Lithuanian language course, in attempting of learning the language, at Vilnius University. This language course is held three time a week, Monday at 5pm, Tuesday at 5pm, and Fridays at 9am. Lucky for me my school director gave me permission to miss my Friday morning Lithuanian Lit class to attend this language course instead. We both agreed that it would be far more beneficial and less boring for me. At my Lithuanian class there are only two other students. One boy from Austria, and another boy from Finland. The guy from Finland can also speak Finnish, obviously. Which i have now decided that if this Lithuanian language doesn't work out for me, I'm going to take up Finnish.

School. One word can sum this all up DIFFICULT. Well i guess that is a lie, many other words can describe school also but at the moment that one fits best. The language barrier isn't as bad as i thought it would be but that is only because I have made many friends who are willing to translate what is happening in classes. My favorite class is Religion, and no it isn't taught by a nun, mom. My religion teacher is this really cool guy who is going to try and teach most of his classes in English for me. It still surprises me every time we start class because i get ready to not understand and then BAM it is in English.

Last night, the 17th of September, i went to a dance club with a couple of friends from school. Before going to the club i met some other friends of a friend from school. I got to meet this amazingly good rapper, yet he didn't rap for me, named Nerijuos. Also this guy who is amazingly good at basketball and very tall named, Karolis or for me Moose because i struggled at pronouncing his name correctly. There was another boy there who his friends referred to him as "the boy who sleeps a lot" but i called him August because i couldn't pronounce his tricky Lithuanian name either. So now back to this dance club, and don't worry mom i was very careful and was always with other people. It was an interesting experience and fun. We went to this club called Disco 311 and then i took a taxi home which was an interesting experience but i managed just fine.

Well that is all i can think of for now, peace out homies.

Yum food :-]

2010-09-10T12:31:00.000+03:00

Food, something you can't live without and here in Lithuania there are a lot of amazing dishes. We eat a lot of potato's, meat, breads, tomatoes, and just really delicious foods in general. Surprisingly I have like almost everything i have eaten so far, the only thing i am not so thrilled about is this cold beat soup but i think if i tried it homemade it would be better. I have tried a traditional Lithuanian dish called cepelinai, this is like a potato dumpling with meat inside and then in a sauce. It is very good but very filling and heavy. The picture is of cepelinai.

McDonald's, something i refused to eat back home, I wouldn't eat there and if i did have to i would eat their ice cream or fries. Although the other day my host mother came home with McDonald's as a treat for the family but mostly for me. She got me a big mac, something I've never had before. I ate it obviously without informing them of my dislike towards McDonald's and sadly it was amazing. I don't know if it was just so good because i miss eating hamburgers, because i think i ate them at least once a week back home or even more often then that. I am now a fan of big mac's.....sadly enough.

Pizza or over here it is called pica, same pronunciation though. Pica is amazing, better then America's and they will let you know how amazing their pizza is. I was told multiple times how the pizza will be best i have ever eaten and it was. Doesn't beat Chicago deep dish pizza but it was amazing and not as heavy as American pizza. They have the common types such as; Hawaiian, pepperoni, and cheese but to get the real experience you have to try something new. I had this type of pizza with ground beef sort of meat on it with, spicy peppers, and this greenish looking sauce. It tastes a lot better then it sounds trust me.

Although one thing i do miss is free water, and free refills on drinks. Here, water comes two ways carbonated (which i don't like) and noncarbonated and it isn't free. Luckily for me i can safely drink water from the tap at my house and it is a good thing too because i constantly drink water because it is some of the only uncarbonated water i can find.

Peace out for now

P.S, Lithuania plays America in basketball on Saturday. Go Lithuania.

School, school and more school.

2010-09-04T19:44:00.000+03:00

Well, school started on the 1st of September for everybody across Lithuania. I am attending a private Catholic school and i get to wear a uniform. My uniform consist of either blue pants or a skirt, a button down shirt, and a jacket but i am giving up with the jacket and just wearing a sweater.

My class schedule on the other hand is something else, i am in 11th grade with my host brother Rokas(16). I have some of the same classes as him but not all which i think is good for me. Being in class with out my host brother is making me meet other students and ask for help. So now back to my actually class schedule; Math A, History B, Chemistry A, English A, Lithuanian A, Religion, P.E, and Drama. So the letters A and B stand for which level you are in. I got placed in level A for most of my classes which happens to be the highest level.....yeah. The schedule is set up like a college class schedule, you don't have every class each day but periodically through out the week.

So far only my English, History and Chem teacher can speak English. Although only my English teacher happens to be fluent in it. Oh joy. On Friday in chemistry my teacher was giving this introduction speech about himself and it was very funny or so it seemed because everybody in the class besides me was laughing. I have never listened to something so funny without laughing before but it might have helped that I couldn't understand what he was saying. After this little introduction speech he found out that I was the "American" who doesn't understand Lithuanian and being funny started talking directly at me really quickly just saying random things in hope of confusing me more and getting me to repeat "I love you". Which didn't happen i just shook my head and repeated my new favorite phrases "I don't understand" or "I don't know". The class found this new game to be very entertaining and so did i, well at least afterwards once somebody explained what he was saying. For the second half of my chemistry class two of my friends offered to be my personal translators and come on who wouldn't say no to having two guys translate a Lithuanian chemistry class too you. I could get used to it that's for sure, especially when they didn't know what some words translated into so they would attempt to describe the English word.

Well thats all i can think of for now, oh and i joined a choir.......that will be interesting.

Labas Diena ir Viso Gero.

Cars, Driving, and Roundabouts

2010-08-31T11:08:00.000+03:00

Well, I have many things to blog about and i couldn't decide on which one i wanted to blog about next.....so i decided i would make two blogs. This one is about my experience with well obviously cars, Lithuanian driving and my favorite roundabouts.

Well first off, there are almost no trucks in Lithuania. I have counted about three or four so far sense I have arrived but i have seen one hummer. I have noticed the most comman types of cars in Lithuania are; Mazda, Audi, Toyota and a few others that i can't remember at the moment but those are the top brands. This is very different from back home were it was unusually for me to go more then a day without seeing atlease a couple trucks, Pontiacs or Ford vehicals. Also it is far more comman to drive a manual car then an automatic. My host brother Rokas made fun of me for just learning how to drive a stick shift this summer.

Driving over here is terrifing at times, they are how did my host dad put it....."Lithuanians are more aggressive drivers then Americans". Which in this case is true. To survive driving over here you pretty much have to have no fear and be able to dart in and out of traffic. Just watching in the car is an adventure in its self, i am amazed that we make it down the streets without being in a major accident. Over here that type of driving is normal and everyday but to me it is a new experience in its self.

Of course what kind of blog would this be if i didn't mention roundabouts. I loved roundabout in America even if they were small wimpy ones but over here i love them even more. They are very large and cars are merging and darting in and out all over the place. Its fantastic yet terrifing all at the same time.

Well thats it for now, iki.

First couple of days

2010-08-26T07:40:00.000+03:00

Wow! After 24+ hours of traveling and 3 semi confusing airports later i've finally landed in Vilnius, Lithuania. I will be spending my time living here till the summer time next year.

So far on my trip I have met many interesting people. Before I even made it through security in Minneapolis I met an older couple heading to Lisbon for a two week cruise. I'm going to call them the violet couple because the wife was dressed in a full designer violet jogging suit. Mr and Mrs Violet traveled with me all the way to Frankfurt, Germany which is when we parted ways. Thanks to our teamwork we successfully navigated through the very large and confusing Frankfurt airport, only getting a lost once.

It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon when I landed but the rain made for a fun plane ride! Apon my arrival I met my rotary contact for here in Lithuania. His name is Ernestas he works at a Clinic for people who need their kidneys cleaned. Ernestas and I then went to Vilnius's shopping mart to meet my host parents. The shopping mart was really neat and huge, it was a bit smaller then the Mall of America but had that same kind of big mall feel to it.

My host family consist of my mother Vilma, father Arnoldas, my brother Rokas 16, another brother 13 I'll get back to you with the name, and a what they call Lithuanian Mutt dog. So far I have only met my parents and youngest brother I will meet Rokas on Saturday because his grandparents invited me to lunch on Sunday in Kaunas, the second largest city.

Currently I am attending a language camp in Kaunas filled with Lithuanian grammar, Ya:-/. To think I thought I got away from the foreign grammar learning when I quit Spanish class, I obviously thought wrong. It isn't all that bad yet but that's only afer one day of class which I'm sure I slept through, oh well. It's like Spanish class all over again but this teacher is far better then the ones I've had.

Well that's it for now but I will try to post again soon but till then I'm off to my next Lithuanian class. Viso Gero!

The start of something new.

2010-07-29T17:28:00.000+03:00

Welcome,

This is the first of many blogs to come, hopefully. My goal for the blog site is to keep me off facebook but still to keep who ever is curious up to date on my travels and adventures while i am over in Lithuania.

As of now i am set to depart on August 23rd, 2010......I'm a bit concerned because i was told i wouldn't need my VISA papers before i depart?????

Well, thanks again for checking out my blog!

Viso Gero, Natalie