Lithuania--first impressions

There will probably be at least one more Ukraine post at some point in the next week or so, but I figured it was time to catch you all up on life in Klaipeda, Lithuania.

Klaipeda is a city on the Baltic Sea. For many years, it was the German port city of Mermel, but now it's Lithuanian and (as far as I can tell) few vestiges of its German past remain. I haven't seen the sea yet, but we're going there tonight for a worship service on the beach.

LCC International University, where I'm teaching this summer, is very nice. It's a Christian liberal arts college, and as far as I know, it's the only one of its kind in the former Soviet Union (Donetsk Christian University, where I taught several years ago, does more theological training, whereas LCC offers more degrees in humanities, social science, and business). They've got great facilities, very up-to-date looking, especially for Eastern Europe, and a wonderful selection of resources and technology.

There are around 40(?) teachers here for the Summer Language Institute from Canada and the United States, ranging from college students to retirees. My roommate, Linda, is a semi-retired nurse from Vancouver who has lived in Ethiopia and Egypt and travelled extensively. Several of the teachers are professors or high school teachers back home, and a few of us are ESL instructors by profession. The two people I've gotten to know the most so far are Monique, another MSU MA TESOL grad who I met last summer, and Miranda, a PhD student at Baylor University. Miranda and I are headed to Riga, Latvia tomorrow, and we're pretty excited.

General observations about Klaipeda/Lithuania:

~The biggest difference, outside of standard of living, that I've seen between Ukraine and Lithuania is their attitude towards the past. Ukraine, while they generally don't want to go back to being part of the Soviet Union, doesn't look at Communism as something that was done to them, but rather was something that they were part of. Lithuania, on the other hand, has monuments commemorating the people the Soviets deported to Siberia and plaques that mention the 50+year Soviet occupation from the 1940s until the early 1990s.

~I get around here pretty well with Russian (the most), English (occasionally), and about five words of Lithuania (in an attempt to be polite and culturally appropriate). When Monique and I got our SIM cards for our phones, the guy used English with us but fell back to Russian when he didn't know the word.

~There is a line of grocery stores here called Iki (pronounced icky, although the food is quite good). They're very nice and extensively stocked. I could get spoiled and am trying to resist the sweets. :)

~However, our dormitory is a good 25-minute walk from the university, so the occasional sweet probably won't do me in. My calves might.

~I have hot water and Internet here. Really, what more does a girl need?