What I've Learned So Far

As of Today, I have already been in Lithuania/ Europe for 25 days. Wow, has time really flown by. However, I will say the first two weeks went rather slow just because we were doing so much and going so many places; everyday I felt like we fit two to three days worth of activities into one single day. Despite the slow start, I feel like time is running through my cupped hands like water as I desperately try to make the flow stop, to savor every moment. So as my journey speeds up like a plane barreling down the runway, I thought I'd take a moment to tell you a little about what I've learned about the culture, people, and customs of Lithuania (by the way these are in no order of importance).

First, Lithuania is an odd place in terms of feeling different but similar to home. It is a weird "halfway world". What I mean by this is that it is not so different from home yet there are some things that exist here that I would never feel at home. For example, although it is a little colder, the weather is roughly the same as Western PA in the fall, but it does seem to rain and be cloudy more often in Lithuania. To add another example, Lithuania pretty much is another western country. However, due to a deep history with the Soviets, many of the buildings are just not the same kind of style as you would find in the US. The biggest difference is the language. Although there are quite a few similarities the language difference is there to remind me that I really am in a different country. It is definitely different and sometimes annoying/ stressful to walk on the street or in the bus and have almost no clue what people around you are saying (are they talking about me?!?) This is exacerbated when I step into the store and all the signs and pretty much all of the workers only speak Russian or Lithuanian. If you don't know what the product is our Lithuanian professor Radvyda suggested the "buy and try" approach. I did this with failure one time when I was trying to buy vanilla. Instead of vanilla, I accidentally bought Rum Aroma...

Second, so many college age people smoke. It still shocks me every time. They even have 2 designated smoking huts for students to smoke. Remember there is only about 600 students here and just this one time, at just one of the smoking huts, I saw 20-30 people smoking. Definitely a different culture in terms of smoking here.

Third, there is a visible difference between young and old people in terms of mood. When I was watching people on the streets, I noticed that young people smile and laugh much more often than older people do when having conversation or just walking down the street. I have been told this is because the older people were under Soviet occupation while young people have only known a free democracy.

Talking about the Soviet past leads me to the next thing I have learned. Lithuania has had about an 800 year struggle for independence. All the way back to the 1200's Lithuania has been attacked and occupied. In the 1500's Lithuania and Poland actually become a single nation in order to protect themselves from constant invasion. Then pre WWI the Russians occupied Lithuania for a time, then during WWII the Nazis occupied Lithuania and then from the end of WWII until 1989 the Soviets occupied Lithuania. That's a lot of occupation and being pushed around by other nations. Now that they have independence, they are very proud. They are also proud members of the EU ( as of 2004 ), became members of NATO ( as of 2004 ) and the Euro zone in 2015.

The last miscellaneous things I have learned will be grouped together as one. Many young kids ( as little as 10 or 11 ) ride the public transportation fully independently. That seems kind of young to me. Also, light switches are on the outside of bathrooms and other rooms. The European outlet is different, it has two circular prongs instead of three. There are a lot of bikers here. They take advantage of the good weather while it lasts.

The light switch is the square thing on the left, outside the bathroom

here is a pic of the outlets and plug you need for them, I have an adapter

The final and most important thing I have learned is that time is more than valuable and should be used wisely. There are so many things I want to do like travel, make new friends, read some books I've been wanting to read, and to explore Klaipeda. However, there is only so much time. I need to be proactive in making my time here the best and most fulfilling it can be. That means putting myself out there and be willing to change my schedule and meet new people!

Speaking of people and friends, here are some pictures of us exploring the city!