Russia

Dabar vėl Klaipeda...

Well, I am now back from my German adventure in Oldenburg and Bremen. It's good to be back, but at the same time, I do miss it. I miss the home cooked meals, or at least the meals in a home. That fresh baked bread that I would be eating back there seems quite a bit better than this terrible instant oatmeal that I am now eating. Oh well, had to come back sometime.

So a bit of a fill in on what has been happening at LCC in the past couple of weeks...We had this awesome chapel speaker last week and the week before. She is from California and she was teaching a two week course here. She knows 17 different languages and she has believed in God much less of her life than believing in God. However, now she is a phenomenal speaker through God. When she speaks, God speaks. It's awesome. She told us how God grabbed a hold of her heart through different miracles in her life and how he really showed her who he was. He worked through people because she loves people. She told a story about this boy in Siberia who became apart of her life. She was at a conference over here many years ago and she actually studied over here. So she was sitting at the conference and got into a conversation with this woman beside her. As she was talking to her the woman told her about her grandson having this really bad disease and he was dying from it. It was quite ironic because her daughter had the same disease back in the states. So the woman gave her the number of the boy's home to see if they could get any help. Well once she got back to the states, she didn't know how she could help this boy. However, she started to talk to some people and doctor's. She knew that getting a visa for the boy while he was sick was impossible and if not impossible, then pretty much. However, she knew some people in the embassy and got it worked out that if she could get guaranteed free medical help by document proof then the visa could be achieved. So she talked to the doctor and he gave her proof saying that he would do it. So the boy got over here to America to this woman's house who he or his immediate family has never met. However, they didn't think about the hospital bill, so now he's over here dying. Well, she was talking to someone else at a conference and a woman gave her an address of this really rich guy in her town. So she sent a letter to the guy to ask for money and the next day the hospital called saying that they had a $500,000 check in their hands and 2 plane tickets to the city. So, they hopped on a flight and headed out to save this boy. He is now doing well, but here is the craziest thing of all the story, she sent a letter to the address where she sent the original letter and it was returned to her. She called the hospital to see why it was returned and they told her that the address never existed because the guy didn't even live in that town and he lived in New York. Crazy how God works. So this is what she spoke about the first week and then the next week, she told us about how she came to know God, which was also extremely crazy. Chapel has been awesome and so intense for the past few weeks. Other than that, not much has been happening at LCC. We have been haning out a lot and just relaxing which is so unfair to all the students who are working their butts off. It's been good though to relax for a bit.

We left for Germany this past saturday and got back on tuesday. We flew into Bremen and stayed with a family who lived about 45 minutes (by train) outside of Bremen. Don't worry, none of us knew the family. Ha. However, it was awesome. They are in the mission that Ben's parents are apart of. Well, they used to be missionaries in Singnapore, but now they are back in Germany. They have 8 kids, but only 4 are their own. They are foster parents and two of the boys have lived there for 4 or more years. It was good to be with a family and to hang out with the family. We spent a lot of the time with the boys and just had fun. The first day there, Werner (the father) dropped us in this gorgeous town called Oldenburg. We walked around for a few hours and admired it's beauty. That night we went back to the house and had dinner. They had 4 griddles out with meat and vegetables and we each had mini skillets and we made our own skillets of what we wanted. After we got done eating a few friends of Simon (the 24 year old son) came over and made food. When I say a few, I mean about 20 to 25. It was a lot of fun and good to be around a lot of people in our own age range, but from a different country. We went to bed around 11:30 because we were absolutely exhausted. The next morning (sunday), we woke up and had breakfast as a family and then headed to church. Church was a baptism service, which happens 4 times a year. It was this huge celebration with tons of food and fun. 7 people got baptized including the daughter of the family we stayed with (Lieni). It was awesome to be there to witness that. They were so proud of her and so supportive, it was awesome. Plus it was her 15th birthday. After church, we went back to the house to celebrate her birthday and to relax yet some more. We hung out at the house all day and played soccer and basketball with the boys. We hung out inside and played cards and just chilled out. It was great. We had pizza that night with the older siblings and the parents after the boys went to bed. Then we talked with Werner for a bit and headed to bed ourselves. Their family was so awesome and so welcoming. I can't wait to go back and see them again, which I will hopefully in May. They are so great. We went the next morning to the train station to go to Bremen. Bremen itself was so gorgeous in Old Town. The churches were absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed ourselves much. It was great to hang out there. We met up with Claire and Gerard and had dinner with them then headed back to the hostel that night and relaxed some more. The next morning (10am) we flew back to Latvia and got back to Lithuania at about 11 pm. So, it was a crazy long day.

Since then, the whole day I have been back, I have just been chilling and re-energizing from the fun crazy weekend. Now, I am procrastinating from doing homework and such. Ha.

This weekend has been a pretty packed full weekend actually. We didn't go out really, but it's been a full weekend indoors at Neumann. I guess I will start with yesterday. Yesterday was a pretty good day. It started out like most Fridays, wake up, class, break, class, class, chill, more chill, and then we made some dinner. Don't worry, I didn't know what meat I was cooking, I just bought it and hoped that it tasted alright. Well..I think it was pork, but honestly...I still have no clue what it is. It is pretty good though. So I had some dinner with people and then we headed down to the third floor for a birthday party for Sasha. She turned 20 yesterday. It was good to go down and hang out. We had tons of sweets, like any of us really need it, but it was awesome. So we just ate candy, cookies, cake, and drank tea together. She was going out with her roommates, so we really only got to chill with her for a few minutes. However, we did start a hardcore game of Scattegories going and it was so baller. We played on teams and it was so much fun. A few minor debates in which yelling was involved, but still great! Besides, my team won, so that is all that matters. After the game, I came up to my room and I talked to Shawna, Katie, and Ilissa for a few minutes. We just caught up a bit on each other's lives. Then I headed down to Ricki's room to watch D2: The Mighty Ducks. So, it was a well rounded night. Today, I got up and went to the market with Gerard, Claire, and Rachael. I got a ton of clementines...ka-ching! Then we headed to Maxima to get some more groceries and Rachael and I hit up Iki last to get some things that we couldn't get at Maxima. When we got back, I just hung out a bit here and didn't do much really. I just kind of relaxed. Gerard made Panera French Onion Soup for lunch, which was awesome. We hung out and had some of that while conversing with one another. Then at 17:00, we started to make dinner for the SAs here in Neumann and our interns. We made lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and then apple crumb dessert. It was a good break from life and it was good to hang out and really enjoy a nice home cooked meal. We had a lot of good laughs and a couple of our roommates came, so that was good too. After that, a few of us watched a movie in the lounge. Which was also good, to watch a movie off of something other than a 15" laptop screen. It's been a chill kind of weekend, which is what I like. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same...chill that is.

Oh what a life...

So, a month in and I'm really starting to get used to this place. It gets better day by day, but sure I have my days. Classes have been going well. I still enjoy them quite a bit. My favorite though would have to be Faith Themes in Pop Culture. We have been getting into really interesting discussions lately and it is so awesome. It's interesting to go through our everyday media and then analyze them to see what meaning they have behind it. It's interesting to see how media shapes culture and how culture shapes media. I thoroughly enjoy it. This past week, I've spent more time in the dorm just relaxing. We did go out one night to the Whiskey House for some apple pie, kepta duona, and I had a caramel latte...first time since I have been here. I have been having actual coffee withdrawal. Other than that though, we have just been hanging out. It's been good to stay in and relax. I like to do that more often anyway. One sweet thing we did do this weekend though...Superbowl party at 1:30 in the morning. It was so great. We got a classroom and watched it from the projector on the wall. Everyone made a "superbowl" dish and we ate and were merry. Ricki and I made some sweet pizza. Don't worry, we don't know what kind of meat was on it, but it was good. That's all that matters right? Seriously though, it was really good. We got out of there at like 5:30 in the morning and then headed to bed. I got at least 3 hours of sleep...that's all I really need. Especially with a 9:45 exam...no big though, finished in 20 minutes. Ha. I hope I did well...we will see. So that's what has been up....

3rd Week in...weird?

Well hello everyone, or no one...ha. It's been yet another very relaxing and chill week. I haven't had much to do except for hang out really. Ha, I have done some homework, but honestly, I haven't even had that much homework to do. I have spent a bit more time hanging out around here in Neumann. That has been good. We did do our typical Tuesday night jazz outing on Tuesday, that was a blast. There weren't as many people this time, praise the Lord. So that was even better. Last night, I watched Fight Club with Altynai. That was a good time...for sure, how could you go wrong with Fight Club? Especially watching Fight Club instead of doing work? So yeah, all has been going well. Chapel yesterday was really good. One of the Theology profs, John Campbell spoke. He talked aobut labels and how we label everything. However, Christ doesn't. Christ takes off all the labels that everyone else puts on. Christ knows his people as people and not as some kind of label. Christ knows us for who we are, not for what we have done. He told this story about this DSG (drunk street guy) who came up to him while he was walking alone to ask for some money. He was upset for being interrupted in his thought. He gave him some money, then continued to walk along. However, he started to think. He started to feel troubled becase he realized that God doesn't view this person as a DSG, but this person is an individual to him. He knows the name of the person and he cares deeply about the person. He's not just another label, but he is a person, a human being. It was good to hear this because, we often do this. We often forget about how much our creator cares about people. We often just label people and then are off on our way. This isn't how it should be. We need to learn to view people as God views people. We need to learn to look through his eyes. We need to learn to love with his heart.

Shalom My Friends...

It's been a typical week here at LCC. Ha, for the second week and I already know what a typical week is. Seriously though, it's been a really good week. I haven't done much, just chilled out a lot. We went to the jazz club on Tuesday night for Mary's birthday. There were about 20 of us there and it was fun to just go out and hang. On the way home we walked and there was a beautiful snow fall. So beautiful. It was honestly like a winter wonderland...oh I love snow. It's been nice out lately. The weather has been good. It hasn't been too cold, but it's actually been pretty warm. Yesterday, I made dinner for Ricki and her roommates. She had to go back to the hospital on Tuesday to get her leg rebroken and reset...so she's been stuck in her room. It was good to go down and hang out with them. I always enjoy myself when I am down there with them. Basically what I am getting at is that it has been a really chilled out week. I'm glad for that. We are going out for Gerrard's birthday tomorrow...where?...I have no clue. We'll see where the road leads us. Yeah..this is my update for the day...

Since the last time...

Well, it's been a bit since I have last posted anything, so I suppose I should update a bit. I have decided that blogs are annoying and they should write themselves...along with e-mails...kidding, but seriously. Anyway, my first week of classes is done and now I am getting ready for yet another one. This past week has been good. I read more this past week than I have in a while (good thing I'm Christian ed...or I don't know how I would survive). Nothing too exciting has really happened this week. Abby and I went to a friend's grandma's apartment to have some tea and play with a guinea pig...exciting? No, but definitely a good time. We spent a quite a bit of time there and just hung out. It was good to be away from here and be chilling somewhere else without a huge group. We talked about our backgrounds and the differences between the states and here. We talked about our religious backgrounds and what we believed in. Then we got into a great conversation about the church and whether it was in unity or not. It was a really good conversation and we got pretty deep into it for the first time hanging out. However, it was incredibly enjoyable. After that, we went back to Abby's at Karklu (her dorm) and just hung out some more. Her roommates were there for a bit and it was good to see them and talk to them. After that, I came back to my room at about 11:30 p.m. and just chilled. Then on Saturday, we went to Palanga, which is a sea port city on the Baltic Sea. It was Abby, Ben, Gintare, and me. We walked out on the "bridge" aka..the pier and looked around, then we walked to a cafe in the town and got some tea and some food. After that, we yet again went back to Karklu. I didn't really hang out in Karklu, but instead, I walked back to my dorm and made dinner. After dinner, some of us watched the Italian Job. It was good to just hang out and not go out last night. A night just to relax and have some fun around here. Today, we went to the church service at LCC...I actually really liked it (not like I didn't think that I wouldn't like it). The pastor spoke about bringing Jesus back to the center of our lives. Which I think is a good lesson for most human beings because it is something that we often forget. We often put so many things in front of him because we have so much more to do. We have so many more things to think about. So it was good to hear that sermon. Then afterwards, Altynai made the study abroad students (the ones who were at church) lunch. We hung out in Neumann and ate lunch together and played card games. Yet again, another relaxing time. Abby and I then decided to do some homework afterwards (like good students) up in my room. After all this was done, I did more homework and then went to the grocery store to stock up hardcore. Ha, kind of. So yeah, that's pretty much all that has been happening. We'll see how many more of these posts happen...

Alright, here's the catch up of the whole day that I didn't blog...

Yesterday, I went to classes. Faith Theme in Pop Culture...I love it so much. That's the first class that I had yesterday. We are taking things that in "Pop Culture" and then looking at the Christian view on them. For example, we are reading the first Harry Potter book...I love it...and then we are trying to take apart why Christians were so against it when it came out. Also, I have to watch 6 episodes of the new season of Lost. I am not too excited about it, because I don't like that show. However, it's a pretty funny assignment. My Synoptic Gospels class should also be a good one. I really enjoy the Bible, so I shouldn't hate it too much? Ha. No but really, I am looking forward to it. The prof. seems really great and she seems like she is going to push us...so I am excited for that. Plus the class is 9 people and we almost sit in a circle...just like Christian Ed. classes back home...ha. After classes, Abby came back to Neumann to hang out and chill for a bit. We just sat in the POD and talked for a bit, then I decided to go back to Karklu with her for a while. We headed to Karklu and I ended up staying there for about 4 hours...then we headed to the Jazz Club with her roommates. That was a lot of fun. Her roommates are pretty cool...so yeah. Around 11:30 I made it back to my room...after being gone for like 8 hours...shocking? I think not. Now on to today...Well, I went to classes...now I am here...and I'm going to work on homework...exciting? I don't think so either. Overall, it's good for a change and I am glad that I decided to come here. There is so much here that I love, there's a lot that I am getting used to, there are some sweet people, and yeah...it's a good experience so far...let's see where it takes me...

So we started classes today. The three that I had I am excited for. I am really excited for Intro to Theology. The prof. loves discussion and arguments. So that will be fun. It will be cool to hear other people's view on the Christian worldview and their theologies about it. Also, my Intro to Lithuanian class was so much fun. Our prof. is awesome. She is very upbeat and she makes it fun. The first 15 minutes she spoke completely in Lithuanian. However, in those 15 minutes I did learn quite a bit. My first class of the day was Human Development, which also should be interesting. Especially when we get to the point where we are talking about how we were raised. It will be interesting to see how all the different cultures do different things. So I am also excited about that. After classes, I went with some people to get groceries for the week. We had dinner when we got back with the SA's and a girl named Kaita. She was cool and a lot of fun to talk to. So that was good. Then I just came back to the room and worked on some things and hung out with one of the interns for a bit. Since then, my roommate and I have been diligently working on things. Her more so than me, but at least I am working. It's been a good day...I am excited to see what my classes look like tomorrow (The Synoptic Gospels and Faith Themes in Pop Cultures)...

I'm here...

So here I am in Lithuania. I am real glad that I started this blog...three weeks ago and I am just now doing something about it. This week has been really good. It was good to say bye to people before I left, but it's awesome to be here now. All we really have been doing is orientation stuff. I got here a couple of days after everyone else, so I missed the introductions...but it still has been good. The study abroad students are so great. We have had a blast together and it's been good to get to know people. It's basically just been us in the dorm for the past couple of days. Which has been both good and bad. It would be good to get to know people who actually go here, but we will do that soon enough. Two of my roommates are here, but I have only met one. She is from Belarus. She's pretty chill and has a good taste in music...so I like her already. She has a boyfriend that goes to Purdue..so that kind of puts us in a similar category...the whole Indiana thing. Anyway, basically we have just been learning to get around the city and just hanging out. It's been an adventure so far. I really like Klaipeda. It's a sweet city. I wish that I lived in the off campus dorm so that I was closer to everything, but my dorm has it's perks...like I don't have to walk 20 minutes to class. So that is good. I have met some cool people in my dorm, so I am excited to see how the friendships turn out. I am really pumped for this semester to begin...
Well for now, I think we are going to go do some shopping for dinner. I'll try to keep this updated...ha.