"I love this place"

Labas! It is a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Klaipeda. :) In about an hour I will be going to church. Let me back up a few days since the last time I wrote was after my first night in Vilnius. The second day we were there, Wednesday, we split into smaller groups to have breakfast. Each intern had about 5 people. I was with Elena, who is the intern from Russia. We had breakfast at a cafe and I had a ham and cheese omelet with some kava (coffee). We stopped at the store Iki to get food for lunch. You can get almost ANYTHING there. Then we met with everyone else at the KDB museum. KDB is a secret Soviet police network similar to the CIA, and this museum told of the painful history of the Soviet regime. Our tour guide actually was in one of the pictures as a 5 year old boy, with his grandmother who was in this prison, I believe. Next we met in front of the Klaipeda Cathedral and walked all around Vilnius seeing sites of the history and various churches. We got to see catacombs in the Cathedral which was interesting. For dinner we went out to Belmontas and everyone had a salad (peppers, lettuce, black olives, cucumbers, tomatoes with olive oil) and a rice and chicken dish. They had a water mill, bridges to cross, a fountain and waterfall there to walk around and see-- very beautiful! Then we went bowling! It was a very small place compared to American bowling alleys- only 6 lanes! We took up 4 of them. Afterwards some of us went out to a cafe and I had my first drink because I am of age here ;)- a bianca margarita.

Thursday we packed up our things and went to the store to get our meals for the day. Pretty much everyone goes to Iki or Maxima (another store) every day. We went to Trakai which is an old Lithuanian castle on a peninsula surrounded by water. We toured the castle and then rented boats (for 10 litas/hour and since there were 5 people, I only paid 2 litas... about 85 cents!). It was gorgeous. Then we left for the 4 hour bus ride to Klaipeda where LCC is. I am staying in Neumann Hall which is right next to campus. There are 7 or so other U.S. study abroad students staying here but we each are on different floors. There is an east and west side, with 6 floors. I am on 103 East. 2 interns, Maksat from Kazakhstan, and Olga, from Ukraine, stay in this building also. Downtown in Klaipeda there is Karklu dorm where the other study abroads are staying with the other 2 interns Elena, and Sasha from Moldova, are staying. This is an older dorm, whereas Neumann was built a few years ago and I feel like I'm in a hotel! So we got dropped off and everyone got their keys and went to their rooms to meet their roommates. Currently I only have 1 roommate, Laura, from Latvia. She is a sophomore psychology major and is also the RA on my floor. Each pod (apartment room) has a sink, fridge, cabinets, coat rack, as well as a bathroom with toilet/shower, and 2 rooms. 2 people stay in each room. Laura lives in the other room and our other roommates are coming soon. Both are from Lithuania. I will be living with Vilma and Laura with Benita.

Friday I got a tour of LCC. There is one building for all the classes. I got to see the library, gym/fitness center, computer lab, cafeteria, and offices. I got my schedule and I will be taking 7 classes (19 credits at home, 26 credits here) so it will be a lot! We got our school email (hoelsch09@students.lcc.lt) and mail address. We had a intro Lithuanian lesson which was fun and Emas had a Q&A sesson about roommates and dorm life. Afterwards we walked downtown (about 20 minutes) to the Karklu dormrooms, and learned how to take the bus to Akropolis mall (kind of like King of Prussia mall at home). We went to the store, got pictures for our visas for when we go to Russia, and had dinner. In the middle of the restaurant they had an ice skating rink! The restaurants here have a lot of things for people to do in the meantime of waiting for their food. When we got back to Neumann we all cooked dinner together.

Saturday we left in the morning to go to the Curonian Spit which is the peninsula dividing the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. We walked around Nida, a village on the Spit and went to the beach at the Baltic Sea! A lot of people went swimming and I would have except that I left my bathing suit at home. :( However, I had a blast & that was one of the best things so far that I've done. Then we walked around Nida some more and had lunch outside at a cafe and looked at shops. Popular things that they have to sell are jewelry made of amber. Next we went to the Hill of Witches, which was a wooded area with wood carvings maybe 10 feet high. Each represented a different fairytale. On the way up the hill were good fairytales and on the way down was bad, demonic, etc. Some were just like at a playground... wood carvings of a slide that people could slide down, or a seesaw, or ugly faces.

This morning everyone went to a small town, Kretinga, and attended a Catholic service in Lithuanian. It was a huge church and there were so many people, a good amount had to stand, including us. Although we couldn't understand it, it was still neat to be there. Then we got a tour of the place. We went downstairs to see the graves of the men who started this church, and outside in the courtyard, etc. One room held the oldest organ in Europe. Emas translated the whole time and we were asked if anyone could play the piano. Several people raised their hands, including me, so Emas told me that I could play the organ. It was 1/3 the size of a piano and people had to pull levers on the outside to hear sound. So now I got to say that I played the oldest organ in Europe :) It was awesome. Then we went to a Lithuanian traditional restaurant, HBH. This also had many things to do: stilts, merry-go-round, something where there are 4 ropes with handlebars at the bottom and 4 people grab them and run around and then swing. There was archery, a playground, and a basketball court. Now we're in our dorms and tonight I'm going to an English-speaking church service at International Christian Fellowship. Tomorrow is my first day off before I start class on Tuesday. :)

Needless to say, we have been running around getting a feel for the Lithuanian culture. I want to get to know the people more at LCC and I will get a chance to soon. Something I realized yesterday was that I think to myself, "I love this place!" many times a day. This country is beautiful. Very green with lots of trees and a vast, flat landscape. The Baltic Sea is beautiful and although they say it rains a lot here we haven't had much of that. It rained a bit today, but it is so wonderful to be feeling this way. I am so happy to be here! The most frequently that I get homesick is at night before I go to bed because I want to talk to people from home. I've been able to talk to my family and closest friends through skype, email, instant messenger, etc. I am still able to get texts, even though I can't respond. I have gotten a few of those and they brighten my day as I get them. :) It's hard being 7 hours ahead because it makes it awkward to find a time to talk to people from home, but generally I am so, so happy to be here. It is such an answer to prayer and I've gotten to know the other U.S. study abroad students so well, as well as the interns. Yesterday I got the opportunity to talk with Sasha, the intern from Moldova. He is a business major (as most of LCC is) and this is his 3rd year at LCC. When we were walking to the Hill of Witches we talked for such a long time about being a Christian, different types of churches, what we believe, and how there are so many childrens stories from all different places, but the one story that has stayed the same for centuries is the one about Jesus. I am amazed at how I just met him and other Europeans who are Christians not even a week ago, and yet when they share their faith, I know exactly what they mean and how they feel. It was such an uplifting conversation. Sasha was telling me that in Moldova and other eastern European countries it is encouraged for people to get married at 18, 19, or 20 years of age. Then 4 months later they get a divorce, saying they hate each other, etc. Why is it like this? Shouldn't it be that BECAUSE we're Christians, BECAUSE we have God as the center of our relationships or at least we strive to have Him there, that it SHOULDN'T be like that? Why do people get married so young? We are still learning who we are at this time, learning how to grow up and deal with our own problems and figure out our futures, that people get married young and think it will be alright but in such a short time they turn against each other. It was amazing to me that I agreed completely with him on so many things, yet I've only known him for 5 days. These kind of conversations I don't have with people until I get to know them really well. Just the honesty and the sincerity that this guy had was so astonishing. I miss being that honest with people, and having conversations like that.

Please pray... that I will still keep my identity as a follower of Christ. Although LCC is (Lithuania) CHRISTIAN College, most of the students are not. Also that I will feel safe. Being on the first floor, and with no swipe card for those who live here, anyone could walk onto a floor. I am the first room on the first floor and I'm not used to having to lock my room all the time. Also that I will get to know and not offend/be considerate of my roommates and other European students who are living here. I haven't had much interaction with them since classes haven't started yet, but that we will get along! Lastly, classes start on Tuesday. As I said before, I'm taking 6 classes that I chose, as well as the 1 mandatory class for studying abroad, totaling 7. It will be a lot but I am excited.


My schedule...
Monday:
8:30-9:30am Conflict Analysis
11:00-12:00pm Intro to Lithuanian
2:45-3:45pm Digital Photography

Tuesday:
8:30-10:00am Intro to Linguistics
3:00-4:30pm TEIL (Teaching English as an International Language) Practicum
5:00-8:15pm TEIL

Wednesday:
8:30-9:30am Conflict Anaylsis
11:00-12:00pm Intro to Lithuanian
2:45-3:45pm Digital Photography

Thursday:
8:30am-10:00am Intro to Linguistics
3:00-4:30pm TEIL Practicum

Friday:
8:30-9:30am Conflict Analysis
11:00-12:00pm: Intro to Lithuanian
12:15-1:15pm Cross Cultural Seminar
2:45-3:45pm Digital Photography


My address if you want to send a letter or package :)
Heidi Oelschlegel
LCC International University
Neumann Hall 103 east
Kretingos 36, Klaipeda 92307

Safe and sound

Labas from Vilnius, Lithuania!
I left JFK airport Monday evening, arriving in Helsinki, Finland at 8:30am their time (1:30am at home). I flew with the two others from Messiah, Dan and Sara, and we took a 40 minute bus ride to the city to walk around. We became friends with a girl named Victoria who was flying home to Canada after visiting family in Estonia. It was kind of strange not being adults who I natural follow in foreign countries because we were the ones who decided where to go! We walked around and saw several churches, and a market place out on the bay. We had lunch there and took the bus back to the airport to catch our 4:15pm flight to Vilnius. We arrived at 5:30 where we got picked up from one of our directors, Emas. We gave us our schedule for the next few days and took us to the hostel where we are staying until Thursday, when we take a 4 hour bus ride to Klaipeda to get settled in at school. I met about 10 other students from the U.S., as well as 4 interns who will also study at LCC. They're from Russia, Moldova, Kazakstan, and Ukraine :) We all had dinner together at a place called Marceliukes Kletis. A very old building, everything made on the inside of wood- no electricity, with just simple tables with benches and a few candles. I had a traditional Lithuanian meal of potatoes with meat on the inside- interesting, to say the least. We were free to roam around. The restaurant looked like a historic kind of and we went out on the balconies and up spiral staircases to different rooms. Tomorrow we're going on some tours and going bowling at night. Thursday afternoon we leave for LCC/Klaipeda.

It's strange blogging when it's 3pm at home and 10pm here. I'm really jetlagged and can't wait to sleep tonight. I don't really know what to say I guess, to be honest. I feel a bit over whelmed with all that I want to say to so many people. I am happy, but until I get to LCC I miss being at Messiah and already having friends there. Making new friends is hard sometimes, and it makes me miss my old ones, as well as my family and Eric. I wish you were all here. Please continue to pray for me that I will make new friends quickly and that I will be happy and not be too homesick.

T-minus 9 days til departure

Hello!

Just testing out my new blog for when I leave for Klaipeda, Lithuania in 9 days! By and large, I'm excited, with the occasional worry. I've started to pack and am just thinking the whole time, "How in the world do I pack for 4 months?" :)

My intention is for weekly updates, but I'll also be keeping a hand-written journal. The upside to this is that I can type much faster than I can write!

This last week will be filled with packing/getting last minute things, finishing up work at CCDC by Wednesday, and enjoying time with friends and family, including my grandparents' 63rd wedding anniversary next weekend. :)

Lastly, God has been so good to me. I have heard nothing but encouragement for this trip and I thank you for all your prayers! This week I saw this quote: worrying is like rocking in a rocking chair-- it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere. Too often I worry and it does NOTHING. It does no good and I wonder why I waste my time all the time! Proverbs 1:33 says, "but whoever listens to Me will live in safety and at ease, without fear of harm." With God I can put aside my worries and trust that I will be taken care of.