Half empty or half full?

Labas :)

The past several weeks have been busy. I feel like my trip to Riga and Tallinn was so long ago, and my feelings of this place have fluctuated quite a bit. After I got back, things were a little weird. The honeymoon stage of just getting here, the excitement, the newness of Lithuania and being at LCC, was at the end of it's route. I was sitting in my TEIL Methodology class and my teacher was telling us the general phases of what it's like being in another country for a lengthy amount of time: honeymoon, hostility, humor, and home. I realized as soon as she said it that I was definitely in the hostility stage. I missed home and compared everything here to home; many of my thoughts were "I'm sick of going to the store every few days; I'm sick of 2-hole punch binders instead of 3; I miss Messiah's campus life; I miss my old roommates; I miss Eric; I miss Messiah soccer games; I miss getting to go to the gym for free; I miss the computer labs being open 24/7."

I also had my first Tri-S group... Soup, Sustenance, and Spirituality. This is designed for the study abroads to go to a North American home to have some good food and talk. I am with a Canadian couple, Andrew and Alene, who have two adorable little girls, Charlotte (3 years) and Paige (1 1/2 years). It was a good time, and we actually had beans, chicken and mashed potatoes. We got to talk about what we like and don't like, what our strengths and weaknesses are in being in a foreign country, etc. I realized that one of my weaknesses is the ability to fail -- being okay with not meeting my standards.

I realized this this week. I just finished midterms and next week is Fall Break. I had a couple midterms (in Linguistics and Conflict Analysis) as well as a 5-minute presentation in Lithuanian, talking about mano šeima (my family). Besides midterms, every week I teach at Green Hill. I am up to 2 lessons observing and 2 lessons teaching. This week was the second time I felt stressed out here (which is so wonderful compared to at home when I feel like it's more frequently). I felt sick a bit and mainly it was nerves about my midterms. Now that they're over, I realized I can't do anything about it. I did what I could, and I know I need to work a little bit harder to get the grades that I want.

Vilma and I are getting along better and better. I absolutely love rooming with her. We go to the gym a lot together, and during the weekday there are people from Klaipeda who come work out, most of the time being really macho men, so it's really funny for us to be working out next to them. On Wednesday night I had a really bad headache and we weren't too interested in studying (while Laura and Benita were in the other room very focused). We decided to take a walk, and opened up a little more to each other. It was really nice. We even had some fun and banged on Laura and Benita's window (since we are on the first floor) just to scare them. They didn't like it too much though. ;) Also, Vilma and I are going to Brussels, Belgium November 20-22. :)

In other news, teaching is going really well. I observe/teach 2 classes in 9B and 2 for 9C. It's about 25-30 students, and I know all their names now. :) Inga and I are very different from each other, which is a challenge but we are working at it. There is always positive and negative things, but our strengths balance each other out. I can tolerate the boys much better, and she can tolerate the girls. The past two weeks we started a new unit in weather conditions, landmarks, and places. This week went really well.

Digital Photography is going MUCH better also. A couple weekends ago I traveled to Šiauliai for an all-day photography excursion. I was not in the least bit excited... I was pretty much dreading it. However, the day was a success, and I got to know some of the students in my class, as well as my professor better. We went to the Hill of Crosses which was SO amazing. Back in Soviet times, it was bulldozed over, but Lithuanians still put up their crosses. We also went to Vilius Orvidu's old house, which is a farmland but he died; there are a lot of statues of Mary there, and actually his mom still lives there and I got to see her! I got some great shots of a wedding, too... very beautiful. That Monday, I talked to Dalius (the study abroad director) about my photography class, and he gave me some great advice not to take some of the comments so personally. Ever since then I have enjoyed the class so much more.

Oh, the Phillies are going to the World Series. I hate missing all the games and I can't even watch the games online because I'm not in the U.S. The games are next weeks... right when I'll be in Russia.

So. Russia. We leave tomorrow at 9am. We will go to Riga and eat there, and in the evening catch the train to Moscow. It takes 19 hours, so it's an overnight train with bunk beds! My first thought-- Harry Potter. I'm really excited. We'll arrive Sunday afternoon. We're going to the circus, and other museums. We're staying in Moscow until Tuesday afternoon, where we'll take a 5 hour train to St. Petersburg and stay until Saturday night. We'll be going to St. Basils, as well as see a ballet and opera (to see Swan Lake and The Barber of Seville)!!! I am really excited. It will be good to be off from school. When I first looked up the dates to this trip, we would've been there during my birthday, but we get back on November 1. The next weekend I'm planning on being with my roommates, and I think having a potluck in my pod kitchen. :) I've already gotten 3 cards (from Mom, Soren, and the N.C. Honeys) as well as a package from Granny. :)

The play is coming along nicely... I don't have too many lines, and I'm realizing that now as I go to practice and I watch for 3/4 if not all of the time. It can be frustrating because I do have work to do on those nights, but it is great getting to know the other actors. We open 2 weeks after I get back from Russia.

Thanks if you've been praying for me... it really has been a blessing being here, especially because I haven't been worried or stressed out so much. Making friends is getting better, although Vilma is probably my closest European friend. Tonight we are having dinner with another friend, Sheban. I've started to think of my time when I get home... I've moved on from that hostility stage and am enjoying my time again. I am trying to think of the glass half full in that I've had 2 amazing months here, and I want to live it up to the fullest because I have less than 2 months left.

Success!

My first meal in Tallinn. Tallinn during the day...
and at night.This used to be Toompea Castle, built on the spot where the ancient Estonians' wooden fortress stood before the Danish invaded in 1219. It served for 7 centuries as the seat of power for the nation's foreign masters. Now it houses Estonia's parliament.
Emas and me. It was so cold and because I didn't pack accordingly, half of what I wore belonged to our group. This hoodie and hat just so happened to belong to Emas.

In the garden of Peter the Great's palace for his lovers (Kadriorg Palace). We saw a wedding.
Not too far from Kadriorg Palace, was this swan pond, Pirita.


An entrance sign to Old Hansa.The bathroom was so sweet I had to take a picture. Completely lit by candles. On the right is the toilet, and on the left is where you wash your hands - just a pitcher with water!Old Town.
The hotel "water park"!!! You can see the steps leading up to the slides in the back. The jacuzzis were on the right, and the saunas further back.
Ashton and me on the way to Riga.
Inside Riga Student Hostel was awesome graffiti.
Skārņu iela. A medieval replica of the world trade centers, called Blackhead's House.
Fire twirler in Riga.Pancake with cheese for breakfast, with raspberry and strawberry jam. :)
coffee, Jesus, and journalling :)Cute little Latvian boy feeding the pigeons and checking out the locks a bridge.Michael Jackson even in Latvia!

Yes we went there...Inside LIDO restaurant.

This past week was pretty great. Thursday night I had a nice dinner with Danielle (study abroad from California) and it was good just to talk about life and God. We made lots of crepes with raspberry jam. :) We left for Tallinn, Estonia at around 11pm, and we arrived between 8 and 9am the next morning. We arrived and had breakfast at a hotel, which was delicious. (I had beans, oatmeal with raspberry jam, cucumbers and tomatoes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and coffee.) Then we had the freedom to walk around, so we did that the whole afternoon. I went to Peter the Great's palace, Kadriorg, that was built for Catherine. It was beautiful, despite it was raining. In the evening, we ate at Old Hansa, a medieval restaurant. For appetizers we had bread, that could go with onion jam, pickled cucumbers, berries of the blessed, fresh cheese, or (my mom's favorite) French royal poultry liver. For the main course we had lentils, barley, Arabian filet in fig sauce (aka horse), salm in nut sauce, and bear. Yes, I said bear. It was actually pretty good. I left with Sasha and Molly (a study abroad from Minnesota) to go to the hotel by our hostel, where they had a huge pool, 3 water slides, 2 saunas, and 5 jacuzzis. It was AWESOME! After we got back, I went out to have drinks with Emas, Sasha, and Maksat, and we walked around town.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hostel, and went back to the hotel with the waterslides. Afterwards walking around, and I went to a chocolate cafe, and also market shopping. I got an Estonian scarf- the colors of their flag (black, white, and royal blue). :) Then we got on the bus and drove 4 hours to Riga, Latvia. We checked into our hostel (which was so unclean it was humorous) and went out to dinner/explore the town in the evening. I have to say, it had a worse impression on me than Tallinn. There were lots of drunk people and women offering their bodies, but the fire twirlers were pretty cool. In the morning I had pancakes with Ashton, Danielle and Sasha. It was cold, so we sat in Double Coffee coffeeshop and I journaled for a while. Before we left to come home, we ate at the restaurant LIDO, which was a buffet cafeteria type place. You paid for a plate and piled on as much food as you want. We got back to LCC around 9pm.


This week started off very busy, with doing work that I wasn't able to do over the weekend, and preparing for a few group projects. I taught my first English lesson at Green Hill today. The past few weeks that Inga and I have been observing, a teacher has been sick so the class is extra big. Normally they're 12-14 students, but lately they've been 22. Today when we taught, there were 26, which was a challenge.... but I had SO much fun! I wasn't nervous, and our lesson was about physical appearance. First we did an exercise where the students would use adjectives to describe themselves using the first letter of their name. (Heidi = happy, helpful, honest, etc). Next we had the students describe me physically. It was funny to see how they viewed me, and just a difference in that I thought I was dressed up (for me), but they said it was casual dress! We also taught the parts to an essay (introduction, body, and conclusion) and had them write descriptions of a friend. The intro had how they met, their name and age. The body described their physical appearance, personality, and hobbies/interests. The conclusion wrapped up the general feelings towards that person. It was a good time. :)

This weekend entails a bible study/worship time Friday night that Ashton is leading in Karklu. I will probably spend the night in her room, and will just hang out this weekend.




Clarification of names: Maksat & Sasha are the guy study abroad interns. They're 22. Maksat is from Kazahkstan, and Sasha is from Moldova.
Danielle and Ashton have become good friends of mine who are study abroads from America. Danielle goes to Azusa Pacific University in California, and Ashton goes to Eastern University near home.
Emas is the study abroad director who is 29.
Inga is my TEIL partner who is teaching at Green Hill (my Russian school) with me.