Training week!

The RAs began arriving last Friday evening.  With students arriving from all over the world to a relatively small place we have to be much more flexible about arrival times of RAs (ALL students for that matter.)   I met the RAs for the first time last Saturday when we took them bowling at the mall down the street from campus.  Only 9 of the 16 RAs were there...it actually ended up being a nice in that I learned that group's names and then more the following day and the day after that as well!  (We still have one who hasn't arrived, she should get here tonight or tomorrow.)

The Res Life team bowling!

I'm in the back with my RDs...it's Becky, me, Veslava, and Alex on the left side.

The rest of the week has been busy juggling RA training, Intercultural Programs Leader (IPL) training, and Student Orientation Session (SOS) training!  I also have found that as the DCL I have to do a fair amount of public speaking to various groups of students as they arrive on campus.  So, I've been spending a lot of time editing the previous DCL's speeches to make them more "Susie" while conveying the appropriate information.  It's been a little stressful, but each one seems to have been well recieved by the students and my boss (who sat in on the one today) said that she thought I did a great job!

Today was Serve Day.  For those of you familar with Goshen College (where I previously worked), you have likely heard of their Celebrate Service Day...Serve Day is like that, but only a half day and the only students here are student leaders and freshmen.  We do a lot of projects on campus to help ready the campus for the start of school.  I was the leader of a group of freshmen - the group of students that I will be teaching this fall in my First Year Seminar class.  We were in charge of cleaning the bleachers in the gym...scraping off gum and then sweeping & mopping them.  It wasn't a hard job and allowed us to visit while we worked.

This most of my FYS class!

At the end of Serve Day the entire campus gathers together for a hot dog bbq.  It was a fun and DELICIOUS meal!  I had a Lithuanian style hot dog for the first time.  I was a little skeptical, but enjoyed it.

Me with my Lithuanian hot dog..topped with

sliced cucumbers, marinated onions, ketchup, and mustard.

Saltibarsciai

I heard about the famous Lithuanian dish "Saltibarsciai" before I arrived this summer.  It's a bright pink (think pepto bismol) cold beet soup made with kefyras (sort of like buttermilk), beets, dill and some cucumber.  I knew that in order to have a true Lithuanian experience I had to try it, but to be honest I was not looking forward to it.  I went out with a few other faculty members last Friday night and had the soup for dinner.  It actually wasn't terrible!  It is served with several wedges of boiled potatoes.  I found that when I dipped the potatoes in the soup and ate them together it was actually quite tasty!  Though just a spoonful of the soup was not something I wanted more than a few spoonfuls of. 

Saltibarsciai

Student Life Retreat

On Wednesday the Student Life Department headed out of town for a retreat...I have no idea where it was, so don't even ask!  :)  We went to a nice place that had a few meeting rooms built into the side of a hill.  We spent the morning doing some Strengths Finder work that I helped Kim lead (Thanks to Anita Yoder at GC for all her info over the years to help us with that one!), then we made lunch of "shashlik" - which is basicly chicken on a skewr cooked over an open fire...much like a shish-ka-bob in the US, we did another session about Strengths Finder, some team building activities, and the grand finale was the sauna! 

Saunas are a BIG deal over here!  You sit in a super hot sauna - ours was about 105 degrees celcius (about 220 F).  It was hot, and I mean hot!  I glanced down at my legs and saw water all over them.  At first I thought someone had spilled something on me and then I realized it was SWEAT!  I've never been so hot that water poured out of the pores on my thighs!  Crazy, right?!  Well, it gets crazier...after we sat in there for 10 minutes or so, we ran out and jumped into the cold lake!  Talk about a shock to the system!  We repeated this crazy cycle 3 times!  :)  It really was pretty energizing and made for some good team bonding. 

Some photos from the day...

Olena, Vaiva, and Veslava patiently waiting for lunch.

Margarita, Erik, and Steve working on the shashlik.

Kim and Gabija pause for a photo during their conversation.

Olena, Alexandra, Becky, and Veslava cozy in the backseat on the way home.

Looking for some good luck? Whisper or rub here...

It's been almost a week since I posted.  This is not because there is nothing going on in my life, rather I have been so incredibly busy that I can hardly keep up with day to day life...much less posting on a blog!  I do want to keep others updated though, so here's the buzz on what's been going on...

This city is full of art.  Seriously, there are sculptures and statues all over the place!  I pass by at least 7 on my way to work each day...and those are just the big ones that I can see from the bus.  There are many other small ones as well.  Like the cat and mouse in my neighborhood.  I first found out about the mouse when I was over at Haly & David's place in July.  We were looking up my apartment on google maps and found a link to a statue of a mouse that was located in my neighborhood. 

I decided ot go looking for it last Sunday afternoon when I was stiting at home with nothing to do.  I found him just a block and a half from my apartment. 

A website with info about Klaipeda says the following about him...

In front of Jazz club "Kurpiai", in Klaipėda Old Town, a sculpture of a little mouse was build recently. It is not a simple mouse. A modest 17 cm high creation made out of bronze and stone, on the opinion of the authors is - magic. A minor sculpture is surrounded by a bronze band with spells: "Convert your ideas into words - words will become magic". One may only whisper into the ear of the "thaumaturge" and good will is going to become true.

Here's a self portrait of me whispering into his ear...

My purchases from Iki are in the background...mango juice, napkins, and some frozen veggies.

And then on Monday night I set out to find the cat statue in my neighborhood...

The Klaipeda website said this about the cat...

"Old Town Cat" - sculpture from granite and bronze, started "living" on the Blacksmith street in year 1979.It is miraculous old town inhabitant-rub his tail, and you secret wishes will come truth.

Seems to be a lot of "luck" associated with these statues.  :)  I am not going all superstitious on you and banking on my future being changed by these two creatures, but it was fun to walk around the neighborhood and find them

Dreams I Dream for You.

This morning I was listening to my iPod as I rode the bus to work.  "Dreams I Dream for You," an old Avalon song was playing.  It was a single that was never released for radio play.  The lyrics struck a chord as I listened to it thinking about the context of this move across the ocean.  I was (of course) almost in tears as I stepped off the bus at Kretingos 36. 

Here are the lyrics...

You taste the tears
You're lost in sorrow
You see your yesterdays
I see tomorrow
You see the darkness
I see the spark
You know your failures
But I know your heart

(Chorus:)
The dreams I dream for you
Are deeper than the ones you're clinging to
More precious than the finest things you knew
And truer than the treasures you pursue

Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view
Then take the cup I offer
And drink deeply of
The dreams I dream for you

You see your shame
But I see your glory
You've read one page
I know the story
I hold a vision
That you'll become
As you grow into the truth
As you learn to walk in love

(Chorus)
Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view
Then take the cup I offer
And drink deeply of
The dreams I dream for you

The journey to Lithuania has been a long and difficult one at points along the way.  Not the trip overseas or even the process of applying for and getting the position, but the path God has taken me on to get me to the place where I was ready to accept this opportunity that came my way.  I am so so so very grateful that God didn't give up on me, but was with me all the way to this amazing point in my life.  I don't know what's next, but I want to continue to "drink deeply of the dreams He dreams for me!"

A trip to Nida!

I was invited by Veslava, one of my RDs, to join her in a trip to Nida on Saturday.  It was my first "trip" since arriving to Klaipeda.  I should have asked a few more questions about what this trip would entail.  I thought it was a little tourist town filled with shops.  I was partly right.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - featuring a large sand dune and a gorgeous beach.  I wasn't really dressed to climbing a sand dune or making the trek across the spit to enjoy the beach...I did both though!  My legs & feet were throbbing by the end, but that was ok.  I had a wonderful time getting to know Veslava better and thoroughly enjoyed the view from the top of the sand dune! 

Veslava and me on top of the dune.

To get to Nida we walked to the ferry that took us across the bay to the spit.  We then rode a bus for about an hour down to Nida.  On the way there we were under an open window and enjoyed a lovely breeze.  On the trip back the bus was so full that people stood in the aisle for the hour long trip - we were thankful to have gotten on early enough to grab a seat! 

I LOVE this photo that Veslava took.  :)

Another update...

Student Life comes back a week or so before the faculty do at LCC.  We do our training a bit earlier because student leaders arrive a week or so before school starts.  It's been great to be here a bit early - I've had time to get settled and see some things in the city before the beginning of the school year rush hits.

Thursday we had another birthday in the student life department.  Paul, our new chaplain celebrated his 54th birthday.  The Staves and I took him out to dinner to celebrate - hwo could we not?!  I mean, who wants to celebrate their birthday alone in a new country?  We went to a restaruant in town named "El Dorado."  It was a nice outdoor cafe with good service and great food!  I got to try to Lithuanian delicacy "Kepta Duona su Suriu" - which is rye bread cut in strips and then fried.  They put a sauce of melted cheese and mayonaise on it. It's very tasty! 

Kepta Duona su Suriu

My entree with dinner was a chicken with shrimp sauce.  It was delicious as well.  I appreciate the care that the restaraunts here put into making the dishes so pretty with how they arrange the food.  The use a very basic, but tasty vinagrette dressing on their salads - so good!

My delicious dinner!

Friday evening a bunch of us from the student life office went to the beach for a bbq to celebrate another Student Life birthday!  Becky (one of myRDs) has a birthday this weekend, so she and her husband planned the birthday party for her.  It was great to spend more time chatting with my new co-workers and enjoying the peaceful evening at the beach.  Erik & Becky provided the meat and everyone else brought things to go with it.  I made a make-shift oriental cabbage salad.  It was very well liked by everyone -which we all know made me very happy!  :)

Here are some fun scenes from the beach...

This is the Stave's adorable little boy - Isak.

Susie at sunset on the Baltic Sea.

Our group from afar - enjoying the evening.

The writing in the sand...I'm here to stay!

The sunset...so lovely!

The rest of the first week!

I've been here a week already!  You may be wondering what I've been doing since I got here.  Well, here’s the Reader’s Digest condensed version…


Saturday- went to the market in the morning with my neighbor (another LCC employee), spent the afternoon napping, went shopping with the Metelaks in the late afternoon to a cross between a Lowes and a Target type store, and then in the evening I went to the Staves house for dinner with a few other single LCC women. Highlight of the day was playing Ivea, the Stave’s 4 year old daughter. She reminds me a bit of my niece Lily and is too sweet for words! This is our tasty dessert plate…

The white rectangle on the left is vanilla ice cream, on the top left is an apple cake, and the chocolate on the lower left is called "tinginys".  Tinginys is a traditional Lithuanian dessert that I'd love to learn how to make...it was very tasty!  :)

 

Sunday-went to church at City Church. This church is in Lithuanian, but they provide headphones with a translation of the sermon in English. After church we walked down to the beach and I got to put my feet in the Baltic Sea! We also enjoyed some ice cream purchased from a vendor on the street. The rest of the day I spent at my apartment watching a movie and playing online. It was a lonely afternoon and evening. Here are some photos of Sunday at the beach…

Me enjoying banana ice cream by the beach!

Meca (a student), me, and Diane M standing in the Baltic Sea!

 

Monday was my first official day of work! It was a similar day to what the first day of the year was always like at GC, so it felt comfortable. We went out for lunch and I had a Lithuanian pork dish. Here’s a photo of it…

Breaded pork tenderloin w/a mushroom sauce, boiled & then fried potato wedges, and salad.  This meal was 9 litas - which is about $3.60.

I spent most of Tuesday in the office reading through binders and documents – trying to figure out how to do my job! In the afternoon I had my first Community Life meeting. It was a lot fo fun to have the people that are going to work with me all together and to start talking about our year ahead. It was during that meeting that I had the first real sense that I am going to be totally ok here. I’m known it in my head and clung to God’s promise that it would be ok, but at that moment I looked around the circle and knew I was exactly where I’m supposed to be for this season! Tuesday evening I ventured to take the bus to the mall on the south side of town and do a little shopping. It was a successful and fun trip!

And today I spent in meetings most of the day at work. During lunch though I walked to the mini mall near campus and had lunch with one of my RDs, Veslava. It was really fun to get to know her a little better outside of the context of work meetings. After lunch we had a Student Life “get to know LCC/Lithuania” game time. It was also a birthday party for Ina, our counselor. Then we had a migration/student housing meeting where I was on such information overload, I about slammed my head into the wall! Thankfully my boss is very patient with my questions and she’ll explain it all to me!  And then for dinner I went to dinner with my other RD and her husband (Becky and Erik). Veslava came as well and we had a wonderful evening of eating (chimichangas-YUM) and getting to know each other. They are going to be great people to work with!

Ina with her birthday cake!

RDs - Veslava, Becky, and Becky's husband Erik.

a photo of me

This is one of my famous self portraits!  I am sitting at my computer desk by the window overlooking the square.  It was around 9:15 in the evening when I took this photo - notice how light it still is outside!  It's a lovely 66 degrees out and I am enjoying the sounds of the city. 

A few new things

While many things in Klaipeda are similar to what I see/do/experience at home, there are some funny differnet things as well.  Such as...

For some reason the toilet paper holders all have these little "dust covers" on them.

I have SERIOUS locks on my apartment door!  The top one has 5 dead bolts that come out!

They sell SQUIRRELS in the pet shop!  Squirrels...seriously people?!

The doorways between rooms have frames all the way around the door...I trip a LOT!

Rather than an escalator, there is a "people mover" like you see in an airport, except it is slanted and you just ride up!

I hardly know what to post!

There is SO much new and exciting stuff that I'm experiencing these first few days in Lithuania!  I hardly know what to post.  It's been packed full of so much that there is no way I can fill you in on all the details.  Sorry.  So, here are a few of the more meaningful/important/noteworthy moments from Friday.

I took a tour of the DeFehr Centras - the building where my office is located.  Here is a photo of it.  Please note that I still need to add a bit of the "Susie-touch" to it!  :)

* notice the GC portfolio sitting on the desk!  :)

I then took a tour of Neumann Hall - the residence hall on campus.  I really liked the facility and am anxious to hear from the RDs this week about how it's used by students currently.  I have lots of ideas of programs that could be done there, but first want to hear what's working for them at this point.

I already wrote a post about my lunch with my landlady!  :)

I spent the afernoon and evening with Steve Metelak and his family.  Steve was the Director of Community Life (DCL) last year.  Since I will be taking over his role, it was good to begin establishing a relationship with him.  I think he'll be a very cooperative and supportive person to collaborate with this year.  He reminds me a of a combination of 3 men I know.  He is built like/moves like/dresses like Tim Demant - the AD at GC.  His eyes/profile/wisdom/compassion/care for others reminds me of Charles Buller - a friend/former pastor from my church back home.  And his smile reminds me of Jake Pavelka - ABCs most recent Bachelor!  OK, so I don't actually KNOW Jake, but I saw a lot of him on tv this winter!  :)

The Metelak's mentor a young gal from the local orphanage.  She was at the apartment with us on Friday.  She's a precious gal - her eyes are bright and full of innocence and love for people.  She was a little shy with me at first, but began to open up to me more as the evening went on - even giving me a big hug when we dropped her off at the orphanage at the end of the evening.  I cried a little as I left the orphanage with Steve.  It's such a cold and ugly looking place - a building leftover from the Soviet's use.  Steve assured me that it is nice inside and that she gets good care.  I kept thinking of my nieces back home who are about that age and what it would be like for them to be at a place like that.  I plan on getting to know this gal better as the year goes on and others at the orphanage as well.

I think I'll end her for now...more is on the way for sure!  :)

Ladies who lunch...

Friday morning I met my landlady - Danute.  She's probably about 50 years old and was very excited to meet me.  :)  I was on my way to the school when my neighbor (another LCC employee) introduced me to Danute.  Daunute doesn't speak English, but my neighbor speaks a little Lithuanina thus being able to make the introduction!  Danute then informed me (through my neighbor) that I was to join her for lunch at 12:30 that day!

So as I walked up to her apartment around 12:30, I was thinking about how I don't know Lithuania and she doesn't know English.  We actually managed to have a decent "conversation" during our meal with the use of hand gestures, pointing, and even some drawing of pictures!  :)

The meal was pretty typical with a few surprises thrown in!  She first gave me a shot of some sort of sweet liquor that burned all the way down! We then had a delicious main dish of a chicken & rice dish that tasted like something I'd make at home. She also had fresh tomatoes as a side, a jello cup with peaches and some sort of berries in it. Dessert was these tiny buttercream frosting type filled popovers. She made coffee the Lithuanian way - put the grounds in the cup, pour boiling water over it, stir it, and then only drink about 2/3 of it because the grounds are in the bottom of the cup.  (My boss had told me about this method of making coffee earlier in the morning - I am SO glad she did or I would've kept on drinking unknowingly!)  And then ti finish the meal we had another shot of liquor!  Certainly not my usual way to begin or end a meal! 

She sent me home with a plate of fresh fruit and some unidentified sauasge type meat slices. She also gave me a baby fern - which I fear I will kill!  EEK!

It was a fun experience.  I was very appreciative of her hospitality!  I think as I learn a bit more of her language it will be fun to get to know her.  She seems very sweet and eager to relate to me. 

A room (apartment) with a view!

Here are a couple photos of the view out of my window....

My apartment faces the south.  This is a view out of the window next to my computer in the dining room.  The big black thing is a statue/monument that represents all of Klaipeda - it has faces on it to represnt the various people of the city.  I haven't been able to find out the offciial name of it yet, but I'm sure I will eventually.

This is the view looking to the left/East out my window.

And this is the view looking to the right/West.  The sea is in this direction.

I like my neighborhood.  It is not an overly friendly place persay, but I feel quite safe here.  It is very noisy at night, but I don't mind that.  I have a fan in my bedroom that drowns out the noise when I go to sleep and other than that I like the noise for the most part - it makes me feel less alone when I'm feeling lonely.  And it's not much more disturbing than the air hocky/ping pong that used to go on in the KMY game room outside my apartment door at GC!  :)

a couple more photos..

Here are two more photos from my trip over to Lithuania...

They are adding on to the Frankfurt airport.  I thought this was a cool scene with all the construction.

This was the BEST airplane snack I've ever had.  It was a rustic "Brotzeit" snack.  It had wafer cookies, alpine cheese and vinschgau roll with butter and a little piece of ham.  It all came in that cute little red & white gingham bag in the left corner of the photo.  And the flight attendant gave me not one, but TWO little cans of Coke Light!  :)

Not quite there!

A quick update from the Frankfurt, Germany airport...

I arrived here a few hours ago and am now patiently waiting for my flight to Latvia to board so that I can continue the journey to Lithuania!  :) 

Yesterday afternoon three of my closest sisters in the Lord delivered me to O'Hare airport.  We stopped at my favorite restaurant - Buca di Beppo's for dinner in the Chicago suburbs.  We chose that because I wanted some of the delicious bruschetta before I left the states.  God chose our waiter because He's cool like that.  Here's the story....The waiter (Bryan) was taking our drink order and asked if we were there celebrating anything.  We explained that I was moving to Europe and that these gals were taking me to the airport.  He asked where I was moving to.  I told him "Lithuania" and waited for the typical "WHERE?!" that most people answer with.  Instead he said, "I'm FROM Lithuania!"  All four of us were like, "REALLY?!"  He then explained that his mom is from there and he's 100% Lithuania!  SO COOL, right?!

Me and Bryan - the American born Lithuanian waiter!

A few other photos from the trip so far

...please excuse the tear stained faces!  :)

Me, Tracy, Bonnie, and Patty

Me- checking in at the counter in Chicago!

me & Tracy

Kisses from my Bonnie

Me & Patty - tears a rollin'!

Here I go!!!!

After an 8 hour flight to Frankfurt.  I feel better than I look!  :)

Kim and Andrew from LCC are picking me at the airport in Lithuania and then taking me to my new apartment to get settled and to likely fall into bed exhausted!  :)  I will post again when I have internet aceess.

Thanks for all your prayers.  I can feel the presence of God in a very real way as I am making this trip across the globe!  It's wonderful to know I have such a great community of God's people praying for me along the way! 

Tomorrow I leave!

I leave for Lithuania in less than 24 hours!  I have spent a lot of time with loved ones during these past few days/weeks and have a few more important visits to get in before I leave tomorrow yet (Mom, the Rissers, my Student Life family at GC, my hairdresser, and a couple others likely.)  Some of my dearest sisters in the Lord are taking me to the airport tomorrow afternoon.  I fly out of Chicago, so we will get to stop for dinner at my favorite restaurant - Buca di Beppos!  What a bittersweet time that will be!

My main goal before I go to bed tonight is to figure out what to do about my luggage...I have entirely too much weight in my suitcases and need to continue to filter out what will and what won't make the cut to go to Lithuania with me this trip.  (And this is even after already filling up a suitcase of winter clothes for an acquaintance to bring over when he comes at the end of September!)

Amidst all  the emotional good-byes, details that have (at times) seemed to consume my life, the uncertainty of how God is going to work out all the financial provision, and the excitement/terror of starting over in a new place...I am still certain that this is what I am called to do for the next season of my life!  I am so looking forward to getting off the plane Thursday night in Lithuania and starting this new adventure.  I am eager to get started doing the work that I am called to do there and can't wait to see the ways the students of LCC are going to shape the woman I am and how God will use me to shape the young adults that they are becoming! 

I will post again soon...from Lithuania!!! 
I love you all!