Supper @ Susie's

At GC I often had students in for dinner.  I called those meals "Supper @ Susie's."  I wanted to find a way to continue to have students into my home for meals, but knew I couldn't use the same kind of advertising and ways of inviting students that I used as an RD.  I decided to have the women that are a part of Community Life each work with their student leaders to find an evening that worked for their teams and then come to dinner as a group.  On Wednesday evening I had the Intercultural Program Leaders (IPLs) and their supervisor (Gabija) over for dinner.  It was a wonderful time!  We enjoyed a meal of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread.  For dessert we had a birthday cake for one of the students who was turning 20 that day.  I am looking forward to the other groups joining me in the weeks ahead!

Gabija (on the right) and the IPLs 

The IPLs and me!

A day in Vilnius!

On Monday I took the day off work and went to Vilnius (the capital of Lithuania) for the day with Kim.  She had a doctor's appointment at the clinic there, so we combined that with a lot of shop talk in the car and shopping in the city!  :)

One of my famous self portraits before I left the house in the morning! 

A lovely cup of cappuccino I enjoyed while shopping on my own during Kim's appointment.

Mmmm...coffee & foam! 

The interior of the coffee shop where I enjoyed the cappuccino...so quaint! 

We had lunch & went shopping with some other American expat women that Kim knows in Vilnius.  Here we are after our afternoon of fun! 

Vinkiemis!

Marlene and I were hanging out last weekend.  We did some driving around Klaipeda seeing the sights and her teaching me more about the history of the city.  We ended up driving north of the city and going to a great place called "Vienkiemis".  It was a country style restaurant with a lovely grounds filled with carved wooden statues.  The food was delish, the atmosphere was charming, and the company was fun.

The sign at the entrance.

The fabulous beet soup. 

The creamy chicken & mushroom skillet supper. 

The little pond area.

 A merry-go-round with a crazy witch in the middle.

The goofy dudes on the teeter-totter. 

Some sort of swinging aligator play equipment for kids.

Happy Birthday to Mackie!

Last Friday night the folks who live on the faculty floor of Neumann had a potluck dinner.   They invited me to join them.  We shared a delicious meal tht ended with a birthday cake for Mackie.  Mackie is one of our Spiritual Formation Cooridnators this fall.  He and his wife, Deborah, are here for the fall while she is on sabbatical from DBU.  They are a delightful couple who love the Lord with all their hearts and are an amaizng blessing to our community here at LCC.

Mackie & Deborah

Mackie's birthday cake...one of the tastiest things I've eaten here in Lithuania so far!!!

God's promise

The evening of the Ugly Duckling Cup it was cold, gray and rainy - as you can likely see from the photos.  An hour or so after the race was over many of us looked out the back windows of Neumann Hall and saw the sun shining brightly from the west.  We went outside to drink in a bit of its beauty.  Once outside we looked to the east and saw a gorgeous double rainbow!  Not only was it beautiful to look at, but it was also like God was tapping on my shoulder and reminding me of the depth of His love for me and all of mankind.  It was breath taking on multiple levels. 

You can barely see the second rainbow in the top right corner of my photo.

It's there though, I promise!  :)

Ugly Duckling Cup!

One of the fun fall traditions at LCC is the "Ugly Duckling Cup".  Teams from each residence hall (and this year a team of faculty & staff) build a raft out of a wooden pallet and assorted plastic bottles & such.  The rafts are introduced with great fan fare, a foot race happens around the pond and then three trips are made across the pond!  Here are a few photos of the fun...

Neumann East guys introducing the iBoat!

Racing on the pond!

Darius - my neighbor (a theology prof) at the end of his lap across the pond.

Teresa (English language) and Jared (theology) taking the second lap!

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the winning team or the fun trophey (maybe next year), but the event was enjoyed by a large group of excited cheerers from each residence hall.  Afterwards there were seaworthy snacks - goldfish crackers, crab sticks, and slices of bread topped with pieces of herring.  "Finding Nemo" was shown on the big screen to bring a relaxing conclusion to the event.

Fun food at the mall...

Last Sunday I went to the mall in the afternoon with Teresa.  While there we did a little shopping and a little eating!  :) 

I finally tried the Lithuanian comfort food, Cepelinai - a a type of dumpling made from grated potatoes and stuffed with minced meat. It was recomended to me by another expat to try the roasted ones since they are a bit crispier and more flavorable.

I wasn't really impressed with this dish.  It wasn't horrible tasting, but it did leave a heavy greasy feeling in my stomach the rest of the day.  The big pile of white is sour cream that you dipped the dumpling in.

The other food moment was stopping at McDonalds!  I had refreained from going there until now...I didn't want to give in to the temptation to rest in the familiar.  I didn't get a meal, but I did enjoy an ice cold fountain Coke Light and an apple pie.

Lithuanian McDonalds service counter

 

Susie happy with a fountain Coke Light...better than one in a plastic bottle.

McDonalds apple pie...old school style - fried not baked.  Yummm!

Krepšinis - USA vs. Lithuania

On Saturday, September 11 a very important basketball game was played.  It was one of the semi final games for the World Basketball Championships between two undefeated basketball teams....the USA vs. Lithuania!  My friends Kim & Andrew invited a group of expats over for the game.  Most of us were Americans, but most of us were rooting for the underdog - Lithuania.  Despite a good effort, the underdogs did not come out of the competition victorious.  Ah well, at least it was the USA that beat them - as the USA went on to win the gold medal the next day.  Either way it was fun to watch some good basketball with friends!

Decorations were very "equal opportunity"!  :)

Americans Steve (Theology) and Kim (Student Life) show their Lithuanian spirit!

Friday night fun!

One Friday evening I was invited to join the residents of the faculty wing in Neumann Hall for dinner.  One of the other expats was making lasagna and invited me to join them for the meal...I happily did so!  :)  It was good meal, but more importantly I enjoyed the fellowhsip.  We played some Fast Uno (I had fond memories of playing that game with my old cell group at CF back in the day!), we goofed around and we laughed...a lot!  It was almost like the kind of laughter I have at home with my friends...it felt sooo good and was just what my spirit needed!  :)

Here are some photos of the women who warmed my heart that evening...

Two young faculty ladies whom I adore...Leah and Teresa!

Two more ladies I'm enjoying getting to know - Skysta and Diane

Me posing with some of my new friends.

Community Day!

Wednesday, September 8th was "Community Day" at LCC.  What this means is that at the end of the school day we have a big outdoor carnival/bbq on the front lawn.  Student Life is in charge of the event and the Community Life area (my division) is in charge of the decorations and activiites.  It was a ton of work, but ended up being a great team building endeavor and was enjoyed by the students and familes of faculty & staff! 

Here are a few photos...

Blowing up the balloons that we strung along the sidewalks to give the area a festive feel!

One of our Study Abroad students did a fabulous job with the face painting!

We spray painted a giant Twister board on the lawn.

My RD team enjoyed impersonating our very pregnant VP with some balloon babies under their shirts!

First Day of School!

In Lithuania (most of Eastern Europe actually from what I hear) all schools begin on September 1st.  LCC did not follow the tradition this year due to some calendar issues, but all other schools around the country did.

The first day of school is a BIG deal around here!  It starts with a celebration in Lietuvininkų Square - a local square where there is a monument to Martynas Mažvydas, the author and publisher of the first Lithuanian book, a collection of religious songs called Katekizmas ("Catechism"). It was the book in which Lithuanian alphabet appeared for the first time.

Children of all ages come to square dressed in their very best clothes - boys in suits & ties and girls in ruffled dresses with patent leather shoes.  They all bring fresh flowers with them to be given to their teacher when they arrive at school.  Each school chooses one child to carry their school banner during a processional.  Then there are various singing and dancing groups (all school children) that perform and then the mayor and other prominant townspeople speak.  I enjoyed the singing and dancing, but the speeches were a little harder to engage in since they were all in Lithuanian, so I could only catch a few words here and there.
 
Here are some photos from the event...
 

A photo of the swarm of people filling the square.

The banner carriers lined up to start the procession.

The procession being led by youth in traditional dress

carrying Lithuanian flags.

Dancers on stilts...they danced to an instrumental

version of "Cotton-Eyed Joe"

Young school children dressed up and carrying flowers for their teachers.

A group of pre-teen dancers.

A group of high schoolers dancing.

The final group that danced.  They were lovely to watch - quite graceful.

Student Life!

On Tuesday afternoon we had a Student Life team meeting.  Afterwards we took our team photo for the year.  Here are the fabulous folks who are becoming my new Student Life family.  :)

front row: Vaida (office manager), me :), Olena (Director of Intercultural Education), Alex (RD), and Margarita (Director of Career Development Center)
middle row: Paul (Chaplain), Kim (VP for Student Life), Gabija (Intercultural Program Leader), Becky (RD), and Veslava (RD)
back row: Steve (Director of Leadership Development), Ina (campus counselor), Mackie (Spiritual Formation Coordinator) and Trisa (Spiritual Formation Coordinator)

And this is SLMT...Student Life Management Team - the ones who report directly to the VP.

Margarita, Steve, Paul, me, Kim, and Vaida. 

NOT a great photo of me, but ah well.  :)

And this is my Community Life group!  I'm so excited to have a team of strong and capable women to mentor in their careers...such a priviledge!

Aren't they gorgeous!  :)