Sleep over at my teacher's house and more lessons today

Wow! Another big couple of days.

We had our final lesson yesterday (half a day). We also received our marks from the exam, and had a ceremony where the Dean of the University was present, and we were given our University Certificates.

I was very pleased to see that I matched my fellow advanced class students (who lived/live in Lithuania) in my marks in my exam. I got 24/30= 80%, very pleased!

I was a little disappointed in that both of my teachers ranked me as a B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, but then my course convenor (who did not teach us) said that she thought I would be better ranked in the top of A2 but not B1 (Language for non native speakers, lower than a B1). In a way, I feel as though, if I didn't tell my course convenor about how I found the grammar to be difficult, perhaps I would have been a B1! Oh well, I should still be happy that I ranked in the highest category of a non native speaker, and I am a non native speaker.

We also voted for different students/teachers for particular awards, like Mister/Mrs: Curious, Challenge, Energy etc. I  was nominated for a few different categories and proudly won: Miss Linskmas (Miss Cheerful).  And this is the lovely prize that I received (put together, by Thomas, one of the staff involved in the language and cultural program):

After our closing ceramony we celebrated at Ausra's house, a friend of one of our course convenor's Virginia.

Ausra has a little holiday house in the Kriaukle area in Lithuania, by the sea. Ausra's works through selling many beautiful handmade things made from Amber, such as teddy bears that are filled with amber, and shoulder drapes filled with Amber to help heal tired muscles.

Ausra proudly told us about the history of the Kriaukle area and the healing qualities of Amber. We had a beautiful Lithuanian meal made for us, and we drank loads of Amber tea and amber water. I hope it can help ease my cold! Our time at Ausra's house, was another beautiful demonstration of Lithuanian kindness.



Sonja said some lovely words of thanks to our teachers in the form of a letter that she wrote while at lunch. And afterwards we went for a walk by the seaside. I think I may have found some amber, but I need to see if it floats in sea water to see if it is real. We also went for a walk to the nearby tourism center and watched a video of fisherman, fishing for Amber.

Looking for amber.

At the amber fishing museum.

Two days ago , one of our lovely teachers Daiva, asked if me and Sonja wanted to visit her home yesterday, but unfortuately Sonja was going back to Germany. I said that I would love to see her home. I didn't realise until after  I arrived at Daiva's house, and she showed me where my bed would be, that I was staying the night! So she kindly lend me some pyjamas. Daiva said that this was the first time that she had a student stay with her, which made me feel very special. It was such a delightful evening, we made pizza, drank wine and shared photos while talking to her husband on Skype, as he works in Sweden. I have come to realise that many women in Lithuania now have their husbands work in other European countries, and they needed to after Europe's economic collapse.

Daiva's house is exactly how I expected; neat, homely, every room is personalised and it is very inviting, full of plants and animals!

Today I had some individual lessons with Jurate, our course convenor. I also wrote a letter to their Director, on behalf of our whole class to highly commend our teachers in every way.

During our lessons, Jurate got a call from a man  from a Jewish community who Clara met who was a bit confused as to what Clara wanted. Jurate was a bit confused also. It turns out that Clara found a Jewish community, asking them if her and her husband could live amongst them in Lithuania as her husband is Jewish. She is a funny lady, that Clara! It some ways, she behaves like an elderly woman, much older than her actual age, and in other ways she is so young. I admire her confidence that she wants to try living in Lithuania. However, I think she will need to stop asking people if they speak Spanish or French, and learn a little more than Aciu and and Labas if she lives here!

I'm a bit snotty so it may be labanaktis time.

Iki,

Xo

Rasa

Last exam today but more study to continue

Today we had our last formal intensive group class today. We gave presentations in Lithuanian about imaginary 'holiday retreats' from our home countries; Slovakia, Germany and Australia. I decided to make my 'Sobyda' retreat to be from Numurkah in country Victoria as I loved visiting my friend Ellie there last year with her farming family.

We had our final exam which for some reason was not as long and much easier than the other exams.

Tomorrow we will have our 'closing ceremony' of the group intensive course. I am sad because Sonja will then be going back home to Germany. It has only been two weeks here, but already I feel completely immersed in Lithuania and with the people I have met.


However, as my dear friend Andrea said to me on the day I was leaving my exchange study in Canada; 'it is never goodbye, just see you soon.'


 I have learned a lot from Sonja, we have great conversations about philosophies about life and people (she is a Social Worker back home). I feel in a lot of ways that we are both young at heart but in other ways, are perhaps 'old souls.'

Sonja told me yesterday that for some reason, on this trip, she thought about a friend that distanced herself from Sonja and her group about a year ago. Sonja could not understand why she was thinking about all of this all now, as such a long time had passed. We talked about how travel and being away from our normal environment, gives people a huge amount of opportunity to reflect on things on many aspects of our lives, like friendships and change, which can be healing and also scary. I encouraged Sonja to write a message to this old friend, with no agenda, but just to let her know that she cared about her and was thinking of her. I feel like these kind of messages are never bad messages that can be sent. Sonja told me today, that she did just that.

Today we visited the cultural centre in old town Klaipeda as they had a special display of masks that are used on Uzgavenes 'Pancake day.' Užgavėnės is a Lithuanian festival that takes place during the seventh week before Easter (Ash Wednesday). Its name in English means "the time before Lent". The celebration corresponds to Roman Catholic holiday traditions in other parts of the world, such as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and Carnival.

Užgavėnės begins on the night before Ash Wednesday, when an Effigy of winter (usually named Morė) is burnt. A major element of the holiday, meant to symbolize the defeat of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, is a staged battle between Lašininis ("porky") personifying winter and Kanapinis ("hempen man") personifying spring. Devils, witches, goats, the grim reaper, gypsies, and other joyful and frightening characters appear in costumes during the celebrations.

The sun was shining today so we decided not to catch a bus and walk all the way through the old town.

I have been looking to buy a nice warm coat but all I have been able to find are these puffy, plastic looking (likely to be plastic actually) jackets. Everyone in Lithuania wears them but I think they make people look like thugs. I tried one on just to be sure, and I looked like a thug, a fat one.

We pondered across a shop in the old town that I liked the look of; it looked a bit 'boutique like' and immediately saw a jacket that I really loved. I looked at the price tag and it was 239 Euros (I hope you are not reading this post dad). I tried it on and all of the retail assistants fussed over me, and the jacket was so soft...it was Cashmere...and I needed a new jacket...and I am in Europe... So I bought the jacket and donated my other jacket to a nearby charity. :)

The shop was selling these puppies that looked like Chihuahua's, which was a bit wierd, but I gave the dogs a cuddle anyway.



The retail assistants were very excited to talk about Australia and were also excited that foreigners had come to Lithuania to do a University course. She went on to say that I probably won't need my jacket in Australia.I have to explain to a lot of Lithuanians that some places in Australia do actually have a winter. I guess our winter is still more mild than Lithuania's winter.

I seem to get a very warm response and lots of curious questions thrown at me when I say that I am from Australia, that my family are Lithuanian, and that I am in Lithuania to do a University course. It is really welcoming, and very sweet.

I also bought a second pair of boots today, with less heel and more tread, as I now realise that, as pretty as my current boots are, I cannot wall across ice and snow without slipping.

After we visited the mask displays today, we wandered through the old town to find a hot chocolate 'Kakava'. We went in to one fancy restaurant where we were led to our table. We looked through the menu and could not see Kakava. We asked the man if he sold Kakava. He said that he did not sell Kakava, but continued on to tell us everything else that we could drink instead. We told him that we didn't want to be rude but all we wanted to drink was Kakava. He then told us again that he did not sell Kakava. I think we were expecting that the waiter would point us towards a place that sold Kakava, but instead he just stood there waiting patiently and told us more about what we could drink instead of Kakava. Again, there was an awkward pause and we giggled, made our way out on our own accord and told the waiter again that we just wanted to find a place that sold Kakava.

We did find  a place that sold Kakava, and we all ordered some delicious cake too. The cafe was warm, beautifully lit with lovely music playing. I feel so grateful that at this moment, I have had an opportunity to walk with freedom with new friends through a historical town, in a country where my a lot of my family roots and attitudes were born, swan in to a beautiful cafe, and enjoy each others company with great food and a warm drink.

I still have more individual lessons that I have chosen to do on Thursday and Friday, where I hope I will grasp some better grammatical skills.

Time for me to go, as I think Sonja and I are going to grab a meal and perhaps go to the cinema again.

Labanaktis.

Xo

Rasa

A Lithuanian Cinema experience and day trip to Neringa and Nida

Yesterday Sonja and I hit up the shops again. Because I was not looking for anything this time, I managed to finally find some jeans! They are super skinny jeans (All the rage in Lithuania right now). I explained to the retail assistant, that Australian girls tend to be more curvy and shorter than Lithuanian girls, so I was unsure if they looked any good. She did the correct retail assistant thing, and told me that they looked good and that they would look silly if they were any bigger. Oh well, they have been purchased now!

Sonja and I later went to the cinema and watched the Jonny Depp film 'Mortdecai', which received dreadful reviews but I really loved it, as did Sonja. Just like when our family saw 'Gladiator' at the cinema in Lithuania in the year 2000, it had Lithuanian subtitles. Lithuanian subtitles for movies, in my opinion, are a good thing as Lithuanian voice overs tend to use just one male voice, and one female voice for all of the characters in the movies, and they speak in a very monotone way.

Sonja and I picked our seats before we entered the cinema on the computer screen. When we picked them, we thought they looked like very good seats, but when we entered the cinema, they were a lot closer to the screen than what we realised.

Sonja insisted that we just sit elsewhere, and I reminded her that when we booked our seats, most of the cinema tickets had been bought. Eventually more people entered the cinema, and a group of people told us that we were sitting in their seats. We apologised and started to move our things. The problem is in this cold weather, is that it is not quick to move all of your piles of clothes. One of the men, whos seat we were sitting in, was very inpatient and stood directly in front of us, looking very unhappy with his arms crossed. We giggled like school girls and did our walk of shame towards the front of the cinema.

Today we had a day trip to Neriga and Nida; the edge of Europe and the coastline of Lithuania. We made it all the way to the border of Leningrad. We need visa's to get in to Russia, and politically, it is difficult to get in to Russia as a Lithuanian even with a visa.

Clara went to use the outdoor toilet but couldn't do it, and nearly vomited instead. Admittedly, it was not a pretty site, but I think I have done enough camping and travel to know that you must meditate when using less savoury toilets, and also not to breathe in.

Neriga and Nida are beautiful places, they are a contrast of  a traditional village, the forest, sand dunes, the sea, and beautiful wooden statues that tell Lithuanian pagan fairy tales that are still a part of Lithuanian Christianity today.

Nerida and Nida in the winter is a complete ghost town (but so very peaceful) due to the weather deterring people. I think it is a shame that Lithuanian people dislike their winter so much that it stops them from doing things like hiking through the forrest, like we did today. On one hand I understand it, for instance, I am only just starting to warm up now. But on the other hand, their winter is long, but still very beautiful, so why not make the most of it?

My old Australian runners were really proving their crapness today while I was sliding all over the place!

I accidentally took a ton of photos today with my camera on a wierd setting, so some of them look especially blue. I've also noticed that there are times when flash is a good thing. This is my first time using a proper digital SLR camera. So now (on the 07/04/15) I've decided to trade in some my photos with Tomas. L's photos which came out a lot better. :P I think you can tell which photos were taken by me, through the amount of blue colour within them!

It was such a wonderful day. Even though I was mighty cold, we did see the sun, and I am always happy to be in touch with nature.

Impressive wood pile.

I've seen a lot of women wearing these reflectors on their handbags for walking in the dark in winter. Not too sure how effective they would be, but maybe they are.

At the Leningrad border.

Labanaktis. :)

Xo

Rasa

Exams and Cepelinai

I had meant to write in my blog last night, but we arrived home around 10pm and I was just too exhausted!

2 days ago we had another exam,  to re-assess our skills and things that we had to work on. Like many people, I just focus on the idea of potential failure and being judged rather than the task itself.

I have found myself really struggling with everything we have learned with the grammar of Lithuanian. There were chunks of the exam that I left blank and I ended up feeling really teribble about it. My classmates, Sonja and Thomas both speak languages where Lithuanian style grammer applies, but in English, this is not the case.

I ended up asking our teacher 'Vitalija' if I could speak to her in another room. I started crying and asked her if just this once we could speak in English. The funny thing is that until this moment, I thought that Vitalija did not want to speak English in our class. However, she told me that she understand English but cannot carry out a conversation in English! So we kept speaking in Lithuanian while I had a bit of a sob. I told her that I am feeling very lost with the grammar, and that it was hard to do certain language exercises when you don't actually understand what you need to do! Vitalija was very encouraging and kind, she gave me a hug and told me not to worry, not to expect perfection all at once as it is not possible. She told me that she knows I am trying hard and that the Lithuanian grammar does not come easily to people who speak English as their first language. She said that she knows that I am not stupid, and that with time it will all come together. I think my individual lessons will be helpful, in that I really need someone to just explain the grammar rules for me in English, and in the individual lesson I can be given that opportunity.

Our class has now changed teachers for a while, aswas planned at the beginning of the program. Our teacher at the moment is called 'Daiva'.

Today I taught the class and Daiva about crocodiles and sharks. :)

Last night was just fantastic. As planned, our university group visited 'Alex' and 'Christina's house where we all made Cepelinai together from scratch.

We drank wine together and  I translated what Alex was saying to the rest of the class (and today one of the other students asked if I would do her homework for her, so that helped re-boost my confidence post the exam)! Alex and Christina's children asked us all if we would attend their concert at their house in which we had to write down our name, if we were coming we needed to pay 20c Euro. I gave the boy 40c Euro, and told him that he could keep the change, which then inspired him to ask the other students for $1 Euro! What a business man he was. The children played piano for us and sang songs. Alex showed us his amazing collection of crosses that he made himself (An old Lithuanian tradition) in which he is so talented and passionate with.




 Alex starting making crosses when he lived in Columbia (where he was born), as his father was Lithuanian. Alex brought over all of his crosses to Lithuania, where he did the language course in Klaipeda, and since then has now been married with children, living in Lithuania for years.

Alex gave us an explanation about traditional cross making in Lithuania. We were given some textas and paper, with 5-10 minutes to draw some sort of cross as a competition. I did notice late that Alex's boy added some extra decorations on the outside of my cross once I left the room. :P

I won the competition amongst our University group, and was very generously given some honey liquer as a prize (which I will share with the University group sometime).

It was such a special evening, there was so much laughter, love and light. I feel very special to be a part of the family that is our University group. Alex and Christina are a true demonstration of Lithuanian family love, as they have been hosting this event every year since 2006. All of our teachers put a tremendous effort  in to all of our classes and they organise so many after school activities for us.  The course is only $350 Euro, for 6 hours of intense classes each day over two weeks with so many activities. I will have to think of a way to really show my appreciation more, as I feel embarressed paying so little.

Blynai soup and Kompot for lunch, yum yum!

Most of all, all of our teachers conduct everything with so much love and enthusiasm all the time. They say that they do really love their work,  and it is made very clear to all of the students in the course.It is inspiring, and also heartwarming that they really want us to be in Lithuania too.

Daiva said that she knows that we are tired so it was optional for us to do homework tonight.

I  think I will give my brain a little rest and have a Lithuanian beer instead.

Labanaktis.

Xo

Rasa

A few extra photos from International party night on the 16/01/2015: so much folk dancing!

I have joined our University's language and cultural group on Facebook 'Amici Lituanici' and have found lots of great photos from our 'International party' on the 16/01/2015 that I blogged about.  You can get a great feel for the night I think with these photos; all of us having a great time participating in folk dancing, Lithuanian Pagan magic, games and of course, enjoying the good food.

Lithuanian folk dancing is the best fun!

One must always make time for a good egg roll.

I love Lithuanian food. Al though my stomach does not always agree with that statement at times.

I give an informal presentation about Australia. How about that map of mine!

I don't want to boast, but I'm pretty good at this.

But so was Sonja.

Time to learn about Germany!

Sonja receives her magic for 2015.

Time for some study with Sonja, then hopefully a beer and a movie. ):

Iki,

Xo

Rasa