Week 2 - 9th April -> 15th April

This week began with a trip to the only one like it in the world - the Hill of Crosses. Thomas and I travelled together on probably the most appropriate day of the year, Easter Monday. We rose early to embark upon an almost 4 hour journey to a place that's nowhere near anywhere! The Hill of Crosses, contrary to popular belief, is NOT near Kaunas, and is, in fact, not really near anywhere at all. The closest city to it is Šiauliai, 12km from the Hill, and about 100km from Klaipeda (almost 200km by bus..). It was a bumpy ride, but we made it in the end.

And what an experience it was! So strange! Nobody really knows the true story of the Hill of Crosses, and despite the initial impression that this is a religious pilgrimage site, it's quite the opposite. In my opinion, it's a place of wonder and intrigue. People have come from all over the world to see this place and add to it, so nowadays there are over 100,000 crosses there - but it has to be seen to be believed! From a distance, it doesn't look like much, just something interesting, but once you are walking amongst so many thousands of crosses, it's easy to be overcome with awe. Needless-to-say, we got a beautiful day for it, but I would still recommend to anybody planning to go there to bring a pair of welly boots! 

The next day was my first day of teaching. To give some context, I have previously studied a 4 year Bachelor degree in primary school teacher training in Belfast. After graduating, I decided, because of the poor opportunities available in the job market, to continue my studies and enrol on a Masters degree in Finland. So now, this internship in Lithuania is a part of those studies. It's compulsory for us to do an internship worth 10 credits, and I decided to make mine a second Erasmus. 

our logo for Lithuania

So, this is my first experience of properly teaching adults rather than kids. My internship is 12 weeks long and my main task is to teach English to the university staff and students. This week was an Easter holiday for students, so I was teaching only the staff. Yes, I was teaching teachers! Role reversal at its best! And actually, my first lessons went very well indeed; I had a lot of fun getting to know them somewhat and I hope they enjoyed it too. I have really been appreciating teaching with autonomy, having the freedom to teach my way and create a relaxed learning environment without the fear and stress of inspection. This is a new experience for me.

Of course, everything here is a new experience! I promised to share something of Lithuanian culture this week, so I will. In my first days, I tried a traditional Lithuanian dish called zeppelins - cepelinai. It basically consists of potato meat dumplings with a bacon sauce. It had a pretty weird texture and was rather heavy on the stomach, but tasty all the same (and cheap!). 

The weather here has been fantastic so far (ignoring the wind!). The sun has been shining, and even on overcast days it has been +14 C...after months of minus temperatures, this is a pleasant change! I'm hopeful for the summer... :)

Some observations I have made so far include the crazy drivers, the distinct lack of eye contact, and the religion of basketball. The drivers here seem to always be in a hurry and are constantly overtaking, even in the city and when cars are approaching from the opposite direction! I'm so glad I'm not driving here, it would be bad for my nerves. Eye contact is largely avoided here, particularly when passing people in the street ... maybe they are scared of their Hannibal Lecter history, who knows. I have also learned that basketball is like a second religion here. I had no idea it was so popular, but now it makes sense because Lithuanian people are TALL! 

Moreover, I have been bombarded with the Lithuanian language (while still attempting to learn German!), and am baffled by it. There is no familiarity and nothing overly distinctive to compare it to. So far, I have learned only a few words to be polite and I'm not sure how much further I will progress. I also noticed that female Lithuanian surnames tend to have the same endings, so I asked about this. Turns out, if your name ends in -aitė it means you're not married, whereas if your name ends in -enė you are married and have taken your husband's name and added this ending.

The week was topped off with an awesome study weekend in Padvarių, a village not far from Klaipeda. It was a free event with amazing accommodation and meals, mainly for exchange students, so this was the perfect opportunity to meet more people, and I met some fantastic ones! We had a lot of fun talking about Lithuania, sharing stories and dancing together. I was even part of an awesome team that won a prize for story-telling! Can you imagine! For me this is such an achievement because I am renound for my rubbish stories - I never know when to stop, and they just end up coming to an abrupt end with the reaction, 'That's it?'. 

But it seems that I am improving :) So hopefully next week I can continue this blog with some more good stories...!