The Last Week of June = The Last Week of Lithuania

Last picture taken in Lithuania ... of course, the sun comes out when I leave! ;)

Well, the end has come. This will be the final blog post for 'Life in Lithuania', as tomorrow I will catch my flight to Switzerland. The guest entry posted earlier this week had some teething problems with the pictures, but that should now be resolved. It has been said that it's an even funnier post with the pictures, so it might be worth a second look, or a first if you haven't already. :)

Before I break down my experience in Lithuania, I'll first report about the rest of my trip in Sweden. Atchy has already given an insight into some of the bad luck we had, and concluded that I was the reason for the bad weather, because after I left the sunshine returned. This may well be true considering Riga and Lithuania were also experiencing torrential downpours upon my return after a gruelling 21 hour journey. But I have to consider myself lucky that I'm not caught up in the horrible flash floods that have been happening at home in Northern Ireland. I hope the sun shows its face back there sometime soon!

Speaking of my homeland, apparently it was noticeable that my accent was creeping back after spending some time with quite a few Northern Irish natives. It doesn't take much before the old banter returns! But put a non-native Irish in front of me and I'll resort back to my "international" accent, just for the sake of being understood (though I still don't lose those vital giveaways of my native land, such as 'how', 'now', 'brown', 'cow').

The only form of transport on the archipelago island.

There were surprisingly many people from Northern Ireland in Gothenburg, and the city itself was clearly more multicultural than the likes of Klaipeda or Turku. I was particularly impressed by the amazing transport system in Gothenburg; always a tram, bus or boat around to take you where you need to go. And the best part is that the travel cards cover all forms of transport so it's very convenient to interchange between them as needed. 


That's enough about Sweden really - it's always an impressive place. Back to Lithuania. It may not be expected that Lithuania would have quite the same impact as the Scandinavian countries (understandable since it has less money), but it is catching up. Those EU funding signs are everywhere, bascially labelling the whole country as under construction, but some of it could rival its more advanced counterparts. For example, the beaches along the Curonian Spit are second-to-none, and Vilnius is a rising, cosmopolitan, European city full of vibrance and acceptance.

My life, once again, all packed up & ready to go.

Perhaps spending months in Lithuania can be too much in a quiet place like Klaipeda, where tolerance and acceptance of foreigners is yet to be really evident, besides in those who are connected with international relations. The people whom I met in connection with my Erasmus experience were fantastic, and I am immensely grateful for all their help. 

There were others though, the locals mainly, who pleaded ignorance when hearing the English language. In Klaipeda, such people are much more manageable with Russian language, in general. Unfortunately, I didn't have this asset. This proved a difficulty when I couldn't understand the warning I was receiving for returning home too late to my dormitory on a number of occasions. This was the most difficult thing to get used to - the midnight curfew. I don't feel it's a reasonable restriction to have on adults in their 20s. It made me question the level of independence that young people can have in Lithuania, especially when I compare with the stark contrast shown in highly independent Finnish people from a very young age.  


Despite the issues with rules and language barriers, I can look back at my time in Lithuania and say that I learned A LOT. It was a brave move in terms of my career, as it was something outside of my comfort zone, but this was part of my reasoning to challenge myself. I'm glad I did because it was the first time that I have been given so much autonomy to teach, and I enjoyed this level of responsibility. I don't know what the future has in store for me, where I will end up and what I'll be doing, but I hope that this will prove to be a major contribution to my career path.

For the purpose of this blog, I have censored some of the lonely and isolated times I have had in Lithuania, in order to reflect in an overall positive sense, and hopefully promote the country as a place to visit. It is really an ideal holiday destination, with everything one could possibly want in terms of beaches and vibrant cities. Best of all, it is so cheap and underrated! Ergo, the touristic ego hasn't quite consumed the country or its people yet, and you see the real side of Lithuanian life (with the possible exception of Palanga - it has those tacky stalls selling flimsy, plastic beach toys, but for me it was a nice reminder of childhood family holidays). 



There is one thing that I have learned above all in Lithuania...want to know what it is? It might seem obvious to some, but I had to figure this out myself. The biggest lesson I learned was that the place doesn't matter, it's the people that make it. It has taken me until now to make this realisation. Before now, I had been quite happy travelling alone, and discovering more about myself. I don't know why I didn't realise this before, but it hit me like a ton of bricks in Lithuania, when the people I really care about were elsewhere and I was all alone and rather isolated. It was only when I met a great bunch of people at a study conference in Kretinga that my life in Lithuania really came alive. It is the time that I spent with people that have shaped the good memories that I will take away with me. 


I'm now looking forward to re-connecting with all those whom I've missed during my second Erasmus, and maybe even sharing some of the stories that were deliberately excluded from the blog! If you're an avid blog reader, but never really talk to me, then you will forever remain in suspense. I have to save something for those who are really interested enough to ask. ;)

THE END

 

Guest Post: Two stories in one! By David Atchison

Blog #1, “The Big Day”

When I originally proposed the idea of writing a guest blog for “Andi” I’m sure she thought it would be something like how I described it to her... The blog behind the blog, a new view on the world that “Andi” inhabits and a unique perspective for her audience. I’m afraid I must confess that was a ruse. This blog is about one thing and one thing only, Michael Schumacher’s return to greatness. In fact, if you are even reading this I will be greatly surprised and something will clearly have gone amiss with “Andi’s” approval process.

Our story begins in December 2009. Jenson Button had just secured the World Driver’s Championship for Brawn GP in the only season they competed. Here is not the time to dwell on that particular story. However, having clinched his title he decided to seek pastures new, so when Ross Brawn needed a driver at short notice he called promptly on his old pal Michael Schumacher. Convincing him to come out of retirement was no mean feat, but convinced he was and the world was alive with news that the great man had come back.

 To summarize, and I must for I could write at great length about the guy, 2010 and 2011 were disappointments. Not because of him, but more often than not the team let him down.

2012 started off so promisingly. Running in third place in the season opener, fending off a charging Vettel his gearbox suddenly decided that it wanted life as a different object, one with rather more pieces than traditional for a gearbox. In Malaysia an unfortunate moment of clumsiness by Romain Grosjean (a.k.a Sideshow Bob) left him stranded in last after the first lap, however, perseverance helped him climb to finish tenth in the race. In Bahrain, a problem on his car in qualifying meant he started nearly last in the race, again fighting back strongly to finish tenth. Meanwhile in Spain a clumsy collision took Michael out of the race.

Monaco was the start of a new dawn of sorts, thankfully. A feisty and somewhat marvellous qualifying session saw Michael the fastest man around the circuit, however, during the grand prix his engine lost its taste for drinking fuel leading to yet another retirement. The next grand prix in Canada saw yet another technical issue force Michael to retire. Throughout all the troubles Michael never lost faith in his team (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100316) and this was duly rewarded.

The most recent grand prix, Valencia, watched whilst “Andi” was here in Sweden, was an enthralling race. To spare labouring over any details, a crash between 2 cars, only 2 laps from the end promoted Schumi from 5^th to third, the position he promptly finished the race in. As “Andi” will attest, having suffered from watching his almost limitless bad luck over the last 2.5 seasons, watching the last lap, for me, was a monumental test of nerves, with building anticipation of the next disaster that could strike him down. My fears were misplaced, though, and the podium was reached... Now just for that elusive comeback victory...

Blog #2, “A more appropriate story”

So... if you’re reading this then I guess I can assume that my first blog will remain forever hidden from the greater public, seen only by the eyes of “Andi” and I. That’s a shame, you’ve really missed a compelling story I’m afraid, however, the backup that I sent in case of that eventuality has clearly been good enough to be approved. This blog arose from an offhand suggestion that it could be nice to have a different point of view, a blog behind the blog, letting you guys know just how much work “Andi” puts into her blogs. Personally, I think if she approves this, then it’s because she’s on a massive ego trip and this blog thing may be going to her head, but who am I to judge?!

I should begin with some sort of summarised back story. “Andi” was introduced to me almost ten years ago when she was unfortunate enough to sit nearby in a biology class. She may be “Andi” to you guys, but to me she’ll always be Andrea. Anyway, somehow after going through school together we’ve kept in touch through uni and ta da you’re up to date!

I was pleasantly surprised by her decision to accept my invitation to visit Göteborg, Sweden. Not only was it a reasonably expensive and loooooong trip, but the invitation had been standing for nearly a year so I had long suspected she was never actually going to show her face over here.

At this point I should probably make a confession about the idea of a blog behind the scenes, in that there’s not so much to tell! I can exclusively reveal that a lot more work than I anticipated goes into making the weekly blog we all enjoy, I’m talking about actual hours worth of effort. Most of which it seems is spent on the agonising decision of which photos to include. I haven’t put quite the same time and effort into photo selection, however, you would be surprised how quickly time flies when you begin writing. So having now covered the important details I thought it would be more interesting to tell a new story and play a game. Without further ado, here is the newest and most exciting game to be played on this blog!

Guess the animal from Andrea’s wonderful impressions which will hopefully remind me of the answers because I don’t remember the middle one!

Next up we have the abridged version of a story that I call “Epic Fail Monday” (E.F.M). This was the last day of Miss Magee’s stay in Sweden and as had been the case for nearly her entire visit, the weather was miserable. Being the creative man I am, quickly a plan formed in my mind, instead of getting soaked on rollercoasters as per our original plan we could not get soaked instead! The new plan involved grabbing some cider, a pic’n’mix, Swiss francs, towels and heading to Chalmers (my university) where we could use a lecture room to watch a movie, swim, and then sauna. A brilliant plan I hear you cry, and yes it was, however, it quickly unravelled. A forgotten key card, and a disastrous episode with trams meant that a 16 minute journey took over 2 hours, the lecture rooms were locked, the swimming pool was busy and the door to the main sauna was hanging off its hinges and hence letting all the heat out! Being a plucky pair though, we were undeterred and found a smaller and hotter sauna. To end an interesting afternoon I then proceeded to kick Andi’s ass at pool, which is why it is somewhat surprising that she’s smiling in this photo taken after her defeat...

I could also tell you about an Erasmus goodbye dinner and mojito’s that evening but there’s not much to tell that is of interest if you weren’t there! Instead I thought I would introduce my second feature to this blog, entitled “Watch ‘Andi’ miss the basket in Frisbee golf and then cheat but get caught on camera”

                                                      

That brings us to the end of my first / second ever blog post (dependent on Andrea’s approval). If you’ve made it this far, then congratulations and many thanks for sticking with it. If you skipped straight to this point or just looked at the photo’s then I must also applaud your spirit and approach, you haven’t missed much anyway! Finally, on the basis that this is the last time I will write here I must say goodbye and good luck in your future endeavours whatever they may be.

Toodle pip!

P.s. After Andrea left I’m pleased to say the sunshine came back to Gothenburg and has been here ever since!