Death and Taxes

"but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." - Benjamin Franklin

In the U.S. many are familiar with this quote from Benjamin Franklin. I'd like to modify it to reflect a bit of our life here in Lithuania:

"but in Klaipeda nothing can be said to be certain, except laundry, grocery shopping and rain."

Yes, with my European sized washing machine, one drying rack, two kids and a husband who runs every day - laundry is a daily chore. At first I was a bit dismayed with the thin sheets* that were available to us here, but come laundry day my appreciation has grown. Thin sheets drape easily and dry fast.

* I will confess to being particular about the sheets. There were lots of sheets to choose from in varying degrees of thickness. I only looked at the fitted sheets (it's the North America coming out in me I'm sure). Insisting on fitted sheets narrowed my choices. Thin but easily dried - I think that's a good compromise!

Grocery shopping - yet another daily chore. I buy what I can carry which means I shop much more frequently. The days of shopping for an entire weeks worth of groceries is but a distant memory. First- a weeks worth of groceries won't fit in my fridge or cabinets and second - there is no way that I could carry all those groceries anyway. Add to my grocery challenge the availability of certain items. I have taken to shopping at a local store called, Norfa. It is a bit further away than the other grocery store, but is a bit cheaper. Those who know me, know that I'm always after a bargain, so Norfa is my go to store for groceries. The downside to the Norfa is their selection of cereal and bread - not nearly as good as the local Icki. So I pick up those items when I go to the Icki. Unfortunately the best laid plans always have a catch. I planned a trip to Norfa and headed off with my list in hand. Too bad for me the Norfa didn't have all the things I needed, so that meant a trip to Icki the next day to pick up those missing items. The following day rolls around and I was back to the Norfa for my next round of groceries. It's a never ending cycle. On a positive note I did sign up for the Icki savings card (they even have those annoying cards here in Lithuania).

Rain - One of the student workers here told Ken about a former professor's take on the the weather here in Klaipeda; "8 months of waiting followed by 4 months of disappointment." It has also been said that if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. We have had our fair share of beautiful days but we have also seen quite a bit of rain. For a country that sees a lot of rainfall we have been woefully unsuccessful in finding adequate raincoats for the kids. Is it too much to ask to have ponchos available for purchase? I'm sure that they have them, but we have yet to find them. Also, regarding the weather, I'm sad to report that we have entered that time of year when the night begins to be longer than the day. I'm grieving the leaving of the sun!

On a more uplifting note, we had the chance to take a walk in the forest last Saturday. As we left the apartment it was raining (no surprise there) but we took our chances. We had a beautiful afternoon hiking in the woods. It was peaceful and just what we needed.

We often spy Lithuanians in the forest out gathering bags/buckets of mushrooms. We are not mushroom eaters, so no wild mushrooms for us, but this is a very popular past time here.

Katie climbing on a fallen tree.

A view of the forest.

Dylan exploring a crater - there are many craters and some are attributed to bombs from WWII. We know a family that actually found an unexploded bomb in one of these craters. Dylan is hoping to find one before we leave.

We have also come across an LCC tradition that reminds us of Malone. Here's an analogy for you:
The Davenport Derby is to Malone as the Ugly Duckling Race is to LCC International University.

Those of you from Malone should get this right away. If you are confused, I'll try to explain... LCC has a tradition called the Ugly Duckling Race. Ken was invited to participate on the staff/faculty team. There were also teams from the residence halls. Each team participated in some challenges - a fashion show, physical challenges,a team cheer and building a boat and then racing it in LCC's pond (complete with a pirate who attempted to slow down the boats),

Staff/faculty team competing in a physical challenge (something like 8 heads, 10 knees, 4 elbows on the ground). Look carefully and see if you can spot Ken!

Ken in his team hat.

A few of the homemade boats out on the pond.

 

 PACKAGES! Yes, receiving packages is a definite highlight. We've received 3 so far (of course we sent one of them ourselves). And yes, we were even excited about receiving that package. There's just something thrilling about receiving mail/goodies when you are far from home. Package 1: Katie's keyboard!!!! Package 2: a journal that had a recently published article by Ken (thanks Janie, Elizabeth and Becky) Package 3: Katie's birthday present from my mom - The Hunger Games dvd.

A note about packages - we are happy to receive them:) They should be mailed to Ken or Amy Stoltzfus, LCC International University, Kretingos g. 36, LT-92307 Klaipeda Lithuania. The US Postal Service is fine but you may possibly get a better rate through Meest (a shipping company) http://www.meest.us/  We used them with success but if you aren't going to drop off at their drop off centers it can get tricky.

Katie with her Meest delivered keyboard.

We always love a good story and Katie came home from school the other day with a great story! Ruta (a girl in Katie's class who speaks good English) instructed Katie to get a cup of water and join the class for a few minutes before heading off for a private Lithuanian lesson. Katie went with her class and was given a spoon full of honey to eat and a piece of paper with the number 1 on it. When her number was called she received an envelope with a necklace in it. Katie had no idea what was going on. Later Ruta explained that a student in the class gave the teacher fresh honey. She decided to share it with the class (thus the spoonful of honey). The water was to wash it down. The necklace came from a boy in the class who told his mom that all of the girls in the class were pretty. They bought a piece of jewelry for each girl. It was an interesting day.

Please continue to keep Katie and Dylan in your prayers. They are doing exceptionally well with their immersion into Lithuanian school but still have hard days and struggle. We are praying for speed in language acquisition and patience while they are working on it.

Katie and her new necklace.
 

 This past weekend was an important one in the life of the University. LCC celebrated the inauguration of Marlene Wall as President. Marlene was an important contact for us as we made our decision to come here and has been involved with the University since its beginning. Marlene is also the first female university president in Lithuania. As part of her inauguration LCC held a 5K fun run. The kids were very excited to participate. They ran a loop from LCC to Melnrage.

Dylan and Katie pre-race.

Ken, Katie and Dylan on their way back.

This post has been exceedingly long I'm afraid. We have had a lot going on in the past weeks and it has been hard to stop and update. Hopefully you haven't been bored. Tomorrow is a big day for Katie. She completed a race in gym class and did well enough to be able to go to an all city race tomorrow. Apparently many of the schools in Klaipeda will be sending their students to compete. Katie is one of five students in her class who will be going. I'm going to try and attend but I'm not sure where it will be or what time it is. I'll keep you posted!

Klaipedos Licejus

Dylan and Katie on Sept. 1

As many of you know, we were VERY undecided on how to handle school for our time here in Lithuania. Our two options were to home school or to enroll the kids in a private school where the instruction was in Lithuanian. Katie was most interested in immersion while Dylan was advocating for home school. We decided to postpone decision making until we arrived in country and had a chance to visit the school and speak with the directors. During our second week here we visited the school.The school was named Universa Via but just got a new name Klaipedos Licejus (I understand this is due to their high standards - it's like the school got a promotion). Dylan shocked us by saying that he wanted to give school a try. We are so proud of their bravery! The kids were a bit disgruntled when they heard about what grades they would be in... Lithuanian children don't start their formal education until they are 7 years old. So their grades don't match up with our grades in the states. Additionally the directors thought that they should not push them ahead because even the math system is very different here. So Katie will be in the 5th form and Dylan in the 3rd. They are with kids who are only about 1 year younger than they are so it's not too bad. They will also have the option to advance when they have progressed with Lithuanian.                                                                                  

The Opening Celebration

School in Lithuania begins on September 1. This year September 1 fell on a Saturday so that day marked the official opening of school. It was an interesting day. Our school held their opening at the neighboring Catholic Church. All the student wear their uniform (of course only Dylan's uniform was ready-we thought he looked great but you can imagine that he didn't love it). The students also bring flowers for their teacher. Thankfully we were told of this tradition so we came prepared. The new first graders we walked in to the church by the older students, there was a short program and mass followed by a celebration at the school.

Ruta and Katie

Katie was fortunate enough to have a girl in her class, Ruta, who lived in Minnesota until she was 6. Her English is excellent and she has been great at helping Katie navigate a new environment. The first day of classes fell on Sept. 3 - this was also a special day - A day of health in the summer. Katie's class walked to a park and then went bowling. Dylan's class went to the movies.

September 4 - the first real day of classes was not such a great day for my kids. They both felt overwhelmed by all the new things, by not knowing the language etc. When I picked them up they were so tired, scared, overwhelmed. I questioned if we were doing the right thing.

September 5 - Day 2 of classes - both had a MUCH better day. They began their private Lithuanian lessons and that was helpful. They also had a bit more confidence. They were full of stories about their day and it all was good. I was so relieved (as I'm sure they were too. It's not going to be easy but having a good day was such a blessing (we came home and celebrated with some popcorn!

Apart from school we have been having some other adventures. We took a ferry to the Curonian Spit and hung out at the Baltic Sea (I can't wait for next summer to fully appreciate living on the coast).

Dylan had fun interfering with my shot of Katie in her sand fort!

Katie and her sand fort.

Our family dipping our toes in the Baltic Sea.

A beautiful sunset.

Dylan and the god of the sea.

 Without a car food shopping becomes much more of a chore. I only buy what I can carry. I make many more trips to the store than I am used to making. One day I woke up with a craving for bagels. I have become quite familiar with what I can and can't get at our local Iki (the name of the local grocery store) and bagels are certainly not available. So thanks to the Internet I made my own bagels. Everyone liked them, unfortunately the recipe only made 8. So they were gone much too quickly. I suspect that I have more bagel making in my future (I may have to find a hiding place for them if I want to have any left for me to eat).



 

I'm happy to say that things are going well so far. Ken has taught his first class and has been very busy at the University. I have been holding down the fort at home, volunteering in the library, taking a Lithuanian language class, and shopping for food/school supplies etc. Katie and Dylan are busy with school. They amaze me every day with their courage, strength and resilience. I'm a very lucky mom.