Day in the Life

What I do during the week in Lithuania.

6am- Get up, dress, make lunch, make thermos of coffee
6:45- Walk 25minutes past the yummy smelling bakery, through a town square, over the railroad bridge, and down the street to LCC International University
7:15- Make copies, edit powerpoint, prepare classroom, drink coffee
8:30- Teach Advanced Integrated Skills class, which usually includes some grammar, discussing the readings, explaining essay structure, listening, and finding creative ways for the students to speak (skits, debates, etc.)
11:30- Lunch in the teacher's lounge
12:30- Walk back to the dorm, change clothes
1:30- Prepare the next day's lesson, search for or create worksheets and handouts, find film or radio clips, reteach myself proper grammar, grade papers.
6ish- eat dinner in my dorm room with my roommate, or go out to eat
7ish- Continue preparing the next day's lesson
9:30- Hit the pillow hard

I imagine my life as a prof will be similar. Maybe a little less prep work every day after the first year. If this is what the future holds for me, I am more than okay with that.

but

Would love to write you fine people a fabulously interesting update about teaching and life in Lithuania, but I'm tired so I'm going to bed about 2 hours before the sun. Life is good. I am happy and healthy. Teaching is fun. Lithuania is sunny.
Love to you all, dear reader(s).

Lesson Planning

I am loving me some lesson plans. Don't ask why, but I'm managed to organize my course around Edgar Allan Poe. Not my favorite author. Haven't read him since early in high school. But I'll teach Tell-Tale Heart, Masque of the Red Death, and The Raven. I'll also be teaching the class how to write a 5 paragraph essay, reaching way back to my 8th grade days at D'Evelyn. Good thing I still basically write the way Miss Meyer taught me back then. I've spent the day in my office and in my room writing my lesson plan, writing a pre-test, formatting reading assignments, working through the text book for activities to use, putting together power point, drinking instant coffee, and basically being happy as a clam. I got my (somewhat tentative) class list today and tried to figure out ethnicities based on last name. The majority are Lithuanian, but there are also at least one Latvian and a few Polish and Russian. The first names are not to daunting on the pronunciation front, but the surnames will take some work. All told I'm excited to get started on this crazy teaching train.
Now I'm off to a free brass ensemble concert in the park. I'm not all that excited about the brass ensemble part, but an evening in the park sounds lovely.

Grocery Shopping

I have been in Klaipeda, Lithuania for almost 3 days and I have already been to the grocery store twice. This is not a significantly different experience than at home except that there is far less variety and all the labels are in Lithuanian and Russion and sometimes also Polish and Latvian. This gives me a new appreciation for items that come in transparent bags, such as oats. While working at LCC I will be responsible for my meals, so I need to figure out what is available and what I want to eat every day. There is a kitchen on the floor of the dormitory with a range and pots and such, but of course I don't want to stock up on a lot of food that need cooked since I don't actually like cooking. So today for my lunch I packed a cheese (don't know what kind, but white and mild) and cherry jelly sandwich on a dark rye bread, and half a red pepper. Not bad. This morning I made oatmeal in my room (God bless Europe for their standardization of hot water kettles). I also got plenty of instant coffee. Buying these few items probably took 45 minutes, mostly spent figuring out what kind I needed and how much it cost. I hope to go to the farmers' market on Saturday and get more fresh produce.
I have had a few Lithuanian meals at restaurants as well. Yesterday for lunch I had Lietenas (a lot like crepes) with spinach and cheese. For dinner I had Saltiborschi, which is cold beet soup with hard boiled egg in it and warm potato on the side. Tonight I had cauliflower roasted with egg and cheese and baked potato with garlic sour cream. All of it has been very good. As is the local beer.
I am staying in a dorm room about 1/2hour walk from the LCC campus. I have a roommate named Carol, a bathroom, desk, bed, table, shelved, refridgerator, kettle, and sink. It really is a very nice set up.
The last 2 days we have had orientation, which has been surprisingly laid back. We've talked about some cultural stuff and some teaching guidelines, but mostly we are just getting to know each other. My teaching team includes all the Advanced level teachers, so there are 6 other people for me to get ideas from and coordinate with. Each of us will be teaching our own class, but there will be some crossover with the students from morning and afternoon sessions. It is a really intense program: 3 hour class in the morning (what I'm doing one section of) then 3 one hour classes in the afternoon, then maybe 4-5 hours of homework.
Lithuania is great so far, and Klaipeda is lovely. I have much more exploring to do, and perhaps future posts will be a little less random.

All Grown Up

I recently returned from Baby Tour 2010, a whirlwind romp through Washington to visit dear friends from Whitworth and even a few from PTS, several of whom have gotten married, had babies, or started new jobs since I saw them last. I have heard tell of what a tricky time this can be for friendships. Many of us are at different places in life than we were when we graduated from college. We have scattered geographically and in life seasons: new coasts and countries, spouses, new and continued singleness, babies, careers, etc. With all that has changed, how do our friendships remain the same? Well, they don't. We change and grow, and it takes more effort (and more frequent flier miles) to nurture our relationships. We have felt the distance, the challenges of time zone calculation, the full days of work that leave us too tired to call, and the surprising amount of time child-rearing actually requires even when the babies spend most of their time sleeping. My joy in Washington was to rediscover old friends made new by growth and maturity, marriage, parenthood, labors of love and tedium, independence, occasional loneliness, the influence of new communities, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. When I spent time with Fishy, Shelly, Anna, Mel, and Mary it was different on the surface, but still deepened by the years we shared in such close proximity. But we didn't just reminisce, we made new memories. I look forward to having these friends in my life in years to come not because of what they once were to me, but because of what they still are, and what we have yet to become together.

Transition

Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of a series of transitions: the end of nannydom, the beginning of teaching, lots of moving around between countries and states and various friends homes. Being in transition feels more like home to me in some ways than stability does. I like to anticipate what is coming next, what I have to look forward to, who I will meet, and how I will grow and change along the way. Most of the things I've done and places I've been have had an expiration date: graduations, round-trip airline tickets, the date by which my host needs their couch/floor/inflatable mattress back. I realized recently that the idea of committing to a single location for more than a few years is unappealing to me. I found myself wondering why I would aim for tenure when I could teach at a new school in a new state or country. I assume that will change with age, especially if family ever comes into the picture, but even that possibility holds no allure for me as of now. I'm thankful for the ease with which I relocate. It makes times like this, summers of 3 suitcases, and many good byes feel temporary. I'm not concerned about whether I will see these people or places again, because I am confident that none of my good byes are forever. I buy plane tickets with a spontaneity that borders on irresponsibility, and between flights I have the various forms of social network technology that keep me as informed about my friends in Germany and Australia as in whatever location I myself happen to be that week. I welcome change. I yearn for the next thing, while staying firmly planted in my present experience. And when I feel like I have become rootless I call to mind the admonition of Jeremiah: "Seek the Shalom of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for in it's Shalom you will find your Shalom."

Excuses, Excuses

I am great at making excuses for myself. I have all manner of ways to get around studying as much as I could/should -- sleep, community, lack of relevance, etc. I make excuses for waiting until the last minute on major papers, resulting in writing 20+ pages in 72- hours more than a few times. I think I'm afraid that if I really do the best I possibly could, push myself harder than I ever have, I might find out what I'm really made of and not be pleased with the result.
The excuses are even more prevalent and preventative when it comes to what my body can do. I've had asthma since I was about 7 and that has been my excuse for all kinds of things from running, to skiing, to hiking. You name it, I've used asthma as an excuse for not doing it. I've also used lack of interest as an excuse. I don't particularly like sports or exercise, so why should I make myself do it? Of course not having the time or being too tired after work/school has also been a go-to excuse. And there was always that lurking suspicion that no matter what I tried it might not change anything about my body, my endurance, my appearance. Besides which, I'm a relatively confident person and am comfortable with my identity, so why does it matter what my BMI says.
It occurred to me a few months ago that I am 27, and the odds of me getting in better shape later in life are pretty slim. It's sort of now or never. So I stopped using time, motivation, enjoyment, even asthma as an excuse. Sure, there was still some fear that nothing would change, but if I didn't at least try that fear would become a guarantee.
Well friends, today I ran a 5K. That's 3.1 miles, which is .1 miles farther than I've ever run in my life, 3 miles more than I could have run less than a year ago, and at a pace of which I did not think myself capable. And did I mention it was pouring rain and only about 48 degrees? At the end I was cold and soaked and breathing a little heavy, but not wheezing or passing out. My body didn't give out on me, and if I'd needed to I probably could have gone farther (well, maybe not in the rain).
So no more excuses. I am stronger than I think I am, and healthier than I've ever been. It doesn't change how little stock I place in externals, but it still feels damn good.