Watch Jobs

My charger got fried today. One part blackened, one part melted, and all parts dunzo. I'm thanking my lucky stars that I have the biggest surprise gift of Christmas '12 propped up on my knees to write this post. Mom, Dad...thank you for cluing Santa in on that one.

This also means no pictures until I can wrangle up a working charger. Rumor has it the closest Apple store is in Germany. So I'll be charger hopping for the foreseeable future.

I feel pretty dull writing up a whole post without any pictures. Uninspired, some might say.

Today, Craig (HoneyRock boss) asked about my biggest challenge since being in Lithuania. After a fairly lengthy blank stare, I came up with basically nothing. I mean, the toughest moment was seeing my parents sitting in our sunroom last Saturday as we FaceTimed. The kicker is (sorry!) while I really do miss them, it was literally the blue paint on the walls, wicker chairs, and the old wooden cabinet that got me wishing I was there for just a few minutes. These small peculiar familiarities got my noggin dreaming about home.

But still, the feeling passed relatively quickly and hasn't really hit since. My roommates are great. Food is fine. Classes aren't easy, but aren't difficult. The weather is cold, which hinders some of the long walks to the shore I had imagined making a part of my weekly routine, but it isn't as Arctic as the Midwest.

So maybe the bigger challenges are still ahead.

I very much see this semester as a quieter one, you know? While talking with Craig I also realized that I had cut myself from three and a half years of building commitments to events and activities and people at Taylor. Things just build up over the years and without even realizing it and time becomes not your own.

Being a senior - that's a post for itself, maybe even one of those catchy weekly posts like "Senior Thoughts Saturday" or "Simply Senior Sundays", you know the posts that bloggers do every week? Anyways, back to my point. Being a senior on a study abroad trip is weird. You get lots of weird faces and awkwardly phrased questions while people attempt to politely ask, "Why the hell would you leave a place like Taylor in the middle of your SENIOR YEAR to spend it with a bunch of people you don't know in a country you never paid much attention?"

Except I think this is so right to be happening right now. I've been grappling for words to answer that question and the best thing I can come up with is this: the past few years, confirmed by the past few months, has gotten me to a place where I needed a semester like this to take a breather and reflect and, in turn, look ahead.

Steve Jobs gave an awesome commencement speech at Stanford a few years ago which has had a significant impact on how I try to look ahead.

But really, watch Jobs.

Bas-ket-ballllllll

Imagine that title going to :23 of this Youtube clip. Get it Lil Bow Wow.

So we went to a basketball game today - the Klaipeda (remember, pronounced Clay-peh-da) Neptunas. Short recap: extremely tall men on the court, no calls on traveling by the refs, rowdy sections of fans with borderline fist-fights. Basketball is a serious thing over here, people.

We rode the bus to the stadium and got to our seats right before tip-off. The men were so so so tall, their kneecaps probably come up to my hip. It looks painful to have to walk with such long shins. Have you ever thought that? Anywho, they were tall and the rivalry was pretty big. Go big blue.

Let me give you a little bit of background on the dancers. They come out at every timeout - but not halftime - to do their little pump up dances. We think they save money by buying half-outfits. If you look closely in this picture, you can see one of the dancers standing on the basketball rim, doing a scorpion. There is also a girl hanging through the hoop. What.

Now I'm back at LCC. Ready to sucker punch homework in the face...kind of like how the Kaunas fan club was ready to tackle the Neptunas fan club. That got real.

I See Fire by Ed Sheeran

Saturday morning inspiration found at 1:13.

First Coffee Break in Lithuania

Today I finally went to a coffee shop. Sat. Drank a mocha. Read a little. Talked more and it was great. After a slow morning (and lets be real, if you read yesterday's post, a dull evening), the coffee break came in clutch.

We met an interesting woman on the way - too long of a story for now a little sad as well so maybe not for today.

After a walk into town we settled at Coffee Port. In coming to Lithuania, I had the goal of being a regular. I'm thinking this place might stand as a contender.

They don't speak a lot of english - and I kind of get hesitant about the whole ordering thing but that will just make me more memorable for my "regular status", right?

I feel like this is always the shot. Coffee design in the foreground, something else, in this case Joel, in the background #nailedit

And we did actually study. But it was more of the relaxing reading type thing rather than the frantic cramming that quickly became my habit last semester.

Mundane Realities

Homework exists. Trash needs taking out. Procrastinating about said homework. To-do lists get long(er). Pile of laundry grows steadily. Still procrastinating. Tweet about wanting chocolate. Working out isn't easier. Need to vacuum. Fire alarm goes off. Grocery shopping. Forget my bank info. Write a little bit for fun. Procrastinate. Clean the toilet, etc etc etc. 

Not complaining about the daily mundane realities, because they all still have different twists than back at home. Except, sometimes the whole bloggy/IG/social media thing can make studying abroad look really deep and pretty and glamourous. And it can be and is, don't get me wrong. But if you could see me right now, disheveled bun, my tired eyes, messy desk, pile of (dirty) clothes on my bed, footy slippers and a paper still to write *see? blogging & procrastinating* you would notice that between the great walks, beach trips, downtown exploring, eating out and more, sometimes it merely comes down to the mundane. 

Back to that homework or my roommates will be up till 2 listening to pounding keys.  

Later gators.

Linked

     Grateful for my Patagucci on a day like today. Fist pumps for a toasty trunk.

     Prediction: this album will be the soundtrack of my semester. Give them a listen.

     If I ever collect rocks, I want to display them like so.

     Since Hulu doesn't work over here, I've been watching a lot of TED talks #LeaningIn #Inspired

     Debating between sweet thing one and sweet thing two to make for a bake night this Friday.

     Reading stories like this one reminds me to speak through action.

     And this surprise might make you a little teary-eyed. In a good way.

Over & out.

Jim Gaffigan & Lithuanian Donuts

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been connecting with people back home (big hugs). Most ask:  What's it like? What's different? I've gathered a few observations, and while I may sound a little down about them (like, say, clothing)...really, I'm fine about it.

Since we're talking about clothing...while I feel like I'm looking presentable for my standards, there's not really a comparison. Vests (new favorite thing pre-Lithuania) aren't really a thing here now and neither is athletic wear. High heeled boots, fur on coats, cute sweaters, super tight jeans, leggings & tights, skirts and scarves are everywhere. In the meantime, I'm rockin' my slightly skinny jeans, Goodwill men's flannel & flat, plain brown boots. Yee-haw. 

Laptops are a complete no-go in classes. Teachers just don't allow them (genius, my attention and participation has skyrocketed). Also, lined notebook paper? Nearly impossible to find. I'm working with the graph style and had to pay 11.99 litas which rests at a hefty $6 for one notebook. You better believe this cheapskate is going to get by on one and only one notebook for the semester.

As far as content, classes are about the same difficultly as Taylor. It varies of course. Intro to Lithuanian will kick my butt, but hey, what's new with a foreign language doing that to me? Prof Klotz, if you're reading this...it's not only Spanish.

Every time you go into the school's gym, it costs 1 lita. Also, it seems like there's a prerequisite of wearing fairly tight clothes and rocking an already incredibly tall & fit bod. Yes, Jim Gaffigan.

In restaurants, you pay for water...comes in a bottle, no refills. Also, tipping is only 1-2 litas. 

Adaptors and converters are tricky things to navigate. Fingers crossed for the survival of my Apple products. 

We walk and we walk and we walk. This aspect is one of my favorites - exploring the city is a definite highlight. Downtown is about 15/20 minutes away and Old Town requires an additional 10/15. Walk another direction, take 30 minutes and you're on the beach. Now, if the sun would make an appearance, that would be AWESOME.

Temps are in the teens most times and while that may seem okay to the Midwesterners out there, it's a different ballgame here. Because we walk so much and for relatively long periods of time (as in, longer than building to car to building) it has that much longer to sink into your bones.

The produce section and I (or is it me...Mom?) are becoming the best of friends. Why, you ask? Because I can't read anything on the prepackaged foods. However, this new friendship also includes the bakery, conveniently located in very close proximity to my fruit and veggie friends. Get at me, Lithuanian donuts.