Russia-Returned

Dear World of the Blog,

Today is a Thursday. Perhaps one of the most eventful Thursdays of my time in Lithuania, which makes this 60 minute lull in activity seem remarkably empty. Which qualifies as the perfect time for a brief post on this good old thought repository.

On Sunday we all returned safely from a crazy 8-day blitz through Russia's two biggest cities. It was, as I expected, a wild ride of a trip, full of beauty and thrills and items of staggering historical significance. My admittedly narrow perception of Russia as the cold, ugly, and rather chauvinistic bully of the northern European neighborhood was challenged and changed on every level. What I witnessed is certainly a proud and patriotic nation, but the culture, history, and legacy of the land is so deserving of that pride. Our Kremlin tour guide asserted (however provocatively) that in her experience, Russians and Americans are one and the same. Beneath all the politics and tensions and ideological disputes, the Russian spirit and the American spirit are fundamentally the same. And, as a fortunate third-party observer, I see what she means. Russians have a remarkably rich history, full of great names and heroes and victories and tragedies, of revolutionaries that liberated them and of regimes that have crumbled, of leaders that oppressed them and ideas that divided them. And through it all they've emerged with a vindictive sense of national pride. A manifest destiny of sorts, not so different from America's, as it turns out.


For those of you curious about the intricacies of daily life here, allow me to walk you through my exceptionally eventful day today, so you can get an idea of the kind of things that go on around here. This morning I joined a group of 10 other Study Abroad students for a brainstorming session with LCC International University's Study Abroad office. We were trying to come up with fresh ideas for LCC's promotional campaign for next year. For new merchandise, we came up with some great ideas, if I do say so myself -- who wouldn't want an LCC pet rock, or an LCC removable tattoo, or an LCC toothbrush?

Then it was off to practicum at the local Specialioji Mokykla (Special School). Everyday is something a little different, but today I spent a good hour playing Snakes and Ladders with my 14-year old pal Augustas. Back to school, where I made some gourmet grilled cheese and then headed to Theories of Personality class. We discussed more humanistic theology, a la Carl Rogers. [This marks the third time this academic year I've studied a unit on Carl Rogers. (I'm generally quite fond of the man, thankfully.)]

Then I had a meeting with my practicum advisor, where we went over logistics and all that. Once that was done, I headed back to an invitation-only reception in the first-floor lobby for a foreign dignitary who was visiting LCC. No big deal. Well, actually it wasn't really a big deal. There is a new Canadian Ambassador in Lithuania, you see, and since LCC is the only international university in the area, he decided to visit. An email was sent out to the community Canucks, and we all convened (8 of us) for coffee and pastries. I was the only one under 30, but it turns out I can schmooze with the dignitaries and small talk politics like the best of them. Naturally, the Canadian Ambassador was a real nice guy, and this brief meeting was equally pleasant.

At this meeting, I also received some unexpected life affirmation from LCC's interim president (who also happens to be Canadian). To put it simply, she declared that based on her perception of my character I would be a perfect candidate to someday travel Eastern Europe recruiting for LCC. So now we'll see about that, I suppose.

I conclude this post now, so I can run off to a game-show-trivia-night-kind-of-thing. It's a formal team event, so I'm off to a battle of the brains. A pizza dinner is on the line, so this is no joke.

Gotta jet. Love and peace.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
jmb

Russia-bound

Hey people,

Quick update:
The adventures continue, and now grow in scale. I'm leaving in the morning for an 8-day trip into Russia. A 20 hour bus/train ride will take us into Moscow for 3 days, which will be followed by 4 days in Saint Petersburg. Needless to say, I am quite excited. This trip is a part of the Study Abroad program here, so it is completely arranged and organized for us by them (though still funded by us). I imagine I have a crazy week ahead, so I should get some sleep.

Thanks for reading this and thanks, as always, for your thoughts and prayers. You are in mine. Unless I don't know you. In which case let me know if you care for my thoughts or my prayers and I will happily oblige.

See you on the other side!

jmb