"We wanted something thoroughly and uncompromisingly foreign--foreign from top to bottom--foreign from center to circumference--foreign inside and outside and all around--nothing anywhere about it to dilute its foreignness--nothing to remind us of any other people or any other land under the sun." -From Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad
In six days, I get on a plane and the wish expressed in this
quote will become a reality. I always knew I wanted to study abroad, but by
last year, I concluded that it just wouldn’t be possible
during undergrad. I needed certain classes to graduate that weren’t offered by
any program I had looked at. Then I walked by a table in the student center of
my school that was advertising a study abroad program in a place called
Lithuania, which I vaguely recalled hearing exists somewhere in Eastern
Europe. I had no intentions of applying. I just wanted to see pretty pictures
of Europe. On a whim, I picked up a brochure of classes and opened it (rather
cynically) thinking, “Why bother? They won’t have what I need. No one does.”
They had everything I needed. In shock, I began to seriously talk to the
recruiter, then left to look over the course listings on the college’s website.
Maybe I had read it wrong? The website confirmed I hadn’t and the more I looked
at what the program had to offer the more interested I became. It sounded too
good to be true. An informational meeting, a meeting with my advisor (who was
greatly impressed that the potential of studying abroad had prompted me to make
an academic plan that went beyond two semesters) and a call home later and I
made the decision to apply. I got the acceptance email in March, two days
before my birthday and I’ve been pinching myself in disbelief ever since.
I’m
going to Europe. I’M GOING TO EUROPE! Specifically the city of Klaipeda, Lithuania to spend four months
studying at Lithuania Christian College. I can’t wait to see what I’ll learn,
get to know new people and experience seeing life through the eyes of another
culture. Eleven months ago, I couldn’t have found Lithuania on a map. Now I not
only know where it is (on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, east of Russia,
north of Poland), I’m going to be living there. This blog will be my way of
keeping people at home up to date on what I’m doing and learning.
I’ve
got my snow boots and Reese’s Pieces packed and I’m ready to go. (Apparently,
handing out Reese’s Pieces is a great way to make friends over there. They
don’t have them.) Labas,
Lithuania! See you soon!
Some pictures of Klaipeda, where I will be living and studying. Photo credit Google Images
