Vilnius

Vilnius, Lithuania is the city in which I've lived for most of the past 11 years. With a population of about 650,000, it's big but not too big. It can with justification be called a beautiful city, but like any other city, it has its ugly parts. I can't say I love it, but I certainly don't hate it. I think you get my drift...

Anyway, some videos and slide shows of the beautiful parts of Vilnius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K9oHAVfH1g
A promotional video. Welcoming Spirit is the title of the last section. My comment: yeah, if they know you're a foreigner (who has light-colored skin). It seems to be quite normal for inhabitants to behave rather rudely to each other here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7K09AkJTqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2-kxAzCmss
Driving in Vilnius. This is cool! And good music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byHpCwRHMHI
One of three videos made by a French tourist. The highlights of his trip from beginning to end. Very nicely done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6xJf5-bFUg
Part two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky2G3aiGIZg
Part three.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7qhuXDO0RU
Actually a slide show. Nice photos. Pleasant music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9PCMptbE8w
A slide show made by some tourists. The last part tells the sad history of the Jewish population of the city in WWII.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALulRpZjQs0
Another slide show. But turn the volume down! The music is just pitiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OUQSNNrj9M
Yet another slide show. Warning: Turn the volume down. The music is Lithuanian but the vocalist is singing about Paris!

Introduction

Welcome to my blog. I suppose an introduction of sorts would be useful. I was raised on a farm in south-central Kansas, about 20 miles south southwest of Hutchinson. There was plenty of room to run around, but I did feel as if we were rather isolated. Every time I returned to school in the autumn, I felt sort of left out, as if I had missed something and needed to get reacquainted with everyone again. Ah well, life on the farm. As I grew older, I began to hate living on a farm, especially the work. But later, as I approached my late teens, I began to appreciate the experience of living in the countryside. Still, my main goal was to travel and see the world. I never really had any desire to enter any particular profession or to have a specific career, only to see the world. After graduating from Pretty Prairie High School in 1984, I left for the University of Kansas in Lawrence. What a great time! So much to do; so much to see; so much to learn. I managed to find a good mix of partying and studying and was able to finish with a bachelor's degree in linguistics in four years. After that, I followed a girlfriend to Taiwan, where we ended up spending two years teaching English. While there, we got married ... which later proved to be a mistake on both our parts. Five years after we had returned to the States, we were divorced, although things were over well before that time. While going through the end of our relationship, I again thought about my goal of seeing the world. I never had the money to just travel around, especially for an extended period of time, so again I thought about going overseas to teach English. I thought seriously about going to the Far East again, maybe Vietnam, which was just beginning to open up at that time, but I listened to the advice of a friend and decided to try Europe. I ended up going to Lithuania about a month and a half before my 30th birthday. And, except for nine months in Germany and a year in Singapore, I've been there ever since. Sooo, this blog is mostly going to be about my experiences as an American in Lithuania. As things stand right now, I'm 42, have been married for 10 years to a wonderful woman (Vaiva), and have two kids: Adomas (Adam)-8 and Meta-3.

Here's my family.


One of my main reasons for blogging is to capture my impressions of my life here and compare them as the years go by. Life in Lithuania is not easy. In fact, it seems to be filled with daily turmoil, anger and disappointment. But there are some things that make up for the problems.

So, that's the beginning. Next time: some comments from friends and fellow expats about Lithuania.