Transitions

Transitions
To begin with, the spring semester at Biola came to a close quickly. In the same way, the start of my semester in Europe came all too quickly. Furthermore, I'm sorry friends at Biola that I did not have a chance to say lengthy goodbyes, rather, any goodbyes for that matter. Especially those of you who are graduating! You will be missed. Likewise, friends that are going to nationals, I will miss you also and wish that I could be there. Additionally, I wish I could run the marathon, I wish I could cheer for friends. Finally, I wish that I could be going to Timber-Lee today and begin a summer of adventures with friends.


Numbers
However, despite my numerous desires to be where I am not, I am excited to be where I am. That is, I am excited to be in Europe for the next 10 weeks studying in 10 different countries with 40 other students from 9 schools including, Biola, Messiah, Westmont, Olivet, and other schools throughout the US. The program is called the International Business Institute or IBI for short. We are receiving 12 credits taking 4 different classes all having to do with International Business. I started out the first 48 hours on 4 hours of sleep. I am currently adjusting to the time change, which in Lithuania is 10 hours ahead of Pacific Time. There is only a finite amount of time, and infinite details that I wish to share. 4 example, the word for "thank you" in Lithuanian is "ačiū" which is pronounced achoo... like a sneeze. Many jokes revolving around this misunderstood word have been circulated throughout the group.

Fragments
Like:
Swimming the Baltic Sea.
Meeting people. Locals. Fellow students. Profs.
Sand dunes.
History (never thought I would say so).
Green squiggly underlines.
Lithuanian language.
Upper room church.
Salad. Soup. Chicken/Veggies/Potatoes. Dessert. Coffee/Tea. Repeat.

Dislike:
Long pants.
Dress shoes.
Business attire.
No Spain.
No Spanish?
Excessive pictures.

Conclusions
As a result, I am starting to love linguistics. Different languages are soo rad. Sitting in church and trying to figure out what different words mean is like trying to crack a code. Language is a beautiful thing, and the Lithuanian is the oldest language that is still in use today.

In fact, the world is much bigger than I had in my mind. There was my first mistake, trying to fit the whole world in my mind. May the world in my mind continue to shrink and the world outside continue to grow. May the God who created the whole world and my mind take control of both.

Snapshots

The Biola crew (L to R Lizzy, Me, Bekah, Clark) in front of the White House of Lithuania.