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Jenn's Journal Archive | |||||
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| Burning Questions One Year On 8 December 2004
December 4th marked my one year anniversary in Lithuania and there are two burning questions everyone is dying to ask. Do I speak Lithuanian? And, When am I “coming home”.
Yes, I would say I do speak Lithuanian, though not as well as I speak French or Norwegian. I’m quite OK in restaurants and shops, and I can even talk on the phone and follow along in editorial meetings. I can also read it when I have to, but I prefer children’s books to the stories in our magazines. My favorite is Ar tu zinai kaip as taves myliu? It has been a long struggle, because I really am not forced to speak it and in fact, most people beg me to speak English so that they can learn themselves. It was about August when I got fed up and just decided to open my mouth and talk. Since then, I have been quickly improving.
The second question is a bit more difficult to answer. For the moment, I feel that I am home. I have an interesting job (despite days like this) and I like the people I work with (most of the time), I have a diverse group of friends, a cozy apartment with a good view and my best friend and god children just a cramped bus ride away in Slovakia. I don’t know how long that moment will last, but as long as it does, I have no plans to leave Lithuania.
I am often asked what I miss about the United States. As ski season approaches, I do miss my mountains and those classic, sunny, Colorado blue-sky days. For me, I will always prefer the Rockies to the Alps, not to mention the winter paradise of Ignalina! The Rockies are “my” mountains. And of course, in Lithuania, I’m a day’s travel from even the Alps. I also miss my brothers. The days of living in a three bedroom condo with Jason and three Kiwi girls is little more than a fond memory. At 4 am coming home from a long night in the bars, we sometimes talk about how good a breakfast at Denny’s would be, I remember the simple joy of shopping at Whole Foods on a quiet Sunday morning and I dream of a shopping spree at the Gap, where clothes are good quality and reasonably priced. Denny’s can be replaced with a hot pile of potato pancakes, Lithuania has a larger selection of sausages and rich black bread than you’ll find anywhere else and even Gap can be ordered online. Even Celestial Seasoning’s, Boulder-based maker of my favorite tea, claims to have a distributor in Lithuania. So about the only thing I can’t get here is Jiff creamy peanut butter and I have a steady supply coming in.
The novelty of living in a foreign country has long worn off to be replaced by a sense of comfort and belonging. It is the first time I have lived somewhere for a year without becoming restless for travel. One year on however, I have lost all my certainty that I am a true Lithuanian. I now know that there are certain things about Lithuanians that will never truly understand. There are the obvious things, the depression, the negativity and the pointy shoes. I thing really don’t get, and pray to God I never will, is the garish and tacky craving for everything trendy. Indeed, this does not stop with the teenagers. I have seen middle-aged business women in hideous outfits, looking closer to clowns than career women. But then again, I never understood the French passion for long, sweaty scarves that they would wrap 10 times around their neck in July but never wear a hat, and I have been as at home in France as anywhere else, including Aspen.
My banana bread is out of the oven, my tea is starting to work and I’ve taken too much of your time. Just because I live far way doesn't mean I’m not often thinking about my friends, wondering what has become of their lives. So take some time to write me, and I promise to write back. And for anyone who is sick of writing emails, send me a letter. It’s time to write letters, before we all forget how forever.
Good night!!! |
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