some pictures from the weekend

I don't know if you heard this or not, but the Vikings lost.

Anyway, to cheer you up, here are some pictures from yesterday, as promised.

The whole group that went (minus Becky, who was taking the picture). It was very cold (hence how bundled up we were).


But after a few minutes in the sauna, the sea seemed more inviting.


The group on the ferry, heading to church.



For those of you just tuning in, it was our friend Erik's birthday yesterday, so a group of us went to a sauna near the Baltic Sea...and of course you have to jump in the water a few times! It was a great day (although, easily the coldest weekend since we've been here (and today was even colder!).

Speaking of birthdays....happy birthday to Sally! Glad we got to talk to you for a little bit today :)

Hope everyone is staying warm!


PS....here are a few more pictures from yesterday.

weekend

It has been a good weekend. As I write this, Steve is at a friend's house waiting to spend all night watching the Vikings. Today we celebrated a friend's birthday by going to a sauna by the sea. It is one of the coldest weekends we've had here, but Steve and I are still both crazy enough to jump into the icy Baltic Sea.......3 times! Very exhilarating!

The next couple of weeks will be busy but good. At the end of the week, student leader hiring for the next school year will start. We'll have a little fair on Thursday and Friday, and then students can apply for various positions between then and the end of the next week....and then it is on to interviews. Steve will work with his fellow RDs to hire RAs for next year, and I will hire all of the Student Orientation Staff for next fall.

Our paper chain is getting pretty short...it hangs on the doorknob and just grazes the floor. That means Hannah and Eva are coming soon! Maybe they will be crazy enough to jump into the sea with us? (Pack a swimsuit!)....now going ice skating at the mall doesn't sound so bad ;)

We didn't take any pictures today, but others did. As soon as we have some of those pictures, we will share them.

Hope everyone is doing well, and keeping safe (if you're in icy MN).

Germany Part 2

Well, we don't know exactly what is wrong with our computer. It still shuts down whenever it wants, but we've been able to do a few things to help it stay on longer. Hopefully I will be able to write this post in one sitting!

The second part of our time in Germany was spent in Essen, which is the capital of culture for Europe for 2010 (Vilnius was 2009). We stayed with Jens and his family. Jens was an exchange student in Long Prairie a couple of years ago and was hosted by Steve's parents for the first part of his time there.

Enjoy some pictures:

Our travels from Dortmund to Essen went quite smoothly and quickly. They are not too far apart from each other (maybe...20 minutes?). Jens and his dad were at the train station to pick us up.

One of the first things we got to do was go to the mall where Jens works. He had to work the evening we got there, so we got a chance to walk around the mall while Jens sold some tasty dutch fries.

Jens at work.


Me, waiting for some fries, my face saying, "I can't believe we're taking pictures in a mall."
Disclaimer: I'm carrying the camera case as my purse. It looks like a large fanny-pack, but it's not.


We weren't all that hungry because we ate lunch before we walked to the mall....but we wanted to try some of the dutch fries with the special sauce that Jens recommended (we also decided to share some chicken strips). The fries were huge/thick, as Steve is trying to show you below.


The mall had a Starbucks, so we went and found a sudoku book and had a coffee date.


The next day, Jens and his dad Gert to us on a tour of this huge coal mining plant. It is no longer running, but they keep it around as a piece of their culture and give lots of tours. It is one of the recommended places to go if you visit Essen (this year especially, being it is the capital of culture). Here are Gert, Steve, and Jens on the top of the plant. We were reminded a lot of western Pennsylvania during our time in Essen.


The name of the coal minig plant is Zollverein. You can read more about it here. The tour was completely in German, but luckily Jens and his dad translated for us. I was convinced that tour guide sounded a LOT like a German speaking Dustin Hoffman, and after I made this discovery, I thought he kind of looked like him too. I tried to sneak a picture to see if anyone would agree (although maybe you would have to listen to him speak). He is the one in the picture below facing the camera and wearing a beret.


Then, Jens' mom Doris took us for a drive and showed us the lake that Jens and his brother sailed on, and we tried to visit a mansion of a famous Essen family: the Krupp family. But it was closed the day we were there, so we opted to go for a walk around the lake instead (we could see the mansion in the distance). Here are Steve and Jens with the lake in the background. The mansion is probably behind their heads.


Someone was nice enough to take a picture of the group: Jens, Steve, me, Doris


After our walk by the lake, we got a tour of the older part of Essen (including walking around a huge, old church). Much of Essen was bombed in World War 2. There is a lot of history here.
Here is a picture of a charming old town street. It was getting darker, and the camera's batteries were dead. So this is the last picture of the evening.


The next morning, we got up really early so we could catch the train to the airport on time. We charged the camera over night so we could take one last picture in Germany. Here are Steve and Jens before we left. Jens is representing Minnesota very well!


So that was a glimpse into our week in Germany. Things that we enjoyed the most were spending time in good company and eating lots of bread and cheese and interesting meats (Steve mostly on this one). Hopefully we will be able to go back and visit someday.

we're experiencing some technical difficulties

Hi Everyone,
We thought we would have part two of Germany up by now, but our computer is in its last days and has a hard time staying on. We are able to use the computer up in Steve's office, so maybe I will transfer some pictures over to that computer and post them on here (when there's time).

We're keeping pretty busy. This week is "room change week" so if anyone in the dorms would like to switch rooms, now is the time. We're also getting ready for student leader hiring, which will start already at the end of January.

Oh, and the power in the dorm went out 15 times in the last 24 hours or so. So Steve has been pretty busy with that.

But, all in all we're good! There was some pretty frost on everything this morning, and it lasted all afternoon. It was beautiful. I took some pictures....that are still on the camera. Will have to post those later. :)

We heard about the earthquake in Haiti, and our hearts go out to them! One of Steve's former students (and her family) is from there -- pray!

That is the news from Lithuania. Hope everyone is doing well!

Germany -- Part 1

We left for Germany the morning of the 30th.
We rode a bus to Kaunas (about 3 hours away from here on the way to Vilnius).
Got on a plane to Bremen (Germany), and arrived with time to spare. It was a good thing, too, because our suitcase was completely destroyed! Thank you, Ryanair! They handled it well, though, and got us a new suitcase. Luckily none of our things were damaged and we were able to continue on our way (we transferred all of the stuff from the damaged suitcase into the new one on a bench at the airport, and left the old, broken one behind next to an airport trash can).
We rode a tram to a train station, and then got on a train to go to Dortmund (our first destination).
On the train to Dortmund, we were delayed for 150 minutes due to freezing rain. All of the messages over the loudspeaker telling us what was going on were in German. Luckily someone in the seat ahead of us was able to translate. It was at this point that I realized I know way more Lithuanian than I do German. Which is not too much!
The train was giving away free coffees (well, when there was electiricty) and soft drinks to appease us. This is what my coffee cup and napkin told me:

Savor the Voyage.


Anyway, we made it to Dortmund, and Nina and Tim were waiting for us at the train station. Nina was an exchange student in Long Prairie when Steve was in High School (his Senior year prom date!).

Steve and Nina (we were out for a wintery walk...Tim and Nina's backyard looks a little like Iowa).


Tim and Nina were very hospitable. We celebrated the New Year with some friends of theirs and got to experience some of their traditions (lots of fireworks -- like last year in Lithuania, eating food made with a Raclette Grill -- a tradition we might have to make more common in the United States, and playing "SingStar" -- a lot like competitive karaoke).

Tim invited Steve to go with him to a Hockey game (Nina and I opted to stay in and read books). It was more fun this way for everyone.

Tim lent Steve a scarf and jersey for the game (cheering for the Iserlohn Roosters).


Tim and Steve.


We also went out for brunch to meet up with another friend who studied abroad in Long Prairie. Inga was there the same time that Nina was, so it was like their 10 year reunion (the last time they'd all seen each other was when Steve visited 5 years ago).

Nina, Steve, Inga. Steve did not get the memo to wear purple.


Steve with Inga and Jorg


Steve with Tim and Nina


We were told that Dortmund usually only gets about 3-4 days of snow each year...I think we were there for all of them. As soon as January 1st came around, it started snowing and didn't stop. They accused us of bringing the snow with us (and looking back, it does seem to be a trend...it snowed quite a bit in Tallinn, and last spring while we were in Sweden...hmmm).

Snowy rooftops.


That's part one. Part two: Essen with the Bavendiek's will be soon!