Links to some Tallinn Christmas 2009 pictures

Hi everyone,
As promised, here are the links to the rest of the photos. Sorry it took a while, we've been keeping ourselves quite busy, and our computer has been on the fritz.

We are working on getting all of our papers graded and laundry washed so that we can leave for Germany on Wednesday. We will be there for a week, so probably won't hear too much from us on the blog until we get back.

Here are the pictures:
Album 1
Album 2
Album 3

Häid jõule! Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus! and Linksmų Kalėdų! from the Baltics!

Hi Everyone, Merry Christmas!

We are back from our annual Christmas trip to Tallinn, Estonia (we were there first last year, and made it a tradition by returning this year!).

We had a wonderful and refreshing time. We left before dawn on Sunday the 20th, rode a bus to Riga, Latvia, and then got on a different bus and headed to Tallinn, Estonia.

Here is a picture of the sun at high noon in Riga, at the bus station.


We rolled into Tallinn at about 4:15pm (we were running early, the requirements for a bus driver here are that they know how to drive fast, and pass every other car on the road. No worries, we made it safely. It was dark as midnight when we got there...and due to riding on a bus all day, it felt like midnight too. Steve is reading along as I type and is suggesting that I end the parenthetical thought. Good thing he is here to keep me in line!). After arriving at our hotel, we decided we needed to eat some food, so we went to a place we'd never been, the Grillhaus Daube. It was very tasty.



Then we walked around for a while and admired the Christmas Market. It was even better than we remembered!

Monday we spent walking around. It was quite a bit colder and snowier this year, so we got me a woolen hat from the knit market located on the city wall.

Me outside the Revel Cafe...one of our faves. If you look in the background, you can see that there is a sign for Segway tours...we didn't do it this time (too snowy, perhaps?), but someday.


Other Monday Adventures:

• Steve helping a frail old lady walk across town (stopping to rest about every 4-5 steps). Good to know that if I am ever that frail someday, Steve will patiently take my arm and walk with me!
• Listening to a Christmas Choir sing carols in Estonian for a little over an hour in a big old church. Very beautiful!
  
• Walking around in the winter wonderland, as large snowflakes fell all day...making us feel like we were in a Christmas snow globe.

Here are some pictures of Monday:

Steve in front of the Guild of the Blackheads (for Harley...also note the snow in all of these pictures)


A wintery, Christmas-y alley.


One of my favorite pictures of Steve in front of the Christmas Market


One more...isn't that tree magnificent?!


Tuesday we woke up and the sun was out. The earth was covered in snow, but it was a tad bit warmer (Monday was about 10 degrees F, and Tuesday was about 20 F).

Tuesday's Adventures:

• Wrote some postcards and sent them via the Christmas Market post office (which is right next to Santa's house.
• Took a walk in a park.
• Outdoor ice skating (so much fun! makes us miss Minnesota).
• Playing lots of Cribbage in various coffee shops (could also be added to Monday's adventures)
  

I am having some trouble loading more pictures, so will probably have to load them to a facebook album and then share the link to the album here.

Wednesday we traveled back to Klaipeda. Apparently all of the Baltic states were getting lots of snow while we were away (and all the way home it snowed non-stop in Latvia). We made it home safely though. Thank the Lord!

Yesterday and today have been pretty low-key. Last night we got together with the Johnsons and read advent verses and sang carols, and this evening we got together with some fellow student life staff who were also in town and had a christmas meal and read together the Christmas story (and read The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever as well). It was a good time of fellowship.

We have been wishing we could be home with our family this Christmas, but have been fortunate to have other people around here to spend it with. We're already planning our traditional trip to Tallinn for next year, so start saving your money, get a passport if you haven't already, and come with us. You would love it. Merry Christmas! I will try to get the rest of the Tallinn pictures up soon.

cold

I know it's colder in Minnesota, but this past week has really felt like home and Christmas with snow that has lasted and below freezing temperatures with a little wind to make it feel 25 degrees colder than it actually is. Amazing how these things make us feel at home!

We are nearing the end of a very busy semester and we can see the end! Sunday we will leave for Tallinn, where according to accuweather, it will be bitterly cold and with each day we're there averaging about 5 hours of daylight. And....I am so much looking forward to it! We each have a book to read for fun, and there are a ton of cute coffeeshops and cafes to duck in out of the cold. Hopefully one of the days it will be warm enough outside to go ice skating....if I remember right there is an outdoor skating rink in Tallinn.

Pray for us as we finish out this week. The next two days will be busy, but the trip after will be that much more appreciated! Pray that we would end well, and for safety in our bus travels. I have no time to be stuck in the snow on the way to Riga this time around ;)

Hope everyone is well and keeping warm.

P.s. about the books

Just by way of reminder, in case it has been some years since you last read the Narnia books yourself, here are the seven titles:

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• The Silver Chair
• The Horse and His Boy
• The Magician's Nephew
• The Last Battle

Also, winter has arrived in Klaipeda. The wind is blowing and the snow is drifting. The temperature is even dipping to near 10 F. Not quite like home, but at least it feels like Christmas is coming.

Sharing with Students via Narnia

As we are winding down the Fall semester we are at the same time working on plans for the Spring semester. One of the plans for Spring semester is addition of course on writings, thinking, and life of C.S.Lewis. As this course quickly filled up with students it is not something that I can audit or sit in on, however I have been working with the professor of this course to see how I could help. Our plan is that I will lead a supplemental book discussion group that will relate to the material and give added insight in Lewis' writings.

The plan for the discussion group is to read through all 7 of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia. Here is where the title of this post comes in. We don't have any budget to get all of the books to host this discussion group as this is an extra group and not required for the class.. The library only has 2 copies of each book. In order to do this discussion group we would need as many copies as we could get (15 would be great). Any donated books would be given to LCC and used in the semesters to follow.

I have purchased in the past a one volume collection of all 7 books which seems to be the least expensive option. Or perhaps someone has some old copies lying around the house that are not being read or you know of a used book store or flea market or a publisher.

Any help would be great. Send me an email shanson@lcc.lt if have questions or post a comment at the end of this post.

Thanks for your generosity and assisting in student learning.