Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Becky and I have had quite a year. The year of 2010 was good to us. We spent most of our year here, in Lithuania, but we were fortunate enough to head back home for just over two months in the summer. To look back on a year from abroad is different than looking back from home. The sting of physical distance between family, friends, and ourselves is more present the greater that distance grows, and it makes us stop and reflect on our life here, together. And when we do, we see our blessings rise as if from sightlessness to sight (W.B.).

This past year Becky came into more familiarity with her job as an RD. She was able to get more of a routine with her work, so that she could invest more relationally with her students. She spent many hours this year sitting and listening to students share about her life, whether that was in her office or in our home over tea. She has quite an open ear for all those who are willing to share, and, as I’m sure you know, she is pretty good at talking too, so those students got to learn about her as well. I have watched her grow through the difficult aspects of being here also. She has been a light of caring, patience, and love to all those that surround her. That is one of the reason’s why I fell in love with her, and to see her grow even more in that regard is beautiful. I have learned much about selflessness and giving from her this past year. She is becoming an even better woman than the one I first met almost 5 years ago, and I am honored to have her as my wife.

I spent most of my 2010 days getting tossed between some sort of abstract wonder and real life. From attending classes and reading an accessive amount theology and philosophy, I would return to earth by trying to join in around the community here wherever I could be of use. I loved helping out in the seasonal events like community day, ugly duckling cup, oktober fest, or the Christmas pageant. And sometimes I was able to work with local high schoolers here on campus, or visit an elementary school and presenting about where I come from. I look forward to graduating this spring and finding out where our next steps will be.

Aside from our work here at LCC, we spent much of our last year around a table, eating or drinking with friends. We have many people here who have shown us much love, and three scenarios stand out the most. One is on our Sundays mornings. We often meet the Kaethlers, Andrew, Alene and their two little girls, for breakfast. Usually we are slow to rise and slow to leave, so it turns more into brunch, and we love those mornings. It is great to have friends who we feel so at home around, and who let us enter their lives so freely. Another scenario is our Friday morning Celebration Breakfasts, where we gather with 5-20 people in our home to share about the past week. Doing that breakfast has tied many of us closely together and has been a highlight of our time here, getting to learn about one another and share in what we have seen God do here. Lastly, our friend Vaida and her family will not be forgotten when looking back at this year. She is a Lithuanian co-worker of Becky’s, who has become more like family through opening her house and home to us over this past year. Her, and her family’s care and affection has made this year so valuable for us. We have spent many evenings speaking broken Lithuanian around her table, in her sauna, or celebrating a holiday with her family. We are so thankful for her.

And the final piece of this past year that we will share is about our cherished summer months back home. There was nothing more needed than time to see family and friends. We crammed in all that we humanly could, squeezing every day for what it was worth. We worked some and met up much. We got to join in with our family and friends' lives, going to cabins, meeting up for meals, hosting races, building things, and worshiping together. We did fewer things than we normally would be able to in an entire summer, but we felt like we were able to see our family and friends enough to be recharged. No matter how much time we had, it did not quite seem like enough on the day we had to leave. We miss you all, and look forward to late May, when we return home.

We wish the best for everyone this next year. We pray that your Christmas was filled with hope and joy, and that the New Year will treat you kindly.

The Johnsons

Happy Thanksgiving

Yesterday we gave our RAs a cultural experience by introducing them to the tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving. We have our own staff & faculty Thanksgiving gathering the weekend after all of you back home in America are eating turkey and stuffing until the point of comatose with family and friends because it is hard for us to survive an entire year without a Thanksgiving of our own. Still, students only get the chance to hear about this magnificent American tradition. This year we decided to show them how it is truly done. The other Neumann RD, Alexandra, and I came up with a menu that would display a variety of typical Thanksgiving dishes, which included turkey, stuffing, cheesy mashed potatoes (it must be an East coast thing because Alexandra is from New Jersey), gravy, cranberry sauce, broccoli, homemade bread with butter, deviled eggs, and of course, a pumpkin pie. The food was a success with everyone at the table, and I was happy to hear that the stereotype of American food looking like a fast food burger with fries was quickly being wiped out of their minds.
We began by gathering around the table to tell a brief history of the reason we have this holiday back home before we prayed and dove right into explanations of all the dishes present. The eating and conversation brought us to a jolly place of laughter and we paused before dessert to go around the table and share our thanks. I was not sure what to expect from this activity because around here it less common to be open about personal things in a large group such as ours. I was blown away. It was incredible to hear student's reflections about their thanks, starting from supportive family and friends to the multiple opportunities they have been given in life, remembering the gift of being able to wake up each morning and walk around on 2 working legs, and for the challenges and hardships during this past year that are part of the beauty of life as they look back on the growth that came from those times. Many of the RAs mentioned the life changes that have happened and are happening at this place that brings all of together, this place we call LCC International University. It was a blessed time together to practice the state of thankfulness.
Prior to eating the delicious pumpkin pies with whipping cream, we had a wishbone war. That is something that all the cousins look forward to around our extended family's Thanksgiving, so of course we had to include this silly tradition, with Roman (one of the RAs on my staff last year) coming out with a victory. I hope he had a good wish! Then we settled in to the couches to conclude the evening by watching the classic It's a Wonderful Life. Afterward, we were half expecting the snow to start falling and Christmas melodies to start playing as we cleaned up the kitchen and went home. We will be thinking of you with thanks in our hearts as you are celebrating this wonderful tradition together this week.

My LCC twin?

I have been meaning to share this photo with you for a while now. The big news is that I finally met my twin here in Lithuania. Ieva (pronounced Yev-uh) made an appearance on campus this fall as a freshman. I kept having people tell me that I looked like someone else on campus or that someone else looked like me...and I have to admit it felt a little eery when I officially met Ieva for the first time. I'll leave the final say up to you all. It's not the greatest photo, but even her squinting looks vaguely familiar. ;)

PEEP OF THE WEEK

This week marked the beginning of a small, yet hopefully meaningful practice of building community in the residence halls. We claimed a spot on the bulletin board near the elevator that everyone walks by multiple times on a daily basis to highlight selected residents from Neumann Hall with personal photos and interesting biographical information. This week it was Vasile and Cristina from East side (both students who hail from Moldova), and our only set of twins on campus, Masha & Dasha (from Belarus), representing the West side. Next week it will be a new group of faces with their own personalized stories that are chosen to make a special appearance as the ‘Peeps of the Week. Not knowing how students would respond to my idea, I was pleasantly surprised to see the smiles it brought to faces as well as witness the simple sense of belonging that happens when we are given the opportunity to make ourselves known to one another.

My favorite part happened when we celebrated the start of this weekly tradition by hosting all the ‘Peeps of the Week’ for dinner in our apartment late on Friday night. We had quite the feast to help us celebrate. One of my RAs, Anton, taught Erik and I how to make plov (a delicious dish made with rice, beef, onions & carrots) according to his mother’s recipe. We are learning that plov is such a traditional dish in all Central-Asian countries that every family has their own recipe along with their own ‘way’ to make it. Maksat, a student from Kazakhstan, showed us his family’s recipe last month, and this week Anton showed us the way his mother makes plov back in his home country of Kyrgyzstan. I do not think we could call ourselves plov experts yet, but we are definitely acquiring an affection towards the consumption of this tasty dish.

Mr. Clean unveiled

Finally, the long awaited photo of my last RA. You'll have to refer back to my earlier post to get the scoop on Mr. Clean. Although my face may not reflect it, I am really looking forward to working closely with this individual. He is an independent thinker and adds a unique perspective to any group. He likes to remind me of the differences between Eastern Europeans and Americans, especially in our interpersonal interactions. I like to remind him of all the similarities between Americans and Eastern Europeans...

Крузенштерн

Did I mention that we live on a port city? In fact, one of it's claims to fame is that it is the northernmost 'ice-free' port city on the Baltic Sea. Since Erik spent every summer weekend of his growing up life on a sailboat with his family, it's a good thing I get a similar thrill from watching all the boats - I mean ships - sail their way in and out of the harbor here in Klaipeda. We often find ourselves mesmerized by the lights bobbing far out on the shoreline as we imagine the stories of sailors and other crew members coming and going from our home. I am sure it is more romantic in my mind than in actuality, because I am pretty good at that.

Last weekend the world's 2nd largest tall ship was in our port. We had the opportunity to tour this huge and very old (built in 1926) Russian ship that continues to be used for training purposes and is normally docked in Kaliningrad, the port city to the south of us. The sight was impressive, although I was wishing that the sails would have been out for us to see this old ship in all its glory.

Meet the EAST side

It's time you met the 4 lovely students I hand-picked to work with this year. I haven't had much time to email and fill you in on the last month of preparations, student leader training, and move-ins, but I am starting to feel guilty for not introducing my fabulous team of Resident Assistants. Drum roll please...here they are!


This is Tanya from Kaliningrad, Russia. Tanya is a 4th-year student who will be graduating from LCC in 2011 with a degree in English Language & Literature. Kaliningrad is a part of Russia that is located just south of Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, so her home is less than 3 hours away, depending on how long it takes to get through customs at the border ( 30 minutes - more than 4 hours!). Tanya graduated from with an undergraduate degree in Economics this summer through a university back home that she attended through mostly long distance correspondence and going back to Kaliningrad for a week of tests at the semester's end...all at the same time as she was attending courses here at LCC. She is 21-years old and dreams of someday moving to Canada...although she realizes she first needs to pay the country a visit.

And here is Anton. This is his 3rd year at LCC, although he is officially a 2nd-year student. He attended the English Language Intensive course for his first year to improve his English-speaking abilities. Anton is one of a few students we have at LCC who hail from Kyrgyzstan, which is sometimes known as the 'Switzerland of Central Asia.' He attended a May course at LCC before spending the rest of his summer working in Greece. One thing I remember about his interview from last spring was that his family runs a business selling ice cream. His previous communication experience with shop owners will serve him well as he relates and interacts with his fellow peers as anRA. Anton has a laidback style that is somehow super productive at the same time. Those of you who know me can understand how he will balance me out well. :)

Natasha is our RA on 3rd floor. She is a returning RA with plans to graduate this spring with a Business Administration degree. Natasha is originally from Moldova and has spent the last 3 summers working at a tourist destination in Ohio...I think the place is called Rattlesnake Island? Natasha has adapted well to the long, dark Lithuanian winters, although she does mention that she can never get used to the weather here. Not enough sunshine for someone who comes from a fertile country of grapes and sunshine. I don't know if any of our students from Moldova would choose to live through a winter in Minnesota either, though Natasha could fit in well as a sweet midwestern gal.

no photo available
at this time

And lastly, the 4th RA on East side would prefer to be unnamed and for the time being, unphotographed. I am still waiting on his picture. We both agreed that he would like to be introduced as Mr. Logic (the story about that could appear later), although at the moment he looks more like Mr. Clean. Remember Mr. Clean? This member of our team is beginning his 3rd year as an RA and will be graduating with Erik on May 1, 2011 with a degree in Theology. Mr. Logic (or Mr. Clean) has a creative sense of humor. He constructed a homemade manequin in his pod kitchen to welcome his residents to their new home using a broken chair and other random items he found around the dorm. He calls this unusual resident of the hall 'the nightguard,' and above him hangs a sign that reads, "The Nightguard NEVER sleeps." Oh yeah, did I mention Mr. Logic is coming to us from the country of Belarus, the country that shares the eastern border of Lithuania?

Thanks for your attention. As you can see, we are an odd group with lots of potential, together. I look forward to reporting more as the year unfolds.

Common Ground

There are different kinds of journeys that people take - different kinds of trips. We as people decide to go out and find something. Maybe for some it's to find something new, maybe it's to come to peace with something, maybe it's to say good-bye. But, often I think we journey in order to know, in order to understand something that we don't quite get. It was for this reason that Becky and I found ourselves traveling over 1 400 km in a car that shared the size and safety that a gnat would afford its passengers.Since being in Lithuania we have glimpsed at what we felt was Lithuania. Having nothing to chalk these decided differences up to other than the sole fact that they weren't American, made us start to wonder, "What is Lithuania? Who are Lithuanians?" This is clearly an enormous question that to do it any sort of justice would require an in-depth, unbiased research methodand highly sophisticated minds that are capable of crunching the data that would be presented. Lacking the resources for both the former and the latter, we were faced to make a series of decisions. The only thing thatwasn't Americanabout our decision to have us two uncultured, inexperienced individuals take a road-trip was the Deawoo we affectionately called the Tao, we drove.

The Road Trip

It was a good start. And for that statement to be true you must know that I am speaking comparatively. It was, after all, monday evening around 5 30 pm, and we had planned on leaving Sunday bright and early. What's 36 hours, right? Did it bother us that the car we wereborrowing had managed to brake down before we got it? That the bakes literally fell off of the car while it was getting driven to us? Nope. Way better that it happened ahead of time than if it had happened after one of us got that rubber-band motor spinning full-speed going into a roundabout.

We did eventually get the car from its wonderfully gracious owner, Emas, and then got a pep-talk from the expat who we were copying in doing the road trip. She informed us of how wonderful Lithuania was when you get out there and see it all first hand. She incouraged us to go and see whatever we wanted, there is plenty of time and it's a small enough country. We happily took her advice since we had not planned anything yet and we would be leaving in

under two hours. We grabbed her map, Lithuanian travel books and GPS and threw them in the pile of clothes, shelters, food, and camping gear we had assembled. Saying goodbye to Klaipeda, we rolled the windows down and opened our eyes for what was ahead.

Our days were filled with camping, exploring, walking in new cities and towns. We got to see Lithuania and Lithuanians outside of our school and our immediate community. It seemed like the aspects that were consistent from our city to the rest of Lithuania shone through. We went through enough villages and towns to see what village life looks like compared to city life here. Lithuania has 5 different regions, with their corresponding stereotypes, and we pretended that we could tell the difference. We could see the difference between the types of land, and consequently the farming, fishing, and general living.

What we did discover is that a small Lithuanian town will most likely have:

a large outdoor crucifix at the entry and exit of the village and they are usually wooden, beautifully landscaped gardens, little stands with people selling vegetables, mushrooms and fruits from their garden or the forest, a bus stop with two things - a bench which has no back and at least one vacant, empty beer bottle. The towns also have a statue or bust of someone, a church - located at the very highest or best place in town, a gas station, a village drunk walking through the streets, at least one babushka (elderly grumpy grandma who somehow owns and runs everybody's everything) who is walking or biking, either way she has a loaded basket of goods (possibly stolen, ha), a village name sign announcing entry and a sign with the village name on it with an X through it to signify your departure, lots of huts, dilapidated buildings, at least one Soviet relic - some cement building/structure/form left from the old days, colorful homes with decorative tree limb bridges, fences, arbors, flower boxes, and all towns have many, many people walking the streets.

One of the places we stopped was at a museum of sorts. It is a man's property that has many of the old Soviet statues from during the occupation. He purchased them after independence, and set them up in his yard. There are two huge loops that have all sorts of statues along with the propaganda that people were told. Most of the statues were of Stalin and Lenin, but some were of other heroes. I loved this statue.

As I said we camped the whole time. The forests are beautiful, and for the most part free. They have completely different philosophies when it comes to property and land. Most of the space is Lithuania is Lithuanians. Not the governments, but just the peoples. It can be used as wanted by the people, but no one owns it individually. They are just forests and fields left to the care and use of the people. Which leads to free use of the space, for the better and worse. We loved though. The lakes that we would camp next to were some of the most clear lakes I have ever seen.

We got to meet new people on our way. One of our favorite was Ryma from the south western corner of Lithuania. We camped in her campsite for night. It was actually just her yard, but her and her husband turned it into a great little campground. They live in the National Forest because their house was built before the country even had national parks. She was a terrific hostess and treated us graciously. I love how the Lithuanians we get to know always want to hear our impression of Lithuania. We always tell them how we love it here, and what shocks me is that our answer always surprises them. They want to know why we love it, and then a number of them tell us what's wrong with it. It seems similar to how people back home think about America in a very different way than the rest of the world. It's interesting how outsiders can often see the brighter spots in our own situations than we can. We'll be headed back to see her soon.

One other thing that really stuck out to us was the depth of history. Its so crazy to live in a place that has been lived in for thousands of years by people who are still carrying the stories along. A bit different than the story of Europeans in America. One thing that Lithuanians have deep in their traditions is how they deal with death. I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but you can clearly see it through their maintenance of graveyards. They have many graveyards that are hundreds and hundreds of years old that are still meticulously kept up. Every village and every church have them, and they often seem to be a central part of the community, being decorated with flowers and light up with candles. This graveyard was from the German settlers from the 1800's. I think it wasn't as well cared for because of the tension between Lithuanians and Germans. Nevertheless, it was impressive to stumble upon driving down a tiny road in between farms.

Overall we loved our trip. Our favorite times were with the people we got to meet and the half understood conversations. The last night of our trip we met up with a Lithuanian friend of ours, Vaida, with her Mom, sister, daughter and nephew in a town 75 Km north of Klaipeda named Plateliai. There is a huge lake there which is about two hundred feet deep where people learn how to scuba dive. There is also quite a bit of sailing there. We spent that night hanging out with Vaida, her family, and her friends' family (the scuba diving instructors) with our first experience of Lithuanian Vodka. We enjoyed ourselves and had a great night chatting with new friends about the same old things: family, children, politics and what we all love to do in life. It's beautiful to see how much we all have in common, and how it comforts us to be around people who among all our differences we can find good, honest, common ground.

The trip put us in a good place to start this next year, and more experiences that will help us understand more completely, but never wholly, the people who we are trying to serve here at LCC.

Farmer Boy 5K 2010 Results

For all of you that have been anxiously anticipating the results of the fabulous Farmer Boy 5K Fundraiser that took place at Rod's Berry Farm on the 24th of July...here they are! Sorry to have kept you waiting. I hope that the photo display I have put together below allows you to experience the blood, sweat and tears that all of our participants, racers and spectators alike, shed as the cutthroat competition unfolded.

Runners and bikers assembled at the starting line, race tags attached, and the official race clock ready to tick-tock. This is starting to sound like the old poem Casey at Bat. I'll stop. Note the official starting gun being waved in the background by my youngest brother, Paul Henrik. He returned from showing his steer at the county fair just in time to fire the Farmer Boy 5K's starting shot.

And they're off...the race begins!

The course traveled across the front lawn and in between the sheds...

...down the dirt road...

...and around the bend. Out of our desire to not reveal too many details about the course terrain, we will refrain from posting photos of the remainder of the route. To give you an idea of the Farmer Boy 5K's difficulty, we can tell you that the route crossed over alfalfa fields...up and over creeks...and through the woods. Needless to say, this race was not run by the faint of heart.

Ten minutes after the race began, Erik hopped on his 4-wheeler with a supply of water and band-aids to bring aid to the weary racers.

My dad, the Rod of Rod's Berry Farm, represented 1 of our 3 bike entries. Here he appears to be riding Schwinn's latest model - complete with a very flat rear tire. Good on ya, Dad!

TJ, our youngest competitor, was 1 week away from celebrating his 3rd birthday.

Look at TJ's strong finish!

Speaking of strong finishes, here comes our 2010 Farmer Boy 5K Grand Champion, arriving at the finish line an incredible 23 seconds ahead of anyone else...

'ol Mr. Caleb Hudson!!!

And here comes TJ's proud grandpa...another strong finisher...his first time back in running shoes since the 1970s.

A recap of the awards ceremony following the completion of the race.

Our Running Victors

1st - Caleb

2nd - Nate & Jonah

3rd - Tyler

Our Incredible Cyclists

1st - Paul Hank

2nd - Ash

3rd - Dad

A huge thank you to all of our race participants and spectators. Thanks for coming out to show and share your JohnstrandBand support, both in physical exertion as well as financial donations. Over $500 was raised towards our work this next year at LCC International University. We are so grateful. Thanks to the many of you that stopped by to give us a proper farewell. We are well loved. I couldn't resist ending with the photo below. Jaxton (pictured below) was demonstrating how we all felt at the end of the day. We'll look forward to seeing you all next summer at the 2011 Farmer Boy 5K.

The End

Farmer Boy 5K Fundraiser coming up July 24

Who?

YOU and anyone else you can get to come along.

What?

The FARMER BOY 5K FUNDRAISER

When?

Saturday, 24 July 2010

10-10:30 am – Registration

11:00 am – Official Race Start

Where?

Rod’s Berry Farm

How much?

We are still raising funds for our work and ministry at LCC International University (www.lcc.lt), so we ask that you consider making a free-will donation instead of paying the usual flat-rate race fee.

How?

You can race any way you want. This includes running, walking, biking, skipping, crab-walking and even sitting. You are invited to join us whether or not you want to race.

Sign up for the FARMER BOY 5K FUNDRAISER by replying to johnstrandband@gmail.com with the number of participants by Thursday, 22 July 2010.

Yard games & lunch will take place on the lawn at the completion of the race. Burgers and hotdogs will be provided. Please bring a dish to share.

Hang out as long as you can. This event will serve as the send-off for our 2^nd year in Lithuania (as we plan to fly out of Minneapolis on the 27^th of July).

We hope to see you there!

Becky & Erik

more Elmstrand's in Lithuania

Somehow almost a month has come and gone since we waved good-bye to my parents and brother, Paul, and sent them off on the early morning train out of Klaipeda...and I am ashamed to admit that I haven't shared anything about their 2-week visit to Lithuania with you. Erik and I feel extremely blessed to have had the 2 communities we come from and are a part of meet together in one place.

"Thank you mom, dad & Paul, for each of you jumping into life at LCC with both feet. We are so grateful. Our visit at home this summer will be richer because you were able to experience the people and places that make up our life here. Thank you for bringing your love and support across the world."

While my family was here, we did just about everything but sit down. This included meeting & talking to LCC students, attending campus events, going to classes with Erik, watching the Inauguration of LCC's new President, getting our hands dirty at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new residence hall, getting cepiliniai-making lessons from Vaida, participating in a Seder Meal with some of our friends, visiting the public sauna followed by a cold dip in the Baltic Sea, taking an international road trip to Latvia & Estonia for Easter weekend and hopefully drinking & eating plenty of European cappuccinos & pastries to make the visit worthwhile. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words...and for that I am thankful. I'll let the pictures do the talking.