a spring break lesson

I'm the RD On Duty for spring break this year, so that means Erik and I must limit our exploring to within Klaipeda's city limits. I am not complaining though, as it feels like we need a break from the consistent pace of school and a reason to take time for the less commonly visited places around us here. Thus far into the week has been a lot of soaking up time together inside our apartment with carefully budgeted trips out and about happening here and there.

I thought I should fill you in on the Lithuanian holidays that are happening this week. They are the kind of holidays that feel like Groundhog's Day does back home (Who celebrates Groundhog's Day in the United States besides AmySue and me?), but people actually get a day off work for these ones. I suppose they are actually more similar to our President's Day weekend. All that to say, I have been doing some of my own research to try and understand the holidays observed around here and so it seems appropriate to give you the scoop as well.

+St. Casimir's Day+

St. Casimir was a Prince of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who became a patron saint of Lithuania, Poland, and the young. "Little Casimir's" Fair (or Kaziuko mugė if you want to say it in Lithuanian) is held in cities in Lithuania on the Sunday nearest to the anniversary of his death, March 4. Some helpful info from Wikipedia I inserted below explains what Erik and I discovered in the theater square downtown this weekend. It's the closest thing to the MN State Fair we have experienced since being here. Definitely worth checking it out. Erik and I tasted hot beer and waffle cakes, bought the most creative palm fronds I have ever seen, and then wished we could buy heart-shaped honey cookies for all of our friends who had to remain at home. It was a joyful celebration of everything truly Lithuanian.

Kaziuko mugė

• The arts and crafts at the fair include hand-made goods from local craftsmen, such as apparel, knitted clothes, footwear, toys, utensils, metal crafts, souvenirs, and paintings. Foodstuffs like rye bread, bagels, honey cookies, meat and diary products, natural honey, beer, and gira are sold as well.

• "Palm" bouquets (called "verbos", hence Verbų sekmadienis) are one of the fair's specialties. Made of colorful dried flowers and herbs, they are taken to churches on Palm Sunday. The shape of the "palms" resembles a lily, a flower which St. Casimir is traditionally associated with.

• Another popular product at the fair is the "muginukas", an often heart-shaped honey cookie, decorated with colored sugar flowers, zig-zags, dots, and birds. Popular men's and women's names are written on the cookies. People buy them to give to their loved ones. It is a customary tradition to bring back some cookies for anyone who had to remain at home.

+International Woman's Day+

Yesterday, March 8, was a major day of global celebration of women, but it wasn't until I moved to Lithuania that I witnessed its observance in any form. I was informed by students at LCC that Woman's Day is an old Soviet holiday that they have grown up celebrating in many of the countries previously occupied by Russia. I was also told that the usual custom is for men to give the women in their lives - mothers, wives, daughters, colleagues, etc - flowers and other small gifts. It all became more clear when Erik and I finally understood what an older gentlemen at the bus stop was trying to communicate to us through a mixture of Lithuanian/English & sherades - he wanted to make sure that Erik intended to give me a flower in honor of Women's Day. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I ever did receive that flower in honor of Women's Day. :) I did notice that there were a number of public events advertised this last week to promote awareness of women's topics. Once again, a quick search in Wikipedia enlightened me on the history of this holiday's beginning and the various ways it continues to be celebrated in different places today.

• Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the formerSoviet bloc. In many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

• On May 8, 1965 by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet International Women's Day was declared as a non working day in the USSR "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women's day must be celebrated as are other holidays."

That's enough of a cultural lesson for now. To be continued...coming up this week on March 11 is Lithuania's Restoration of Independence Day. More about that next time.

a Holy communing

Mug 'n Muffin arrived at LCC this weekend. Just in time for the ladies here on campus, or so it seemed. It was an idea that came to mind sometime for me last fall, briefly shared with some fellow gals on our Student Life team and then brought back up in our conversations at the start of the new semester in January. Mug 'n Muffin refers to an event just for ladies that started back when I was an RA at Northwestern College. It occurred on a couple of Saturday mornings during the semester and almost guaranteed feminine bonding, all scripted to happen as sleepy female students wearing slippers listened to wise older women share their life stories openly and honestly while sipping homemade mochas from their mugs topped with extra whipped cream. It was an intentional way for women to pass down wisdom to those of us in the next season of life. As a student, I absolutely loved it. My adoration of stories has only continued to grow since then.

I observed early on in my arrival to LCC International University that there is a large female presence on campus...and later found that over 60% of the student body are women. Thus, the ladies have a strong voice in the classroom and are generally the leaders in extra-curricular activities on campus. I started to think, What better way to treat the hard-working ladies of LCC than to their very own Mug 'n Muffin? So, there you have it. I gathered 4 other staff that are about my age, organized a few meetings, shared my vision of what I thought a Mug 'n Muffin could look here, and poof! our very first Mug 'n Muffin appeared this last weekend.

390 handmade invites were sent out to every female student beforehand and about 35 RSVPs were returned. I was impressed by the turn-out as it was a non-traditional way to advertise for events around here. The typical approach is to send out as many emails and hang up as many posters as possible in order to lure in all sorts of unsuspecting attenders. My desire was to create a meaningful time for the women on campus that were wanting to be present. The only problem was that students didn't have any idea how to know whether or not they wanted to be at this women's gathering that invited them to wear their slippers, bring their own mugs and show up with a smile at the early hour of 11 o'clock on a Saturday morning. All questions were supposed to be directed to bjohnson@lcc.lt. No questions appeared.

We were overwhelmed by the crowd that filled the 6th floor hall kitchen on Saturday. The only delay we were experiencing in our preparations was that the homemade chai tea recipe was taking longer than anticipated. Otherwise, the couches were arranged, the coffee was steeped, and the muffin platters were stacked. We watched as ladies continued to file in through the door, taking time to put on a name tag and fill their mugs with their own delicious hot beverage creations - complete with whipped cream & cinnamon-sugar sprinkles. There were almost 65 women in total once we had a chance to count them all. I was even more impressed by the eager spirit I was sensing from this room full of ladies that I hadn't felt at LCC before now. I started out by sharing my hopes for this time together as women and then introduced the 4 women from our community that had been invited to share that morning. Our topic to guide the sharing for our time together was on the different roles that women are able to play in the professional world & at home within the family, as well as all of the combinations of ways you can combine the two. We had women representing all seasons of life share pieces of their life story, including the joys and struggles and decisions along the way.

It was beautiful. The girls seemed to hang onto every word that was spoken. The openness and vulnerability was refreshing. There was lots of laughter and there were sometimes tears. The time for questions that followed lasted more than an hour. All of the questions we had prepared in case no one was asking questions were tossed aside... it seemed as if everyone in the room couldn't get enough of the realness being offered to them so graciously. I was in awe of the respect that filled the room. It truly felt like a Holy moment in which God was smiling upon us. This group of women were giving and receiving wisdom so naturally with one another, in spite of the fact that we were all coming from different backgrounds and beliefs. I am honored to be in a place where provision met a need so effortlessly. It's one of the more encouraging stories to share about being here and why I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. Thanks for celebrating with me.

Oh no...almost forgot about the birthday boy

I know I am a bit behind in recording the events of Erik's first birthday celebrated in Lithuania, but I am committed to sharing a few pictures from a really fun day of seeking to give thanks for Erik's presence in all of our lives. I think he truly enjoyed his day back on January 24th. Another reason to give thanks on that particular day was for our newest member of the family, Jaxton, who entered the world back home in Duluth, MN, the firstborn son to my cousin Heather & her husband, Jeff. We waited in anticipation as the delivery updates showed up in our inbox. Now I'll have to anticipate even longer as I wait to hold the little guy when we are home in a few months. Man, it is hard to be far away when so many family members and friends are growing large with pregnancy and giving birth without me there to share in the experience. I have to smile as I think about what my mom would say in response to my feelings. "Becky, you aren't the center of the universe. Life does happen whether you are there or not." Tis true. Still, I do miss being able to participate in the ways that I normally would.

January 24 fell on a Sunday this year. We woke up late and had the most delicious pancakes...a batch of chocolate chip pancakes delivered straight to our kitchen in a package sent by cousin Heather (the new mother!). We have not been successful in making fluffy pancakes since we arrived, so we fully appreciated the American baking staples of flour and chocolate chips. Next came the birthday gift. I gave Erik his first, authentic, sauna hat. Everyone here in Lithuania has a sauna hat. It is believed (and is most likely true) that a sauna hat prevents your head and hair from drying out during long sauna sessions. This sauna hat is the only one of its kind. Our good friend, Vaida, a local of Klaipeda, has a side business of selling her handmade felted sauna hats. She and I worked together to come up with the design for Erik's hat and then she introduced me to the steps involved in felting as I watched and participated in the creation of Erik's gift. It was incredible to watch her work. As you can see, a masterpiece was produced! She even embroidered his nickname, Ej, on the backside of the hat in Lithuanian letters. Pretty sweet.

Of course, the logical next phase of the birthday is to go try out the birthday gift. We wrangled up a crew of Erik's friends who were willing to brave the local public sauna I had heard about being located near the Sea, and we crossed over to the beaches on The Spit via a 15-minute ferry ride. The picture included below is not actually the boat that we were on, but one of the ships in the harbor we could see from the ferry. The high temperature that day was approximately -17 degrees Celcius, which is right around 0 degrees Fahrenheit for those of us still getting used to the Celsius scale.

We trekked the 1 km across to the white sandy beaches and discovered the public sauna. Sunday afternoons must be a favorite time for the locals to enjoy this national pastime as the sauna was pretty full. No one seemed to mind allowing our group of 10 additional people, who were obvious outsiders, to join in to the fun. This next picture is of Erik and I standing by the Sea before we all changed into our swimming suits in the busy waiting room, crowded into the hottest sauna I have ever been in, and then followed one another out into the cool, wintry air to dive under the icy waters of the Baltic Sea, shrieking loudly the entire way. (Okay, maybe the only one doing the loud shrieking was me.) We did it over and over again. Well, at least 3 times. What a rush. It was officially decided that this is one place in Lithuania we are definitely going to have to include in the tour we give to our visitors. So, hurry on over before the weather gets nicer. The cold, snowy days have been lingering around here since Christmas, while everyone around us here says this is very unusual weather for coastal Lithuania. I am convinced that we are the reason the deep drifts of snow are stickin' around so long; I always appreciate a winter with lots of snow.

So, Erik's new sauna hat passed the test with flying colors. We wrapped up his day with an evening church service (where Erik played guitar and sang one of his own songs) and a sloppy joe dinner with everyone afterwards. The last event for Erik was the Vikings game, starting at 1:30 in the morning here in Lithuania. Although we may have celebrated in true Lithuanian fashion earlier in the day at the sauna, he made sure to end it in true American fashion with a late night football game and die-hard fans. Thanks for waiting around to hear the report on Erik Kristofer.

January Light

"If there were no light in the universe, we should never know it was dark" - C.S. Lewis

The sky was a faded blue and the clouds were red and yellow when I left the main building after my last class of the day. It was after five pm and I was walking back to our apartment and I was thinking about how the sky was still lit. I stood there in the late-day sun, soaking up the light that had so quietly stretched itself into the evening after it had been disappearing in the early afternoon for so long now. Things around here seem to have a way of doing that.

Every friday morning starts the same. The alarm goes off early, much to Becky's chagrin, and the only true success in the alarm clock's week happens when I get out of bed on the first attempt. I make my way around the inside of our place with a special kind of slowness for two reasons. One- having my senses dulled due to staying awake too late the night prior to get up at that time, and two- because our place is rearranged in such a way that our tables, being stretched out and slid together, take up most of the walking space in our apartment. I turn on the little light above the stove and once my slow eyes adjust I begin to make breakfast. My grandma's recipes seem to be everyone's favorites ever since I first made her famous Christmas Egg Bake a couple of months ago. By the time people start to show up just before 7:30am Becky has usually made her way out of our bed and her stooper, and we are ready for them with some coffee and fruit. Sometimes only the latter due to an overflow from the shoddy coffee maker.

There is a need in Christian communities to gather frequently and talk about what has been happening in our lives and in the life of the community. For us, we do it over a meal every friday morning. It breathes fresh life into all of us involved. We ask questions and listen to the responses. We share our lives and experience what it is to be in a community.

This morning continued a pattern that has been occurring as of late: the increased inclusion of students in our stories of thanksgiving.

It may seem like a small change, but thats only when taken out of context of this place. Much like the small increase of light might seem from someone who experiences only subtle seasonal shifts. But here, on these sable mornings, we huddle around these stories like candles. Every time we hear of students seeking for the Light and realizing that there is truth in the world that one can hold on to, trust in, and rest on, we are full of thanks.

December in Review

I often spend time crafting specific blog entries in my head while walking to and fro in my life over here in Lithuania. I have to admit that those thought-provoking blog entries rarely make it to a posting status here on johnstrandband. It is very similar to my habit of carrying out conversations with friends from back home in my head, complete with all of my latest personal updates and all the wonderings I have about their life's happenings as of late. More and more, I think I truly understand the meaning of being with someone 'in spirit.' Thank you for the many times you friends and readers send emails with answers to my unspoken, and even unwritten, questions. I appreciate the connection that can continue to happen across the distance.

The last month in 2009 had some of the fullest days of the school year so far, as well as some of the quietest and most peaceful moments for us Johnson's here at LCC in Lithuania. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and so I am going to give a report on some of the main events of the last month through photos. Never short on words, I'll insert a few of my own explanations, descriptions or whatever else I deem necessary. Here goes!


This year LCC's annual Christmas Program was a modern-telling of the events of the Christmas story from the Gospels; a sort of parallel to what the story could have looked like if the Messiah had been born in our town today in the year 2009. Who would some of the key characters involved have been? Leading up to the program, I assisted the student actors (who represented the shepherds visited by the angel chorus) to prepare for their scene that takes place in a university residence hall as students are studying for final exams. It was probably my most enthusiastic group of students that I have worked with thus far and I appreciated the enthusiasm and the spice they added to my usual meetings. Erik stole the show in his role as Hector, one of the 3 amigos (who were of course casted to fill the roles of wisemen arriving from the east) that see a star during a card game where they are trying to find the fourth king (get it? the fourth king is where the star leads them). The 3 amigos were toting guitars and a mandolin and would break into song as they travelled. Everyone else was amazed at the energy and character Erik brought to his role. I, though unsurprised by his expert performance, was a proud wife in the stands. The program even included The Hallelujah Chorus sung by a brave group of faculty and staff and Silent Night sung in a number of languages by various student groups formed to represent their country in song. The evening concluded with a Christmas cookie reception in the lobby...what a great start to the season.

Hector's performance was so well received that Erik was sought out by the university's president, Kyle, for a follow-up appearance of Hector (turned into a Mexican singing Santa) in an appearance at Kyle's own Christmas party for the VPs and department Chairs at LCC. Kyle reworked the lyrics to the John Lennon song Imagine and Erik and I (supposedly dressed as some sort of elf assistant to Hector) showed up after dinner to sing the LCC version of the song and pass out gifts to all from Santa's sack. We turned quite a few Lithuanian heads as we traveled to and from the party on Klaipeda's local buses dressed in all our get-up.

Each department on campus has their own Christmas parties to plan, including ResLife. The 3 of us Resident Directors planned an off-campus gathering at our supervisor's home for our student RAs, complete with a white elephant gift exchange, of course. Here is Steve Hanson, my co-worker, with Vasile and Artsiom, a couple of guys from his staff, showing off their ugly Christmas sweaters purchased at the local thrift store for just the occasion. I am finding that white elephant gifts and ugly Christmas sweater parties appear to be practiced worldwide.


I was given the chance to present a leadership seminar on Friday, Dec 11, the last day of classes, on whatever leadership topic I wished. All students are invited, but the usual participants are those students who are enrolled in LCC's Leadership Development program. I could have been better prepared, but still, I surprised myself with how much fun I had during it. I discovered that I really enjoy teaching and the process of trying to involve students in a new concept or idea. I chose the topic of Assertive Communication and then briefly introduced 3 main points: active listening, using "I" statements as a leader, and the process of giving and receiving feedback. I explained at the beginning that all of these concepts appear to be very Western in their approach because of their direction communication style. It made for lots of great dialogue and at least opened students up to the practice of these communciation techniques. Who says I am not using my Communication degree? By the way, this picture has nothing at all to do with the seminar I gave.

I had my own Christmas dinner celebration with my RAs too. Erik and I hosted them for a lasagna dinner in our apartment and we all shared about our family holiday traditions. Before allowing them to sit down and eat our meal, I sent them on a wild goose chase together following clues posted all over Neumann hall to find their stockings. Not being an eastern European tradition, this was the first stocking all of them had ever received. Here they are, looking only slightly enthused to discover the contents inside their stocking.


Of course, the end of the semester brought its usual craziness and extra tasks. Erik completed his first semester as a full-time student at LCC with seven finals! My RAs and I had our hands full getting ready for and carrying out winter break inspections before every student left their room. This year a youth conference that the school was helping to host over Christmas vacation added a few extra steps to our usual winter break preparations.

We hosted our Christmas Celebration Breakfast early on the last Friday morning of the semester. Erik has been organizing and cooking for these weekly breakfasts that we host for staff and faculty every Friday morning since fall break. We gather to eat good food, talk about the week, and give thanks together for the ways we see God working in our lives and the greater LCC community. This was an especially great Celebration breakfast as it was identical to Grandma Johnson's Christmas brunch menu back home - egg bakes & porridge!

And last, but certainly not least, the other important news of December is that Erik switched his focus of studies from working towards a degree in Business Administration to a bachelor of arts in Theology! I am confident that Theology will be a perfect fit for Erik's gifts and interests. He is super stocked about the change and has already begun reading his textbooks for the upcoming semester classes. I am pretty sure I can't say that I was ever that motivated while I was in school. Conveniently, this change allows him to be on track to complete his undergraduate program by the end of spring semester 2011, as he plans to be enrolled in courses over the next couple of summers.

Arrival of Advent

Advent is my favorite season of the church calendar. I enjoy all of the ways that preparing for Christ's birth on earth is emphasized through the traditions of opening Advent calendar tabs, lighting Advent candles & spending time reading the prophecies of an Emmanuel promised to the Israelites told in the stories of the Old Testament. Our gathering in church this last Sunday night highlighted the way that God emptied himself by coming to earth in human flesh as a baby. It's odd that those of us in the West are used to celebrating Christmas by piling more on ourselves - more parties, more commitments, more lists, & more material things. Is this our symbolic way of preparing to celebrate God's arrival on earth? I don't know if it will be any different over here in Lithuania. Although there were no signs of Black Friday happening down at the nearby mall, I have already seen the hints of materialism and its control here during some of my experiences thus far. While my disapproval of materialism lasts longer than just the Advent season, I am hoping to hold on to the Christmas traditions that seem to be more about preparing my heart and soul and mind to be involved in the ways of God here on earth instead of making sure I have my gifts and social calendar perfectly arranged. I know that I don't have to wait until December comes around each year to try this way of life, but that is why I am thankful for the changing seasons of the church that remind me and guide me to prepare myself to be involved in God's work on earth.

I start with a thankful heart. I look around and count the blessings. I look back at this last week of Thanksgiving and see the real things and experiences that have been given to me in my part of the world. I am encouraged by the stories I hear of how God is showing up in the lives of others around the world. I would like to share a few thanks that come to mind.

I am thankful for Skype and the ability to stay connected around the world.

I am thankful that pickled pumpkin tastes almost just as good as Thanksgiving pumpkin pie back home.

I am thankful for my staff of student leaders that is willing to celebrate Thanksgiving by humoring me and eating this thing we call pumpkin pie.

Most importantly of all, I am thankful for the support of Steve & Laura Hanson, our fellow Minnesotans across the hall...as well as the use of their kitchen appliances...and don't forget about all of our late night games of 500. Thank you, God, for friends.

Thanksgiving in Lithuania - 2009

shipping overseas 411

The months of October & November brought the arrival of our first packages since living abroad. Thank you AmySue! Thank you mom! Thank you Trish & Pat! Thank you Karen! I have always loved receiving mail, but I believe that moving to a different country is definitely the way to make mail of all shapes and sizes the best thing ever. All of the North Americans working at LCC appear to have similar feelings about getting mail in Lithuania, demonstrated by the large smiles pasted on faces when you see someone walking around with a highly coveted package. A Lithuanian student asked me one day, "What do you get in those packages? I can't understand what is so exciting about the stuff you get in those packages that you couldn't possible get here (Lithuania)." I had to laugh as I tried to explain that people are excited about the contents of their mail because it often includes food items or baking ingredients that we use a lot back home, but doesn't seem to exist in the stores over here. I listed off the things that first came to mind, "Well, of course there's peanut butter, baking powder, chocolate chips, brown sugar, American candy...I know there are others too," but I couldn't seem to come up with a very impressive list of our needs that aren't getting met here in Lithuania. Although my answer may not have satisfied this girl, it made me realize that the best thing about getting mail in a foreign country is that it helps me feel remembered. My absence is noticed and I am being thoughtfully and physically considered by the people I left behind.

The following is in no way intended to be a desperate plea for packages, but a mere mention of some simple, yet helpful information for sending packages overseas to your loved ones. Please keep this in mind. Declare the value of the package to be less than $50 for customs purposes. If the stated value of the package is greater than $50, it requires a lot of money for the person picking it up (us!) from the post office on the other end. Believe me, we found this out the hard way. You are already spending an arm and a leg to mail something in the first place, so keep this in mind to help prevent the pain of another leg on the other side. It will make the arrival of your package an experience of pure bliss and anticipation. And guarantees that your recipient will thank you.