Random Observations from our trip to Lithuania
By Ron Edmondson on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 | No Comments »
I have pages of random observations from my time in Lithuania. I thought I would share them with you randomly. These are my opinions and these notes come right form my personal notes as I made observations while in the country and from conversations with Lithuanians. In the coming weeks I will unpack some of them more.
- The Lithuanians are still very much working under the impact of years of Soviet occupation. You hear it continually in their conversations.
- We need to be leery as a nation of trying to make everyone alike. That is a basic goal of communism and it did not work for the Lithuanians.
- If you remove a person’s ability to dream or succeed you run the risk of crushing their spirit.
- There are fewer smiles in Lithuania, especially among older people, but the people are very warm and friendly once you get to know them.
- Most stores and restaurants offer no customer service. Under communism there was no such thing and it has not yet caught on in the country.
- There are many fewer older men than older women. The average age of a Lithuanian man is much lower than for Americans.
- McDonald’s fries are good in Lithuania too!
- One visit to the KGB museum will make anyone better appreciate freedom. Read my post on that HERE.
- There are few fences for cows. Instead they chain cows to an assigned area. Without the freedom to roam most of the cattle I saw were laying down, not eating as much and smaller than American cows. (Does freedom impact a cow also?)
- It is very easy to distinguish a Soviet building from a Lithuanian building.
- Under Soviet occupation there were two styles of bicycles….one for boys and one for girls.
- Lots of American companies are finding new markets for their products in Lithuania.
- The whole world needs Jesus!
Those are just a few. I will share more later.
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