Rooting for the underdog
At least one Baltic country is partying tonight, at the USA's expense. Lithuania, a tiny Baltic country located above Poland and west of Russia, has just defeated the US basketball team in the 2004 Olympics.

Though I normally don't care about sports or the successes (or failures) of US teams, this interests me for two reasons: 1. I spent one year living and working in Lithuania 2. I am currently on a boat headed from Lithuania to Sweden, and it seems I am the only American on the ship, amongst dozens of happily celebrating Lithuanians.

I've just spent a week in Lithuania, most of it in the ountryside near Ignalina, the soon-to-be-defunct nuclear power plant. Though the thought of a nuclear reactor close at hand may scare some off, the countryside surrounding it is actually quite beautiful, with dense forests, pastures and calm lakes just right for summer fun. A friend and I spent 4 nights in a cottage (divided into 4 separate "cabins" and a shared kitchen). While the thin walls reminded me of my less-than-pleasant communal apartments in Lithuania and Estonia, the cabin itself was simple, clean and cheap--only 10 Litas (about 3 USD) per person per night, incuding use of a shared shower and toilet. 4 days of relaxing, sleeping late, stuffing ourselves on Lithuanian food, swimming and more sleeping.

That was exactly what I needed--even though I've been on "vacation" (read: unemployed) for weeks or even months now, I've also been on the move--arriving, packing, departing, and arriving again, interspersed with work at Herrang and touring St Petersburg. Although enjoyable, all that did not make for a very relaxing holiday. So it was nice to have a few days with no schedule at all. Now, of course I'm in transit yet again, but it was nice while it lasted.

Man this boat is swaying; I'd swear that we are turning back, but perhaps it's just my imagination. Then again, perhaps the captain has been celebrating Lithuania’s victory too. In fact, we were supposed to leave the harbor at 20:00, exactly when the game started, which would have meant missing at least the second half by the time we got out of radio distance. We ended up leaving at 21:30, and since the boat moves awfully slow, we were--by chance or otherwise--able to watch the entire game. There seemed to be some sort of "problem" that delayed us, but I’m guessing they just wanted to see the game. Very suspect indeed.

Getting back to being in transit: I've spent months contemplating my next move--where I should teach next, if anywhere--and have finally come to a decision (sort of); after a disappointing and frustrating year in Germany. I gave it a lot of thought and one thing I wanted to avoid was floating--drifting somewhere because I had no other plan or purpose and just ending up someplace. Sure, there's some excitement to that, but also lots of stress and uncertainty and potential for wasted time. The next place I go, I want it to be for a reason.

Staying in Germany wasn’t an option, as the TEFL scene is pretty pathetic as far as pay goes (true for TEFL anywhere tho), as well as (un)availability of work. Portugal, as suggested by a dance friend of mine, was quite tempting but it just didn't grab me--don't know why, but it just didn’t; the only positive I could find was being in the company of said friend and having time to get to know her better. Otherwise, the thought of teaching English to Portugese teenagers for a relative pittance did not appeal to me.

I did put in for a job in Bratislava, but have yet to hear anything back. Going there would have constituted drifting, anyway. Ditto for my application to Spain, tho at least there I have some interest in the food and culture. I also applied for a position in Italy--Pisa--as a long shot but the DOS is on holiday for another week or so, which is too late. Even Italy doesn’t hold the appeal it once did, thanks to the bureaucracy and smog. The food, however, keeps calling me back.

The only place that really calls out to me is St Petersburg, because of friends and the dance scene there, but the cold winter somewhat frightens me, as does the prospect of living in the grey, cold, Soviet-era suburbs in the dead of winter. So, I've decided to fall back on my default plan of returning to the USA for a while. Flying back on the 25th of August, unless something better comes up before then. Might head off to Scotland for a while to visit a mate there but that depends on ticket availability. Otherwise, I will return to SFO in less than a week...

# posted by Mike Why @ 23:15