We are happy to publish the pictures of the photo contest „Lithuania for me is...“. Check VMU students‘ thoughts in the gallery!

Three best pictures were made by: Alla, Perizat and Angelica. Congratulations! Visit VMU International Office any day from 8:00h. to 12:00h. to get your VMU prizes! 

We are glad, that all of these beautiful pictures were saying different opinions. That is what freedom is - ability to express yourself in your own way!

On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania adopted an Act on the Restoration of an Independent State of Lithuania. It was the first country to declare independance from the dissolving Soviet Union.

VMU Ambassadors are happy to announce a photo contest dedicated to this important day. Here are the rules:

„LITHUANIA FOR ME IS“
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Celebrate Lithuanian Independence day by taking a picture of something what you relate Lithuania with – a place, an objective, a meal, anything you can imagine!

• Post a Public Picture on social media (Facebook, Instagram) on March 11th.
• Explain the message of the photo by adding the description starting with „Lithuanian for me is .....“
• Use hashtags  #VMUAmbassadors #Kovo11 that your thoughts would be easily located
• 3 best pictures will be awarded by VMU prizes!

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Winners will elected by counting:

• Interaction in social media (“Likes”, shares, comments)
• Opinion of the VMU International Office

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Best pictures will be announced on March 13th at VMU International Facebook page together with the album of all the submissions online marked with hashtags #VMUAmbassadors #Kovo11

An example is here

On 9th of February 2016, Lithuania celebrated Užgavėnės. What does it mean Užgavėnės? First we need to know that Lithuanian folklore has a calendar of events which include also Christmas (Kalėdos) and Easter (Velykos).
 
Užgavėnės as the word suggest in Lithuanian language (už: before and gavėnė: lent or fasting), is a festival in Lithuania that takes place seven weeks before Easter. The celebration corresponds to Roman Catholic holiday traditions in other parts of the world, such as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and Carnaval.

KAJC (Kauno Arkivyskupijos Jaunimo Centras), have organized a party to celebrate the Užgavėnės. It was an unforgettable event. This party started by some folk dances organized by Goštauta (KTU folk dance ensemble), which invites all of us to take part in it.
 
Then we were invited to eat free blynai (pancakes) with all different shapes, styles, and also different jams. After that we continued to dance and from time to time Goštauta ensemble was singing.

Later on a famous show of the Užgavėnės began: the battle between Lašininis (fatty) personifying winter and Kanapinis (hempen man) personifying spring. Lašininis was a fat guy with sausages who ate before fighting, while Kanapinis was tin and strong man. The fight was like a box fight. The two wrestlers needed to be blindfolded and each of the fighters had a girl to cherish them, along with the audience who was divided. And of course according to the tradition Kanapinis won and Lašininis fell to symbolize the end of the winter. After that we continued to dance until the end of the event.

​Moreover I would like to mention that Užgavėnės is also traditionally celebrated in Rumšiškės, in an open-air ethnographic museum. On the Saturday before Užgavėnės, we went to an excursion to this museum where a market for Lithuanian traditional dishes with Lithuanian folk music playing was held. At 15.00, an effigy that represented the winter (called Morė in Lithuanian), was burnt also to symbolize the end of the winter.

Written by Belmehdi Mohamed Zakaria

Always friendly, creative and open-minded. That is how many of us would describe Nienke Bos. She is a graduate student of master degree program “Journalism and Media Analysis” at VMU in 2014. During her two-year study period she participated in many social and cultural activities and experienced Erasmus+ studies in Estonia. Now she is back home in the Netherlands and as far as we know she is successfully working according to her speciality. Interested in how is she doing right now? Let‘s find out!
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Goedemorgen, Nienke! How are you? It‘s a pleasure to have an interview with you.
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Laba diena Lietuva! I'm viskas gerai! Nice to virtually talk to you. 

It has been a little bit more than one year after you graduated from VMU. What has changed?

Well, I've slowly but steadily moved towards the Netherlands again. Just before my graduation, I've arranged that I could volunteer in Denmark for a while. From January 2015 till mid-July I've been searching for a job. I've applied for many jobs in the Netherlands, but also in Germany, Sweden and even Romania. It was a tough time, as you don't know in advance how long the search for a job continues. I kept my head up high, which was at times difficult.

I noticed that it's important to take a break from the job hunt from time to time, and that this doesn't always have to cost much. I for instance flew to the beautiful Polish city Gdansk, stayed there for about five days and eventually flew back, for less than 100 EUR in total. The budget-proof travel ability mixed with my Dutch unwillingness to spend a lot of money played a role in that. It surely provided some energy to continue my disciplined job hunt.
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Eventually, I was lucky to be based in the least populated area of the Netherlands, where basically the largest asylum center is of the Netherlands is located too. That's where I found a job. 

On Saturday, 28th of November 2015, the local mosque of Kaunas opened its’ doors for everyone in order to present the Islamic religion. Normally the mosque is open for everyone to see, even the school excursions are organised there, but it was the first time that they organised an open-doors event to present Islam.
 
On that day, presentations and open discussions were held. Turkish, Syrian, Lithuanian Tatar dishes were served for free. Moreover woman could try “henna” (a kind of tatoo) and scarves, also non-arab speakers had a chance to see their names written not only in arabic alphabet but in arabic calligraphy as well.

Kaunas Police Officers released a great video answering the most common questions for the international students! More information about Visa and other migrations issues can be found HERE.

On a regular Sunday noon (13p.m.) we went to Vytautas Magnus University Dormitory "Baltija" to see what are students doing and what are they thinking about the different places of the dormitory. So let's check what we have captured!

We tried to pick random students in the dormitory and we hardly meet any Lithuanians so you can imagine the international atmosphere in the "Baltija" dormitory! More information about it can be found here. 

Hello, dear readers, I’m Zakarija, 3rd year student of Vytautas Magnus University International Politics and Development studies from Morocco. On Tuesday, 17th November, 2015, I served as a Deputy Mayor of Kaunas Municipality for one day during the celebration of International Students Festival. Interested in how looks a day in the Kaunas Mayor Office?

​Every year during International Students Day, a student is chosen to be a Mayor of Kaunas for that day, however this year as I’ve heard it’s the first year where they select deputy mayors too. This year, the organisers invited international students to participate as well to represent the growing community of international students in Kaunas.
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On Wednesday, November 12, I received the information in the “Facebook" group of VMU international students and I immediately applied for it. I was worried because of the competition as they had to select only one student. Nevertheless I gave my CV and my project where I focused on transportation reform, enforcing participatory democracy, encouraging investment and relation with the national governement.

​Hello, Maja, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
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It is my pleasure to introduce myself. I am one of those rare people, who came to study in Lithuania from Balkans, Serbia. My decision to come to Vytautas Magnus University was based on my dream to specialise in the field of media. Even though I have graduated Bachelor in Journalism and I am aware that this profession is pretty stressful also not so well-payed I am still eager to become an objective journalist providing accurate information.
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Despite writing and journalism, my third passion are languages. That is why I hope that one day I will manage to speak fluently Lithuanian. For now I speak English and Spanish. I can communicate in German on a basic level as well. 

Could you tell us your story of deciding to study in Lithuania, VMU?
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If somebody would have told me last year that I will be a VMU student, I wouldn’t believe it! I wished to study abroad from my first years of Bachelor studies. Unfortunately, Erasmus program is not yet developed in Serbia. Because of that I decided to take Master studies abroad.
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Required conditions for applying at VMU were just perfect for me! I had enough time by 10th July to graduate, to pass TOEFL exam and to pack my suitcase. My friends and family were astonished because of my decision. Unfortunately, people in Serbia don't know almost anything about Lithuania, except that basketball is the second religion. I didn't know even that! I wanted to discover it by myself and by now I am enjoying it very much!

How could you describe your study experience at VMU?

I describe my experience at VMU as a great opportunity to study in one of the best Universities of Lithuania, interact with people coming from different backgrounds and learning from day to day experiences. I describe it on the terms of being challengeable, knowledgeable, inspirational and self-realization. 

VMU international office explained me all the important questions and was always ready to help me. When I received the acceptance letter I was pleased very much. But the idea of leaving towards a new country without family and friends started to scare me. When I arrived to Kaunas I was very worried because I knew that I was going to begin a new page of my life.