Go big or go home

Last Thursday, we took an overnight train from Latvia and arrived in Moscow Friday morning.  If you’ve never taken a train anywhere, I highly recommend it.  I was surprised by how spacious and comfortable the cabins were and we got to experience first hand the Latvian and Russian countryside.  FYI, every preconception that you may have of rural Russia is probably true.  It seemed like every couple of minutes a giant Soviet era factory that has long since been abandoned appeared.  When we crossed the border into Russia, men in drab uniforms with large dogs circled the train and proceeded to carefully examine each of us with a stern and unwelcoming face.  Everything that we saw was old and dirty, and unfortunately, there were people living in what appeared to be squalor.

Despite the lack of shower and sleep, we toured Mars Candy (the makers of M&Ms, Snickers, Milky Way, etc.).  It was probably the best corporate visit that I’ve had so far.  They were very prepared and had an interesting presentation on their relatively brief history in Russia.  Plus, we got a giant goodie-bag J. That night, we got to go to the Old Moscow Circus and experience clowns, Russia Style.  

Yesterday, we visited Red Square including a visit to Lenin’s tomb.  I oddly found it to be a very spiritual experience.  Most Russians (especially the older generations) still pay great respect to Lenin.  I felt very humbled that I, an American Capitalist that represents everything that Lenin fought against, was allowed to view his body and visit the country that he devoted his life and intellectual capital to.  Yesterday, we also visited the WWII museum and got to see a little bit more of the city.

Today included a church service (2 hours long, and in Russian), and then lunch with an 80-year-old minister who spent 18 years in Siberian Prison Camps during the Soviet era.  His story was unbelievable.  He should have been dead at least 5 times throughout his tenure in the prisons, but somehow he survived and continued to preach the gospel.  This too was a humbling experience.  Finally tonight, we got the go to the Moscow Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker”.  I think it was one of the best things I’ve done on this trip—I never thought I would be able to experience Tchaikovsky in his native country…nerdy, I know.

One of the most interesting things that I’ve noticed in Russia is how incredibly large everything is.  This can probably be traced back to the former Soviet Union’s obsession with economies of scale as well as the sheer size of the country.  I find the architecture in Moscow difficult to grasp because of its size and intricacy.  It’s amazing.

On Tuesday, we visit IKEA Russia and then fly back to Amsterdam.  Hopefully I don’t come back with a new Trondheim.

Cleansing the Palate

After the fairly depressing note from this morning, I thought that maybe something more upbeat might be in order.  The last few days have been a roller-coaster of emotion.  I started IBI feeling really overwhelmed (see first post).  Everything was incredibly new and I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to forge relationships on this trip.  I am the only person this year that is single--that is, the single from his or her college.  Everyone else has at least one other person that they know.  Things have, naturally, gotten better.  Everyone on the program is super friendly, and some people have gone out of their way to make sure that I'm included.  At first I kind of felt like the outsider looking in, but I've begun to start to feel like a legit part of the group.  Its a good feeling. 

Last night, myself and a couple of other IBI-ers celebrated my birthday at an Armenian restaurant in Klaipeda.  It was one of the best meals I've ever had.  The weather, the company, and the food all joined forces to create a beautiful evening.  Then this morning I had my first exam of the program after only one day of class, and then we toured a Lithuanian shipping and export/import company which, I found to be really interesting.  Finally we went to what can only be described as Lithuania's version of Chucky Cheese.

After dinner, we had a chance to visit Polega, a resort town on the Baltic sea.  They had a beautiful board walk and pier and on the end, there were tons of Baltic fishermen catching some kind of swordfish-esque fish.  The whole experience was really relaxing and kind of reminded me of why I'm here.  Its not just about academics... we get to see freaking cool stuff too :).

 Tomorrow we bid farewell to Lithuania and take an overnight train to Moscow.  The trip is 17 hours but I think I'll be able to sleep.  If not... I turn to drugs.

It hits home

The first day that I was in Klaipeda, we visited a couple of different corporations.  Both were located in the Free Economic Zone that Lithuania established in order to attract Foreign Direct Investment.  The second tour that we took was of a multinational wiring corporation that makes electronic equipment for clients all over the world.  Their location here had one client: Renault (a French car company that is popular in Europe).  They have been making wiring harnesses for Renault since 1994 and at their peak, they employed over 4000 people.  The factory that we visited was very large--24,000 square meters and for the most part, the building was completely empty.  There were only a handful of workers putting together wiring sets, and the warehouse was, quite literally, empty.  They told us that beginning about 2 years ago, Renault began to cut their demand and this branch of the company cut their labor force by 3,800 people over the period of about a year.  Lithuanian labor laws are far more restrictive than American laws--companies are obligated to pay 5 months salary and benefits which added to the misery of the company.  The local unemployment rate has jumped from roughly 4% to well over 10%.

We were told that this was a lesson in "crisis management".  Our professors told us that last year when IBI visited the site, the place was full of workers busily preparing orders, and putting them into trucks for shipment.  The company desperately hopes to secure a contract from Volvo, which will preserve a very small portion of the company--about 200 workers.  But as of now, the plan is to sell whatever they can and shut down operations within the next year.

The experience of this company is hardly rare--plants close nearly every day somewhere in the world.  But seeing it really made the economic crisis real, even though we didn't get to meet any of the displaced workers.  We learn about the effects of monetary and fiscal policy in the classroom, but I had never seen anything quite like this before.

New Things

Tonight after a two day journey, I'm in Lithuania.  Its been quite a trip so far... let me back up and give some background.

Two weeks ago from today, I left Sioux Center with the Concert Choir and traveled to Minneapolis.  From there we flew to the Netherlands and spent two amazing weeks touring and singing in places that I can only hope to stand again.  We stayed with hosts which was one of the best parts of the tour.  I don't think that I can even begin to describe the experience now, so perhaps I'll try to go into more depth about it later.  For now, suffice it to say that it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Yesterday, we all returned to the Amsterdam airport to go our separate ways.  Many people were returning home, but many were also traveling.  When I packed my bags, I knew that I would be overweight for my inter-European flights, but the people at the ticket counter nicely waved me through.  I said good-bye to Jake and Piper (who were also checking in at the same counter for their flight to Spain) and took a last look at the last familiar face I would see for several weeks.  My flight from Amsterdam to Riga, Latvia was a little late and when I arrived and tried to find my connection flight, I thought that I had missed my connection.  However after desperately trying to mime "did I miss my flight?" to a large Latvian woman who spoke no English, I found my gate and arrived in Lithuania on time.  I took a taxi to my hotel and sat down in my room, alone for the first time in days.  I was incredibly homesick and lonely... probably the result of having an entire choir of people around me for the past 2 weeks.  But this morning, I walked from the hotel to the bus station in Vilnius, and boarded a bus heading for Klaipeda to join the rest of the group.  After a four hour ride and getting chewed out by the driver for Lord knows what, I met the first friendly faces that I had seen in 2 days.  They took me to join the group.  Everyone seems really friendly and nice, and I think everything will be okay once I get settled in a bit and the awkwardness of the first couple of the days goes away, but for now I feel really overwhelmed and kind of intimidated.  Tomorrow we have 6 hours of class and then we have our first test on wednesday, which also adds to my feeling of overwhledness.  Everything will be okay.... thats what I need to keep telling myself... Because its true!

I think I will stop writing now because I need to do some homework and be social.  I will try to write more specifics later.