Dan vs. TEIL

...Well, I'm done with my second week of classes and I'm feeling pretty good about them so far. I'm in a few general classes, a few for my minor, and a few for fun. We haven't had any major projects or tests yet, so maybe ask me how I feel in a few weeks and the answer might be different...
I'm taking a Lithuanian language class, which has been quite interesting. It reminds me of my days back in middle school taking Spanish 1. So far it's been alot of "repeat these words after me so you know how this crazy language is supposed to sound" sort of thing. We just started conjugating verbs, oh joy. I can now say the most complex of phrases, such as "Nežinau" (I don't know), "Aš nesuprantu Lietuviškai" (I don't understand Lithuanian), and, of course, "Prašom duoti saldainių" (please give me candy). Clearly the most important nuggets of information for an aimless traveler to know.
I'm also taking an Intro to Theology class, which so far has covered the same topics as the first two weeks of Created and Called for Community at Messiah. Hopefully we'll go into some more complex topics soon.
My other classes are called TEIL classes. It took me some time to figure out what this acronym meant - the credits transfer to Messiah as TESOL credits. TESOL stands for Teaching English as a Second Language, and with this certification I'll be able to teach ESL classes. TEIL apparently stands for Teaching English as an International Language. If that's not confusing enough, on the first day of class we got a paper with those and fifteen more acronyms using basically some combination of those letters and words. We learned the difference between the acronyms and why some are more preferable than others, I'm not sure I've mastered the intricacies of the distinctions between them yet... It's a good subject to learn though, and part of the class is a Practicum in which I get to visit a Lithuanian school and eventually teach an English class to 14-year-olds. It sounds exciting now, but I haven't been to the school or had to do anything for it yet, so again, you'll have to ask me how I feel in a few weeks.
My last class that I'm taking is a Cross-Cultural Seminar where we learn about culture shock, stereotypes, and that sort of thing, and we get background to prepare us for our future trips to Moscow and St.Petersburg, and to Riga and Talinn (Latvia and Estonia).
Another interesting event on campus is when various nations celebrate their Independence Days. I've been to several flag-raisings and celebrations for countries like Ukraine, Moldova, and other former Soviet territories that are proud to be independent today. There have been a number of these celebrations each week, and they always include cultural dance, singing their national anthem, and, my favorite part, tasting the national food. It makes me wonder what would what food and dances we would present at an American cultural celebration. I'm proud to hail from the land of hot dogs, funnel cakes, and country line dancing!... maybe not.
Sorry there are no fancy pictures in this post, but there are pictures on Picasa, go to ----> http://picasaweb.google.com/GeraldBorgs to see a bunch of fun photos!