Saint Petersburg  is Russia’s second-largest city after Moscow and one of the world’s most beautiful cities. St. Petersburg has all the ingredients for an unforgettable travel experience: high art, lavish architecture, wild nightlife, an extraordinary history and rich cultural traditions that have inspired and nurtured some of the modern world’s greatest literature, music, and visual art.

Every year the choir “Liepaitės” is traveling to different countries and this year we traveled to Saint Petersburg to compete in a song contest to which a choir „Altus“ invited us.

So when we arrived, we had to make a decision if we wanted to live in a family or in a “hotel”.

Most of the girls were put in  families, but me and some of the other girls went to the “hotel”. When we arrived at the “hotel” (it was more like a dorm) we were kind of guessing how would the rooms look like. So in one dorm there could live about 5 people. It wasn‘t that bad, actually. 🙄 

My friend Greta lived in a family and her „mom“ was very friendly. When she arrived she couldn‘t contact her family in Lithuania because there wasn‘t any Wi-Fi so she asked her „mom“ if they had free internet, but sadly they didn’t. The “mom” was kind of upset so she rented Wi-Fi for Greta to contact her parents.

After three days our trip was getting to an end, but one night I was lying on a sofa because I had a flu and my roommate sat across from me, suddenly she yelled “RAT! THERE’S A RAT UNDER THE SOFA”. At first I didn’t react but then I ran to her and we were just standing on a chair. Then the other girls came to ask what happened. They “saw the rat” and jumped on a bed near us. After some time passed me and my other roommates went to our teachers’ room to tell what happened. So one teacher came to see if the “rat” is really there. She moved the sofa multiple times and a little mouse ran out. My roommates were screaming. I don’t know why but we named that mouse “Nina Birutė  the 3^rd”.

And there was one day when all girls had a day off, so they could spend some time with their families. So I got put in a really good family and we went to some other girl’s house to eat breakfast and to know each other better. They were really nice and bought us tickets to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, bought us coffee, food and some other stuff.

Greta went to the Winter Palace, metro, Starbucks, shopping places and just explored the city.

So me and Greta really liked it there, because there are many great places, beautiful buildings, luxurious city. We definitely recommend this city. 😆 

Have you ever thought what kind of differences are between these two countries? Let’s take a look at two European and Asian countries, Lithuania and Japan. Both countries have their traditional food, music, and traditions. Also there is different weather in each region.

The food of Lithuania is mostly made of potatoes. Meanwhile, Japanese eat mostly seafood and rice, for example sushi is their traditional food. On the contrary Lithuanians (or many of them) hate fish and eat “Cepelinai” and “Šaltibarščiai”.

The weather in our country changes from -30 Celsius to +30 Celsius. In Japan there is similar weather like in Lithuania, but in some regions the weather can be much warmer.

Educational systems are very different between these two countries. Usually students in Lithuania have summer holidays for about three months. Meanwhile, Japanese children have only one month of holidays in summer.

The music in both countries mostly differs in instruments and rhythms. But some similarities can be found, for example Lithuanian “Kanklės” and Japanese “Koto”.

And the last but not least: traditions. Japanese have their tea ceremonies. Meanwhile Lithuanians bake black bread according to their own traditions. On the contrary to Lithuanians, Japanese  don’t eat black bread at all. Our main feast is Christmas. Meanwhile Japanese do not celebrate this holiday, on the other hand, they celebrate New Year’s Eve like us.

Comprehension check:

1. What kind of food do Japanese eat the most?
2. How long are summer holidays for Japanese kids?
3. What kind of ceremonies do Japanese have?
4. What is the traditional food of Lithuania?
5. What feast is not celebrated in Japan?
6. What is the traditional food of Japan?
7. What kind of food many Lithuanians hate?
8. On which instruments some similarities can be found?
9. Where does temperature change from -30 to +30 Celsius?
10. What feast do  Japanese celebrate like us?

Great Britain vs Lithuania  😯 

After growing up, quite a lot of people in Lithuania go to an another country to find a better place. One of the most popular countries is England. But what’s so different about Britain, what makes a lot of people leave our country every year?

 To be honest, these countries aren’t all that different, but on the contrary there are some things that may be appealing for some people. The weather in Lithuania is mostly balanced, but still leaning more towards the colder temperature. It’s cold when it’s winter, it’s warm when there’s summer. In UK, it rains. A lot. And the weather isn’t that warm, really. Probably the biggest difference these two countries have is their level in the educational system. Britain is known for it’s great universities and schools, conversely, Lithuania is not famous for being a home for many, many smart people, because we’re not that good to be honest, really. While it may be surprising, Lithuania and England share more similar things that different. The food we eat is meat, fish, and other stuff. While it is not totally the same, but it’s not like they’re eating worms and we eat plastic. Correspondingly, our architecture is just as old as theirs, they have quite a lot of beautiful, senior buildings, like we do! The nowadays music that these countries listen to is pretty much the same – pop! But, if we would have to talk about traditional music, then ours would be much, much more “traditional” and old.

So, which country would you chose to live in? The tea sipping monarchy kingdom, or a small country which isn’t half bad either?

Comprehension Check: