Student Exchange - Silute, Lithuania

The student exchange to Lithuania has been a school project for many years; as it was made available for our age group, I applied and was chosen as one of about 30 students. The exchange is always in connection to a topic for which we would do project work throughout the exchange. The theme for this year was Migration and Immigration. In Autumn 2018, the Lithuanian students came to Germany, where we had day trips to Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremerhaven. While the students were in Germany, the main focus was on migration via the German harbours and European migration to, for example, the US. We also discussed the refugee streams from north Africa over the Mediterranean sea and how they affect us.

In spring 2019, it was our time to visit Lithuania. After spending one night in the capital Vilnius, we spent another 10 days in Silute, a city more west. We worked on projects regarding Lithuanian migration and their history, we were taught traditional dances and looked at the strong influence of Russia in times of the Soviet Union. We had a trip to Klaipeda, part of where Lithuania borders the Russian Kaliningrad exclave.

Throughout the exchange, I met a lot of interesting students from Silute, while our main focus was the project work and getting to know the country, we spent our free time and evenings together, which brought a close personal connection. I was able to practice my English and gain skills in terms of communication and team efforts on project work. I am very grateful for the knowledge I was taught about Lithuania and the way in which the students embraced us in their culture.