Emigration etc.

Even though it is said that sports and politics should always be kept apart, the history line only serves as a proof that the Olympic games have always been more than a sports stage. The 1936 Games in Berlin the Fuehrer used as a means to display the efficiency of the Nazi system, while in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico African American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos accepted their medals shoeless, each wearing black gloves on their raised, clutched fists with silver medal winner Aussie Peter Norman wearing a human rights badge in support of the protest against racial injustice. About 50 countries boycotted Moscow games in 1980 in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and in 1992 in Barcelona Australian basketball team refused to play Americans when one of Dream Team’s stars Eaerwin Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive, this resulting in Aussie doctors’ statement that if played, Johnson would pose a threat of passing on the virus.

For giants like the USA, the USSR or Yugoslavia the Olympics and especially the team sports have always served as a way to prove their superiority. Two basketball matches between the Americans and the Soviets were as important as the Space Race, with the Soviet Union winning both of them. 1988 Olympics in Seul marked the second time in the Olympic history the American basketball team was beaten and it was the second time the USSR did it. When the Soviet Olympic basketball team was standing on the podium that summer clenching their gold medals, it was the last time the team of 12 were listening to the anthem saluting the victory of Communism's immortal ideas and an unbreakable union of freeborn republics. After four years four out of that team were standing on the podium in Barcelona, this time with bronze medals, but without the crossed hammer and the sickle on their T-shirts. The anthem of their unknown country wasn’t played in 1992, since the American Dream Team took the gold, but it was the first time in the Olympic basketball history the players of this Western giant were surrounded by the representatives of two dwarf countries, which for decades remained anonymous to the world. Croatia took the silver, while Lithuania took the gold. That moment epitomized the triumph against the system and the pride to finally represent the country you were born in, but were not allowed to mention its name, because it was part of the ‘unbreakable union’.

The subject of the freedom of Tibet is not first time the most powerful countries remain silent in the face of violence and human rights violations, while it is labelled as an internal issue. If the freedom of speech exists, this summer Olympics, which initially were supposed to be the celebration of vigour and beauty of the human body, will be interrupted with various protests, hopefully only verbal ones.

Yet putting the issue of Tibet aside, what fascinates me a resident of this country, is how little interest and ambition Ireland displays in the Olympics, even though it has one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world.

I got used to the fact that the winter Olympics are completely ignored by the local media (thus confirming its parochialism), but I can partly justify it with the absence of snow on this island. Yet one expects that a prosperous country should be investing into brining up and training athletes that could compete not only in the perpetual Munster-Leinster contest, but would represent Ireland on the world stage.

Although, in my opinion, hurling and Gaelic football are fascinating games, it is a shame that when young, the best athletes oftentimes are directed into these two almost exclusively Irish sports. This is what a friend of mine working with the most prospective young tennis players in Ireland says. Playing for your city is great, but for the majority of sportsmen and women representing their country in the Olympics is the most prestigious experience.

This year Ireland is sending a squad of 51 athletes to Beijing, representing 12 sports: athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming and triathlon.

Ireland has 20 Olympic medals under the belt overall, with the peak-time being the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, where Ireland won 5 medals. The summer Olympics in Athens were not successful, as Cian O'Connor lost the show jumping gold after his horse failed a drugs test. The performance of Michelle Smith in 1992 in Barcelona, when this unheard of before swimmer swept 4 medals was marked with controversy, although doping allegations were never proved. Yet two years after the Atlanta Games, International Swimming Federation banned Smith for four year after she was found guilty of tampering with a urine sample. Her performance in Atlanta was never encored with a startling come back.

In a recent interview with the BBC the world number three in men’s tennis Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was trying to explain to the journalist, how come his poor and war torn country has so many first-class tennis players. “It's just a hunger for success, a mentality that we've been through a lot of difficult times in the past. We appreciate some things much more in life and we fight for every match”, he explained.

After the restoration of the independence in 1990 my country has won 11 Olympic medals. If you include the ones Lithuanians won representing the Soviet Union, we have 53. Luckily, in the past few years the government started to understand that basketball shouldn’t be the only sports supported by the state. Last year our country’s sports budget was 16 mln euro – as opposed to Ireland’s 316 mln.

This summer we are sending 69 athletes to Beijing - more than ever before. We have at least six medal hopefuls: a discus thrower, cyclists, wrestlers among them and, of course, basketball players. Recent survey shows that half of the population is hoping we could win up to three medals, while the quarter of the respondents believe we could win up to six. Even if we don’t win any, the country will be obsessed with the Olympic fever. For me it is an overwhelming feeling to see somebody on the TV with our little three-colour flag next to their name and to know that they are not representing some unbreakable political union.

Written for "Metro Eireann"

After months of negotiations and public relations campaigns' pros and
cons Lithuanian government gave green light for the establishment of
Guggenheim museum in the capital Vilnius. This will be a joint project
between Lithuania, the Guggenheim and the State Hermitage Museum in
Russia. The most prominent supporter and the locomotive of the project
the former mayor of the capital Arturas Zuokas hopes that the project
will put Lithuania on the cultural map of Europe and draw a different
kind of tourist crowd (which at the moment mainly consists of
stag-partying Brits and Irish, along with hordes of Poles paying
pilgrimage to Adam Mickiewicz).

While the project adds up to a total of 80 million euro, it is
believed that over 400,000 people would visit the museum and in the
next 7 years state and private coffers would start experiencing the
benefits of this gargantuan once-in-a-lifetime project.

Even before the government's blessing some steps have already been
done, although until last week it wasn't clear whether the government
would back up the project and chip in – at least partially. The main
threat for Guggenheim came from the institution that was previously
run by the projects keenest flagman and fomer mayor Zuokas. During his
term he introduced many initiatives in the Lithuanian capital and was
awarded The Outstanding Young Person of the World 2002 title by the
Junior Chamber International.

Yet despite the facelift the capital experienced during his term, he
couldn't avoid harsh critique for some of his ideas, an example of one
being the free public bike system borrowed from Copenhagen. Naïve
folly! The bikes disappeared from the cobbled streets of the Old Town
in less than a week.

The opponents of Guggenheim blame former mayor that the museum will
turn out to be another way of laundering money – an accusation Zuokas
has been facing from his first day in the office. Moreover, current
vice mayor of Vilnius has publicly accused Guggenheim with financial
intrigues and blamed it for colonizing third world countries. Along
came critique from a group of Lithuanian artists and architects
complaining that the government should give priority to the national
art and artists.

Guggenheim as an institution faces various critiques. A prominent
French art critic has dubbed it "a Coca Cola factory with branches
everywhere around the world", other museums point out that it has
metamorphosed into a franchise, while some of the exhibitions were
criticized for the subject matter, i.e. Georgio Armani dresses and BMW
motorcycles. Yet nothing of such a scale has ever happened in
Lithuania yet. It was the first time a number of renowned architects
were competing for the right to erect Guggenheim structure in Vilnius
– among them Daniel Libeskind and Massimiliano Fuksas. Eventually it
was awarded to Zaha Hadid's futuristic design.

It might have earned the name of a franchise for a reason, yet to
stubbornly oppose Guggenheim with wooden crosses, post communist
paraphernalia and local art celebrities would mean to deny the idea of
art as a way of bringing cultures together. Moreover, it would condemn
the country for decades or possibly centuries of terra incognita
status in the eyes of the world. In a recent survey in the UK
Lithuania was voted as the least known European destination.

When in the late 1990s Guggenheim was built in a poverty stricken
Bilbao in the Basque region of Northern Spain, some were suggesting to
use the money to build factories. Today many of the opponents have
become museum's keen supporters with more than a million visitors a
year. Moreover, the museum has contributed more than 1.75 billion euro
to Spain's GDP and helped to maintain 4,500 jobs a year.

Guggenheim might not be the only way to draw more people to Lithuania.
Pubs with smoked sausages, cheap beer and girls will obviously draw
more crowds than avant garde art or Litvak centre that should be
included in the new Guggenheim. I say should. Because after dozens of
disappointing decisions my country has made, I finally have hope in it
again. I don't think we'll be as prosperous as Ireland as soon as our
politicians hope to become, but if Dublin draws tourists for Guinness,
Vilnius could find its own way. And I keep my fingers crossed.

Written for "Metro Eireann"

This February Jameson Dublin International Film Festival gives a rare opportunityto watch a retrospective of avant-garde filmmmaker's Jonas Mekas' work. Although in his homeland Lithuania 85-year-old Mekas is better known as a poet and many still are unfamiliar with his experimental films, for some Lithuanians Mekas is what James Joyce or U2 are to the Irish - a reason to be proud and celebrate their identity.

Mekas is widely regarded as one of the leading figures of American avant-garde filmmaking or the “New American Cinema,” with the likes of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali appearing in the innumerable hours of his film diaries reflecting on his life in New York, where he has been working for the past 60 years. As one of the filmmakers' fans has observed, before there was internet, "Reality TV" or YouTube, there were the films of Jonas Mekas. Quite a life for somebody who nearly became a baker in Chicago.

Mekas was born in a small village in Lithuania and in 1944 with his brother Adolfas he was taken by the Nazis and imprisoned in a forced labor camp in Nazi Germany. After the War, he studied philosophy at the University of Mainz and in 1949 with his brother he emigrated to the U.S. Initially they were heading to Chicago, where Mekas was supposed to become a baker, but two weeks after the arrival he borrowed the money to buy his first Bolex camera and began to film his life. Moreover, Mekas became a keen supporter of experimental cinema and also one of the founders of Anthology Film Archives in New York - one of the world's largest and most important repositories of avant-garde films. His efforts in promoting underground cinema have been recognized worldwide.

The filmmaker calls his films a celebration of life. Faces of celebrities merge with memories of Lithuania, episodes from trips to Europe are followed by conversations with his friends on philosophy in his New York loft. His handheld camera produces frames which are not knit together by a script, but by the act of filming. His frames flick, pause, suddenly are interrupted by Lithuanian folk singing, continue and flick again. Hours of film diaries turn into a spectacle of cinematic vision.
Dublin International Film Festival, in association with Solus - an independent film collective promoting Irish and international short and avant-garde films, will present five of Mekas' movies: As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty, The Brig, Notes on a Circus, Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania and A Letter from Greenpoint. The filmmaker himself will arrive to Dublin as well, so if you happen to stumble across the man with his signature hat and a video camera, you might be included in one of his films.

While The New York Times suggests that the length of some of his movies may call for coffee and blankets - one of them is nearly five hours long - Mekas claims that in fact all of his film work is one long film which is still continuing. “I don't really make films: I only keep filming. I am a filmer", he remarks.

Written for "Metro Eireann"

Sometimes we tend to underrate our people, we are inclined to hand them over to others. You live in New York and they say that you have become a New Yorker, in France - then you have become French. This is a susceptibility of small nations. Big ones never hand over or underrate their people.

The quote belongs to Jonas Mekas, a Lithuanian filmmaker and the co-founder of Anthology Film Archives in New York, one of the world's largest and most important repositories of avant-garde films. Mr Mekas has just returned to Lithuania for a while to open Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in the capital Vilnius.

As usual, political matters were not avoided (politicians are always there where big names are present). The ex mayor of the capital Arturas Zuokas, demonstrating ambitions to rally for the presidency of Lithuania, yet facing constant criticism about his financial supporters, has been immensely involved in the opening of the center and also was one of the initiators of a request submitted to our president to grant Mr Mekas the citizenship of Lithuania (dual citizenship is very hard to get in my country). The citizenship was granted indeed. The journalists in the meantime kept quizzing Mr Mekas what were his feelings about the citizenship and Mr Zuokas. The film-maker managed to avoid any political statements and keeps shooting. One movie a day. Highly recommend watching. Avant-garde cinema par excellence.

I would like to mention here that the issue of belonging to Lithuania and the passport as a sign of acknowledgment is a bizarre one. As far as I understand, because of Soviet Union Mr Mekas lost Lithuanian citizenship (since this country ceased to exist until 1990), but the possession of it would not change anything. Figures like him are citizens of the world with their roots geographically undistinguishable. He left the country at the age of 22. And although he claims that he has never renounced Lithuanian citizenship, it is a pity the matter has become of great political importance. And it seems that everybody apart Mr Mekas himself are greatly involved in the subject. In 2050 Lithuanians will probably boast him as one of the greatest Lithuanians ever, although the future of his Visual Arts Centre is still under question and many people in rural areas haven't got a clue who he is. To expand on Mr Mekas' remark, small nations need their heroes otherwise they don't feel like they exist. They must claim their gods back.

I can see some parallels with Ireland here, but I'm frightened to despise its gods.

Apologies for delay in updating the blog. Few amazing things happened in the meantime:

- I am starting a Photography and Digital Imaging Course at the Centre for Continuing Education in Art and Design in the National College of Art and Design. They've got my money and the birth certificate (which came as a big surprise for me - the passport is not not good! I was even tempted not to translate the certificate (which is in Lithuanian and Russian). A look at the certificate has reminded me that I was born in Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. But if they need it...)

- "Guardian Abroad" has listed my blog in "Global diatribes and politics" category. It took about a month of waiting after applying, meanwhile I was trying to update my rantings regularly. I can take some time off now:) Joking. The pressure is high to remain in the category.

By the way, exactly 6 days ago my Lithuanian blog celebrated it's first birthday. A virtual friend of mine Aunty Sigita has compared blogger's mission to that of actor's described by Stanislavsky as public loneliness. As time goes by and more people discover my musings in cyberspace I have to admit I start to feel more public than lonely. Here's to my ego :) And here's to you who read and comment and keep the ego thriving!

Now back to to-do-list which was scribbled before I left for holidays in Lithuania or Lusitania as a young charming Irish fella working with me calls my home country. I can tick all segments and if I could choose two best they would be:

- Three days here:

Sand dunes in the Curronian Spit

and here


The Hill of Witches in Juodkrante, Curronian Spit

and here


More sand dunes in the Curronian Spit


- The Opening Concert of Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra's Season. Violinist Liana Isakadze performed D. Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No1. while piano virtuoso Konstantin Scherbakov (he's much hotter live than in his website) was my favorite of the night and played P. Tchaikovky’s Piano Concerto No1. Lots of fireworks (perhaps not as many as in Lang Lang's perfomance), as one should expect from Tchaikovky, but the dialogue between the pianist and the orchestra was magnificent. Whenever I hear a symphony orchestra playing, it always sends shivers down my spine. Although I would have preferred something different to Tchaikovky... My sister calls him a storm in a cup of tea. By the way, speaking of Lang Lang, he's coming to Dublin, yet alas for no particular reason I am unable to book tickets (5 months beforehand!) on National Concert Hall's website. Have emailed them about the problem. I know Lang Lang is quite "fireworky" and different to the likes of Andrius Zlabys whom by luck I managed to meet and hear while living in Philly (listen to the recordings he has on the website or watch him here if you want). No fireworks, I should say. Yet Andrius (who also comes from Lithuania) is not coming to Dublin, but Lang Lang is and after hearing him in the "Painted Veil" I loved the Chinese melodies he was performing.

Sorry for being carried away with the last passage...

Anyhow. I'm back from Lusitania and without two pennies to rub together (payday is in a week). After all Lithuania nowadays is not that different to Ireland - everybody talks about property and building sites are mushrooming everywhere. Although there are things my fellow citizens could learn from the Irish:

* Manners. When you shop in "Dunnes Stores" you say sorry if you bump into somebody. If you shop in Lithuanian supermarkets you say nothing, you bump again. And again. Until the person you're bumping into realizes he or she has to move. After he or she does you say nothing and carry on shopping. Similar manners in public transport (although it arrives on time unlike in Ireland and the timetables announce the time of the arrival to a particular stop rather than the time when the bus leaves the first stop).

* Customer service. I was surprised when after complaining that the wine I got served in a glass was corked the waitress replaced it. On the other hand, the owner was present in the cafe at that time. When my friend accidentally broke an empty pint glass the waitress asked her to pay for it. When an elderly woman walked into a boutique shoe shop after saving for a decent pair of shoes for a good while, the security guard asked her to leave pointing to her that she would not afford a pair of shoes there. Besides being bitchy shop assistants tend to be very pretentious. And waiters in most cases are way too slow. I'd love to see them working in Dublin restaurants the way they do in Lithuania. They wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace.

* Music in public places. Supermarkets are blasting Tina Turner... Come on! Although I have criticized Irish radio, at least there's no Tina in the supermarkets...

* Too many old cars on the roads. I know they are cheaper, but thinking of he future the government could do something in order to make the society more aware of sustainability and environment. I.e. in Sweden the government is offering a 1000 Euro refund when purchasing an environmental friendly car. Although some producers have increased the cost of such cars by exactly 1000 Euro. Bugger...

* Lunch breaks! Especially if you do a 12 hour shift. A receptionist of a fancy hairdresser has no lunch break (this is as witnessed to me in person). Outrageous!

*Go organic and go small! Although Lithuanian vegetables, berries, fruits and mushrooms smell of what they are and are not polished in order to look more presentable, I miss small organic produce shops. The country is devoured by supermarkets possessing imposing names: AKROPOLIS (after the Greek Acropolis), BIG, MEGA, etc. And although we are an agronomical country, because of these supermarkets we might face a similar future like Ireland when you won't be able to get local tomatoes or potatoes.

*More varieties of beer and wine, please! If you're a fan of Aussie Shiraz, you're screwed. Likewise if you admire Belgian beer. And although Ireland has the highest excise duty in the EU (2.10 Euro for each bottle of wine), I can't understand why wine in Lithuania costs the same as in Ireland. And it is boring in most cases!

*Engaging in reading while using public transport. Although busses in Lithuania (especially in the mornings) are more packed than in Dublin (because they take as many people as fit and by fitting I mean fitting - like cornichons in a jar), even those who manage to get a seat still rarely engage in reading morning paper or a book. Whereas in Dublin, even in a packed Luas or Dart majority of the passengers seem to read. Reading is good for brain exercise! And for learing new things.

* Security staff is for security purposes, not for scaring people off. They are scary in Lithuania, believe me. Like freaking Gestapo.

For those who changed their mind and don't want to visit Lithuania ever, please look up at the photos posted above :)

The People. June 17th.

A two page story by Alan Hart "So 'Nia and Yet So Where?" about Lithuania. Great pictures yet a misspelled name of our capital Vilnius on the map. I hope Vilnuis is a proof reading mistake.

"After showing my friends the holiday photos they're queueing up to go to Lithuania," writes A. Hart.

It seems the journalist has impressed his mates with the choice of the country and activities. Finally the British come to Lithuania for something different than a stag party!

In a small country tiny signs of acknowledgement turn into moments of triumph. For instance the fact that Ozzy Osbourne wears Lithuanian Basketball Team's T-shirt with his name on it during a gig in Vilnius.



Photo by R.Neverbickas

Ozzy is not the only celebrity who happened to come home from Lithuania with a new T-Shirt. Princess Máxima of the Netherlands got one and so did the United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.



Photo by ELTA

We realize that these VIPs won't bother wearing them once they get back, yet naively hope that perhaps BBC or CNN have noticed...

Dr. Lecter and sharp-toothed Lithuanians

Lithuania is smaller than the Republic of Ireland, bigger than the Netherlands and the population is about the same as in the city of Madrid. No wonder we are so sensitive to whatever foreigners state about us or our country - be it Mel Gibson infamously calling Lithuanians "sharp-toothed" and "armed with baseball bats" or Jonathan Franzen, depicting Lithuania in his "Corrections" as hell where there is a shortage of coals and electricity and the people have to eat horses in order to stay alive. Actually before watching "Hostel" I was saying my prayers and hoping it is not about Lithuania (yes, it was Slovak Republic!). Although Dr. Lecter turned out to be from my country...

One can hate Mr Thomas Harris, but I have to admit that we did enter history as a savage country. In 2009 we will be celebrating the Millennium since the historical mention of Lithuania and the story is frightening:

"In 1009 saint Brunon <...>, an archbishop and a monk,<...> on the border of Russia and Lithuania was knocked down by non-Christian pagans and on the 23rd of February with 18 fellow travelers departed to heaven." (German Quedlinburg Annals a)

“We are a nation that was formed out of barbarians, nomads and peasants. And our mixed genes are the reason for Lithuanian nostalgia and individualism”, - a few years ago stated Gintaras Beresnevicius, a Vilnius University professor at the Ethnology and Folklore Department, in “Creation of the Empire. The Blueprint for Lithuanian Ideology”. Ironically, he passed away last year after being taken from a party in a police car. Investigation has proved that the injuries later discovered on his body had nothing to do with policemen. Although one witness claimed to have seen them putting Mr Beresnevicius into boot used for transporting animals... Mr Beresnevicius was considered as one of the most prominent historians of religions specializing in Baltic mythology.

Ignorant Westerners or indifferent politicians?

Have you got electricity? Is the war over yet? Do you speak Russian there? These and similar questions myself, my friends and many other Lithuanians who live abroad have to face on a daily basis. Yes, we do have electricity. As a matter of fact Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant produces way too much of it. The war? You probably mixed up Baltics with Balkans. And yes, quite a few people still speak Russian, especially in the capital, although younger kids are fluent in English and could hardly understand any Russian. Yet the main language is Lithuanian - one of the oldest in Europe, similar only to Latvian and we managed to preserve it despite being on the crossroads of civilizations.

Some Lithuanians accuse foreigners of ignorance when they ask questions like the ones above. When my dad was a teenager he could name the capitals of all African countries. For decades the only way people of the Eastern Block could learn about the world was by looking at the maps. We didn't have "National Geographic" or "Discovery". Perhaps this is one of the reasons why people from former Soviet Union have great knowledge of geography. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I buy "National Geographic" - I still enjoy looking at the maps and reading about the world.

Although I do agree that sometimes Westerners' indifference to the rest of the world is the case, in my opinion, the main reason why Lithuania is not so well known in the world or is more known from a rather unpleasant and negative point of view (corruption, suicides, alcoholism, crime) is because the country is not being branded in a proper way.

Christian Caryl's story in "Newsweek" last month should be read by everybody who struggles to come up with the best idea for branding Lithuania yet it stresses that first of all local people shape the identity of a country.

"In the end it's the Italian people who brand Italy, and they do it so damn well," says Simon Anholt, founder of the National Brands Index, in the story. "And the countries that haven't quite succeeded at that are the countries that don't quite love themselves."

Love you, love you not

Lithuanians' relationship with Lithuania is a love-and-hate story.

We become ecstatic to the point of madness when we get gold in the Olympics (I recall three so far - correct me if I am wrong). Yet the best of our sportsmen and sportswomen have to go abroad to train since there are no proper facilities in Lithuania.

When a Lithuanian documentary film director Arunas Matelis receives Directors’ Guild of America award in the documentary category we proudly remind to the world and ourselves that he's from the same country as us yet quietly whisper to the neighbor "Who is that Matelis?" (request for the Ministry of Culture - could Lithuania's movie industry be supported at least as much as Kaunas Zoo?)

Lithuania is famous for classical music performers - soprano Violeta Urmana, conductor Saulius Sondeckis - although the latter after tensions in Lithuanian music arena decided to shift his career and rather perform in Germany, Russia or Austria.

Our politicians proudly point out that a Lithuanian is in charge of the gargantuan budget of the European Union (Finance and budget commissioner Ms Dalia Grybauskaite) yet dismiss her when she's constantly criticizing Lithuania's finance policy.

We rave to be presented on BBC or CNN as a country of tranquil beauty yet after two weeks of showing our 30 second long ad during prime time on BBC a few Lithuanian politicians expressed a view that it was wrong to choose BBC without a public competition. Darlings, if there is a chance to be broadcasted on BBC, forget competitions! Or perhaps, as somebody pointed, our politicians would have been more delighted if the ad was broadcasted on Russian TV? Forget the West, let's go back East!

Lack of good policies

"The best way for a country to generate a good image is not by conducting clever ad campaigns, but by implementing good policies," writes Christian Caryl in "Newsweek". "The most important thing is to tell the truth," stresses Mr Anholt in the story mentioned above.

So what is the truth about Lithuania and Lithuanians? How different is it from Latvia, Slovenia or Poland?

Recent survey conducted by Vytautas Magnum University and Institute for Social Studies has proved that Lithuanians firstly consider themselves as jealous, hardworking and hospitable. Yet more than a third of respondents pointed the fact that we are reserved.

My landlord (an old Irishman) keeps stressing that we are hardworking. Jealousy, I believe, we will get rid of once the salaries increase. Yet the main challenge is to stop being reserved since there are things in Lithuania of which the world should hear.

"It is only the material things that matter in Lithuania - construction, roads," a while ago emphasized documentary director Arunas Matelis. Despite winning the Directors’ Guild of America award he's still waiting for state funds to subtitle the movie. Good policies, huh?

Last year I publicly criticized the Embassy of Lithuania in Ireland for ignorance and lack of initiative in representing Lithuania in the Emerald Isle. Despite the fact that there might be over 100 000 Lithuanians in Ireland cultural events that would try to reach out non-Lithuanian audiences are scarce. We did not participate in the largest celebration of cultures in Ireland Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures last year (there was only a few Lithuanians with ethnic costumes). Unfortunately the embassy did nothing this year as well therefore myself and a few friends are trying to do something about it. Yet it is a shame that an institution who is responsible for representing our culture abroad (and this should be one of the priorities, especially now that there are so many of us here) is passive.

When I was in school studies of foreign relations was considered as one of the most attractive subjects one could study. Quite a few of us were dreaming of working as ambassadors. Is it because once you become one you can lay back in a rocking chair, smoke a cigar and drink mohitos realizing that Lithuania is far away and you don't give a **** about your job? At the end of the day, why should Ozzy Osbourne, Condoleeza Rice, Dr Lecter or Mel Gibson do PR for Lithuania?

On the other hand there are some good signs - more video clips like the one on BBC and this one about Vilnius. Yet foreign broadcasters can't substitute the indifference of Lithuanian clerks. Last year the government approved the strategy of Lithuania's image, it's implementation was supposed to kick off this year, yet nothing has been done so far. Any VIPs to volunteer for another T-shirt?

Post Scriptum

By the way, this is Lithuania. Media is about manipulation, yet this video is close to reality. Welcome to Lithuania or actually Vilnius - which is my home city.