We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Slovenia

We spent almost an entire week in Slovenia, far from our home. During that time we visited some fantastic places, had a pleasant time with wonderful new friends. In our opinion Slovenia is a lovely country, where guests are always welcome. We saw a lot of places of beauty, were in the mountains and at the seaside, visited magnificent caves, had a great time walking around Ljubljana with the friendliest guides Sonja and Tomash.

But the most important thing is that we all became friends. When it was time to go home, we were sad and didn’t want to depart. It seemed so hard to say goodbye. We dream to return back once again! We are not sad now; we have a lot of memories, a striking video made by our Slovenian friends, and hundreds of photos from our meetings and trips. We keep smiling, as in autumn we will meet our new friends again. Thank you Slovenia! See you soon in Poland!

On 1st May 2004, Lithuania, together with 9 other countries joined the European Union.

However, Lithuania has not acceded to the eurozone, and its currency is still Litas (LTL).

Velykos / Easter

View more presentations.

18 years ago

Today, 18 years ago in 1990, March 11, Lithuania declared restoration of independence. One of the reasons for that is simple: we lost our Independence rather few times in the past. During the medieval period, Lithuania was one of the largest states in Europe, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In 1795, Lithuania was absorbed into Russia. It briefly regained independence between the world wars but in 1944 was incorporated into the USSR. Soviets in the 1980s led Lithuania to reassert its identity, and in 1990 formal independence was proclaimed. Moscow sent troops to occupy Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, but in September 1991 independence was formally granted as the Soviet Union crumbled. In January 1991, the Soviet Army seized the Lithuanian Television, radio and other vital state institutions, which at that time were subordinate only to the laws of Lithuania. Unarmed, peaceful people offered resistance against the army, and 14 people perished in the effort. A referendum was held on the 9th of February, following the tragic January events, in which an absolute majority of the population of Lithuania came out for the restoration of an independent state. On the 11th of February, Iceland's Althing recognised Lithuania's independence de jure. After the unsuccessful August putsch in Moscow, Russia recognised the independence de jure of Lithuania on 6th September. Many other states followed suit immediately afterwards. On the 17th of September 1991, Lithuania became a full member of the United Nations. On the 31st of August 1992, the last Russian soldier left the territory of Lithuania.On May 1st, 2004, Lithuania joined the European Union.

Winter Festival

“Užgavėnės” is a Lithuanian festival that takes place during the seventh week before Easter ( Ash Tuesday). Its name in English means “the time before Lent”. The celebration corresponds to Roman Catholic holiday traditions in other parts of the world, such as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and Carnaval.Užgavėnės begins on the night before Ash Wednesday, when an effigy of winter (usually named Morė) is burnt. A major element of the holiday, meant to symbolize the defeat of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, is a staged battle between Lašininis (”porker”), personifying winter, and Kanapinis (”hempen man”), who personifies spring. Devils, witches, goats, the grim reaper, gypsies, and other joyful and frightening characters appear in costume during the celebrations. The participants and masqueraders dance and eat the traditional dish of the holiday - pancakes with a variety of toppings, since round pancakes are a symbol of the returning sun.

INDEPENDENCE

When We hear "Independence Day" We hear freedom. Freedom from oppression, freedom from a loss of human rights, freedom from poverty, freedom to make choices that directly affect your future from actions that YOU take. And I think that any countries Independence Day is one to celebrate and be happy about it.



Seventy years ago,at the end of the I World War, on February 16, 1918, the Lithuanian National Council declared the independence of Lithuania and established the Republic of Lithuania.This restoration of Lithuania's sovereignty was recognized around the world -- even by the Soviet Union, in 1920. Lithuania joined the League of Nations in 1921, and for the next two decades Lithuanians enjoyed liberty and self-determination under a government.
The celebration was short lived. During World War II Lithuania was overrun by Soviet tanks on their way to Poland, followed by German tanks on their way to Russia, and again by the Soviets on their way to Berlin.
On January 13, 1991,the Soviet Union, fearful of increasing nationalist sentiment in Lithuania invaded the city of Vilnius and attacked the TV tower and other buildings. Images of the attack spread throughout the world, and were influential in the eventual fall of the Soviet Union eight months later.
The short Act of Independence of 1918, with its emphasis on democratic principles, was cited by Lithuanians as the inspiration for and the basis of the rebirth of their sovereign state.

St. Valentine's Day

Love is one of the most important things in our lives. It's very pity, but we have only one day in a year, when we can celebrate love's day. It's St.Valentine's Day, which is celebrated on the 14th of February. There are many phrases about love:"Love's eyes see love everywhwre", "Love's home is in heaven","Love can be sad, but patient" and so on. Every year, a week before the 14th of February we rush to shops to buy some cards. On Valentine's Day we send them and anonymous love letters to our good friends, and give each other small presents. Sometimes we want to change our handwritings, but it's very difficult, because this person who gets a letter, knows from others who wrote it. Valentine's Day is very popular at our school. Every year we have great parties in it. Our lessons are very short and during the breaks we can listen to music, we have a chance to greet our teachers too. Everybody is happy on this day. But the most interesting moment is during the lessons. Then we wait for the student's from other clases and when all people are gathered we begin to play funny games and dance. Sometimes when we need more tasks for our games, we like to choose a girl or a boy who can tell us the best story or a poem about love. When he recites a poem, we give a present to this person, whose story or poem was the most interesting, stutting or very happy. We can spend our time greatly, but we have one reason, why we can't do this so fine, because evening is not so long, and when we begin to celebrate our parties, the hours pass like few minutes. But we are glad, what we do, and we all wish to others to spend St. Valentine's Day so great like we.

Lithuanian Beach

View more presentations.

European Capital of Culture'09

View more presentations.

By Gytis

The Hill

View more presentations.

January 13th, 1991

Soviet troops vs unarmed Lithuanian civilians, Vilnius 1991.

The New Year 2009!

Impressive event Vilnius, the European Capital of Culture, welcomed The New Year 2009!