My name is me and me is my country

According to the fact that I am on Erasmus period right now I did notice when people are seeing each other for the first time: firstly they would ask you your name (and they would not remember afterwards) and secondly they would ask you name of the country you came from. 

So people would forget your name, but they would´t forget your country, they would say ¨Lithuanian girl¨, ¨German guy¨etc. 

After this kind of question I am always trying to figure out what they think when they see me not like an individual person -  Judita, but like a Lithuanian girl. It can actually change everything, maybe they think about European Union, maybe they still think that Lithuania is a part of Russia, maybe they think ¨where the hell is Lithuania, I need to google it¨. Anyway, first couple times when they see me they would call me a Lithuanian girl, later on I would get my name back and some of them would finaly call me by my name. Suddenly, they would start to think about me as a person: am I friendly, am I kind, am I patient, am I polite, etc. 

So if I am right and someone is calling me a Lithuanian girl, I want to show want it menas to be a part of this country and this culture. 

First of all some myth about Lithuania which some people asked me:

1. No, we do not have any civil war or war against Russia or Poland. 

2. No, we are not part of Russia or Poland, yes, we are an independent country.

3. No, we are not one of the Third World´s country.

4. Yes, we do have computers, television and so on. 

5. No, there are no fights and no one is shooting people in the streets. 

6. Yes, we are a part of European Union. 

7. No, no one is drinking vodka like a tea to keep warm. 

8. Yes, people are able to speak English, they are friendly to foreigners and ready to help. 

So what does it mean to be Lithuanian to me (I am not going to talk about history, politics, etc, because you can google it and find all the information if you are interested, my idea is to represent my own Lithuanian culture). 

My Lithuania is a place where I feel like a part of something innocent. Do you know why? because I do not harm anyone and they do not harm me too. This is the way how I live in my Lithuania.

People  sometimes complaining that shop assistants are not smilling to them, but I do not think so, I always smile to them first if they look unhappy and I always get the smile back to me. 

Once I was crossing the road with a friend of mine and I lift up my hand like saying thanks to a driver who stopped to let me go and my friend said: are you silly? you do not have to say thanks. I looked at her and asked why not, and she said: no one cares. I was surprised, because in my own Lithuanian culture everyone cares, if I am polite with someone and sweet that person might gonna be same to other, other to another and so on... 

In my Lithuania university is very important thing, all the places like libraries, theaters, museums, etc are the places which I actually adore, I like to go there so that's why I see other people going there too, so I can easilly say that my Lithuania is a country of people who enjoy knowledge and cultural lifestyle. 

In my Lithuania there are no crimes and no injustice, because I do not behave in that way, it means I do not hang out with people who behave like this, etc. So it means my Lithuania is a secure place. 

In my Lithuania I am the happiest person on the planet, you know why? Because when I feel sad I enjoy the beauty of flowers on Spring, the beauty of colorful leaves on Autumn, the beauty of snow on Winter and the beauty of birds' melody on Summer. 

And the main idea is that my Lithuania is a place which I created by my own, I would do exactly same in Turkey, In india, In Russia, In Spain, etc. So the point is that it is not so much important about the place you came from, it is more important what you built over there, so please, call me Judita because my name is me and me is my country.