Visiting Lithuanian Soroptimists had a wonderful time with members of Big Bear Valley and Rim of the World Soroptimists on Monday, May 21.
The international “sisterhood” of the members of Soroptimist International are very strong as seen when two of the organization’s members from Lithuania visited with members of Soroptimist International of the Rim of the World Communities and Soroptimist International of Bear Bear Valley on May 21. The women, Asta Balciunaitiene and Androne Lukosiene happily met the local members and seemed to thoroughly enjoy their day in Lake Arrowhead. Not surprisingly, the local mountain Soroptimists were thrilled to show these two friendly, accomplished women a “great time” while they were in the mountains. The women were the winners of the Soroptimist International of the Americas Gold West Region “Grant of Friendship” and they are visiting California, Arizona and Nevada until June 7 when they return home.
The day began at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and then the party moved to the Arrowhead Queen boat dock to take one of their fascinating tour boat rides around the lake. The noise level from everyone chatting and laughing, was quite high. This was a good sign……………..it meant everyone was having fun and enjoying this relaxing ride around the lake.
The two guests were quite extraordinary women. Asta hails from Kaunas City, Lithuania and is a member of Soroptimist International/E Kaunas Club. She holds a Master’s degree in English and Literature from Vilnius University. She is a lecturer of English at the Centre of Foreign Languages at Vytautas Magnus University and she has been actively involved with Soroptimist for the past seven years. She has been club president for two years and has participated in numerous activities on an Internaltional level She is currently the President-elect for the Lithuanian Soroptimist Clubs Union which is the equivalent of the position of Governor-elect in the Golden West Region (the region that includes the Rim of the World and Big Bear Communities).
Asta enjoying traveling, Nordic walking, swimming, networking and investigating new approaches to learning. Her grandfather was born in Boston and she had always dreamed of visiting America so that she could feel the atmosphere of the American lifestyle and the beauty of the people and their environment. She said she is anxious to get to know more professional women so she can lay the ground work for possible future contacts for cooperation and communication. Her visit to America was a dream come true for this smart, funny and “welcoming” Lithuanian woman.
Audrone Lukosiene hails from Domeikava in the Kaunas District, of Lithuania and she is a member of SI/E Kaunas Club. She was educated at the University of medical Sciences and is a pharmacist. She has been a Soroptomist member for 19 years and was the Lithuaniar Union Governor from 2005-2007.
In addition to traveling, Audrone loves ballroom dancing, gardening and mountain skiing. She wants to experience the diversity of cultures and opinions and she promised to share information with her American hosts about Lithuanian women’s lifestyles, their problems and concerns. This visit to America is Audrone’s first time in the United States and before she left she said that she wanted to see, with her own eyes, the country she has only known about from what she has read or heard from the media. “This trip is a once-in-a-lifetime journey that will not only enrich my life, it will provide invaluable experiences that will impact my Soroptimist experiences, my personal and professional development.” She added that she expects her experiences in the U.S. to improve her English language and intercultural communication skills but from my perspective she’s way ahead of all the other Soroptimists there because it is unlikely that any of them speak Lithuanian.
As the Arrowhead Queen paddle-wheel boat slid through water on the lake the two women, along with everyone else, “ooohed” and “ahhhdd” at the beauty of the lake and the lakefront homes. One of the most interesting things about the hour-long boat tour was the history lesson we all got about the lake, some long-ago local politics and the surrounding land. It was fascinating!
Arrowhead Queen tour boat captain received a quick kiss from Lithuanian Soroptimist members who were visiting the Lake Arrowhead area on Monday, May 21. Does the captain look happy?
Following the boat tour all the women enjoyed a delicious meal in the private dining room at Bin 189 at the Lake Arrowhead Resort.
I would say that it was a great day for all the Soroptimists. Some of the women will have the chance to see their two Lithuanian friends again when they attend the upcoming Soroptimist Convention in Las Vegas next week. It was a toss-up who enjoyed the day more……the mountain Soroptimists or their two new friends. There were lots of stories swapped back and forth as well as welcoming, and then, farewell hugs. Being a former Soroptimist myself I have to say it was a joy for me to accompany both groups and get to see, up close and personal, that when given the opportunity, people are, after all, people…no matter what country you call home. Soroptimists are a great bunch of women and this organization has helped in so many ways to bring professional women together. As we know, we have chances everyday to make small changes to make the planet a better place to live. Looking around at all these women who circled the table at Bin 189 if I hadn’t known which were from the local mountain area and which were the visiting guests I wouldn’t have been able to guess.
That is the point of working together, on a global basis, to make the world we all inhabit a better place to live and Soroptimist members worldwide, can all take a bow right now!
i sveikata! (For those of you who don’t speak Lithuanian, that means “Cheers!”
