SHAPING OUR FUTURE

International MEETING PROGRAMISM University of Management and Economics Vilnius / Lithuaniade Baak, associated with VNO-NCW / The Netherlands22 – 25 augustus 2010

Table

Where bigger is not regarded as better.Where limitation is a revelation.Where one does not try to hide the source.Where hope is not strategy.Where no dredge whines.Where big answers follow small questions.Where one sees the beam in one’s own eye.Where the good, the truth and the beauty reign.Where the spirit gets primed again and again.Where efforts grow into a trail of fragments.Where earth, tree, branch and leaf get a chance.Where lack of clouds and lustre define the now.Where our past is ahead and our future behind.

T.O. LansinkFrom: art&leadership, publiced by Nieuw Amsterdam, 2008Translated from Dutch: Erick Aufderheyden

Good binding has no rope or knots, yet cannot be untied. - Lao Tzu

SHAPING OUR FUTUREInternational MEETING PROGRAMISM University of Management and Economics Vilnius / Lithuaniade Baak, associated with VNO-NCW / The Netherlands22 – 25 AUGUSTUS 2010

ISM team:

Kristina Maikštėnien Asta PundzienMargarita PilkienRima ValantiejienNerijus PačėsaBenas AdomavičiusAurimas PautieniusUgnius SavickasIeva Šližienė

Meeting de Baak team:

Harry StarrenAndreas NeumannDymphe BeekHenk EgginkJan van der VeerJelle GanzeveldKristin Jooss-AmadonMartijn SeijsenerPatty BoomstraValentijn Ouwens

Photography: Robertas Šapalas, Dymphe Beek, Welmoed Bijlsma, Jelle Ganzeveld en Jan van der VeerArt Direction: Jan van der Veer Poems: T.O.Lansink, Eugenijus Aliŝanka

I walked the streets. Lots of terraces. I do not remember them the last time. But that was in March. When was that I was here again? Must have been April. When the volcano ashes hit Europe.

We came together at five opposite of the hotel. Spoke about the relationship with ISM, think-tank Eu-rope and our purpose of being here. And the return visit 5, 6,7 of January 2011.Patty would be interested in how ISM handles it’s clients. Kristin took an interest in that too. Martijn is curious about ISM and MD, Valentijn about the setup, Dymphe is thinking about creating a YEP mod-ule here, Jan looks for art and the usage of art over here, Henk is interested in the learning philosophy and craftmanship in designing and executing a program and I? I am interested in how professional exchange works and what we can learn from this for connecting with others.

The opening session was great. We just went in. Rima impressed me with her natural style. The happiness workshop, small and effective, thought provoking and the exercise to make a drawing to explain without intervention, then fill out drawings with emotion - with an intimate sharing as a result.

The diner was nice and quite nearby in many respects. The food was Belgian and the conversation intriguing. Rima told about her conference in India, about the way she found out about it (I googled my way to it) and the follow up. 58 People joining on a Friday evening to hear her story. Feeding her curiosity, broadening and deepening her professional and personal development. And even more intriguing to me was het teaching adventure for a month in Korea. I heard personal and professional courage. To take an unusual step ending up being one of two women in a group of a hundred. Finding out how to teach, create alignment and become a life changing experience for those who participated her course.

We ended up making jokes about the rope. Fearing our Demasque as an intelligent and creative group. The rope to leadership.

Woke up next morning. Silence. The saying of Indians came to my mind: if you speak make sure that your words are more valuable than silence. Would I be able to live that message today?And more important: how would I be able to avoid the waterfall?

Rushed to ISM, after visiting the wellness center of the hotel and an early morning breakfast. Took my umbrella with me. We start off with a beautiful sharing session. Building by dialogue: a beehive. I was intrigued by the method and the skilled craftmanship of Rima, getting the best out of: not by discussing but by listening in. Building and afterwards discussing. I directed the discussion towards responsibility, society and an more systemic approach beyond the individual.

Then Paulius came in. ‘Captain, my captain’, as the teacher says in Dead Poets’ society. I was im-pressed by his intense, soft, but firm approach. Leadership by birth. You need purpose, persistence, smartness and wisdom. He was, is and will be a captain. He spoke for two long, maybe, but he said the right things surely. Provocative some times, interesting all the time.

Then: kayaking. It was nice, inspiring, adventurous and again: thought provoking. Diner was the re-ward. Conversations again. Getting to know each other.

I drank some wine in the hotel bar, went to bed and wrote my personal impression.

Harry Starren

What an opportunity! A German in the de Baak team visiting ISM in Lithuania.

With a rather late arrival, I just made it on time for the dinner. Warm reception, nice food and great conversations. And on the following days many dedicated personalities, engaged, loving what they do and standing up for what is important to them. Captain Paulus uniting people around a dream, sailing the world, connecting his fellow countrymen. Margarita uniting us around the questions about the future: What is possible, what do WE want to create? And Rima, always there with us. Passion, passion, passion. Then everybody into the boats and out on the river. Back pains, leg pains, fears? No excuses, just let’s go.

No doubt: Passion leads to action… And we had fun!

The ISM team is there with us, Asta, Ugnius, Leva, Kristina, and others more… Discussions and activity again: Painting with Edmundas, exposing us to a continuum of Lithuanian language, what a wonderful language to listen to, sounds to me like a mixture of Russian and Latin, and Edmundas´ drawings, accompanying the explanations are pieces of art themselves. Again a person with passion for what he does… We patch out ideas together and create our pictures. I enjoy it a lot.

On Wednesday we explored Vilnius. We want more time for that – clear that we start earlier than originally scheduled. If we want something, we have to engage for it. And there we go – up and down the hills and we see high parts and as well some low parts of the town. Lots of beauty, many things emerging, a some things to do. Life requires engagement.

Someone asked: How are we different? What a powerful question! And what may we achieve, when we come together with those differences?

So what do we want to engage in? That is part of the final conversation. What resources are we will-ing to contribute for what purpose? As in all the brainstorms, first we broaden, then we narrow down and chose. As an outcome, we have lots of things to review and explore. The next steps are set: ISM visiting de Baak in January 2011, Rima contributing to a program, and a decent list of projects and ideas.

Shaping the future, that´s what it is about… Thank you to ISM for the dedication and care!

At the end I had taken one more day of my time to stay in this intriguing country. Being in Lithuania, there is more to see than Vilnius, I thought. I wanted to see the sea, the Baltic Sea. And for a German, there is one point of interest not to miss in Lithuania: Thomas Mann museum in Nidas. That meant to visit the Courland Lagoon. This country is beautiful! Let’s to explore! Attached are some impressions from Nidas.

Andreas Neumann

Exciting!

From the first request to go to Vilnius something of excitement appeared to me. To be honest, never heard of Vilnius, and that’s where the excitement started! I bought a lonely planet book to start my journey of curiosity. What an insight of this country, so rich of historical background, national parks declared World Heritage by Unesco, and a population described as homogeneous, 85 percent are Lithuanians. I was about to meet them and experience their country! Excitement!

Meeting of the Baak team with the team of ISM. With an open heart and mind, willing to give, eager to exchange! Teaming up: we instead of me!

Letting go of all expectations and dive into the unknown to explore together what added values and differences we meet between business school ISM and the Baak! First connecting by presenting ourselves and our values in a visual way; the star, the spiral, the earth stone, the sun. Than the bee method. Connecting on values with the bee method! The rope to leadership, exciting brain crashing exercise which made us have to think as a team instead of individuals!

Leadership from behind, experienced in a canoe on the Neris river through Vilnius! Impression; it takes two to canoe, leading from behind, think before u act, when the unexpected happens, stay calm and get back on track with Rima!

Exploring the potential, a stepping stone, one step at the time! Before going into action driven plans, we explored together our mutual potential. Strategy versus intuition, research versus experience, methods versus tailor made solutions.

Painting with George. Colour theory or blind intuition, first a theory and paint versus painting from the heart and explain later! What an insights! (Picture of paintings will be sent separately). Teaming together in creativity!

Connecting into the future- just do it! Business starts with connecting. And so we did! I was touched and felt connected with the ISM team. Again a warm, willing and eager to explore team with all kinds of specialism in every team member! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the opportunity to be able to meet and connect and experi-ence you, ISM, Vilnius and the Lithuanian way of life! To be continued in January at the Baak!

Dymphe Beek

Close your eyes and picture Europe. What countries do you visualize in front of you? Of course the Netherlands, central in the picture, great Britain and Ireland on the left, Scandinavia in the north, France, Belgium and Spain in the south, Italy on the other side and Germany and Austria, Switzer-land. Do you experience more countries? For me, countries like Poland, Czech and Slowak Republic, Belarus Romania en Bulgaria have been hidden in the mists of our past. Behind the iron curtain in my mind. And so are the Baltic States. Our trip to Lithuania (Litouwen) changed my mental picture for ever. As geographical centre of Europa, Lithuania, is indicated as an emerging market, attracting investors and companies to build their business. In 20 years time, they changed rapidly from Soviet regime to a full member of the European Union and Nato.

Change has been daily business and they know how to cope with it. They are eager to adapt and change. Although not all people are able to deal with this. Also here, there are people longing for the old Soviet regime...

1 in every 27 Lithuanians run their own business. It’s part of their nature. So I believe there is a chance for de Baak, to use the knowledge of both Europe we have not been focusing on, as well as their experience with a changing environment .

Looking at ISM from the perspective of learning philosophy, they are picking up with modern forms of teaching. Painting, physical activity (where the canoe sank with Dymphe and me in it) are used to combine both left brain and right brain learning. Active brainstorm sessions and good food. Very simi-lar to what we to @debaak.

What differed is the style, taking charge of the group. Leading by setting the pace, explain things before moving to action, which denies participants to actually discover something new, by themselves (which is our discourse). Looking at their 10 year teaching tradition, I can imagine that ISM will sur-pass us in no-time given the ability to adept and change. They will discover the use and function of making participants be responsible for the learning process instead of the facilitator.

And will be an honour for me to be part of the process of showing ISM how they can do this. In my case, learning by doing, one of their leading consultants will be invited to do a lecture on adapting and change during the WinterBaak.

Henk Eggink

<< All real living is meeting >> Martin Buber

Well, it was quite a meeting in Vilnius. The days were long, filled and enervating. It was an early wake up on Sunday morning in Arnhem (a small city near the German border) to catch the flight to Vilnius.

After arrival, the program began immediately. A short meeting with the Baak team followed where we formulated our personal goals. Then, the energetic Rima Valantiejiene started the first session, setting the tone with impressive craftsmanship for the following days.

The sessions were filled with making drawings, clipping images from magazines, making a painting with a small team under direction of artist Edmundas Brazauskas, and above all, holding dialogues in group sessions on, among other things: happiness, the sharing of ideas about management training and how we can give shape to our collaboration in the future. How to tie a knot of approximately 80 cm in a cord tensely held between two closed hands was a hilarious problem that only Patty and Henk solved.

<< Happiness is the absence of unhappiness >> Arthur Schopenhauer

Fortunately, there was also an outside activity, kayaking, and a pleasant diversion in the turbulent waters of the river Neris with little waterfalls, low hanging tree twigs and scary outcrops of stones. Af-terwards we had a wonderful outdoors dinner with a great view of the city district Uzupis. This district is the most mysterious and romantic area in Vilnius. Uzupis is an art village (has been compared to Montmatre in Paris) but also a ‘republic’ within the city, with his own constitution, anthem and calen-dar. Vilnius seems to me like ‘little Berlin’, there’s not a moment you feel like you are in a city with 600.000 inhabitants.

On the last morning (Wednesday), we took a walk through the Vilnius old town for the ‘quiz solving competition’; finding places in old town described in sayings and photos through given time.

Before the last great lunch before leaving Vilnius we assessed briefly how we had experienced the days and what we had learned.

For me, it was the first time to be involved in such training. I found it difficult to contribute from my expertise. I hope that I, as a relative outsider, made a contribution.

To sum up, my best memories are of some of the group sessions, the knot, the kayaking, in particular the personal talks during the lunches and dinners, especially with IEva and Ugnius from the ISM team on our personal lives, e.g. how to deal with a world in which complexity is even as miraculous and delightful as it is frightening. And naturally I enjoyed my colleagues; it was great getting to know some of them better (thank you Andreas!).

In short, with the ISM team we had a fruitful time and a lot of fun.

Jan van der Veer

When I was asked to join, I didn’t know what to expect. from the trip and this country. So I went with an open mind. I was confronted with my own outdated picture of Europe. Lithuania is a fast growing country with about 3 million inhabitants. What struck me the most, was the eagerness of the young people, but at the same time a large group of people who were not able to make the shift. This country was occupied by the Russians for more then 100 years and they are (re)finding their identity. There is a lot of cultural heritage and a large number of countryman living abroad.I was shocked by the stories about the 1 million countryman (mostly highly educated) that where killed during the Stalin period. What is the psychological impact of this on a country? I saw entrepreneur-ship, pride and dare..... Marketing / Innovation.It was interesting to see their way of marketing. We exchanged ideas and approaches. They are working on enhancing their branding and therefore I advised them to have a look at the “Brand key” or “Bulls Eye” model. From Dovile Jursyte (Director of Marketing) I received a demo ver-sion of one of the market place simulation games, which where developed by BI Norwegian School of Management Innovation Norway, their founder. They are working with the European Cases Clearing House (www.ecch.com). The development of their own cases is an important building block for future success. Furthermore it is a strong marketing tool, for creating a content based marketing approach. We had an interesting discussion on “What is knowledge”. Should you store it or not. How do you develop your knowledge (research) and expertise as an institute? We saw, that we are more focused on a network approach and they have a more academic way of working (based on theory). The future needs in my opinion, a combination of both: connecting and valuable content. Program design.They have a fresh way of designing their programs (think and play at the same time). Creative work forms, sports, spirituality and art is part of the design. In my opinion our teaching methods are a bit more interactive and free. They tend to send “knowledge” a bit. Perhaps the influence of the univer-sity? Furthermore they speak a lot about Management, where we speak of Leadership.Personal insight and “we” is also in their programs a solid starting point. There is a lot of potential for programs which have innovation, entrepreneurship, new business and international business in the modules. It is stretching your way of thinking! Joint future.We created a strong sprout, with lots of potential for the future. The best thing we can do, is to further learn by doing. So develop 1 or 2 initiatives/projects and go from there. Together we can be part of a strong cooperation of European Business Schools and Leadership Institutes. We are both willing and able! There is a need for a common Umbrella! Dear Kristina, Asta, Rima, Margarita, Benas, Nerijus, Aurimas, Ugnius, Dovile, Andreas, Patty, Kirsten, Dymphe, Valentijn, Jan, Martijn, Henk and Harry, thank you for the inspiring time. I’d love to think and create further on ‘Shaping the Future’.

Jelle Ganzeveld

“ Why do Lithuanians’’ put the light switch on the out side of the toilet door?” “ If you want to fix a broken chair, you must first stand up” “ Leadership from behind”“ I just came out of jail from the last two days” “ Art is not a mathematical solution” “ Why not?”“ Even Dymphe” “ I am glad to be here”“ This is smoked pigs ear”

Just some of quotes which pop into my mind at the moment.

This was my second visit to Vilnius and being with the people from ISM. Last night I explained at din-ner, I have fallen in love with Lithuania. Why?

I feel connected and intrigued to their spirit and the power within to create a better life for themselves..

Lithuania is unspoiled in so many ways. We can learn from this and so can our clients. I would like to continue with this process and strive to go beyond the obvious..

I was deeply impressed with their passion for culture, religion, faith, language, identify (for the self and nation), proudness of their history, tradition, poetry, art... MUSIC!. Sometimes Rima would explain their ways of thinking through translated proverbs and physical expressions. Which helped me to get “unstuck” and created movement..

I laughed a lot with everybody in English, Dutch and in gesture. It was fun. I learned more about both institutes and colleagues through the exercises in the programs. The red line which links us all as the Baak was fluent and clear. ISM saw and felt that too. Often during yesterday conversation, our ISM counter parts became physical in their listening, sitting on the edge of their chair, taking it in, learning, and comparing. Excited to hear a new construction which is successful and completely non- standard. As they are 10 and we are 65 years in practice, I saw them with the desire in their eyes to create their our future.

As we explored the similarities and differences, I feel comfortable with the idea of how we can compli-ment each other and bring the mood/mindset of “the fast changing economy” (a la Henk in Winterpeiv) to Baak’s internal and external audiences. In addition, let’s explore & exchange methodologies, mate-rials and talents. This is the beginning of our relationship, so let’s explore.

As professionals we experienced expressing ourselves, on a deep level, in a second language. (Which I enjoyed seeing you all being graceful and natural in your use of English). We experienced in the painting session; where local language was translated for the group. For some this worked and for other not. But so important to know and share with our Baak colleagues. This addresses “comfort zone” and practical/ professional issues.

From action perspective, I would like to explore and research some of the EU funding perspectives. From the ISM side, they have an experienced person who I can interact. Is this worth it? Let me know.

I am looking forward to January having them be with us. I so enjoyed you all, rolling down the river, being ourselves, a lot of laughs and sharing privately and professionally. Thank you!

Kristin Jooss-Amadon

Second time. The second time that I travelled to Vilnius, and that I was a guest of Nerijus and Rima and the other people of ISM. The first time was in November last year when attending the European Federation of Management Conference where ISM hosted the conference. It was there where I met Nerijus for the first time and while drinking and eating we explored and realized that there were simi-larities in the way we (read ISM and the Baak) think about and receive learning, executive education and management education.

This time, the second time was to explore further and to experience how ISM facilitates learning, which kind of formats do they use and are the similarities greater then our differences? We travelled - 10 Baakers on Sunday the 23rd of August to Lithuania to exchange. We exchanged beliefs, para-digms, values and professional views. The 10 Baakers were a representation of all the different ele-ments in our organisation. Marketing, Incompany, Client desk, art, Open, Coaching, executive Board, creating as many different views as we could, so the match with de Baak could be experienced from different angles.

Sunday evening the program started with an ice breaking activity - an activity that focused on what binds us, from individual perspective “I” to the “we”. What are the drivers that make you do your works as a professional, as a human? Why do you do the things you do, we were asked, what kind of emo-tions do you feel drawn to? It was good to experience once more what we, what I ask my participants when I train and facilitate let our participants experience.

MondayWe discuss taking responsibility and the development of Leadership, European leadership - What is the way forward? We engage during our discussions on leadership, management education, take responsibility and understanding the impact of one’s actions in shaping the future. I realize listening to our discussions that it is this activity that draws out our similarities and differences - Great! While this is still resonating in my mind at on paper (made a lot of notes!) we start with our next session. A captain comes in, who tells us about his lessons on leadership, sailing around the world, realizing an dream from an idea and how powerful unity can be. Great story, being a learning professional I start looking at possibilities of incorporating his story in one of my programs. Tweaking the format a bit in my mind, little less telling, maybe using a couple of exercises, questions....

TuesdayReflections on Monday and we missed Harry and Henk (they had to fly off early morning). What are the lessons that we take from the day before? Asta takes us into research and the way it is done at ISM. This session sparks a lively discussion / debate on why asking money for research is good but moreover it also sparks a discussion about the business model of the Baak, how we are organised, what kind of people work at de Baak. More questions and each and everyone of us joins the discus-sion and explains passionately why de Baak is a special organisation and what the unique selling points are. After many questions Ben, Leva, Rima, Ugnius and Rima begin to understand the unusual way that we function as an organisation. We take up our ideas of cooperation that we started on Mon-day and make them concrete. Then it is time for painting. I meet an remarkable man, who although he does not speak English, still is able to make himself clear (thanks Edmundas). Margarita translates everything. He talks about the meaning of colours, the psychology and energy. Before I know it I am sketching and standing at a painting talking to Dymphe, Andreas and Jan creating our own painting – Ulysses. Again a different way of learning and incorporating soul and mind (a different part of the way we humans learn is addressed).

WednesdayEarly morning we get up. Coffee, cookies at the coffee bar on the corner (very good frappacino’s) and emerge ourselves in a city quiz. We are have lost Kristin and Valentijn (as they had to fly off early morning). We explore the city and need to come up with a sentence on leadership - the streets of rebellion we, Jan, comes up with. We have started something and by our dedication and simply doing we can let it grow. So let’s do so!!

Martijn Seijsener

Sunday afternoon: a sunny walk through the old part of Vilnius. Lots of beautiful churches, busy streets, tourists. I visited seven churches during my walk One just in front of a building that later turned out to be the ISM university. Very impressed by the beauty of the city. Excited about being there.

The meeting that evening gave a lot of new impressions. About people, passions, learning, images, colours, love. We started with ‘shaping the future’ and we would continue doing that for the next three days. During the night: lightning, thunder and heavy rain.

The next morning we talked about management education, about the necessary components in a beautiful, colourful form that looked like a beehive. We discovered the similarities and the differences between the two institutions and were all in agreement about the necessity of going from ‘I’ to ‘We’. I found it very inspiring to see that, although our backgrounds and culture are different, we share a lot of the same values and approaches. After that came the story of captain Paulus, an impressive tale how to get from an idea to a realisation. What do you need to give form to an idea, how to create enthusiasm, to unite the forces of every individual, to organise every aspect and bring an immense enterprise to a successful completion. All that we could put in practice when we went kayaking down the river that afternoon. I felt anxious about it before the start but enjoyed it very much during the boat trip. A lesson in staying calm when the situation gets tense, trust your buddy in the boat ( thanks Leva) , getting totally wet does not matter as long as your boat keeps floating. And take time even when things get hectic to look at the surroundings and the beauty around you. We ended with diner at a restaurant with a beautiful view of the old city, quiet and peaceful after all the excitement. I learned a little bit that night about the history of Lithuania, what happened after the second world war till today. Made me quiet and thoughtful.

Tuesday morning felt like there was a different energy after all we went through the day before. Asta did a clear presentation about research and the necessity ( and difficulty) of knowledge gathering and sharing. It gave a opportunity to share insights and to exchange inspiring ideas. All we gathered con-tributed to a further ‘shaping of the future’. We moved to a different part of the building for the team painting session with Edmundas. It helped to ‘empty’ my head and to work in a different way than the hours before. Organ music lead to dinner in the cave and the discovery of the national cuisine. A lot of talks over beer and potato dishes. Again, a great evening. But also my last which led to the sad mo-ment of having to say goodbye.

The next morning came very quick because Kristin and I had to leave for the airport at 5.15 am. Sit-ting at a very quiet airport I thought about the wonderful talks, the sharing of visions and the connec-tions we all made. It was a wonderful meeting of minds and I felt very grateful to everybody at ISM that made this possible.

Valentijn Ouwens

Did you know that Vilnius has 55 churches, each with their own uniqueness, colours, decorations, but with the same history

Sunday morning very early departure from Schiphol. Starbucks was the accidental meeting point be-tween Jelle, Jan and me. Later Martijn and Dymphe joined us. We were flying apart but together. As I was looking to the little screens above our heads I saw Europe moving underneath. My horizon shifts. Distance was measured in time and it felt therefore close by. Upon arrival we were warmly welcomed by Rima. De Baak team regrouped. Rima kicked our meet-ing of by not knowing each other we started of as colourful we could be. I even saw new insights of my own colleagues. Well done. I was intrigued by the rope and the knot… From shape the future to shape my future

The next day we enjoyed Paulius “The captain”. His story had many layers. It was about creating op-portunities, real leadership. (no king of the toilets), dynamics on a ship, only one leader however the crew were all qualified for the job. It was about choices, but also about following. Impressive is the proud feeling the Lithuanians have. The project around the national anthem made my flesh really creep. Wow. A very impactful idea. Starting small and grew global.

Margarita took over as captain and invited us to explore exchanging mutual chances. What stays in my mind was the use of our both our ‘boxes’ to serve clients. Not invent a new box. (Nerijus) But also the firm belief that opportunities are there to be found in the European connections. Via other parties, biddings, organizations, etc. (Harry). and just start. Such Henk did by inviting Rima to be an insight expert during WinterBaak. After that the Kayaking of course. Me and my boatman Ugnius did have ‘situations’ but used our minds, common senses and peddles to deal with them. Leadership came from behind. And as a thank you I sprinkled frequently water over him. But most of all we had fun! After changing our clothes I felt heroic. Yes we did!. More connecting and sharing stories during the meal. Impactful history of Lithu-ania.

The next morning Asta presented us her work on research and case studies in order to create an open accessible company brain. And it was a inspiring and mutual exchanging of ideas on if and how to form such an intelligence. After lunch we went on the practical side to make joint efforts together. I chose (joint) customers with Ugnius and Leva. Jemina joined us later. We will cross check our top 50 list to start with. After lunch we were allowed to enter the art room of Edmundo. A very passionate artist who embod-ied the paining experience in the European methology or science of colours’ perception. It felt like doing the U turn theory for me. I walked the path of generative listening I guess. It is very exciting to hear words you do not understand and in the same time come into a flow with the dialogue to really hear and listen the meaning. I consider this a very precious and unique experience. We finished the day enjoying a real authentic Lithuanian meal. It makes one humble to see what you can all do with a potato. I must say.

The next morning we were sent out on a photo puzzle in the city of Vilnius. It was fun to enjoy the walking and living the city in such a way. After that wrapping up and last lunch together. Kisses good-bye, I have new friends in Europe and a dear ‘old one’ namely Andreas. Rima, Nerijus, Margarita, Leva, Ugnius, Kristina, Asta, Benas, Aurimas, Jemina Paulius and Edmundo thank you all for your time, attention and spirit.

In advance I really had to take hurdles, plan everything and I was already on the move in my driving zone. I took this as an opportunity to experience my own journey of development. It gave me joy and deeper insights about me, group dynamics and what I can do to add value. So thank you Harry for inviting me. Being abroad broadened my horizons in many aspects but also my words to describe the pressure cooker environment to potential participants. Thank you Kristen, Dymphe, Andreas, Henk, Harry, Jan, Jelle, Valentijn and Martijn for your company and support. It was a pleasure having you in my journey.

Patty Boomstra

ESSAY ON LITHUANIAN LITERATURE

less and less am I able to answer the question of why I writesometimes it seems: in order to writesometimes I see the lightless and less the interest in poetry (not to mention prose)sometimes it seems: I read in order to forgetsometimes it seems: I am behind this involuntary play of wordsmore and more I force myself to be with lithuanian poetssometimes the poets are hearty and tortuous like in russian poetrysometimes drunken and aggressive like in rapsometimes barely there like memore modestly I think about lithuanian poetrysometimes I remember only a few names: vytautas alfonsas sigitassometimes I say: poetry can teach art not lifesometimes I ask: does poetry care for life like celansometimes I am silent: this ignorance will bring trouble upon me

Eugenijus AlišankaFrom: Dievakaulis, Publisher: Vaga, Vilnius, 1999Translation: Kerry Shawn KeysPublisher: Poetry International, 2010