Lithuania is great; on the other hand, ...

Ok. Since I don’t have as much time anymore, I’ll give you the abbreviated version of the witty-yet-tender, pulitzer-prize-worthy entry I wrote earlier and accidentally deleted.

My students have been working on conjunctive adverbs (therefore, in addition, nevertheless, etc.), and I asked them to write 5 sentences, one using the connector “on the other hand.” One student came up with this:

“He’s a great boss; on the other hand, he’s a brutal dictator.”

Ah, duplicity. Which leads me to the title of my post.

Lithuania is great; on the other hand…
1) I ordered fish-eel soup (my own fault), in which were drifting fins and long bits of bone.

2) Scott has come down with a feverish cold and been out sick for three days. Poor guy. He’s feeling better now, but I think his two jobs are putting a major strain on his natural resources. I tell him to consider cutting back his hours, but he is dedicated to both endeavors and won’t hear of it.

3) Because Scott was sick, I went grocery shopping alone and got stuck in the rain dragging 40 pounds of food and cleaning products 10 blocks home along the already-muddy sidewalk. (This is actually a valuable lesson which also explains why people go shopping every day here, or at least every couple of days.)

4) Anyone who is reading this is most likely not here.

Yes, Lithuania is the experience of a lifetime, and we haven't once regretted our decision to come here. Still, sometimes even the shadows move differently across my ceiling at night, and, although I have propped up my chin with an unbreakable stick, I miss all of you. I miss my home.