A heatwave in Lithuania

One week ago I arrived in Kaunas to attend a summer course in Lithuanian Language and Culture and I must say it's horrible in Kaunas at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I'm only talking about the weather now. They say that in Lithuania they have only two hot days per year. Well, so far I have experienced seven of them. There is a massive heatwave going on here, with temperatures rising to 32 degrees outside, not to mention the temperatures inside the dorm I am staying in. And since we are in Lithuania, normally a cold country, there is no airconditioning in my dormitory.

So how am I doing here? Next to learning the Lithuanian language, I am keeping myself busy with meeting Lithuanian friends, having a good time my fellow students and visiting touristic places. This weekend I was in Trakai and Vilnius. Last year I was exactly at the same places, but at that time it was raining. This year, in the sun, Trakai is even more beautiful:

I heard a surprisingly large amount of Dutch tourists there as well and in the plane to Kaunas I was also sitting next to a Dutch family that was going on holiday to Lithuanian coast. It seems that this wonderful country is becoming more and more of a tourist destination, which brings joy to my Lithuania-loving heart.

As mentioned above, I'm also meeting up with Lithuanian friends. This is not as easy as it sounds like though. I have found out that Lithuanians don't really like to plan anything. Where in Holland it's sometimes common to plan a meetup between friends one month in advance, here it's very rare that a meetup is planned more than two days in advance. When you ask a Lithuanian to meet you somwhere in the next week, the answer will most likely be: "I don't know what I'll be doing yet around that time. Just ask me later, ok?"
I wonder where this reluctance to plan anything is coming from. Is it a remainder from the Soviet times, where people didn't need to plan anything because the government would plan everything for them? Or is there some other reason for this, well-hidden in the heart of Lithuanian culture? I must say that I don't know yet. I guess first I will need to meet more Lithuanians and question them about their behaviour.

Ok, so it's way too warm here to sit inside and write a blog. Now I will go and prepare myself for a trip to a lake near Kaunas, where I will hopefully be able to cool down a little bit. See you! :)