Matthew Jellick

Hues dancing between the trees as silhouettes appear to be figments of black against a firecracker sky. The clouds play with spatial depth as they seemingly remain still, moving even slower towards nighttime than the setting sun. This theater takes place along the Gulf of Riga, the path from Latvia to Estonia, with visions of the absurd playing tricks. The light lasts forever, seemingly never making that final commitment to sleep, not because it doesn’t want to, but because, in this part of the world, it doesn’t have to.

Life moves at a slower pace here, the yellows, reds and pinks describing the feelings of joy which emanate from the smiles on the people walking along. The Baltics, from Vilnius to Tallinn, were a mystery to me before visiting, an unknown amongst the more relative western Europe. Yet each time I come, these countries steal a piece of my soul, while filling my mind, reminding me that often it is the unknown which exposes the most profound, that silent student who never speaks, but when she does, you better pay attention.

On each of these trips, colleagues have been transformed into friends, sharing not only stories, but a mutual respect for this place we find ourselves working in. On behalf of our university, we are recruiting students to study in China, with the collective aim of expanding worldviews while strengthening the educational directives of everyone involved. Education is global and as an American teaching in China on a business trip in Lithuania, I can attest to this.

Yet the backdrop continues to astound: a sky, even without a photographic filter, turning purple as dusk transitions to twilight transitions to dreams.

There is beauty found where the sky meets the sea which these words here will fail but must be shared anyway. It encourages reflection of self and interest in others which, ultimately, is what we are all trying to do. Far from a classroom lecture, still, lessons are being taught along this path, a fleeting moment which hopefully my mind can absorb and keep for a lifetime.