CENTRE PLUS NEWS No. 2, 2012Social issues

Upon arrival to a new country, many of us can suffer from cul-tural shock. It could happen not at once but a little bit later, when people face the deeper feelings and expectations that are difficult to identify and understand at the moment of arrival.

The cultural shock affects our thinking about ourselves and others and how we interact or deal with our emotions. Some researchers treat this state as normal and expected reaction to the process of adapting to cultural differences, the other describe it as a cultural tiredness, the shock of language and role, and spreading ambiguity. There are four stages of cultural shock: the first is a “honey moon” stage – admira-tion of new culture, enthusiasm and understanding of local people as friendly; the second stage is a cri-sis – the sense of inadequacy, frus-tration, anxiety and anger caused by the differences of language, concepts, values, signs and sym-bols; the third stage is a recovery – resolving the crisis by learning the language and culture of a host country; and the last fourth stage is an adaptation – the acceptance of new culture experiencing occa-sional anxiety and tension states. The most newcomers go through a few cultural shock stages and only the form of experience differs. It depends on the purpose of arrival. Therefore, it is important to discuss how the cultural shock looks like in everyday life. Symptoms can be different: insomnia, disorientation, inability to concentrate, feeling of

helplessness, lack of confidence and dependence on countrymen who live in the country for a long time. Attacks of anger, when facing small problems or obstacles, reluc-tance or refusal to learn the host country`s language, constant fear to be cheated, robbed, wounded or hurt. If these symptoms appear, it is likely that a person could suffer from cultural shock.

Below we are giving strategies that can ease the stress caused by culture shock.

First of all be aware that the feel-ings you are experiencing are nor-mal. What begins as a breathtak-ing adventure sometimes can turn into uncomfortable period of life. Be aware that there are many ways to endure and after some time in a new community you will find new possibilities. Be patient and do not press on yourself. Find your ethnic community in Lithuania. Commu-nication with members of it will

give you more strength and help to survive difficult times. The infor-mation about different communi-ties can be found at: http://www.tbn.lt .

Prepare in advance. Do the thor-ough analysis of the future envi-ronment. What are the customs and language of country? Where are schools, shops and, what is en-tertainment industry. What is the weather like? How do people com-municate? Do the special legal, medical or tax documents are need-ed? Do the expectations for work differ? Will there be something for other family members to do? Con-sulates, embassies, travel agents, local people and also the staff of Centre PLUS are able to provide a lot of useful information. Some information useful for newcomers in Lithuania can be found at: http://www.lietuva.lt/en; http://www.l-pack.eu; http://www.infomigracija.lt .

ALWAYS THERE IS A SOLUTION...

Centre Plius News No.1, 20122

Make positive relationships in the new environment. Take time to strengthen the relations you already have and create the new. Do not be afraid to say “I do not understand” or “I need help”. Most people do not refuse to help others especially if they know what help is needed. Having a strong and loving com-munity of positive people around yourself will be easier to adapt.

Avoid a negative approach. Be positive with yourself and those around you. Avoid the people who suck your energies. If your inner

world is positive, the experience will be positive.

Look ahead and never back. People very often like to remem-ber “the good old times”. It is good to remember, to view old photos, to scan diaries, but if you want to soothe the difficulties of moving to another country, then think about the future and its possibilities.

Set the goals for yourself. Be-fore moving to another country set the goals. They should be clear, re-alistic and joyful. Write them down

and you could look at them when-ever you want. Tell someone about that and he will be able to support and remind you of your intentions. On arrival set the new goals – for a day, for a week and for a month. They will encourage you to go ahead.

We hope that these tips will help you to move forward and to combat obstacles caused by cultural shock. Above all, remember that always there is a solution even in the most difficult situations.

Migration

Everyone has possibility to choose the way of his life – traditional or exotic, quiet or adventurous.

Traveling teaches us wisdom, tolerance and respect for each other and different cultures. It is natural that people arriving to a foreign country face some problems and

WELCOME TO THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA !

often turn to various state bodies to obtain expert help and advice. How and what support they receive forms the country`s image in the contexts of other countries and helps to strengthen tolerance and openness to diversity. To ensure the smooth process of living in our country, we introduce some specific aspects of legal status of aliens in

the Republic of Lithuania and the cultural peculiarities of the country. Entry and exit, temporary or permanent residence, granting of asylum, integration and naturalization procedure establish the Law on Legal Status of Aliens of the Republic of Lithuania. The provisions of this Law have been harmonized with the provisions

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Centre Plius News No.1, 2012 3

of the European Union legal acts. Aliens enjoy the rights and freedoms provided by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, international agreements, laws of the Republic of Lithuania and legal acts of the European Union which must be observed.

The alien who is non-EU citizen and has a valid Schengen visa may enter into the territory of the Republic of Lithuania and stay for the time dated, but not longer than 3 months in half a year. Foreigners if they possess a valid travel document could obtain a Schengen visa in the embassies of Lithuania abroad. A foreigner who has right to travel without a visa also could enter and stay not longer than 3 months from the first day of entry to Lithuania or another Schengen state.

For an alien, whose visa expired the period of stay in the Republic of Lithuania, it may be extended for only of specific reasons which emerged after the issue of the visa: professional activities; personal reason which the alien could not have foreseen and could not avoid its emergence during his stay; acute illness, any other health disorder or condition of organism and force majore.

An alien`s stay in Lithuania after the expiry of the visa is illegal. In such cases an office of police or other law enforcement institution shall have the right to detain the alien until his legal status in the Republic of Lithuania would be decided. In most cases the decision obliging the alien to depart from the Schengen area is taken. If the alien

fails to comply with the requirement obliging him to depart within a set time period, he can be arrested and deported from the country. Also an alien may be refused entry to Schengen area for some time.For the purpose of establishing identity an officer of police or other law enforcement institution shall have the right to ask for a passport, travel tickets, residence permit and other documents, which show the legal status of the alien.

The way you behave in a foreign country determines the attitudes of local people towards you. Therefore, before leaving for another country make sure that you have valid travel documents, visas, health and life insurance and find something about the culture and traditions of the country you are traveling to.

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When two or more cultures meet inevitably begin their inter-action, cultural and psychological changes, which are often referred to as acculturation.

This is a very broad term which includes the variety of changes that take place, when different cultural groups try to adapt to each other. With regard to the migration situa-tion these changes or acculturation affect both, the new arrivals and representatives of prevailing cul-ture of the country. Unfortunately, very often this process of reciprocal changes is very difficult and slow or sometimes turns into open hos-tility. Common cases when the rep-resentatives of some cultural major-ity downgrade the minority groups living in the same society. Also very often small cultural groups, for example, ethnic minorities are unfriendly to cultural majority or other minorities. So the question is – what hinders from adoption of other ethnic groups and cultural di-versity in general?

Treating from psychological side of groups, we could say, that the main obstacles are the peculiari-ties of simple social perceptions. As reported by social psychology stud-ies the group which a person identi-fies with himself according to some relevant sign (e.g. ethnicity, class, race, gender, etc.), he treats more favorable than the other socio-cul-tural groups. In addition there is a tendency to find more similarities than differences in the own group. Simultaneously other groups tend to be seen as very different and the differences are treated of the great-est importance. So if a person iden-tifies solely with his ethnic group and only this group perceives as his own, it is obviously that the repre-sentatives of other ethnic groups

are “strangers” and “very different” and look less favorably.

Individual psychological factors which can promote and maintain negative attitudes towards other cultural groups are also important. One of the main factors is the mo-tive of favorable self-assessment. Expressing a negative opinion of entire social groups, assigning them inferior abilities, primitive culture and lower morality, a person can see himself as a better and more valued individual. Such the way to achieve a more positive self-worth does not cost much effort, it is only enough to see others as “lazy”, “un-cultured”, “criminals” and “stu-pid”. From that viewpoint negative social stereotypes are interpreted as compensatory which allow to raise the self-assessment easily at the ex-pense of other groups. In particular, the need to look for better ways of easily accessible self-image in-creases, when there is a threat to the favorable self-evaluation (e.g. loss of status or possibilities, find-ing themselves in a lower socio-economic class).

What can help to reduce these psychological effects, which of-ten appear instinctive and hinder

the smooth functioning of the mu-tual acculturation process? First of all, the direct contact with repre-sentatives of other social-cultural groups is one of the main factors that reduce unfriendly attitudes and frightening stereotypes about other groups. Where there is more diver-sity, there is less negative stereo-types. For example, it was noticed that Lithuanian students from ethni-cally mixed schools were more tol-erant to foreigners, other religions and races, than students from ethni-cally homogeneous schools.

It is also important to which group a person identifies himself and who makes the group. When the group is different and includes vari-ous cultural and social categories, it is much easier to find cultural simi-larities rather than differences and to accept cultural diversity. As psy-chological studies show, foreign-ers who come for living in another country adapt better, when they treat the citizens of the country as their own group, it means they have so-called national identity, and also identifies themselves with their eth-nic group and maintain the cultural identity.

WHAT PREVENTS FROM ACCEPTING THE VARIETY OF CULTURES?

Psychological issues

Centre Plius News No.2, 2012 5

WHAT PREVENTS FROM ACCEPTING THE VARIETY OF CULTURES?

Lithuania, like other European countries, is a multicultural country. For centuries it is inhabited by people of different ethnic backgrounds, different cultures, religions and customs.

How many ethnic groups live

in Lithuania and where are they located?

According to statistics Lithuania is inhabited by people of more than 115 different ethnic backgrounds. The ethnic groups are very different in their size: from a few hundred of thousand, such as Russians and Poles, to a few hundreds or even tens, such as Armenians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Hungarians and others. The most people of non-Lithuanian background live in the east and southeast regions of Lithuania, Vilnius, Klaipėda, Visaginas and other major cities. One of the unique features of East Lithuania`s population is a very different ethnic background. More than a half of people who live in the East of Lithuania are Lithuanians and one-third of them are Poles. Also there live one-fifth of all Byelorussian and one-tenth of all Russian people. Poles are absolute majority in Šalčininkai and Vilnius districts. Many Russians live in Zarasai, Švenčionys, Trakai but they do not compose absolute majority there.

The ethnic composition of Lithuania`s population is shown in the table below:

Residents of Lithuania according to their ethnic background

1. Lithuanians (2.907.293 pers. = 83,4476 %)

2. Poles (234.989 pers. = 6,7448 %)

3. Russians (219.789 pers. = 6,3086)

4. Byelorussians (42.866 pers. = 1,2304 %)

5. Ukrainians (22.488 pers. = 0,6455 %)

6. Jews (4.007 pers. = 0,1150 %)

7. Germans (3.243 pers. = 0,0931 %)

8.Tartars (3.235 pers.=0,0928 %)9.Latvians(2.955pers.=0,0848

%)10.Romany(2.571pers.=0,0738

%)11.Armenians(1.477pers .=

0,0424 %)Other (6.138 pers. = 0,1762 %)Unnamed their ethnic background

(32.921 pers. = 0,9449 %).Source: Population census data,

2001. Department of Statistics.Cultural CentersLaw on Associations of the

Republic of Lithuania and Law on Charity and Sponsorship of the Republic of Lithuania guarantee the right for persons belonging to national minorities to form voluntary societies and get support. According to the Law on Associations of the Republic of Lithuania an association may be established on the initiative of legal and natural persons who have reached 18 years of age. The association shall consist of at least 3 numbers. The state provides support for national minority organizations on different projects basis. The special support for national minorities is provided through the fund of Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania which promotes initiatives of non-governmental organizations.

There are over 100 national minority amateurish bands of different genres in Lithuania. The House of National Communities (www.tbn.lt) provides cultural and educational activities in Vilnius. The House of Polish Culture in Vilnius (www.polskidom.lt) opened its door

in 2001 and hosted various Polish public organizations and amateurish bands. Similar Polish culture centers also operate in Eišiškės and Druskininkai. The unique Center of National Cultures operates in Visaginas (www.visaginokultura.lt) where in cultural and educational activities are involved Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Poles, Tartars, Armenians, Germans and others belonging to different ethnic communities. The Cultural Center of Ethnic Minorities operates in Alytus, also The Club of Ethnic Minorities “Mozaika” operates in Marijampolė. Russian Cultural Centers operate in Vilnius, Kaunas and Šiauliai. Kaunas Cultural Centre of Various Nations (www.minority.lt) was established in 2004 and The Center of Ethnic Cultures in Klaipėda opened the door in 2012.

A new Roma Community Centre (www.roma.lt) was built and opened in September, 2001 in Kirtimai, Vilnius. It is engaged in different educational, cultural activities and community events.

Where it is possible to access the cultural heritage of ethnic minorities in Lithuania?

You are welcome to visit Alexander Pushkin Literary Museum, A. Mickiewicz Memorial Museum, Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum and V. Sirokomplė Museum-Library in Vilnius; Czeslaw Milosz Cultural Centre and Ethnic Minorities Cultural Centre, which was established in former synagogue, in Kėdainiai; Simon Dach Haus in Klaipėda; Thomas Mann Cultural Centre in Nida; H. Sudermann Memorial Museum in Šilutė, The Karaite Ethnograpihic Exhibition in Trakai.

Law issuesETHNIC MINORITIES IN LITHUANIA

Centre Plius News No.2, 20126

Foreigners who visit Lithua-nia and especially Vilnius for the first time primarily take notice of many churches in Lithuania.

Looking at all these ancient buildings it is very difficult to be-lieve that the Lithuanians were the last pagans in Europe and two ma-jor currents of Christianity – Ro-man Catholic Church and the Or-thodox – fought very hard for the conversion of the Lithuanians into the “real” faith. Roman Catholics won the battle for Lithuanian pa-gan souls in 1387 and the religious values propagated by them were deeply indoctrinated and transmit-ted from one generation to the next. Even today, when Europe is expe-riencing post-religious feelings, about 79 percent of Lithuania`s in-habitants consider themselves Ro-

man Catholics, despite the fact that the majority of them visit a church only on major holidays. Maybe it is difficult nowadays for the Lithuani-ans to find some time and to pray on every Sunday, but the fact that number of churches has increased over the past years (705 churches in 2004 to 732 churches in 2011) demonstrates the need to extend the traditions and also it shows that Catholic Church still has influence on public life and state.

Do not worry, if you are not a catholic. According to the Consti-tution of the Republic of Lithuania Article 43 Lithuania is a secular state and it recognizes the churches and religious organizations that are traditional in Lithuania, whereas other churches and religious or-ganizations are recognized, when provided that they have support in

society and their teaching and prac-tices are not in conflict with the law and public morals. Religious groups which are traditional nowa-days in Lithuania: Roman Catho-lics, Evangelical Lutherans, Evan-gelical Reformers, Evangelical Baptists, Evangelical Methodists, the Orthodox Church, Old Believ-ers, Suuni Muslims, Jews, Karaites and Greek Catholics.

Only just 4,1 percent of Lithuania`s inhabitants consider themselves members of the Ortho-dox Church, but it is the second largest community in Lithuania which epicenter is near the border with Belarus. Old Believers are in the third place and they, as well as the other religious communities, do not even present 1 percent. Despite the large percentage difference be-tween the two Christian religions

Cultural issuesA LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE RELIGION AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR LITHUANIA

Centre Plius News No.2, 2012 7

it is hard to see the difference be-tween them in public and particu-larly political life. Usually the terms “Christians” and “Christianity” are used to both of them.

The Muslim community in Lith-uania, if compared to Western Eu-rope is very low (about 0,1 percent) but it has a long history. In the 14th century the Grand Duchy of Lithu-ania extended its territory from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and some of Crimean Tartars came and settled down in Vilnius and around it. These people preserved their re-ligion for centuries. Mainly Mus-lims live in Vilnius and around it, also in Kaunas and Alytus.

The Jewish community is less than the Muslim. Jews settled down in Lithuania about the 12th century, when they were forced to leave Western and Central Europe and were looking for a shelter from danger. Lithuanian noblemen gave them a warm welcome because they did not care about the religion

but only about the taxies paid by the new citizens and their contribu-tion to the economic growth of the country.

At the first sign Lithuania seems to be a conservative Catholic coun-try, but since ancient times various religions had found the place here and in the main country`s document

OtherCULTUREWhen I have started to think what to write about the culture, I didn’t know from where to start – my culture or Lithuanian cul-ture, both very different – the real Clash of Civilizations.

I was thinking about the adapta-tion in a new society and how to accept the others with their new habits and traditions and believes, which will lead in the end to the full integration inside the society that is not an easy matter. As for an Arabian Muslim living in Lithu-ania it wasn’t easy for me in the beginning. The first thing I asked about when I had arrived to Lithu-ania, where the mosque was. And after searching and asking I found the mosque in Kaunas, the only

mosque all over Lithuania. And later I paid it a visit and there I was told that there is a mosque in Vil-nius too – if we can call it a mosque – because I was told that it is open only on Fridays pray. I have started with talking about religion matter because always, when foreigner ar-rives he feels different, and he tries to find something in common with the people around him and the first and most easy thing is religion in which he can find escape from his loneliness, find people common with him in religion at church, mosque or temple and from there he can start to make friends and get the information he needs. And he does not feel a stranger for a while. Now while we speak about culture we need to know the most impor-

tant festivals and holydays in Lith-uania which I enjoyed regarding the differences in culture, religion or believe. For example, Christmas is the event I never miss and always take photo near the Christmas tree which every year stands near the Cathedral. Also Easter and going to the countryside as most of Lithuani-ans do. And the Capital Days Fes-tival and Street Music Day, really you can enrich your soul with those nice occasions every year. The best things I have noticed were on the Street Music Day and the last day of the Capital Days Festival, when there were shows from different countries. On Street Music Day I saw one talented drum player, his name was Samir and he was from Egypt. He was playing in the mid-

– the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania – it is emphasized that each human being has the right to freely choose any religion or belief and, either alone or with others, in private or in public, to profess his religion, to perform religious prac-tices, to practice and teach his be-lief.

Centre Plius News No.2, 20128

The newspaper is published, implementing the project “Consultation and information centre PLUS” according the European Fund for the

Integration of third-country nationals, annual Programme 2011

CENTRE PLUS · A.Smetonos street 5, room No 302 · VilniusTel.: 85 261 74 82 / 8 605 77 245

Email: centre@tja.lt · www.facebook.com (search for: Centre Plus)Working days: Monday to Friday · Opening hours: 11:30 to 15:30

and 16:30 to 20:30

dle of Gediminas street and Lithu-anian belly dancers were dancing on his music, they were dancing Egyptian Belly dance. It was re-ally an amazing example how the music can make the nations come closer and milt the differences be-tween cultures, and also the num-ber of audience who was watching the show was really huge over 200 people standing and enjoying the show and most of them were Lithu-anians who came without invitation just the music attracted their atten-tion and the curiosity, of course. Also it was amazing under the tent of Centre PLUS on the Capital

Days Festival, when the African drums started to play and the Lithu-anian gathered around the tent to listen and to dance on the music and the African girls who were making the RASTA (African hair style) for free for the girls who came for the both, to watch foreigners, and to find, what and how are they do-ing in their country. We as foreign-ers, of course, get inspired with the Lithuanian culture because we live here, but we also get inspired with Lithuanians as well, like one of the artists Margarita. She is an oil painter and our culture gave her a big push and inspiration to draw the

most pretty paintings and as I have seen she still has a big storage of inspiration and she will take it out with her painting brush. Returning back to the difference of cultures, a funny story happened to me, when I arrived here. In Arabian countries we have one nice habit: when we shake hands with an older person after shak-ing hand we put it over our chest to show our respect to this person. Once happened to me that I met one old woman here in Lithuania and I did the same thing, I put my hand over my chest after shaking hands with her. The woman thought that her hand was dirty and I was clean-ing my hand in my clothes after I shake hands with her. Of course it was an embarrassing situation for her, when she thought like this, and she said to me “my hands are clean” and I had to explain her, what this sign meant. Later on I decided not to do this again, because people would not ask me what this meant and everyone could understand it by his own way.The point is, when you leave your country you can’t take all your stuff in your bags, you have to leave some. This goes also on your hab-its and traditions; some you should leave back in your country.