This summer, students of Lithuanian origin from the US and Canada spent five weeks in Lithuanian companies, as well as medical, scientific, and state institutions under a special internship programme. Liepa Januškaitė is one of this year’s participants of the Lithuanian Expatriate Student Internship Scheme (LISS). Her dad moved to the US in 1994.
Like many, he planned to earn some money and return to Lithuanian. But his wife, Liepa’s mother, soon came to stay with him, and it just so happened that they stayed in the US, the young woman says. “My mother used to say that she never wanted to go to the US.
But she has been living here for more than 20 years. My brother and I were born in Chicago,” says the American Lithuanian. According to Liepa, her parents tried hard to keep the Lithuanian identity and language in the family.
Lithuanian was her first language, and she says she only learned English when her brother started primary school. “I went to a Lithuanian kindergarten, then to a Lithuanian school on Saturdays, and at home, we spoke only Lithuanian. From a very young age, we have celebrated Christmas Eve, Easter, St.
John’s Day, All Souls Day, all according to Lithuanian traditions,” Liepa shares. She is currently studying Spanish and Linguistics at New York University, is interested in creative writing, and is considering studying translation. The American Lithuanian says she heard about the opportunity to intern in Lithuania from her friends who had pre.