Labukas!It is most 6 months ago since I took alone the bus in Amsterdam to Vilnius for, what I would call it’ ‘My little adventure’.
Let’s start from the beginning. My name is Roy, I am from The Netherlands. I am 19 years old and study Tourism Management at INHolland University in Amsterdam. For my work placement (internship) in my 3’rd year I had go and find a work placement for 5 months in a tourism company. I chose to do it in Lithuania for ‘Lithuanian Tours’.
Although I had never been in Lithuania, but for already 3 years I am dreaming of visiting Lithuania, so this was a great opportunity for me to come here. I think the most asked question in the last year would be: ‘Why Lithuania?’ A really concrete answer I can not give, but it’s more like a feeling. There is something about this country & culture that attracts me so much. People from The Netherlands don’t really know Lithuania. They most probably know it’s a country somewhere the Eastern part of Europe, but don’t know if it’s still a part of Russia, or maybe it’s a country together with Estonia and Latvia, my impression was also that most of the people don’t even care about it.
My goal was also to promote this beautiful country to The Netherlands. After a long journey of 32 hours I finally arrived in Vilnius. I was surprised how it looked. The combination of the architecture of the past and new modern buildings was really impressive. The first month I signed up for a Lithuanian language course for beginners at Vilnius Pedagogical University. During this month I learned some basic words and sentences to not to get lost and get myself around in Vilnius. I also visited with them some of the most touristic places in Lithuania like Trakai, Grutas Parkas and Nida with them.
After this month I started working for Lithuanian tours as a student-sales manager. My tasks were as following: Research of Dutch market. Selling tours to the Baltic States; introduction letters; sales calls to product/area managers, news letters; preparation of special Low Season offers. Pricing of tour programs for Lithuanian Tours Sales Manual 2010: FIT and group packages in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Belarus and Kaliningrad region. Daily correspondence with Lithuanian Tours partners and suppliers: preparation of concrete tour programs, their calculation for groups and FIT for different markets (French, USA, Chinese, Belgian, etc). Daily bookings: reservation of hotels, transportation and guides services.
During my practice here in the company I have gained a lot of work experience which have broad my knowledge about this work field. In my spare time I have also visited the capital cities of Latvia and Estonia.
In November I went to Riga. Riga had a really nice and cosy atmosphere, the centre was quite cosmopolitan and the old town reminded me of the Belgian cities of Antwerp and Brussels.
For Tallinn I had higher expectations since the city is known for its modern image and a lot of people often compare it with a Scandinavian city, I don’t agree with that statement at all. The old town was very small but really beautiful medieval and I found the city centre well let’s say the least attractive from the Baltic capitals.
I have seen quite a lot from Lithuania, the cities I have visited are: Trakai, Aukštadvaris, Kaunas, Nida, Telšiai, Rusnė, Nida, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Anykščai, Biržai and Druskininkai. But the city I like the most is of course Vilnius! My worst memory of Vilnius was that they were checking tickets in the trolleybus and I forgot my student ID-card. I had to leave the bus alone and they took me to a small bus. I don’t think I have ever been so scared like that. No person who spoke English and I didn’t know what to do. Luckily everything ended well :).
I can not say what my most beautiful memory was because I have so many! Partying with my friends and exploring the country are surely among those. I would like to thank my colleagues for giving me the opportunity to work together with them and taking care of me these last 5 months. With tears in my eyes I will say goodbye to Lithuania, but I’m 100% sure that I soon will return.
Su Meilė,
Roy Ramlal
