Estonia, land of mysteries

The view from the tower
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Okay,  so I visited many different places in Estonia so I've decided to seperate my blog into three parts according to the places I visited.  This first blog is for Kose,  a little town where we stayed as exchange students in Estonian host families.

Thursday,  I was really very excited to go but we still had school in morning.  So I went to school with all my luggage (as did most of the students).  I actually didn't bring much so it didn't really matter.  All during our morning classes I could tell that the students were really excited too because they weren't listening to a word the teacher was saying.  Anyhow,  at one we headed towards the bus and left for Helsinki.  The trip was quite long but not boring.  My friends and I played cards (I noticed how useful it is to learn the language escpecially the numbers because you have to think quickly).  We also ate lots of candy and so we were all full of energy when we got to the harbour in Helsinki.  Alot of people travel between Finland and Estonia. It is estimated that about 5 million Finns visit Estonia every year which is,  lets see,  the WHOLE of the Finnish poplation.  This is because things used to be much cheaper in Estonia and booze still is much cheaper.  On our way back we certainly noticed the increased number of drunk people of the boat as well as the extra boxes people had to put in lockers.  SO there were lots of people at the harbour and I kind of felt like I was back at the airport.  Our ferry was called the Baltic Princess (I know) and it was pink.  It left at about 17.30 so we boarded at about 17.00 and we had something to eat.  It was ridiculously expensive and the food was quite bad to an unreasonable level.  I had a sub that was the equivalent of a chunk of dried bread a slice of cheese and a piece of red pepper.  It cost me 6€.  Ridiculous.  Afterward,  I had hoped we would spend most of our time out on deck because the sea is such a beautiful thing that I don't get to see very often but,  my friends were all very keen on going to the supermarket and other shops inside the ship.  Since I also wanted to make this trip an opportunity to get to know my friends a little better,  I went with them.  Later we spent a few minutes on deck and it was super windy so we took pictures.  It was alot of fun and the sea was very beautiful and a little tempermental.  It was slightly stormy and,  despite the size of the ship,  we needed good sealegs to keep our balance inside.  For the rest of teh two hours we played cards again.  It was quite pleasant.  At about 19.00 we started seeing lights far away (it was very dark by this time) - Tallinn!

Beautifl view of Kose
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At 19.30 we were pff the ship and on our way to Kose.  It was dark like I said so I couldn't see much outside.  However,  I coul tell that there was a little more open space here then in Finland.  I also noticed a particular smell which was sort of salty because of the sea.

It was on the bus that I started feeling a little at an advantage from the other students - they were very worried about their host families.  The trip was arranged so that most people would be in paires so there would be two people per host family.  However,  some had to be alone,  myself for example.  Though,  it did not bother me so much because I had gone through the experience once.  It was odd to see everybody as an exchange students,  even if its not for a whole year,  they now sort of get the idea.   Its not always a piece of cake being an exchange student - especially when it comes to host families.  Little things like forgetting to wipe your shoes on the doormat before you enter seem to be blown out of proportion.  Its important to know a little about the culture for example - you donät want to walk into  your Estonian host family's house with a "I love the Soviet Union" T-shirt.  I think even those popular Che Guevara shirts would be a little awkward.  But its all about how much you can observe and how flexible you are to trying new things aswell as to criticism.  Anyway,  as I told my friend who was particularly uncomfortable with the idea - they want you to like your experience so there's nothing to be afraid of.  Being wary and prudent is wise,  but not afraid.

Something you don't see every day
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So we arrived at about 20.30 in Kose,  the trip from Tallinn took about 40 minutes.  There we met our host families.   I had a host brother,  Villu,  who goes to the same school we attended during our time there.  When my name was called,  I went up to him shook his hand and introduced myself.  I looked at me ike he really wasn't expecting me to do that but,  I think he was glad that I broke the ice first.  My host father was waiting in the car.  They asked me where I was from and I said Calgary,  I was surpirsed that they knew where it was.  Most people I met don't know where it is though most know that its in Canada (I think there's a Calgary in Texas or something though and I'm sure there is a Calgary in Scotland but that's just a ruined castle now).  They were obviously expecting me to be a Finnish student and,  its a little sad because,  they speak Finnish quite well but they don't speak english alot.

Lunch! (Riina, Hanna and Joanna)
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When we arrived home I found I was lucky again,  a big white house (although it was made of wood and rather cold).  I walked in and Villu shoed me my room which was beautiful.  I had a nice green wallpaper a futon bed,  a computer and a keyboard.  It was pretty awesome.  I seem to be really lucky with these things.  I noticed that in Estonia,  somewhat like in Russia,  either you're very rich or you're very poor.

I called Estonia "land of mysteries",  here's one reason why.  The people are never willing to give more information than needed - understandibly.   I think it is now in their custom not to trust people very much.  My host father barely spoke to me at all but I think he wanted to,  he just felt even more awkward than I did.  By the fourth day,  the family was more accustomed to my being there and they talked a little more freely.  I met my host mother on the first night too,  she was very talkative which surprised me.  Very talkative but it was sometimes difficult to understand her english.  I understood that she reads a lot in english so her vocabulary is okay but she cannot pronounce the words.  Thats just one thing that makes the english language difficult - you don't say it the way you write it.

Hanna and I waiting to board the ship
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By the time I was settled in,  it was about 21.00 and I thought we might look over the next day's schdule and go to bed - I was a little tired from the trip.  But Estonian's eat at 21.30.  Rule number one of being a guest in someone's house - don't refuse a meal they cooked especially for you.  Therefore,  I talked more to myhost mother who informed me that she workes with natural healthcare and beauty products.  She also spoke a little of teh Soviet time because she was in the school system at the time as a teacher in Tallinn.  I also spoke to my host brother who told me that he was in the twelfth grade and that his favourite school subject was politics.  So we chatted about politics and,  whenever\ wherever you discuss politics it always ends up being about the United States.  We talked about Obama and McKain and Bush etc.  We ended up going to bed at about 00.00 which is okay,  because in that time,  it became less awkward to be in a host family.

Very windy, Me, Heta, Hanna and Riina
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In the morning I got up and it was freezing in the room.  My host family doesn't start heating their house for winter until November - neither do most Estonian families because they need to conserve energy.  I noticed that Finns are alot more accustomed to comfort thn Estonians.  I walked downstairs and was expecting my host mother to be preparing the breakfast (I could here dishes downstairs) but it was my host father.  This surprised pleasantly because I thought Estonia would be much more traditional and conservative than Finland but it turns out that,  while in Finland women have a vary traditional role,  in Estonia,  roles are quite shared.  Both of my host parents work but they also both prepare food and such.  He was also lighting a fire in the fireplace.

My beautiful room
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We were at school at about 7.50 that morning and we first had a history lesson.  Part of this trip was to learn about the Estonian way fo life (very much like the Rotary exchange).  So,  I got a history lesson in Estonian which is very close to Finnish because even I understood some.  Some words for example are the same but mean different things.  Vaimo in Finnish means "wife" and in Estonian means "ghost".  There are alot more words like this such as sadness and death,  wedding and trouble  (I'm not making these up).  I don't mean to be rude but it was sort of satisfying to see the Finnish students not understanding anything that was going on.  For me this was sort of like any other lesson so  wasn't bored or anything.  Now my friends and peres might understnad what its like when you don't understand anything.  But that isn't the worse part about language barriers.  The worse part is when no one informs you of anything - when people forget that you don't understand what's going on.  For example,  say a lesson is cancelled (based on a true story) in the morning.  The teacher says next days lessons are cancelled so don't come but the exchange student doesn't understand so,  the next day at 8.00 she shows up at the classroom, nobody is there.  She panics because she thinks she's in the wrong classroom,  she embarasses herself several times by entering the wrong classroom only to find out 45 min later that she could have slept in that morning.  I don't blame anyone and I let things like that go but,  at the time when it is happenning and when it happens all the time,  it does get annoying.

The Church
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After this lesson, we had the choice either to go to a music lesson or to visit an old Church. So everyone wanted to visit the old church.  I'm very glad that we did.  We walked through this pastorial town until we saw a little white washed Church.  I couldn't really tell how old it was because some aspects suggested that it was very old (the grave stones in front of it,  the uneven floors, etc.)  but some suggested that it was farely new (ok not new but maybe 150 years old or something - the style of architecture seemed more romantic or classicist than medieval to me).  ANyhow,  after a lengthy talk about the church which I didnät understand,  my friend told me that the church wa s built in 1231!  Its use was very limited and eventually completely void during the Soviet Unions occupation but,  even they could not destroy it because of its historical value.  They did however cancel Christmas.  It was a crime against the state to celebrate Christmas.  Heli,  our guide,  was in Kose when the Church reopenned for the first time and when the forst Christmas was again celebrated in this Church.  But people had forgotten what it was like - no songs were sung because no one remembered them.  Therefore,  Heli has spent alot of time translating songs into Estonian so that children today could celebrate Christmas.  Nowadays,  Estonia is known for having wonderfl Christmas's - catching up on those they had lost.

Inside the Church
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We went up into the church bell tower which was seperated into levels.  On each level I found something amazing - abandoned crusifixes and wierd doors that open nowhere,  even an old dusty kantele.  The view from the top was amazing,  I only wish I could have learned more about this Church - another irritating factor of the language barrier.  When we left the church,  we visited a little outdoor theater where Kose summer festivals are held and,  on our way back to school,  I randomly saw and old Soviet tank and a Soviet explosif device in someone's backyard.  Not something you see every day.

The tower bell
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When we returned to the school,  we had a quick lunch before our trip to Tartu,  one of the oldest cities of Europe.  The food in Estonia is quite similar to that of FInland but there is more cabagge.  Also,  they put a specific spice on everything.  I don't know which spice it is but I've tasted it before.  We had potato and cabagge soup (surprising?).  One thing that was very different was their bread which,  at first sight looks like chocolate cake.  However,  it is like a rye bread but sweet - it tastes like molasses.  Anyhow,  plenty to write about Tartu,  coming up next - stay tuned!