On the Road to Riga

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Katie Marsan

[This post was published several days after it was written.]

I am sitting on a bus to Pärnu right now. It is a very foggy morning. Although I can still see the almost full moon, the sun is trying to cut through the fog. I am only just passing through Pärnu today, but I will be sure to spend some more time there in the future. Actually, I am heading to Riga, Latvia for the weekend to meet up with some of my fellow Fulbrighters. More on that after it’s happened. Since I will be spending more than five hours on a bus today, I figured now was a good time to update my blog. A lot has happened since I last posted.

First of all, I am getting settled in Viljandi. After staying in the guest house for about a week and a half I found a place to stay. I looked online, talked to people, and inquired about multiple apartments. I visited a place where international volunteers were living, but decided that it was too far away from school. The walk was fine now, but I could only imagine the dread in winter. This particular apartment wasn’t the nicest place, not to mention there would eventually be five people living in a space meant for two and a half. The entire time I was looking at affordable places that seemed to be where a student should expect to live, but I couldn’t get this one apartment out of my head.

When I was still in the States and happily under the delusion that I would be living in student housing this year, I decided to look at apartments available in Viljandi, just for fun. Most places were fairly inexpensive and their appearance matched their price tag. However one place clearly stood out from the rest. It was perfect. Close to everything; school, the folk music center, the castle ruins, and all the cafés and restaurants. It was fully furnished, and well. It was super cute and had everything I could possibly want. But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. This apartment was more expensive than the others and at the time seemed like it would be out of reach.

After seeing the first reasonable apartment with the practical price-tag I decided maybe finding a place I actually WANTED to live in, was worth a little extra cash. So I went for it. I decided to take a look at my dream apartment. I ran some numbers and realized that although I wouldn’t be saving as much money as I had anticipated, I could actually afford this place (thank you Fulbright). I went to meet the landlord and before he even finished showing me around I told him I was 100% committed to the apartment. It looked even better than in the pictures. Not only was it fully furnished, but the kitchen was even stocked with plates, bowls, cups, mugs, silverware, pots, and pans. There were candles, pictures, and other accessories decorating the space. And to top it off the super friendly landlord offered to buy me a new TV, washing machine, and mattress topper!

I met with him again later that day to sign the contract and the apartment was mine. The friend I had made at the guest house, Jaanika, picked me up with her car and helped me bring my stuff to my new place. After marveling at the fact that I had practically everything I needed she left to eat dinner at home. Later that night she came back to hang out. When I buzzed her in she walked through the door with a huge bag of apples, pears, and tomatoes from her grandmother’s garden. It was so sweet!

Remember how I mentioned this apartment was a little on the pricey side? Well I kept thinking that it would be nice to have a roommate to help with that. I wanted a roommate anyway. Originally I was hoping to live with some Estonians so I could work on the language and get to know Estonian life even better. During the apartment search there were a few options for roommates including an Estonian student, a girl from Moldova, and one from Germany. I was also talking to the only other international student at the culture academy (that I knew of at the time). Her name is Hennariikka and she is from Finland. She was also looking for an apartment and willing to spend some extra money to get a nice place. When I told her about the place I found, she agreed that it was perfect. Well…perfect for one person. Nevertheless she showed up the first night and was unsure of where she would be spending the night. I offered her the couch until we had time to “figure things out”.

It became clear rather quickly that although the apartment was not ideal for two people (it is a one-bedroom), she wanted to stay. After several days of discussing possible ways to arrange the furniture our landlord bought us another mattress (this guy is great) and Hende (her nickname) has now turned part of the living area into her little corner. I am really happy to have a roommate. Even though I thought I wanted to live with an Estonian, I must admit it is nice to have someone to talk to about the challenges of adjusting to the Estonian culture and learning the language.

I am extremely happy with my new place. I can’t believe my first apartment is in the Old Town of Viljandi, Estonia. The only downside is it is so nice I may never want to leave (don’t worry Mom, I’m only joking).

My room

The kitchen

My flatmate’s “room”

Did I mention I have a sauna?! I had never even been in a sauna before coming to Estonia.

Teadmiste Päev (Day of Knowledge)

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Katie Marsan

Okay, so technically Teadmiste Päev (the Estonian holiday for the first day of school) was yesterday, September 1st, but because yesterday was a Sunday the school year started today. I have been waiting for this day for a very long time. I am finally a student at the Viljandi Culture Academy!

Today was definitely the most unique first day of school I have ever had. Actually there aren’t any classes this week at all. After waking up early for breakfast at the guest house and then having a lazy morning in my room I ventured off to find the coffee place I had heard about. It’s called “Rohelise Maja” and when I was in DC for my Fulbright orientation a returning Fulbright Scholar told me it had the best coffee in Viljandi. In fact he gave me his stamp card that already had two stamps on it! Well, now it has three. I got a latte and had their tomato, carrot, and lentil soup. It was very good. I finished up my little lunch just in time to head to the Folk Music Center (Pärimusmuusika Ait) for the opening ceremony.

I took my seat in the hall and looked around while friends greeted each other and chatted. Then there was what sounded like a dull gong and I was amazed at how quickly everyone quieted down. I am sure if the hall was full of Americans it would have taken much longer for people to finish their conversations and realize the ceremony was about to begin. Then everyone stood up, so I did too. Someone started singing and everyone joined in. It was the Estonian National Anthem (Eesti Hümn) and it was beautiful. Everyone was so together and Estonians really do have beautiful voices. Hearing it made me light up. After the anthem was over someone in the audience started a call and response song similar to ones I have heard over the past year. Although I had no idea what was being sung, I joined in when I could.

At this point we all sat down and then the talking began. Several people gave little speeches and I think some sort of award was presented to someone, but I really couldn’t tell you. Honestly, I caught a few words here and there, but for the most part I had no idea what was going on. I clapped when everyone else did and smiled when the room laughed at a joke I didn’t understand. In between some of the talking a guitarist and vocalist got up and sang a song in English. I enjoyed it very much and remember thinking, “Now this is a language I can understand” (music I mean…not the English). These two also performed at the end of the ceremony, but this time in Estonian.

When the people who I assume were important in someway were done with their welcome speeches they started to call groups of students up to the stage. When this happened I started to get nervous. I turned to the woman sitting next to me and asked if they were calling new students by department. We had a difficult time understanding each other, but after a while she confirmed that was what was happening. I told her I was a music student and asked if I should go up as well. When they called pärimusmuusika I looked at her and she nodded. So I walked up and joined five or six other students on the stage. Each name was called and they went to shake hands and receive a welcome bag. As each name was called I hoped mine would be next. They didn’t call my name and I was left standing there awkwardly, feeling under-dressed, wishing I had stayed in my seat, and feeling the eyes of a room full of people wondering who I was. Ultimately I walked back to me seat bag-less and without a handshake. My tutor, Kaisa, later made me feel better saying that someone is left standing awkwardly on the stage almost every year.

When the ceremony concluded I went and stood in the hallway for a bit not knowing what to do. Then I decided to go talk to someone who looked like they might be some sort of authority figure. She was a teacher of native crafts and graciously called someone to find out what to do with me. I then hopped in her car and she drove me to the music building, where she walked me in and handed me off to some people there. After some quick introductions they told me to come back later for my scheduled meeting with the head of the music department. I had just enough time to walk back to the guest house, dig out my rain jacket from my suitcase, and then head back.

After a few more awkward interactions I was very happy to meet the person that was going to help me pick classes. Basically I am going to take a bunch of practical classes because lectures would be super challenging and frustrating for me. There are so many great classes that are perfect for my interest in ethnomusicology that I would not be able to take in the States, but maybe I can try to take one or two in the spring when my language skills have improved. I also finally found out who my fiddle teacher will be. I am really excited because it turns out I will be studying with Maarja Nuut, the same woman who was one of the first Estonian musicians I discovered over a year ago during my many YouTube searches for Estonian fiddle music. I have not met her yet, but I think I will like her. It is still a little surreal that because Viljandi, and all of Estonia, is so small I will probably end up meeting many of the people I have heard about and listened to for the past year.

While my classes may change if any scheduling problems arrive, let me give you a quick list of the classes I will be taking: fiddle lesson, piano, kannel (see Estonian Traditional Music Center), theory, transcribing, practical harmony, voice training, improvisation, rhythmics…in addition I will be part of two separate bands. There is also a “class” which involves going to some woman’s house in the countryside for three days and exploring the local culture. Now if that isn’t hands-on education and real-life application I don’t know what is.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday when I had nothing better to do than walk around and get lost…

The balcony of my room at the guest house

View from the balcony

Little waterfall in the park between the guest house and school

Lake Viljandi

Viljandi Castle Ruins

Viljandi Suspension Bridge

Folk Music Center

Estonian swing

The famous Viljandi strawberries!

My Time in Tartu

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Katie Marsan

It has now been a week since I arrived in the beautiful country of Estonia, or mighty Estonia as my professor back home would say. I had a really great time in Tartu and I just arrived in Viljandi last night. Before I share my experiences in Tartu there has been something I have been thinking about. I have been trying not to use names in this blog because I don’t want anyone to read it and be upset that I talked about them. However, I think this makes my stories a bit confusing sometimes and what is a blog about my experiences if I don’t talk about the people I have met. So I think I am just going to start using names. This may not be the best way of handling the situation, but if anyone has a problem with it I can change their name or not talk about them.

Now that that’s been said, let’s talk about Tartu. The reason I was there was for the international student orientation at the University of Tartu. I was the only person there who would actually be living in Viljandi, not Tartu. There is one other international student, that I know of, that will be studying in Viljandi, but she was unable to make it to the orientation. Hopefully I will meet her this week.

Everyone has been super nice here. I have yet to meet the quiet, introverted Estonian I have heard so much about. My first day of orientation I was sitting in a large lecture hall listening to someone talk about life in Estonia when the girl next to me nudged my arm and passed me a little piece of paper. I looked down and saw my name written on it which puzzled me quite a bit. How could someone be sending me a note, when I was sitting in a room full of people I had never met before. I unfolded the paper and it said “look to your left”. I did and I saw an Estonian girl on the other side of the room waiving to me. She was my “tutor” Kaisa, and I thought it was really cute. She must have recognized me from facebook. I think I already mentioned how later that day she showed us around Tartu and answered a lot of our questions.

The orientation was very helpful, but I will skip all the details about residency permits, registering for classes, and student groups. The second day of orientation I met a group of American students. When the last session was over I didn’t know what to do and I wanted to meet people, so I awkwardly hung out outside the room and then eventually invited myself into their conversation. I showed them a place to have lunch, that Tuula (the girl I was staying with) showed me earlier. It was great to get to know them and hear about how they were adjusting to Estonia too. I will definitely try to meet up with them when I visit Tartu in the future. One of them, Molly, happened to be the Gilman Scholar that the embassy had emailed all the Estonia Fulbrighters about. I told her we would invite her if we did any Fulbright gatherings or trips.

The next day I got a text from my Estonian language teacher, Lili. She said she was in Tartu for the day and that we could meet up again if I wanted. So after having a few more questions answered the orientation ended and Lili and I went to a little place where I had a kartulipirukas (a potato quiche-type thing). We spoke in Estonian for a while until we needed to use more complex language, and we switched back to English. After lunch we walked to her friend’s studio where she works on illustrations for children’s books. It was nice to just hangout and relax. When we got hungry again I went with Lili to the grocery story and we cooked some food together. Then I went back to Tuula’s apartment for a little while.

I tried to take a nap, but I had too much on my mind to sleep. Instead, I went to get an ESN (Erasmus Student Network) card that I need if I want to go on trips with other international students and that will also give me discounts in some places. By the time I had finished with that and got back to Tuula’s it was time for the “Pub Crawl” which all the international student were invited to. This is not normally my type of thing, but I am trying to put myself out there and be more social. I was glad that Tuula decided to crash the party and come with me. We were divided into groups and then ventured off to our first pub/bar.

We had this list of titles that we were supposed to take group pictures to fit. I never saw the list but we used my camera for a couple of them. I think one was “Batman” and one was “Something Innocent”. The batman one turned out to be really funny. We were playing a name game were everyone had to pick a hand sign to do and Tuula did that thing were you flip your hands upside down like classes. She called it the Harry Potter thing, but most people recognized it as the Batman thing. Then, there happened to be an Estonian guy at the next table wearing a Batman T-Shirt, so it was really quite perfect.

Batman!

“Bad Boys”

Tuula and I stuck with the group for a little while, met then she met up with two over her colleagues. She introduced me to them and I ended up talking mostly with them. Lili and her friend found us right as we were about to leave to go the print-making museum (Trükimuuseum). They were having a party and some sort of performance. The performance was very…different. I won’t go into detail, but it involved a sitar, rocks, a ping-pong ball, and people lying on the floor. We hung out there for a while and then head back downtown where we meet up with Lili again. Before calling it a night she gave me a big hug and I thanked her for being so awesome and helping me out with everything.

While trying to find the bathroom at Trükimuuseum I found this and took it as a sign that I am in the right place!

All in all, it was a pretty eventful trip to Tartu, but now I am in Viljandi and anxious to start exploring the town where I will be spending most of my time this year!