Thanksgiving Part 2

It’s another foggy and rainy morning in Estonia. I am once again on a bus to Tartu and despite not getting enough sleep last night, I am fully energized about the trip I am about to take. I am on my way to the most Northern location I will have ever been (but more on that later). Although I am not a morning person (ask my family), I really enjoy taking the bus in the morning. It’s always less crowded and so peaceful because most people are either sleeping or still quietly waking up. That means I get to stare out the window and enjoy the serene Estonian landscape.

I really love the fog. Some people might think it is dreary and gloomy, but I think it is calming, yet mysterious. It augments this feeling I have that I am in a dream. I am in a dream. For so long I had dreamed about coming to Estonia. Now, even though I am settled, it does not feel ordinary. Every once and a while I still have these moments of intense appreciation for exactly where I am at this moment. While living in the present is something I often struggle with, especially now when I know that some of my friends and family are grieving and I can’t be there to hug them, the natural awe and beauty of this place I am living in makes it easier to to just be where I am.

Let me give you an idea of what I see out my window. There are lots and lots of trees and at the moment specifically birches. I like birch trees, and if I am not mistaken my mom is particularly fond of them as well. They were the focus of one of her recent paintings. Every once in a while the forest is interspersed with farmland, open fields, and tiny groupings of old, wooden, country homes. It makes me wonder how it would be to live like these people do; so connected to the land. There are also lots of rivers, streams, and lakes. I love being around water. I always have. As we passed over one of the larger rivers there was a man sitting in a small boat, in a yellow raincoat, with a fishing pole in his hands. It reminds me of my brother and I fishing with my dad when we were growing up.

Anyway, when I took out my laptop on this rather nice bus that of course has free wifi (I’m in Estonia, remember?), my intention was to tell you about the rest of my Thanksgiving weekend. So let me do that. When I arrived at my friend’s apartment in Tallinn on Saturday after walking through Old Town, I was greeted by a few friendly faces and a lot of new ones. There were twenty-four of us there, including four kids, and despite having only met a few of these people, I felt like I was entering into a family gathering. It of course was not the same as being with my real family, but I was so grateful to have such great people to celebrate Thanksgiving with. It is always an interesting mix at these event; people from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, England, Scotland, Italy, Canada, Japan, and of course America. Again there were some for whom this was their first Thanksgiving dinner.

Okay, let’s talk about the food. I mentioned that Bart’s roommate Kristina is an amazing cook. We of course had turkey. It was the biggest one I’d ever had and yet we had no trouble eating most of it. There were mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing (which was great, but not my Aunt Peggy’s famous cornbread stuffing), beetroot, cranberry sauce, bread, cheeses, olives, three types of gravy, plenty of wine, and pumpkin pie for dessert. I am sure I am forgetting something. I wish I had taken a picture, but food, especially food this delicious, is meant to be eaten, not just looked at.

After dinner the party continued with more socializing, sauna, music, and dancing. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone and by the end of the night had made some new friends.

The next morning (well okay…afternoon) we went out for pancakes. These are not American pancakes. You can get sweet ones stuffed with fruit, chocolate, and whipped cream, or savory ones with meats, cheese, and veggies. I had one with tomatoes, pesto, and feta cheese, that of course came with sour cream. It was perfect and I ate the entire thing. After breakfast/brunch/lunch, whatever you want to call it, we walked around the Christmas market in Tallinn. We always marvel about who quickly after Thanksgiving, or rather before, people start obsessing about Christmas. Of course Thanksgiving is not an Estonian holiday, so the Christmas market had been open already for about a week. It was great to walk around and look at all the handcrafted goods. We enjoyed some glögi (hot spiced wine) and I made a few gift purchases (you’ll have to wait for those details).

Well, I’ve reached Tartu, so that’s all for now. Hopefully I can post some pictures soon. Thanks for reading!

Photos by: Marika Lampi

Thanksgiving in Estonia

As you know, Thanksgiving is an American holiday and is not celebrated in Estonia. It is also one of my favorite holidays because, to me, it is about being with family and sharing good food and good conversation. It is a little bit difficult being away from my family on days like Thanksgiving and I especially miss my dad. Thanksgiving was definitely his favorite holiday. He liked that, unlike how Christmas has become, it is not about spending money and time buying and wrapping gifts. (in his case, last minute late on Christmas Eve). Rather, Thanksgiving is about reflecting on the things you are grateful for. For my dad, family was definitely one of the things he was most thankful for. I know because he always showed us. I am thankful for my family as well, even when they are half-way across the world, I know that they love and support me.

This Thanksgiving, I am also thankful for all of my new friends in Estonia. Everyone has been extremely welcoming. They answer all of my many questions when I am confused (a frequent occurrence) and they translate for me when I am completely lost. All of the friends I have made here are such amazing people and I am lucky to have them in my life. So although I missed being with my family on Thanksgiving, I was happy to share the holiday with my Estonian friends this year.

I threw a little party and I was so happy that so many people came. Because I had class all day on Thursday, I couldn’t make an entire Thanksgiving dinner (not that I was ready to take that on by myself anyway). Instead I made three of my favorite Thanksgiving pies: pumpkin, pecan, and apple. I bought some new kitchen supplies and made my shopping list, then hunted for the ingredients I needed and converted my recipes into metric units. When I couldn’t find something I asked my friends if it indeed existed in Estonia and then turned to my mom to figure out an appropriate substitute. I had never made these pies before and my mom reminded me, I did not have the best history with culinary “creations” in the past.

However, I enlisted the help of my friend Jaanika and we manage to pull it off without burning down my apartment. Granted my pecan pie was rock hard, and I had to quickly pull my pumpkin pie out of the oven when I realized I had forgotten more than one important ingredient, but everyone ate and complemented me on the pies. One person even asked me for the pumpkin pie recipe the next day.

Of course, contrary to popular belief, Thanksgiving is not all about the food. It made me smile that my guests wanted to go around and say what they were thankful for. We always did this when I was growing up, but lately I think we’ve forgotten to take the time to do it. It is always nice to hear people express gratitude for the things in their lives, especially for each other.

Several of my Estonian friends told me that they were very excited to have been invited to their first Thanksgiving. While I feel a little bad their first Thanksgiving didn’t even involve turkey, I think we all had a good time.

Now it is Saturday, and after not so gracefully sneaking out early from my orchestra rehearsal, I am on my way to Tallinn for a real Thanksgiving feast. Tallinn is where my American friend Bart lives. He is here on a Fulbright scholarship, like I am. He also has a professional chef for a roommate, so of course I am very happy to be celebrating Thanksgiving again with them and some of their friends.

It is easy to get lost in our busy schedules, or to get pulled down by the tragic events and loss around us, but if we keep our hearts and eyes open, it is simple to see how much we have to be thankful for. Thanksgiving may have been on Thursday, but it certainly does not have to be a one-day event. I am grateful for each and every one of you who is reading this right now. I will try every day, especially the hard ones, to remember how lucky I am to have been and continue to be surrounded be such beautifully compassionate people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Two Month Mark

It has now been two months since I arrived in Estonia. Well okay, two months and two days, but who’s counting. I can’t believe it. Time seems to move so quickly here. My roommate and I have this recurring conversation every few days it goes something like this:

Hende: “Is today the 25th?”
Me: “No, it’s the 27th. Woah.”
Hende: “I can’t believe it’s the weekend again.”
Me: “I know, wasn’t it JUST the weekend?!”
Hende: “Oh here we go having this conversation again…”
Me: “Hende! It’s almost November.”
Hende: “And then it’ll be Decemeber, and then Christmas, and then I’ll be back in Finland.”
Me: “How is this possible, what is happening to our time in Estonia?!”

Anyway, you get the idea. I probably shouldn’t think about it so much. I think we feel this way because we are both so busy, but we are busy with really interesting and new things. I certainly haven’t felt bored in quite some time. Let me tell about some of the exciting things I have been up to.

I love living in Viljandi. It is small, cute, and charming, and there is always some cool cultural event going on. For instance, every month (I think) there is a Tantsumaja (Dance House) at the Ait. People come together to dance to live folk music. It seems like knowing the different folk dances is a requirement here. It is really cool to see all types of people, young and old moving their feet to this kind of music. If I went to a similar event in the States (and I have done so occasionally) I would probably be the only “young person” there. I also love that almost any event with music is a good enough reason to dance. They start off by teaching a dance and talking through some things, then later in the night they just play music and everyone dances freely. If you know me at all, then you know that I am one of the least coordinated people on the face of the planet. Graceful is definitely not my middle name. I frequently trip over my own toes, walk into walls, and fall over when simply standing in one place. Needless to say, I am not the best dancer, but I do enjoy it. I am very grateful for the patience of the people who dance with me at these events (especially my friend Liisa who says there is hope yet for me). They continue to drag me around the floor, help me learn these dances, and don’t seem to be offended when I bump into people.

Photo by: Pärimusmuusika Ait

Let’s see, what else have I been up to…? One weekend I took a trip to Riga, Latvia and spent some time with my “Fulbright family”. I love that I can just go to another country for the weekend; it’s a concept that still blows my mind a little. Anyway, in Latvia this year there are four Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) and Research grant recipients. Bart, the other Estonian Fulbrighter and I, got to know them back in the States during our orientation in DC. We decided then that we would try to get together during our Fulbright year and do fun things or travel. The six of us had a fun weekend walking around Riga, exploring the central market, grabbing a few drinks at the Folk Pub, and visiting the Open-Air Museum. It rained all weekend so I didn’t get to walk around the city quite as much as I would have liked, but that just means I have to go back! It was really great to spend time with the Latvian Fulbrighters and get to know them better. I can’t wait for them to come visit Estonia!

The handmade mug I got at the Open-Air Museum

Photo by: my friend Dan

The following weekend three American girls, who I met during orientation in Tartu, came to visit me in Viljandi. It was fun to show them around. After I picked them up at the bus station and we got a bite to eat, we walked around the castle ruins (of course). Then we went up into the Old Water Tower and looked out over Viljandi. I am glad we did because I think it is now closed because tourist season is over. There may not be a whole lot to see in Viljandi (although I have still yet to go to the Viljandi Museum or the Kondase Keskus art museum…gasp), but it was nice to just walk around and talk. I think my friends appreciated the change of scenery.

The next weekend Bart and I went on a trip with the US Embassy to a the Lindi Nature Reserve in Pärnu County. I took a bus to Pärnu and met the rest of the group who had driven from Tallinn together. From the bus station we headed to the bog. We strapped on our bog shoes and then took off to explore one of Estonia’s beautiful natural landscapes. It was fun to feel the spongey ground bounce beneath us. I only fell once…because I decided it would be a good idea to skip in bog shoes. We walked through a little forest island where our guide showed us how to easily start a fire and mentioned some survival skills. At the end of our walk through the bog we all sat together in this little wooden hut and enjoyed a hot meal that our guide prepared for us. It was really tasty and much appreciated after our long walk.

Photo by: my friend Bart

From the embassy newsletter, “The Medieval Times”

When our time at the bog was over instead of heading back to Viljandi like I had planned, I decided to head back to spend the night in Tallinn. That night Bart and I met up with my Estonian teacher for dinner and then did a little bar-hopping. It was a lot of fun and we met two of my teacher’s friends who were really funny. I laughed harder than I have in a long time. They work at a radio station in Tallinn and asked me to perform at a charity show they put on. Unfortunately I had a conflict for this particular event, but I hope that in the future I can get my band to go to Tallinn and play with me. The next morning Bart had plans to go to Tartu, so again I tagged along. We spent the day with the Tuula, the girl I had stayed with when I was in Tartu for orientation. By the end of the weekend I had pretty much made a circle around the country.

During my two months in Estonia I have learned to say “yes” more and to be comfortable with the unexpected. I don’t always know what my plans are or where I am supposed to be, but when I just go with the flow, I end up having these awesome experiences. I can’t wait to see where the next two months bring me!

A Quick Look Back

Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them.
-Bob Dylan

I think it has already been established that I am not the most consistent blogger. In fact I think you could call me a “binge blogger”. I go weeks without posting and then to make up for it I write a lot all at once about all the things that happened during those weeks. My justification for this is that living life is what gives me something interesting to write about in the first place. The way the last two months have gone, I haven’t had much time to slow down and reflect. Anyway, I hope you can forgive me for jumping back to the beginning of September for a moment.

I have told you about the first day of school here in Viljandi, but I never mentioned what happened in the following week…admittedly not much. You see, I didn’t have class for about a week and a half after that. In fact I had so much time on my hands that after exploring Viljandi and getting to know where pretty much everything is (it’s Estonia, it’s small) I didn’t know what to do with myself. Looking back, it is crazy to think I had so little going on. I don’t think that will happen again until I leave Estonia. Once things got started, they didn’t stop.

Anyway, the lack of class at the beginning of the school year was definitely an adjustment for me. It turns out (as I later found out), that the first week of school is mostly devoted to information sessions for the freshmen. That first week of school I did go to one “pidu” or party. I put pidu in quotes because it seems to be a very popular word here. Lots of things are parties…things that I would more likely describe as a meeting, festival, or concert. This particular “pidu” was actually more of an opening meeting for the music department. It took place in the Pärimusmuusika Ait (Folk Music Center), a building that I was fascinated by and have since gotten to know quite well. The building is a mix of old architecture with lots of cool looking brick, and super modern design with sleek glass. This night the pidu took place downstairs (which I believe is mostly underground) in a room with brick walls and an arched ceiling.

We all (there were about 10-15 of us) sat on couches or on the floor and went around introducing ourselves. When it was my turn I said what I could in Estonian about who I am and why I am here. One of the teachers (who I now know to be quite funny based on the number of laughs he gets during class) quickly rattled off something in Estonian, to which I responded with a confused look and a “…something about speaking Estonian?” in English. Clearly he just wanted to confirm that I only spoke very little Estonian.

After the introductions were done and the teachers gave what I assume was some important information, someone took the new students on a little tour of the building. During the tour (they kindly spoke English) we were told that if we are practicing or rehearsing downstairs for a long time and start to feel tired and groggy it is probably due to the lack of oxygen. However, rather that opening the small basement-like windows, because they are difficult to get closed again, we should turn on this machine that circulates some fresh air into the room. After seeing the different halls, walking around backstage, and seeing the little music library, the first-year students and I returned to the room where a jam session was already underway. I joined in and tried to learn some new tunes by ear. I want to mention another difference between university in Estonia and college back in the States. Throughout this party/meeting a few teachers and students were drinking beers that they had brought down from the bar upstairs. This is something that would never happen at a school-related event in the US, probably because of the difference in drinking ages (21 in the US, but 18 in Estonia).

Another pidu I went to at the beginning of September was the “Hooaja avapidu” or the season opening party at the Pärimusmuusika Ait. It is funny that when I was back home and had contacted the Ait to see how I could get involved, I was told I would probably be spending a lot of time there while I was in Viljandi. At the time I had no idea how true that was. This opening “party” was a concert to kickoff the new season of events at the Ait. There were three different performances and all were super cool in their own way.

Here is a very rough translation (please excuse the many mistakes) of the three performances:

The Viljandi Folk Music Autumn season begins!

The Traditional Music Autumn season begins 13 September, with SILVER SEPP, I FRATELLI TARZANELLI and CURLY STRINGS.

Silver Sepp “Mis asi see on?” (What is this thing?)

What is this thing that starts to sing, if I stay all alone…? asks Silver Sepp on his solo album. Estonian traditional musician Silver, with his homemade fantasy instruments is a troubadour wandering alone, who does not use traveled paths, but creates new paths, using washing basins, bicycle spokes, forks, and his own voice, which tells the stories of great longing, peace of mind, normal wear and tear, blooms at home reached and revolution. At the Ait’s concert hall this Autumn is the season’s opening concert of Silver’s first full-length solo.

Silver Sepp lives close enough to the Arctic Circle to create wistful, meditative landscapes of sound, yet comes from a fishing village on the southernmost coast of Estonia, where the minor key has been avoided for centuries. Silver finds most of his songs and tunes in the imaginative instruments he has created himself. He has reinvented the bicycle wheel and has given all sorts of everyday clutter new resonance. In concert he transforms the bicycle wheel into a percussion as well as melodic instrument in its own right. His water drum set, requiring 20 liters of water, was found in the sauna at his home farm, yet to date has featured in over fifty concerts of the band RO:TORO in Great Britain alone. The sound of his nail instrument, visually reminiscent of a sea mine, has been said to sound more beautiful than a cello. Not without reason was he one of the most popular performers at the 2011 Eesti Kontsert school concerts. On the one hand Silver is a troubadour accompanying himself on the guitar, on the other an extraordinary fantasist.

I fratelli Tarnzanelli

I fratelli Tarzanelli is a duo consisting of Baltazar Montanaro (violin) and Pablo Golder (diatonic accordion). They met in 2007 in France, and since then have been good friends in life and on stage. They dance to the music played in many parts of Europe, and now they are coming to Estonia. Viljandi Folk Music the granary of the new season opened heaven to raise the mood of the listeners. The duo has appeared on one CD entitled “Palomino”.

Curly Strings

Four good friends with unique personalities (Eeva Talsi, Villu Talsi, Jalmar Vabarna, Taavet Niller), who have been playing together in various projects for years, have joined forces and created their dream band. The quartet draws inspiration from everywhere without creative boundaries. One of the band’s peculiarities is its instrumentation (mandolin, violin, guitar, and doublebass). It is remarkable what they can do with these “limited” possibilities. Their first hit “Üle ilma”, written by the ensemble’s violinist Eeva Talsi, like wildfire has already conquered their homeland, and their second single “Maailm heliseb” also has a music video. Their self-recorded songs are mainly merry dance songs, which attract both young and old!

Silver Sepp was a really interesting and unique performance and I also really enjoyed I fratelli Tarzenelli. However, I was especially excited to hear Curly Strings. They are one of my favorite Estonian groups. I discovered them this summer when I was home searching for Estonian music to listen to. I really, really like their sound and the type of music they play. I hope they will record a CD soon. It was awesome that I had been listening to this band all summer and then I got to hear them live. I have since seen each of the musicians perform in various other groupings and even have even gotten to jam with them.

I definitely encourage you to check out all the musicians mentioned in this post! A quick You-Tube search should suffice.

Photo by: Ülar Mändmets

On the Road to Riga

[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)

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

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!

Kissing Students Fountain

Tartu Raekoda (Tartu Town Hall)

Main Building, University of Tartu

Tartu Museum of Art, also known as the Pisa Tower of Tartu for obvious reasons

The bridge over emjõgi that you are supposed to walk on top of before you are a “real” TÜ student

I will not be walking over this bridge…

Tartu Toomkirik (Cathedral Ruins)

Kristjan Jaak Peterson

The Estonian blue, black, and white on the Tartu Tähetorn (observation tower)

Pictures from Tallinn

Tallinna Raekoda (Tallinn Town Hall)

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Shrek and Donkey of course!

Again I followed my ears to this woman playing gypsy music.

Arriving in Tartu

Yesterday was another great day in Estonia. I did a little more exploring around Old Town and had lunch with my teacher again. I also took care of my luggage situation and got my new (well new to me) Estonian phone set up. Then after checking out of the hotel I took a tram to the bus station where I ordered a bus ticket to Tartu. Being able to buy a ticket speaking only in Estonian was surprisingly rewarding.

It took two and a half hours to get to Tartu and I very much enjoyed looking at the countryside. It is clear the rest of the country is very different from Tallinn.

The girl sitting next to me asked me if she could use my phone. It took me a while to figure out what she was saying and explain that my Estonian was not very good. I was glad that I was able to offer her my newly working phone and she thanked me in English.

When I arrived at the bus station in Tartu the person that is letting me stay at her apartment was there to meet. She is really nice and we have talked a lot about the differences between Estonia, Finland, and the United States. We have also discussed the different education systems (she teaches at a Finish school here in Tartu and is also a former Fulbrighter to the States).

Today was the first day of the international student orientation at the University of Tartu. We got a lot of information about living in Tartu and Estonia in general, but I won’t bore you with all the details. The best part, of course, was meeting some more amazing people. Each international student is assigned a “tutor” who will help show us around and answer our questions. Most tutors were assigned about seven to ten students. My tutor has just me and two other girls, one of whom is the only other person studying at Viljandi and was unable to attend the orientation. So I am the only one here in Tartu this week, that is going to Viljandi. It is nice to know that there will be at least one other international student though.

After the informational sessions were over for the day we went to lunch with our tutors. She took us to this great pizza place and we shared a pizza with chicken, peaches, and blue cheese. It was SO good! Then we walked around Tartu and she talked about different places like clubs, bars, bookstores, and second-hand shops.

When I got back to the apartment the girl am staying with very generously made dinner for us. She is vegan so we had pasta with tofu, tomatoes, and broccoli. It was also really good, probably the best tofu I’ve ever had (not that I eat it much).

So far my days in Estonia have been packed with a lot of different things and despite feeling a bit jet-lagged still, I am loving it!!

My First (Very) Full Day in Tallinn

After a good breakfast at the hotel I head to Old Town to take a look around. It was great early in the morning because I was walking around while people were on their way to work and it was still quiet. I walked past the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and eventually found my way to Town Hall Square. There a got a coffee, sat outside, and enjoyed the activity as slowly more people began to arrive. I am glad I was able to appreciate Old Town a little bit before it quickly because swarmed with tourists. Later it was almost difficult to navigate through the multiple tour groups going off in various directions.

Town Hall

Town Hall Square

An Estonian bird haha

Minu kohv

After sitting in Town Hall Square for a little while I decide to explore and get lost a little more. I started to hear music. It sounded like it was live and some sort of string instrument so I followed the sound up stairs and through a little corridor to find a man playing a nyckelharpa. I stood a listened for a while and very much enjoyed it.

I couldn’t get up the stairs fast enough when I heard the music coming from this guy

At another spot I found a little girl playing the fiddle, which definitely put a smile on my face.

I didn’t stay in Old Town long, but I got a sense of what the appeal is.

I met up with my Estonian teacher from this summer, who lives in Tallinn. I rode on the back of her scooter (which I was a little nervous about, but ended up being really fun) and she took me to this new restaurant that was hidden in an industrial construction area. Lunch was great and even though I am not a seafood person, I enjoyed my salmon snitzel with mushrooms and potatoes. We ate outside right next to a little harbor (we passed the big Tallinn harbor on our way there).

After lunch she dropped me off at the US Embassy for my meeting. I meet lots of great people (most of whom’s names I can’t remember), including the Ambassador. It was funny because my Estonian teacher’s mother was the one who taught the Ambassador how to speak Estonian. Everyone I talked to gave me lots of information and was very encouraging. They also seemed very happy that I had arrived in Estonia. I hope to keep in contact with them and hopefully participate in some events and possibly do some speaking engagements.

When I got back to my hotel I took a quick nap before meeting up with my teacher again. She brought me to have a number added to her plan so I could have an Estonian number. Then we went back to her apartment, only to find out that her mother’s iPhone that she was going to let me use wouldn’t work. Luckily this morning I brought the phone to someone who can unlock it for me. So hopefully in a few hours I will have a working Estonian phone! I can’t believe I will have an iPhone when I was expecting to get a cheap flip phone.

I took the tramm for the first time from my teacher’s apartment, back to the hotel where I met up with a former US Fulbright student who still lives in Tallinn. He was very welcoming. He took me to this great spot to watch the sunset and look out over Old Town. Then we went to this cute little restaurant where we sat outside for dinner and drinks (and where I realized I have had potatoes in every meal since I have arrived in Estonia…I’m not complaining!). It was great to meet him and practice my Estonian a little bit. After dinner (it was about 10:30 or so) he was off to some crazy party, but I was exhausted, so I was off to bed.

Today is my last day in Tallinn. I am going to meet up with my teacher for lunch and she will hold on to my luggage until a friend of hers can take it to Viljandi for me. She is really great and I can’t thank her enough for getting me all set in Estonia and taking care of all my problems.

Well, it’s time to check out of the hotel. That’s all for now!