Hello again after a long silence. It is now just over 8 months since we returned from our Estonian odyssey, and in addition, it is coming on to Christmas once more. So, I thought I might take the opportunity to write again.
Firstly we would like to send you our greetings for this Christmas season. Christmas is after all just one day in the year and one reoccurring event in our lives. What we hope for you is that your whole life and each day of the coming year will be encouraging, challenging and wrapped with the warm humanity provided by your family and friends. Health is always a major player in our experience of life and we trust you will enjoy good health. If, as we all experience from time to time, that is not the case, then we trust that you will find the strength, help and resilience that will carry you through such experiences. We hope too that you, and us as well, will be able to use those difficult "questions" that often confront us all to keep examining, growing, welcoming and, if necessary, changing, allowing life's experiences to fashion in us a deeper, more complete and compassionate humanity. If the holiday season presents the opportunity for a visit down our way we would be overjoyed to see you, to share a cuppa, a coffee and a chat.
So what has it been like to be back home in Oz again? As you can imagine it has been quite "normal" again. No snow, no minus temperatures, no language barriers, no daily encounters with culturally new and fascinating events. Sounds boring!!!! Life has settled down to our particular routine and we have enjoyed being back in those familiar surroundings, with family and our friends here in Newhaven where we live. Nevertheless less we are constantly aware of the impact our year in Estonia has had on us and the many "residues" left behind that pop up into our consciousness regularly. Remarkably, there are moments when we feel something akin to home sickness for that "other home" in that far off land. As December and Christmas approaches we miss the white snow clad landscape, the warm fires, the many Christmas lights and, of course, our Estonian family and friends. For whatever reason, in contrast to other travel we have done, it is not easy to leave this experience behind. Some deep connection is there, and how that will work out in our future we do not know yet. As always we will endeavour to keep an open mind and be ready to respond to each situation as it arises.
One thing that is clear to us is that we live in a great country. Our geography, our cultural outlook and our environment are often the envy of other parts of the world. We should be more grateful for what we have and for what we are. We should also value these things and resist those forces that seem to be pushing us towards a less egalitarian society, where wealth and personal wellbeing is often achieved at the expense of someone else. The old Greek philosophers talked often of the foundation of a good society being " the common good ". I am hopeful that we will not lose sight of the importance of this ancient and yet potent observation, not only in our national life but also, and perhaps more importantly, in our private lives as well. It seems true to us that we are only fully human in community, and that the trend towards individuality can only lead to a greater degree of inhumanity where power, wealth and safety is assumed by the few at the expense of the many.
Meantime, Estonia has come to us. In November two young Estonian girls (in their 20's ) arrived here on a year working/travelling visa. Maarja and Reti are friends who both live in Tartu and have studied at university together. We met Maarja whilst in Estonia through her family, her father being a bee keeper just north of Tartu. When she mentioned her desire to visit Australia we of course invited her to spend some time with us. Reti was able to come too, so we now enjoy their company here in Newhaven. They have both found work almost immediately, Maarja at a bakery in San Remo and Reti in the Salt Water restaurant in Newhaven. It is a real joy for us to have them here, and good for Helve to keep up her language and me to practice mine. In addition we also have Isaac our grandson here to access work over his uni holidays, so we are a real backpackers community at the moment. Just before the girls arrived we had a wonderful friend from Sweden visit us for three weeks. Birgit lives almost on the arctic circle in Northern Sweden and has entertained us on numerous occasions at her lovely farm stay resort called Nivagarden. All these visitors have brought lots of fun and enjoyment to our otherwise "mature lifestyle". We expect that Maarja and Reti will be with us till around the end of February when they will likely travel on to explore more of Australia. We have added then to our growing number of Estonian and Swedish 'grandchildren'.
Our own family continues to inspire us and to spoil us with their love and care. Is there anything so rewarding as watching your children and grandchildren grow, develop, take on challenges, face disappointments, overcome obstacles, enjoy their lives and maintain their relationships with one another? We think not. Whatever else life has been for us, this is the ultimate reward. Currently all our family lives in Warragul and surrounds, but soon that will change as Geoff and Jocelyn have sold their house and plan to move to Tasmania. This has been a long time desire for them as they both love open space, bush walking and nature generally, so Tasmania is a good choice. Maybe we will be able to help them if they decide too build a home down there, as, (contrary to some of the family's opinion,) I am still in good building shape!!!!! We will see.
So...thanks for your friendship throughout yet another year. What will happen this year....well none of us knows that in full. Whatever it is for you or for us we trust we will be able to celebrate the good things and help shoulder the load of the demanding events. As we have said before, you as our family and friends are the most valuable "asset" that we have and we look forward to further deepening and maturing of the friendship we share. Have a ripper Christmas and a blast of a new year!
Helve & Neville
Thursday, 20 December 2018
Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Just over a week ago we said our sad goodbyes to family and friends in Tartu and Estonia, had our last walk in the snow at -10C , boarded our plane and landed here in Melbourne with temperatures about mid 20,s ( plus). Arriving back at our house in Newhaven after an absence of 15 months ( we were out of our house for 3 months before we left ) was a strange experience. It seemed we had just been away for a day or two...things more or less the same as we left them, but we had "lost" a year. Our two environments, Tartu and Newhaven represented a total disconnect, and we almost wondered did it all really happen or was it some elaborate and wonderful dream. But no, it did happen and yes we are home again having spent a whole year in Estonia.
So.... now that this time is over its time to reflect on what it has meant for us to live one year in Estonia. Firstly, we would like to acknowledge all those who made this possible. Anti & Karin, who made their apartment available to us for the year and often took us to some interesting place to see parts of Estonia and Estonian life that we otherwise might not have seen. Not only that, but many happy times sharing " jäätis ja köök ( ice-cream and cake ) when they would drop in to our place after work. Our visits to their fascinating historic home in Elva, and the rides in the vintage Russian cars that Anti collects were great times with great friends. In addition, Anti helped me find a car and then made sure any problems with the car were fixed immediately. Then along with Jaano his lifelong friend, and ours too now, here resurrected my computer after numerous "crashes" after Apple had declared it un fixable. How we miss them now but look forward to their visit to us here in Newhaven in 2019.
Then Merike and Raimu. On previous visits we have had to Estonia during their spring and summer, Raimu and Merike have made their gorgeous summer house available for us. As these summer houses are not suitable for living all year around we did not stay there this time. Nevertheless we had numerous visits during spring and summer to enjoy the beautiful garden, to help water the plants in the greenhouse, to pick fruit from the various fruit trees on the property, to share a barbecue ( grill) with them or with other visiting friends and to fire up the sauna for a relaxing sauna followed by a beer in the garden. Throughout the year Merike and Raimu cared for us in so many ways. They helped us when we needed a bit of medical attention, they took us to wonderful concerts and festivals, they provided us with tickets to many events even when they were unable to attend. We celebrated Christmas and New Year with them as they introduced us to the customs of these festive seasons. Every Sunday night we would go to their apartment to catch up and to have a sauna and enjoy some special snack that Merike would prepare. Most of all they just shared their love and welcome to us "stealing our hearts" in a way that means we will always be a part of one another despite the distance between us.
One of our reasons for going to Estonia was Helve's Auntie Erna. When we arrived in April 2017 Erna had just moved into an aged care facility in Tartu about 10 mins by car from our place. Along with Merike and Raimu and Anti and Karin we were able to visit her every day or two and make her life there a little more interesting. Erna was 96 years old and the matriarch of Helve's clan. She and Helve spent lots of special hours together as she shared the stories of the families life through freedom, war, occupation and renewed freedom. Valuable stories that enabled Helve to understand more of her heritage and history. Helve, on the other hand was able to provide love and care especially as Erna went through the last days of her life. Sadly, in November 2017 Erna passed away and together with all our family, friends and Erna,s many friends we celebrated her life in a service at the Church where for more than 30 years she had been organist and choir director. We miss her terribly but we are so glad we were there to spend the last 8 months of her life with her. Not only that, but all our family had the opportunity to meet her and receive her blessing on their lives. One of our last acts before returning home was to visit her grave on her birthday and light some candles as we paused to be thankful for all she meant to us. Significantly, it was this very grave site and the very lady, Erna, who opened the way for Helve to discover her family on our first visit 14 years before.
Our other Auntie, Liidia who is 90 and living in Tallinn was yet another reason to spend this year in Estonia. Tallinn is around 200Kms from Tartu where we were living, so our visits to Liidia were not as regular as those to Erna. We did manage to make numerous visits throughout the year and enjoy listening to Liidia,s many stories of life in Estonia during her long life. Her mind is sharp and her knowledge of both the family's and the nations history are remarkable. We managed to visit her on the day we left to return and of course the parting was difficult. Liidia is now the oldest of the family clan and we feel the distance that separates us from her in these senior years of her life.
As well as family there were other friends we made during our time there. Jaano and Miao, their daughter Kati and her husband Ivo were great friends to us helping us to understand more of Estonian life and rescuing us when we needed help or advice or a computer fixed. Our visits to their shop in Tartu centre and our conversations there will long remain in our memories as highlights of our year.
So.......what did and does all this mean for us now as we look back on the year. It is not easy for me to put into words or to even fully understand myself what this has contributed to our lives. That something has changed is sure. Some part of our life is now inseparably linked to that land and those people. It feels a bit like a second life or identity, culturally, linguistically and environmentally distinct from our life here at home. Being exposed for a significant time to another culture broadens considerably what you consider as "normal". It highlights the strengths of our own culture and also enables us to see its limitations and deficiencies. It has made us aware that although we humans share common values in our desire for peace, happiness and fulfilment in life, there is more than one way to pursue those desires and to express those values. Living there has strengthened our appreciation for the "common" things that all races share and makes it more baffling that human history is so full of violent confrontation of one people against another. It has made us even more aware of the fact that it is people and not travel that enrich an experience like this. I have discovered that language is only one way of connecting to others and that when confronted with the inability to "talk the language" we find other ways to communicate. In my time at language school I discovered that learning a new language at the age of 75 is not impossible even if somewhat more difficult. For Helve, she now has more than a genetic connection to her land of origin. She understands more fully the rhythm and pulse of life in Estonia as it is today, and appreciated more fully what her father sacrificed to attempt to defend the freedom of his own people in Estonia's past. Our family has broadened to embrace our Estonian members, strengthening the ties that were established in previous shorter visits to Estonia.
Now the year has gone and we take up life here at home again. Will we return again? Who knows. There are no plans, but then we have learnt that plans often restrict rather than enable things like this to happen. That we are immensely grateful for the privilege of this time goes without question. If we could encourage any of you who have been reading this blog over the year to think of doing something similar that would be great. Maybe not all can find a year to live in another land, but even the regular ' 6 weeks holiday in Europe ' would bring much richer rewards if spent in one town or village rather than the ' one day here next day there' approach that benefits the tourist industry more than the tourist. Of course, now that we are back in our wonderful land of Australia it means we have the opportunity to catch up with you, readers of this blog, and to hear of your stories and adventures in life. This we hope to do and if any one of you have a special interest please feel free to contact us.
Thanks for all your encouragment and comments in response to this blog over the year. Most likely this will be the last unless some other surprise like this past year occurs, or unless our travels within Australia inspire me to write again.
I would like to finish where I started....Helve's family's forced exit from their own fatherland. After frightening experiences of bombing of their district, the uncertainty of whether Walter ( Helve's dad ) had survived, Lillian ( Helve's mum ) on the run with her baby daughter ( Helve ), long wait for Walter in Sweden, Russian pressure forcing them to flee again, a "war time' voyage on a trading ship to South Africa, again uprooted by the onset of apartheid in their new home and finally arriving in Australia after 8 years of "homelessness" ......... my much loved wife and mother of three children, grandmother to six and your friend....was just an "asylum seeker". She had a different cultural heritage, spoke a different language and felt like a stranger in a strange land, but she was welcomed then in 1951. Why is it that we Australians of today 2018 find it so difficult to welcome current day asylum seekers who arrive here to escape the same terrors that beset Helve's family over 60 years ago? I for one, will always be eternally grateful for those who welcomed Helve and her family and gave them a place of refuge to live and to heal from the terrors of war. They were the "true Aussies" and I want to believe that we still have those qualities of welcome and acceptance today.
Quite a few readers of this blog have suggested to me that I use these posts as the basis of a book on our year in Estonia. I am somewhat unsure whether I have the skills to attempt a project like that, but I will consider it and seek advice from someone with writing and compilation skills. Maybe and maybe not, time will tell. In any case I have enjoyed sharing some of our experiences with you all and hope that it might encourage you to visit this little land of Estonia.
So.... now that this time is over its time to reflect on what it has meant for us to live one year in Estonia. Firstly, we would like to acknowledge all those who made this possible. Anti & Karin, who made their apartment available to us for the year and often took us to some interesting place to see parts of Estonia and Estonian life that we otherwise might not have seen. Not only that, but many happy times sharing " jäätis ja köök ( ice-cream and cake ) when they would drop in to our place after work. Our visits to their fascinating historic home in Elva, and the rides in the vintage Russian cars that Anti collects were great times with great friends. In addition, Anti helped me find a car and then made sure any problems with the car were fixed immediately. Then along with Jaano his lifelong friend, and ours too now, here resurrected my computer after numerous "crashes" after Apple had declared it un fixable. How we miss them now but look forward to their visit to us here in Newhaven in 2019.
Then Merike and Raimu. On previous visits we have had to Estonia during their spring and summer, Raimu and Merike have made their gorgeous summer house available for us. As these summer houses are not suitable for living all year around we did not stay there this time. Nevertheless we had numerous visits during spring and summer to enjoy the beautiful garden, to help water the plants in the greenhouse, to pick fruit from the various fruit trees on the property, to share a barbecue ( grill) with them or with other visiting friends and to fire up the sauna for a relaxing sauna followed by a beer in the garden. Throughout the year Merike and Raimu cared for us in so many ways. They helped us when we needed a bit of medical attention, they took us to wonderful concerts and festivals, they provided us with tickets to many events even when they were unable to attend. We celebrated Christmas and New Year with them as they introduced us to the customs of these festive seasons. Every Sunday night we would go to their apartment to catch up and to have a sauna and enjoy some special snack that Merike would prepare. Most of all they just shared their love and welcome to us "stealing our hearts" in a way that means we will always be a part of one another despite the distance between us.
One of our reasons for going to Estonia was Helve's Auntie Erna. When we arrived in April 2017 Erna had just moved into an aged care facility in Tartu about 10 mins by car from our place. Along with Merike and Raimu and Anti and Karin we were able to visit her every day or two and make her life there a little more interesting. Erna was 96 years old and the matriarch of Helve's clan. She and Helve spent lots of special hours together as she shared the stories of the families life through freedom, war, occupation and renewed freedom. Valuable stories that enabled Helve to understand more of her heritage and history. Helve, on the other hand was able to provide love and care especially as Erna went through the last days of her life. Sadly, in November 2017 Erna passed away and together with all our family, friends and Erna,s many friends we celebrated her life in a service at the Church where for more than 30 years she had been organist and choir director. We miss her terribly but we are so glad we were there to spend the last 8 months of her life with her. Not only that, but all our family had the opportunity to meet her and receive her blessing on their lives. One of our last acts before returning home was to visit her grave on her birthday and light some candles as we paused to be thankful for all she meant to us. Significantly, it was this very grave site and the very lady, Erna, who opened the way for Helve to discover her family on our first visit 14 years before.
Our other Auntie, Liidia who is 90 and living in Tallinn was yet another reason to spend this year in Estonia. Tallinn is around 200Kms from Tartu where we were living, so our visits to Liidia were not as regular as those to Erna. We did manage to make numerous visits throughout the year and enjoy listening to Liidia,s many stories of life in Estonia during her long life. Her mind is sharp and her knowledge of both the family's and the nations history are remarkable. We managed to visit her on the day we left to return and of course the parting was difficult. Liidia is now the oldest of the family clan and we feel the distance that separates us from her in these senior years of her life.
As well as family there were other friends we made during our time there. Jaano and Miao, their daughter Kati and her husband Ivo were great friends to us helping us to understand more of Estonian life and rescuing us when we needed help or advice or a computer fixed. Our visits to their shop in Tartu centre and our conversations there will long remain in our memories as highlights of our year.
So.......what did and does all this mean for us now as we look back on the year. It is not easy for me to put into words or to even fully understand myself what this has contributed to our lives. That something has changed is sure. Some part of our life is now inseparably linked to that land and those people. It feels a bit like a second life or identity, culturally, linguistically and environmentally distinct from our life here at home. Being exposed for a significant time to another culture broadens considerably what you consider as "normal". It highlights the strengths of our own culture and also enables us to see its limitations and deficiencies. It has made us aware that although we humans share common values in our desire for peace, happiness and fulfilment in life, there is more than one way to pursue those desires and to express those values. Living there has strengthened our appreciation for the "common" things that all races share and makes it more baffling that human history is so full of violent confrontation of one people against another. It has made us even more aware of the fact that it is people and not travel that enrich an experience like this. I have discovered that language is only one way of connecting to others and that when confronted with the inability to "talk the language" we find other ways to communicate. In my time at language school I discovered that learning a new language at the age of 75 is not impossible even if somewhat more difficult. For Helve, she now has more than a genetic connection to her land of origin. She understands more fully the rhythm and pulse of life in Estonia as it is today, and appreciated more fully what her father sacrificed to attempt to defend the freedom of his own people in Estonia's past. Our family has broadened to embrace our Estonian members, strengthening the ties that were established in previous shorter visits to Estonia.
Now the year has gone and we take up life here at home again. Will we return again? Who knows. There are no plans, but then we have learnt that plans often restrict rather than enable things like this to happen. That we are immensely grateful for the privilege of this time goes without question. If we could encourage any of you who have been reading this blog over the year to think of doing something similar that would be great. Maybe not all can find a year to live in another land, but even the regular ' 6 weeks holiday in Europe ' would bring much richer rewards if spent in one town or village rather than the ' one day here next day there' approach that benefits the tourist industry more than the tourist. Of course, now that we are back in our wonderful land of Australia it means we have the opportunity to catch up with you, readers of this blog, and to hear of your stories and adventures in life. This we hope to do and if any one of you have a special interest please feel free to contact us.
Thanks for all your encouragment and comments in response to this blog over the year. Most likely this will be the last unless some other surprise like this past year occurs, or unless our travels within Australia inspire me to write again.
I would like to finish where I started....Helve's family's forced exit from their own fatherland. After frightening experiences of bombing of their district, the uncertainty of whether Walter ( Helve's dad ) had survived, Lillian ( Helve's mum ) on the run with her baby daughter ( Helve ), long wait for Walter in Sweden, Russian pressure forcing them to flee again, a "war time' voyage on a trading ship to South Africa, again uprooted by the onset of apartheid in their new home and finally arriving in Australia after 8 years of "homelessness" ......... my much loved wife and mother of three children, grandmother to six and your friend....was just an "asylum seeker". She had a different cultural heritage, spoke a different language and felt like a stranger in a strange land, but she was welcomed then in 1951. Why is it that we Australians of today 2018 find it so difficult to welcome current day asylum seekers who arrive here to escape the same terrors that beset Helve's family over 60 years ago? I for one, will always be eternally grateful for those who welcomed Helve and her family and gave them a place of refuge to live and to heal from the terrors of war. They were the "true Aussies" and I want to believe that we still have those qualities of welcome and acceptance today.
Quite a few readers of this blog have suggested to me that I use these posts as the basis of a book on our year in Estonia. I am somewhat unsure whether I have the skills to attempt a project like that, but I will consider it and seek advice from someone with writing and compilation skills. Maybe and maybe not, time will tell. In any case I have enjoyed sharing some of our experiences with you all and hope that it might encourage you to visit this little land of Estonia.
Sunday, 18 March 2018
Well...maybe time for one more blog from Estonia. Now it is under a week before we leave and the reality of this fascinating year coming to a close is sinking in. Strangely it is hard for us to get our minds around as it seems, now, to have gone so quickly. The facts are that we have been here just on a year now even though it seems much shorter to us. The calendar doesn't lie. On Sunday week, 25th March we will land in Melbourne and bring to an end our Estonian adventure.
Here it is a time of transition. Not just for us as we prepare to leave our little home and friends, but for the environment itself. A few days ago we had our first + degrees temperature since around Christmas time. It actually got to around +5C and felt quite warm to us. The result was melting snow and ice. Amazing how quickly the snow began to melt, and with the melt came lots of water, running, pooling and dripping off everything. Added to the + temperature was a little rain and that banished the snow at an even greater rate. Then, as it happens in this transition time between winter and spring here in Estonia, the skies cleared and the temperature plunged to -10C or more today, making dangerous areas of "black" ice on roads and footpaths. The ice on the river, which had melted to the extent that you could no longer 'walk on water' safely anymore, has firmed somewhat again as the temperatures dropped. The weather man tells us that -10C and more can be expected over the next week, so it seems as if Estonia is going to farewell us in the way it welcomed us last April with sub zero temperatures. This morning on our morning walk in -11C we were faced with very slippery conditions due to the recent higher temperatures and rain. Those higher temperatures three days ago along with the rain caused large ponds, or small lakes of water along our walking track. Now with temperatures again below -10C these little lakes have frozen over forming natural ice skating rinks throughout the park. Due to the fact that the ground is still frozen water cannot soak away and in these temperatures quickly turns to ice more than 100mm thick. Walking in these conditions is not without risk but still provides us with brisk exercise and a change from the heated interior of our apartment. It will be interesting to see how we recalibrate our thermostats upon arrival in Oz next week.
When we were planning this time in Estonia many of our friends asked us "What will you do there for a whole year. Well, here is a list of some of the things we have done.......
We have done 25000 Kms in our car. including driving through Finland and Sweden.
and all of course on the "wrong" (right) side of the road!
We have traveled in 7 countries... Estonia, Latvia (5), Finland (5), Sweden (2), Norway (1),
France (1), Russia (1)
We have had 41 visitors stay with us for a total of 120 days
We have had 8 ferry trips between Estonia, Helsinki and Stockholm
We were able to visit our elderly aunt, Erna, approximately twice a week for the last 8 months of her
life, and to be there for her funeral.
We have also regularly travelled the 180 kms to Tallinn to visit our other Auntie, Liidia.
We have acted as tour guides in the Old Tallinn city for 9+ groups of visitors
We have attended 63 concerts..classical, opera, jazz, ballet and folk.
We have attended numerous markets and festivals, including the National Youth Song and Dance
Festival in Tallinn.
We have stayed with 9 different family/friends in three different countries.
We have enjoyed the sauna on over 40 occasions
Neville has attended 26 days over 3 months of language school learning Estonian
We have been skiing, walking on frozen lakes and rivers, riding in snowmobiles and watching ski
jumping, mushrooming and picking blue berries in the forrest, attending ice hockey games.
We have driven in sunshine, rain, snow and ice conditions.
We have drunk more than 350 cups of coffee each, contributing substantially to Tartu's economy.
We have walked more than 900kms in morning walks around our beautiful local park.
We have experienced temperatures from +25C to -27C.
And we had a White Christmas!!!!!
In addition we had to live....shopping, cooking, washing, renovating our apartment, and so on.
So..... that is some of what we have been doing. We are grateful, that apart from some minor skirmishes with the flu we have kept good health enabling us to extract as much benefit as we could from this ' year of privilege ', made possible through the generosity of Anti and Karin who made this apartment available to us for the year. The good news is that they will be visiting us in Australia in 2019 so hopefully some of you can meet them then.
What has all this meant for us? Well as I mentioned in the last blog, it may take time for us to reflect on that question when we get back home. One thing though is clear. For Helve to spend a year in the country of her origin, among her 'own people' and her mother tongue it has been extraordinarily significant. Many of you are aware that our life together over our 50 years of marriage has been quite a busy time, and often required Helve to sacrifice her priorities in favour of things I have been involved in. That we could spend this ' fiftieth year ' here in Estonia, where she was able to set the agenda and soak in her culture, language and family has been well deserved and something that I am so pleased has occurred. I have seen new aspects of her personality and abilities and am sure that such an experience has enriched our relationship and increased my already substantial appreciation of what Helve has brought to our life together. Being here has enabled Helve to fill in the missing pieces of her story, to understand and to appreciate more of "who she is", and I'm sure, to find a new peace within herself which is all the more important as we both enter our senior years.
For now we continue the round of farewells. We have just returned from our local shopping centre where we met again with our friend Raul who is severely disabled and confined to a wheel chair. We had a chance to share a coffee with him, his mother and sister. He is finding it hard to see us leave but we plan to keep in touch through Skype. Raul cannot talk but understands ( Estonian of course ) quite clearly. He has a sister who is also mildly disabled, so Sirje, his mother has had a tough life and still has a heavy load to carry. We were glad we could establish a friendship and it seemed to lift the spirits of this little family under pressure. Most nights this week we have been out to dinner with family or friends which has been wonderful and a little sad also. Each visit raises the question whether we will ever be there again, a question that only time can answer. Also on the home front we have begun the task of preparing the apartment for our leaving and of beginning the task of packing. We will leave here on Thur 22nd morning. Anti and Karen are driving us to Tallinn (in our car) in time for us to pay a last visit to Auntie Liidia before we board the ferry for Helsinki. Saying goodbye to Auntie Liidia, who is 90, will be another painful parting. In Helsinki we will be met by Harry and Britta who will take us out for dinner before delivering us to the Helsinki Airport for our 11.55pm flight out for Singapore. Hopefully we can sleep on the plane though it is not something we find comes easy. This afternoon we have been packing, and for a couple who usually travel light with just carry on baggage, we find that we are pushing the baggage limits for both checked in and carry on baggage on this occasion, even after a big load to the op- shop!!
As I write the sun is going down, the temperature is down to minus 7C on its way to minus 9C tomorrow morning. We certainly look forward to some warm balmy evenings back on our beautiful Island. Till then.......
Here it is a time of transition. Not just for us as we prepare to leave our little home and friends, but for the environment itself. A few days ago we had our first + degrees temperature since around Christmas time. It actually got to around +5C and felt quite warm to us. The result was melting snow and ice. Amazing how quickly the snow began to melt, and with the melt came lots of water, running, pooling and dripping off everything. Added to the + temperature was a little rain and that banished the snow at an even greater rate. Then, as it happens in this transition time between winter and spring here in Estonia, the skies cleared and the temperature plunged to -10C or more today, making dangerous areas of "black" ice on roads and footpaths. The ice on the river, which had melted to the extent that you could no longer 'walk on water' safely anymore, has firmed somewhat again as the temperatures dropped. The weather man tells us that -10C and more can be expected over the next week, so it seems as if Estonia is going to farewell us in the way it welcomed us last April with sub zero temperatures. This morning on our morning walk in -11C we were faced with very slippery conditions due to the recent higher temperatures and rain. Those higher temperatures three days ago along with the rain caused large ponds, or small lakes of water along our walking track. Now with temperatures again below -10C these little lakes have frozen over forming natural ice skating rinks throughout the park. Due to the fact that the ground is still frozen water cannot soak away and in these temperatures quickly turns to ice more than 100mm thick. Walking in these conditions is not without risk but still provides us with brisk exercise and a change from the heated interior of our apartment. It will be interesting to see how we recalibrate our thermostats upon arrival in Oz next week.
The Ema Jõgi bigins to melt...no longer safe to walk on the ice.
When we were planning this time in Estonia many of our friends asked us "What will you do there for a whole year. Well, here is a list of some of the things we have done.......
We have done 25000 Kms in our car. including driving through Finland and Sweden.
and all of course on the "wrong" (right) side of the road!
We have traveled in 7 countries... Estonia, Latvia (5), Finland (5), Sweden (2), Norway (1),
France (1), Russia (1)
We have had 41 visitors stay with us for a total of 120 days
We have had 8 ferry trips between Estonia, Helsinki and Stockholm
We were able to visit our elderly aunt, Erna, approximately twice a week for the last 8 months of her
life, and to be there for her funeral.
We have also regularly travelled the 180 kms to Tallinn to visit our other Auntie, Liidia.
We have acted as tour guides in the Old Tallinn city for 9+ groups of visitors
We have attended 63 concerts..classical, opera, jazz, ballet and folk.
We have attended numerous markets and festivals, including the National Youth Song and Dance
Festival in Tallinn.
We have stayed with 9 different family/friends in three different countries.
We have enjoyed the sauna on over 40 occasions
Neville has attended 26 days over 3 months of language school learning Estonian
We have been skiing, walking on frozen lakes and rivers, riding in snowmobiles and watching ski
jumping, mushrooming and picking blue berries in the forrest, attending ice hockey games.
We have driven in sunshine, rain, snow and ice conditions.
We have drunk more than 350 cups of coffee each, contributing substantially to Tartu's economy.
We have walked more than 900kms in morning walks around our beautiful local park.
We have experienced temperatures from +25C to -27C.
And we had a White Christmas!!!!!
In addition we had to live....shopping, cooking, washing, renovating our apartment, and so on.
So..... that is some of what we have been doing. We are grateful, that apart from some minor skirmishes with the flu we have kept good health enabling us to extract as much benefit as we could from this ' year of privilege ', made possible through the generosity of Anti and Karin who made this apartment available to us for the year. The good news is that they will be visiting us in Australia in 2019 so hopefully some of you can meet them then.
What has all this meant for us? Well as I mentioned in the last blog, it may take time for us to reflect on that question when we get back home. One thing though is clear. For Helve to spend a year in the country of her origin, among her 'own people' and her mother tongue it has been extraordinarily significant. Many of you are aware that our life together over our 50 years of marriage has been quite a busy time, and often required Helve to sacrifice her priorities in favour of things I have been involved in. That we could spend this ' fiftieth year ' here in Estonia, where she was able to set the agenda and soak in her culture, language and family has been well deserved and something that I am so pleased has occurred. I have seen new aspects of her personality and abilities and am sure that such an experience has enriched our relationship and increased my already substantial appreciation of what Helve has brought to our life together. Being here has enabled Helve to fill in the missing pieces of her story, to understand and to appreciate more of "who she is", and I'm sure, to find a new peace within herself which is all the more important as we both enter our senior years.
For now we continue the round of farewells. We have just returned from our local shopping centre where we met again with our friend Raul who is severely disabled and confined to a wheel chair. We had a chance to share a coffee with him, his mother and sister. He is finding it hard to see us leave but we plan to keep in touch through Skype. Raul cannot talk but understands ( Estonian of course ) quite clearly. He has a sister who is also mildly disabled, so Sirje, his mother has had a tough life and still has a heavy load to carry. We were glad we could establish a friendship and it seemed to lift the spirits of this little family under pressure. Most nights this week we have been out to dinner with family or friends which has been wonderful and a little sad also. Each visit raises the question whether we will ever be there again, a question that only time can answer. Also on the home front we have begun the task of preparing the apartment for our leaving and of beginning the task of packing. We will leave here on Thur 22nd morning. Anti and Karen are driving us to Tallinn (in our car) in time for us to pay a last visit to Auntie Liidia before we board the ferry for Helsinki. Saying goodbye to Auntie Liidia, who is 90, will be another painful parting. In Helsinki we will be met by Harry and Britta who will take us out for dinner before delivering us to the Helsinki Airport for our 11.55pm flight out for Singapore. Hopefully we can sleep on the plane though it is not something we find comes easy. This afternoon we have been packing, and for a couple who usually travel light with just carry on baggage, we find that we are pushing the baggage limits for both checked in and carry on baggage on this occasion, even after a big load to the op- shop!!
As I write the sun is going down, the temperature is down to minus 7C on its way to minus 9C tomorrow morning. We certainly look forward to some warm balmy evenings back on our beautiful Island. Till then.......
Monday, 5 March 2018
Here we are back in Tartu after an amazing week (for us) in Sweden. Our great friends, Matts & Inga and Kairi had invited us to share their winter skiing holiday in the mountains of central Sweden close to the boarder with Norway. Yet another new and fascinating experience for us in this year of surprises. Our cottage for the week was in a small mountain area known as Sälen which is about 390 kms north west of Stockholm. As you can see from the attached picture it was hard to see as it was buried in more than 2 meters of snow. Fortunately someone had cut a path to the front door through the snow so we could get access.It was truly a beautiful sight, house roofs covered in a meter of snow, trees looking more like statues shrouded in snow, and to cap it all off, brilliant sunshine on most days. In the sunshine the white of the snow was almost blinding making it difficult to distinguish where the ground was and where the road or path was going. Amazing.
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| The trench into the front door |
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| The cottage |
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| The path lighting just clearing the snow
During our week there Sweden holds a very big event known as "Vasaloppet". This is a series of cross country ski races which attracts a total number of around 60,000 contestants from all over the world, including Australia. The program consists of 4 ninety kilometre races, one held at night commencing at 8 pm, 1 ninety kilometre team race, 2 thirty kilometre races ( one for women only ) and a forty five kilometre race. On the final day there is the 90 km race open to all but also with an elite field of skiers as well. Its hard to believe but in that race alone there were 15,000 starters!!! Its a huge event and it takes more than half an hour for all competitors to get through the start line. Even in the night race some 3000 people participated, some of whom were in their 70,s and 80,s. It's amazing sight. The 90Kms can take the professionals around 4 hours and the ordinary mums and dads and young people up to 10 hours. Its a gruelling up hill and down hill course, and as we went and watched them on the track one wonders how they keep up the effort over such a long time and distance. Our friends Inga and Kairi both participated in the 30km race getting in just under 3 hours. Some years before they both did the 90 km race as well. If you check on Youtube I'm sure there would be videos of the race, especially the start. Well, we tried a bit of cross country skiing, our first ever time with skis on our feet, and found it hard but enjoyable...not sure about 90 kms though!!
While we were there we were taken for a trip into Norway, a country we have never visited before. The mountains were higher and much snow. Beautiful scenery and we visited a popular ski resort, mainly for down hill skiing. It was great to watch the hundreds of people and families enjoying skiing together, including tiny little children who just about grow up with skis on their feet. It was not uncommon to see little ones maybe 2 years old skiing down the slopes with their parents....sometimes attached to mum or dad with a short rope lead to
prevent them from "escaping". Skiing is a huge industry and pastime in these countries and is quite expensive as well. The cost doesn't stop folks from being involved...they just budget for it as part of normal life. Well, it was some week and to add to it we were told that they have not had this much snow and so good conditions since sometime in the 1970,s, so we felt pretty privileged to have experienced it all. Before we left Kairi took us by snowmobile high up above the treeline where the landscape looked a bit like being on the moon except everything was snow covered. Here it was very cold and we could only stay for an hour before returning to base for 'finger therapy'
 
Now it is only 17 days before we leave Estonia for home. It is hard for us to believe that a year has passed and hard for us to face all the goodbyes to family and friends here. In addition there are lots of things to do like cancelling phone accounts, bank accounts, health benefits and other such administrative things. Then there is the apartment and the dreaded packing for the journey home. It will be a busy and emotional 17 days and then the joy of returning to our own country and people (and sunshine). This will most likely be my last blog from Estonia but when I return I will take time to write maybe one more as we reflect on the whole impact of this year. Certainly it has been an experience never to be forgotten and we are both sure that our lives will not be unchanged by our time spent here, but that will have to wait till we have a bit more time to reflect. Now we can truly say...."we will see you all soon" and whatever the strains of leaving here might be they are certainly matched by our anticipation of being with you all, our friends and family, again. Keep the sun shining for us please.
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Thursday, 22 February 2018
Hi.....The gods are smiling on us here in Tartu. We have had the perfect winter, and it is not finished yet. Firstly there was our "white Christmas", something that has not happened that much over the past few years. Then for the last month or so the ground has been covered in snow, with new falls every other night refreshing the landscape with its pure white carpet. Temperatures are gradually going down, with this morning, as I left for school, reaching -20C. You might think this is all a bit grim, but no, the days have been days of brilliant sunshine and deep blue skies. In these conditions the snow virtually sparkles, the trees appear etched in silver and the contrast between very low temperatures and warm sunshine is invigorating to say the least. Lots of "first time" experiences are happening to us almost every day. Today, for instance, as I drove to school around 7.30am it was hard to see the car in front of me because of the clouds of steam emanating from every vehicle exhaust. We appeared to be driving steam cars. Then, as I returned to my parked car after school, I was able to take a short cut by walking over the Emajõgi, ( our 60 meter wide river in Tartu ) not, as one would expect, by way of the bridge, but just walking across the frozen surface of the river itself. Amazing! Another experience has been to visit the ice sculpture in the main town square. This year the sculpture is of a dog, being the Chinese year of the dog in 2018. At minus 20C such a sculpture has no risk of melting and is a wonderful tribute to the skill of these ice sculptors. So we could go on with new experience after new experience seemingly trotted out to initiate us into Estonian winter in a way that guarantees will will never forget. Even our Estonian family and friends seem to catch our excitement of each new activity or sight helping them to see their own country with renewed interest and enthusiasm.
Not all has been plain sailing. The last couple of weeks both Helve and I managed to pick up the flu from somewhere. Being a variety that we have not encountered in Australia, it hit us pretty hard. Helve went down first ( requiring a brief visit from the ambulance crew ) surfacing a few days later. By this time I was into it myself and my version dragged on with high temperatures making it quite miserable. When we realised it was not abating, i agreed to see a doctor. After an X-ray it was discover I had some pneumonia in my left lung, so on to antibiotics which has brought quick relief.
Naturally I missed my language school for a couple of weeks which was disappointing. Fortunately we seem to be well on the mend which is timely as we leave tomorrow for a week of skiing in northern Sweden with friends. I have one more doctors visit tomorrow 2 hours before we leave and hope for clearance to travel then. I am sure someone reading this will also have had the flu recently also, so it is no big deal, just one of those realities of life these days. We are grateful to have had such good health during our stay here .
Talking about our year in Estonia, unfortunately it is quickly coming to an end. As I write this it is exactly one month to we set sail for home again. It has gone so quickly and we have mixed feelings as we face leaving our home for a year. The coming month will be very busy with final visits and events and it will no time before we are with you all in "warm/hot Australia. Meantime we are making each day count as much as we can. I guess time to reflect on the significance of this year in our lives will come later and will be interesting. I have said somewhere else that this year here in Estonia is an year of celebrations. Estonia celebrates its first independence as a nation achieved in 1918 on this coming Saturday 24th February. It is their 100 year celebration, and lots of events will be held all over Estonia to mark this day. Already the blue, black and white Estonian flash is flying from many buildings and private homes as the day approaches. For a country that has endured so many occupations over the centuries it is naturally a very joyous time and a time to realise the importance of their freedom and independence. The current independence (from Russia ) is just 26 years old and their progress as a nation has been truly amazing and of huge credit to them as a nation. We wish them well for the next 100 yers in the hope that they will remain free and independent. At the personal level, this year has been the fiftieth year of our marriage, and in addition both of us turn 75 this year also. So you see there a many things for us to celebrate and we a very grateful for each of these milestones. Once again, its amazing how the time has gone here in Estonia, in our married life together and in our lives in total.
I mentioned before our skiing trip to Sweden. The facts are that we have NEVER skied before. Never even had skis on our feet. So...we are probably crazy, but at least we want to try. Hopefully we can keep our legs intact and return in good shape. We will be in the mid north of Sweden in a mountain area. We have heard there is about 1800mm (180cm or around 6 feet ) of snow there at the moment. Temperatures will be around the same as here but could drop much colder if the conditions change. On our way there we are attending a major cross country skiing event where skiers do 90Kms or 30Kms courses. Our friends and sisters Kairi and Inga will be competing in the 30 km course. Also our friends from way up north in Sweden Birgit and her daughter Elinor will be competing. We are the cheer squad and plan to be at the finishing line when the girls come over. After the event we are travelling another 3 hours north to our rented chalet for a week of initiation into the pastime of nearly everyone in this part of the world. Over the last couple of weeks here in Tartu we have watched people skating on the frozen lakes and rivers of the area, and we have had our own international Tartu Marathon, a 90km cross country ski event that forms part of the world grand prix circuit. When we return our friends Anti and Karin plan to take us driving on one of the now open ice roads, another first for us of course. I will write later to describe the experience we have there.
Our source of news comes from a TV channel called France 24. Even though it is located in Paris it has an english program providing 24 hour news and current affairs. Like you all we have been shocked by yet another school shooting in America, and probably like you also, are puzzled to understand why nothing can seemingly be done to control access to guns in their communities. We must be vigilant that such conditions never come to our country. Also we are saddened by the continuing tragic loss of life in Syria. It is easy to be moved to tears at the suffering of these communities and especially the young children subject to such terror. With the escalation of violence and conflict all around the world one wonders what has happened to modern man's mind and values to give rise to such activities. It is more incumbent on us than ever before to abandon hate and seek to replace it with understanding and acceptance both at the micro and macro levels of life.
Well...next time I will recount our successes or failures in the field of skiing, and by then we will
already be packing to return home.
Walking on the frozen river in Tartu
Not all has been plain sailing. The last couple of weeks both Helve and I managed to pick up the flu from somewhere. Being a variety that we have not encountered in Australia, it hit us pretty hard. Helve went down first ( requiring a brief visit from the ambulance crew ) surfacing a few days later. By this time I was into it myself and my version dragged on with high temperatures making it quite miserable. When we realised it was not abating, i agreed to see a doctor. After an X-ray it was discover I had some pneumonia in my left lung, so on to antibiotics which has brought quick relief.
Naturally I missed my language school for a couple of weeks which was disappointing. Fortunately we seem to be well on the mend which is timely as we leave tomorrow for a week of skiing in northern Sweden with friends. I have one more doctors visit tomorrow 2 hours before we leave and hope for clearance to travel then. I am sure someone reading this will also have had the flu recently also, so it is no big deal, just one of those realities of life these days. We are grateful to have had such good health during our stay here .
Talking about our year in Estonia, unfortunately it is quickly coming to an end. As I write this it is exactly one month to we set sail for home again. It has gone so quickly and we have mixed feelings as we face leaving our home for a year. The coming month will be very busy with final visits and events and it will no time before we are with you all in "warm/hot Australia. Meantime we are making each day count as much as we can. I guess time to reflect on the significance of this year in our lives will come later and will be interesting. I have said somewhere else that this year here in Estonia is an year of celebrations. Estonia celebrates its first independence as a nation achieved in 1918 on this coming Saturday 24th February. It is their 100 year celebration, and lots of events will be held all over Estonia to mark this day. Already the blue, black and white Estonian flash is flying from many buildings and private homes as the day approaches. For a country that has endured so many occupations over the centuries it is naturally a very joyous time and a time to realise the importance of their freedom and independence. The current independence (from Russia ) is just 26 years old and their progress as a nation has been truly amazing and of huge credit to them as a nation. We wish them well for the next 100 yers in the hope that they will remain free and independent. At the personal level, this year has been the fiftieth year of our marriage, and in addition both of us turn 75 this year also. So you see there a many things for us to celebrate and we a very grateful for each of these milestones. Once again, its amazing how the time has gone here in Estonia, in our married life together and in our lives in total.
The ice sculpture in Tartu....the year of the dog
I mentioned before our skiing trip to Sweden. The facts are that we have NEVER skied before. Never even had skis on our feet. So...we are probably crazy, but at least we want to try. Hopefully we can keep our legs intact and return in good shape. We will be in the mid north of Sweden in a mountain area. We have heard there is about 1800mm (180cm or around 6 feet ) of snow there at the moment. Temperatures will be around the same as here but could drop much colder if the conditions change. On our way there we are attending a major cross country skiing event where skiers do 90Kms or 30Kms courses. Our friends and sisters Kairi and Inga will be competing in the 30 km course. Also our friends from way up north in Sweden Birgit and her daughter Elinor will be competing. We are the cheer squad and plan to be at the finishing line when the girls come over. After the event we are travelling another 3 hours north to our rented chalet for a week of initiation into the pastime of nearly everyone in this part of the world. Over the last couple of weeks here in Tartu we have watched people skating on the frozen lakes and rivers of the area, and we have had our own international Tartu Marathon, a 90km cross country ski event that forms part of the world grand prix circuit. When we return our friends Anti and Karin plan to take us driving on one of the now open ice roads, another first for us of course. I will write later to describe the experience we have there.
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| Ice fishing on the frozen lake in Tartu |
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| The silver laced silver birch in our street |
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Our source of news comes from a TV channel called France 24. Even though it is located in Paris it has an english program providing 24 hour news and current affairs. Like you all we have been shocked by yet another school shooting in America, and probably like you also, are puzzled to understand why nothing can seemingly be done to control access to guns in their communities. We must be vigilant that such conditions never come to our country. Also we are saddened by the continuing tragic loss of life in Syria. It is easy to be moved to tears at the suffering of these communities and especially the young children subject to such terror. With the escalation of violence and conflict all around the world one wonders what has happened to modern man's mind and values to give rise to such activities. It is more incumbent on us than ever before to abandon hate and seek to replace it with understanding and acceptance both at the micro and macro levels of life.
Well...next time I will recount our successes or failures in the field of skiing, and by then we will
already be packing to return home.
Monday, 5 February 2018
Wow....this place can ring the changes. For two weeks or so the ground has been covered in snow, a white carpet over the landscape and silver etchings on the leafless trees. Then...rain, and its all gone. In just moments the snow has disappeared. This land of Estonia seems to revel in "visual violence" , rapid dramatic changes that give you the feeling that you have just walked through a door into another world. We saw this in the explosion of spring with greener than green leaves leaping out of bare branches in just hours, in autumn as trees rushed to throw their now red and golden leaves onto the ground as an exotic carpet for our daily walk, and now in the middle of winter, the white carpet of snow is laid out and rolled away repeatedly, leaving you wondering what will be the view when next you open your eyes. As if to confirm this observation, looking out or lounge room window I see it is snowing again. The carpet layer never tires.
Friendship. As the days race by we cannot avoid the realisation that our year in Estonia is fast coming to and end. It amazes us that this time has gone so fast, aided, I guess, from the many different experiences that have packed themselves into this year. As the date for our return looms up we become increasingly conscious of having to say goodbye to so many friends and family here in Estonia. Of course, to some extent, this will be offset by the expectation of seeing you all, our family and friends, in Australia once again. In addition, this year in Estonia has coincided with the fiftieth year of our marraige. Five decades of friendship that has flourished in both the up's and down's of ordinary family life. Added to these things has been the absolute enjoyment and meaning that Helve and I have derived from the visits that some of our family, and some of you, our friends, have made with us here in Estonia this year. All these things have got me thinking...(oo ooh! maybe you had better skip this bit) what is it about friendship that is so important, so deeply impacting on our lives? What does friendship offer to us and what do we give in return. How do we value these friendship ties in comparison with other aspects of our lives and experience? Maybe I am mistaken, but I think that if most of us were confronted with the choice of being surrounded by caring, interesting and faithful friends, or by a million dollar mansion and loneliness, we would chose friendship. What is it that compels us to put such high value on friendship?
May I tentatively make a suggestion that I have found helpful in living. It is not a dogma, an absolute or a rule, and may not be useful to you at all. But here it is anyway. I think that questions are much more important than answers. Maybe not in purely physical, technical and material things, but in the sphere of human experience, relationships, growth and understanding I think questions, rather than answers enable us to keep on searching, growing, finding, developing, changing, maturing, abandoning and moving on. In other words they kept on renewing us, keep us looking forward. Answers, on the other hand, are more like full stops. If I have the answer, then there is no more need to look, to wonder, to ask, to think. That's it! I learnt long ago that if you give people answers they become followers of 'your' way. If you give them questions they push ahead to discover their own particular path in life. So.......I don't plan to give any answers to my questions on friendship. What I hope is that we all will stop and think about this, see where it takes us, see whether it impacts on our life style and priorities. Recently I read ( I cannot recall the book or the author, apologies ) a writer who suggested that a person is not really human unless they are part of a community. That seems to ring true to our experience, we seem to need each other to become ourselves. Whatever we discover as we think about friendship I think that we all intuitively know that friendship is vital to our lives. If this is so it also follows that we should value the maintenance of friendship as one of our highest, if not highest, priorities. It also follows that the loss of a friend is much more significant than the loss of your financial security, your house or any other material thing. ( I warned you!!!!)
By the way....it's still snowing outside. This winter in Estonia has be unusually mild. Just another aspect of the global warming impact, as is the opposite in the north America continent. We have not had any temperatures below -13C, whereas it is common for temperatures -20C and below at this time of the winter. It remains to be seen what will happen in Feb. but long term forecasts are not favouring very cold temperatures this year. We have come to really enjoy this winter period. Perhaps it is the difference it presents from our Aussie weather and maybe the novelty will wear off in time. In many ways its nice to rug up and walk in the cold. Its comfy to sit in a warm cafe and have a coffee with a friend. I am sure we will miss some of these aspects of life in Tartu, and we do feel somewhat intimidated by the temperatures you are all experiencing in Melbourne and Sydney this year. We are in for a rapid re-aclimatisation when we return. I wrote a poem the other day to try and explain what a snow landscape is like and the feelings it elicits.
Here,
Silence descends
White. Pristine
Consuming all our
Noise. Time
Itself seemingly
Suspended between the Grey Ceiling and the
White
Carpet in this
Land
Võib olla ( Estonian....maybe )
Nature is Whispering:
Stop....
Listen...
Breathe again.
Soon enough the busy Sun will
Tear apart the Ceiling and
Silence will
Melt.
Outside the white carpet is back. This evening we are going to visit an Estonian family who are bee keepers. Some of you will know we once kept bees in Australia. How different it is here to keep bees in this country of below zero temperatures. I am fascinated to hear their story and they too are interested in ours. Since our first meeting with them earlier this year they have become new friends and soon their daughter hopes to visit Australia. People....they are amazing, interesting, unique, inspiring, talented and welcoming. Give me a person any day before a cathedral or a bridge!
Till next time......enjoy your friends.....call someone you haven't seen for a while...we are missing you all.
Friendship. As the days race by we cannot avoid the realisation that our year in Estonia is fast coming to and end. It amazes us that this time has gone so fast, aided, I guess, from the many different experiences that have packed themselves into this year. As the date for our return looms up we become increasingly conscious of having to say goodbye to so many friends and family here in Estonia. Of course, to some extent, this will be offset by the expectation of seeing you all, our family and friends, in Australia once again. In addition, this year in Estonia has coincided with the fiftieth year of our marraige. Five decades of friendship that has flourished in both the up's and down's of ordinary family life. Added to these things has been the absolute enjoyment and meaning that Helve and I have derived from the visits that some of our family, and some of you, our friends, have made with us here in Estonia this year. All these things have got me thinking...(oo ooh! maybe you had better skip this bit) what is it about friendship that is so important, so deeply impacting on our lives? What does friendship offer to us and what do we give in return. How do we value these friendship ties in comparison with other aspects of our lives and experience? Maybe I am mistaken, but I think that if most of us were confronted with the choice of being surrounded by caring, interesting and faithful friends, or by a million dollar mansion and loneliness, we would chose friendship. What is it that compels us to put such high value on friendship?
Cozy with friends
Not so cozy...but still with friends
By the way....it's still snowing outside. This winter in Estonia has be unusually mild. Just another aspect of the global warming impact, as is the opposite in the north America continent. We have not had any temperatures below -13C, whereas it is common for temperatures -20C and below at this time of the winter. It remains to be seen what will happen in Feb. but long term forecasts are not favouring very cold temperatures this year. We have come to really enjoy this winter period. Perhaps it is the difference it presents from our Aussie weather and maybe the novelty will wear off in time. In many ways its nice to rug up and walk in the cold. Its comfy to sit in a warm cafe and have a coffee with a friend. I am sure we will miss some of these aspects of life in Tartu, and we do feel somewhat intimidated by the temperatures you are all experiencing in Melbourne and Sydney this year. We are in for a rapid re-aclimatisation when we return. I wrote a poem the other day to try and explain what a snow landscape is like and the feelings it elicits.
Here,
Silence descendsWhite. Pristine
Consuming all our
Noise. Time
Itself seemingly
Suspended between the Grey Ceiling and the
White
Carpet in this
Land
Võib olla ( Estonian....maybe )
Nature is Whispering:Stop....
Listen...
Breathe again.
Soon enough the busy Sun will
Tear apart the Ceiling and
Silence will
Melt.
Outside the white carpet is back. This evening we are going to visit an Estonian family who are bee keepers. Some of you will know we once kept bees in Australia. How different it is here to keep bees in this country of below zero temperatures. I am fascinated to hear their story and they too are interested in ours. Since our first meeting with them earlier this year they have become new friends and soon their daughter hopes to visit Australia. People....they are amazing, interesting, unique, inspiring, talented and welcoming. Give me a person any day before a cathedral or a bridge!
Till next time......enjoy your friends.....call someone you haven't seen for a while...we are missing you all.
Tuesday, 16 January 2018
This morning a curious thing happened....
......
but let me first describe the scene. We rose about 7.30am which is still half light here as the sun doesn't rise to about 9am at the moment. As we prepared for our morning walk (about 3 kms through some parkland) we noticed that the outside temperature was at minus -11C, so we put on the appropriate layers of clothing as this was the coldest morning we had had since being in Estonia. When we ventured outside we were met with another startling display that nature had conjured up over night. All the trees, both deciduous and evergreen were silver plated. Not the white spectacular that we have experienced in times of snow, but rather what appeared to be a glittering silver coating. This was ice, produced by the very low temperature overnight. In particular the leafless silver birch trees appeared to have magically regained their foliage, only this time, not the lush green of spring, but the glittering silver of this cold winter morning. We were treated to this spectacular scenery for the whole of our walk through the little forrest or park, and marvelled again at how different this regular pathway can appear as the seasons work their way through an Estonian year. Being here to see those changes and experience those special moments has been a privilege and unforgettable time. In spite of the temperature, and we are told it will get much colder yet, we were snug in our layers of warm cloths and thermals, our coats, our hoodies, our scarves , our beanies and our gloves. We returned home exhilarated, even if those exposed areas of skin, like our nose and cheeks, felt a little frozen.
Now, the curious thing.....after "declothing", a chore we have become used to now, I set about my morning task of preparing breakfast. This normally includes making porridge, especially during the winter months, and in the process I needed milk from the fridge. When I opened the door of the fridge I sensed something was wrong. The fridge was warm, a sure sign that there was a problem. I checked the digital readout on the fridge which tells me the internal temperature and it was still on the 4 degrees that it normally operates. So nothing wrong. Then it sunk in. I had just come in from outside where the temperature was -11C. The fridge was 15 degrees warmer than outside!!! So, I guess the logical conclusion must be, if we want warm up we should sit in the fridge.
Actually these pictures, taken on my phone, dont capture the full splendour. Note the street lights are still burning and the apparent blue sky is mobile phone photographic magic I think. We wish you could all be here to see this and to walk with us through this 'winter wonderland'.
During our year here in Estonia, I have tried, among other things, to read as much from Estonian literature as I could. Fortunately, quite a bit has been translated into English, which is just as well as my Estonian is not nearly good enough for that task. I have read in many genres, the novel, the historical novel and 'straight' historical documents. The sources for this have been the local library, which has an excellent section of Eesti authors translated into English, and online where I can access articles and papers produced by journalists and university lectures and students. I have done this to try and understand how this land and its history has shaped the character, the outlook and the values of the current Estonian population. Some of you might remember, that in an earlier post just after arriving here last April I wrote about how I could see our land (Australia) and our history had shaped us as a nation of people. How the big blue skies, the wide horizons, the bright light, the peaceful past had all worked together to produce our Aussie character, our values, our national soul. Of course, the same is true here, but the differences are significant. Here the skies are not that often big and blue, the horizons are not far as there is always a forest in view, the light is considerably more muted and there is anything but a peaceful past. Has this led to a difference in outlook, character and values in the Estonian personality? Yes, in many ways it has, and it reminds us that understanding another people from another land and another historical experience cannot be achieved by either a casual visit or by measuring it against our experience and culture. There is a good, valid reason that people of different races or places are different. Before we compare, before we judge, before we praise, before we vilify, perhaps we should take the time to understand the forces of nature and history that shape us all. I have found this to be a timely reminder in this day of mass migrations, refugees and wide spread fears emanating mainly from ignorance. I don't mean to imply that we must always agree with or adopt others characteristics, values or outlook, but we should, at least I think, try to understand them. Put simply, our way of life is not the only way of life. We are neither superior or inferior, we are one part of a diverse humanity.
During this year in Europe I have been disturbed to read and hear ( our press seems to not have knowledge or interest in European developments and politics) of the significant resurgence of right or ultra-right wing political movements. Already two European countries ( Poland and Austria ) have such parties in powerful positions, and many other countries are subject to increasing pressure from this side of politics. Whilst there are substantial differences in the agendas of the right wing groups in different countries, one of the common values is that of nationalistic superiority, or at the very least, agendas promoting national identity as a means of isolating one nation from another. Not only in Europe, but the "me first" aspects of both Trump's America and Brexit UK, seem to spring from the same source. Yes, in Australia also such movements are present and some representatives have already penetrated our political stage. The world saw in horror dimensions what rampant nationalism achieved in Hitlerism and it seems inconceivable that we have forgotten so soon. Perhaps, as some of my acquaintances suggest, I think too much or take too much notice of the news from around the world. Maybe so, but even if my own future is to be counted in a handful of years, our children and their children, and yours too, still have lives to live. I think we need to have the courage to reject such views whether they are expressed privately or publicly, as our contribution to a peaceful world future.
Now on a much lighter note...the "cold war" in Estonia. After about 4 to 5 days where night time temperatures have been around -10C the large river, known as the Emajõgi, that flows through the centre of our town of Tartu, has frozen over. Amazing. One day just small pieces of ice floating down the river, the next great rafts of ice floating down the river, the next just stationary ice covering the whole river. The locals hardly notice, but to us it is like magic. Tartu's lake, which is their summer swimming place, is fully frozen and people were skating and walking over the frozen surface. We even had a walk ourselves, though skating unfortunately is possibly a bit ambitious for us as we have never skated before. Here are some pictures...hope they convey a little of what it is like.
but let me first describe the scene. We rose about 7.30am which is still half light here as the sun doesn't rise to about 9am at the moment. As we prepared for our morning walk (about 3 kms through some parkland) we noticed that the outside temperature was at minus -11C, so we put on the appropriate layers of clothing as this was the coldest morning we had had since being in Estonia. When we ventured outside we were met with another startling display that nature had conjured up over night. All the trees, both deciduous and evergreen were silver plated. Not the white spectacular that we have experienced in times of snow, but rather what appeared to be a glittering silver coating. This was ice, produced by the very low temperature overnight. In particular the leafless silver birch trees appeared to have magically regained their foliage, only this time, not the lush green of spring, but the glittering silver of this cold winter morning. We were treated to this spectacular scenery for the whole of our walk through the little forrest or park, and marvelled again at how different this regular pathway can appear as the seasons work their way through an Estonian year. Being here to see those changes and experience those special moments has been a privilege and unforgettable time. In spite of the temperature, and we are told it will get much colder yet, we were snug in our layers of warm cloths and thermals, our coats, our hoodies, our scarves , our beanies and our gloves. We returned home exhilarated, even if those exposed areas of skin, like our nose and cheeks, felt a little frozen.
Now, the curious thing.....after "declothing", a chore we have become used to now, I set about my morning task of preparing breakfast. This normally includes making porridge, especially during the winter months, and in the process I needed milk from the fridge. When I opened the door of the fridge I sensed something was wrong. The fridge was warm, a sure sign that there was a problem. I checked the digital readout on the fridge which tells me the internal temperature and it was still on the 4 degrees that it normally operates. So nothing wrong. Then it sunk in. I had just come in from outside where the temperature was -11C. The fridge was 15 degrees warmer than outside!!! So, I guess the logical conclusion must be, if we want warm up we should sit in the fridge.
Actually these pictures, taken on my phone, dont capture the full splendour. Note the street lights are still burning and the apparent blue sky is mobile phone photographic magic I think. We wish you could all be here to see this and to walk with us through this 'winter wonderland'.
During our year here in Estonia, I have tried, among other things, to read as much from Estonian literature as I could. Fortunately, quite a bit has been translated into English, which is just as well as my Estonian is not nearly good enough for that task. I have read in many genres, the novel, the historical novel and 'straight' historical documents. The sources for this have been the local library, which has an excellent section of Eesti authors translated into English, and online where I can access articles and papers produced by journalists and university lectures and students. I have done this to try and understand how this land and its history has shaped the character, the outlook and the values of the current Estonian population. Some of you might remember, that in an earlier post just after arriving here last April I wrote about how I could see our land (Australia) and our history had shaped us as a nation of people. How the big blue skies, the wide horizons, the bright light, the peaceful past had all worked together to produce our Aussie character, our values, our national soul. Of course, the same is true here, but the differences are significant. Here the skies are not that often big and blue, the horizons are not far as there is always a forest in view, the light is considerably more muted and there is anything but a peaceful past. Has this led to a difference in outlook, character and values in the Estonian personality? Yes, in many ways it has, and it reminds us that understanding another people from another land and another historical experience cannot be achieved by either a casual visit or by measuring it against our experience and culture. There is a good, valid reason that people of different races or places are different. Before we compare, before we judge, before we praise, before we vilify, perhaps we should take the time to understand the forces of nature and history that shape us all. I have found this to be a timely reminder in this day of mass migrations, refugees and wide spread fears emanating mainly from ignorance. I don't mean to imply that we must always agree with or adopt others characteristics, values or outlook, but we should, at least I think, try to understand them. Put simply, our way of life is not the only way of life. We are neither superior or inferior, we are one part of a diverse humanity.
During this year in Europe I have been disturbed to read and hear ( our press seems to not have knowledge or interest in European developments and politics) of the significant resurgence of right or ultra-right wing political movements. Already two European countries ( Poland and Austria ) have such parties in powerful positions, and many other countries are subject to increasing pressure from this side of politics. Whilst there are substantial differences in the agendas of the right wing groups in different countries, one of the common values is that of nationalistic superiority, or at the very least, agendas promoting national identity as a means of isolating one nation from another. Not only in Europe, but the "me first" aspects of both Trump's America and Brexit UK, seem to spring from the same source. Yes, in Australia also such movements are present and some representatives have already penetrated our political stage. The world saw in horror dimensions what rampant nationalism achieved in Hitlerism and it seems inconceivable that we have forgotten so soon. Perhaps, as some of my acquaintances suggest, I think too much or take too much notice of the news from around the world. Maybe so, but even if my own future is to be counted in a handful of years, our children and their children, and yours too, still have lives to live. I think we need to have the courage to reject such views whether they are expressed privately or publicly, as our contribution to a peaceful world future.
Now on a much lighter note...the "cold war" in Estonia. After about 4 to 5 days where night time temperatures have been around -10C the large river, known as the Emajõgi, that flows through the centre of our town of Tartu, has frozen over. Amazing. One day just small pieces of ice floating down the river, the next great rafts of ice floating down the river, the next just stationary ice covering the whole river. The locals hardly notice, but to us it is like magic. Tartu's lake, which is their summer swimming place, is fully frozen and people were skating and walking over the frozen surface. We even had a walk ourselves, though skating unfortunately is possibly a bit ambitious for us as we have never skated before. Here are some pictures...hope they convey a little of what it is like.
Skater on the lake
Helve walking on water.
The river of ice
Still a bit of water showing here.
So long to next time..... enjoy the summer in Australia and keep us some sun for when we arrive in March. Your frozen friends.
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