Yesterday we went to the cemetery. We raked up all the autumn leaves from the Vasila family plot. A week before we had purchased some concrete edging and about six plants and, with the help of Anti, one of our relatives, we had renovated the family plot, making it look better and more easily managed. When we arrived we noticed that the car park was unusually full for that time of day. On entering the cemetery we discover many grave plots had candles burning and people were busy tending the little gardens on their particular family plot. Talking to an elderly Estonian lady we found out the day was "all souls day" and on this day most people made sure that candles were lit for all their departed relatives. Why do I tell you this? Let me make a personal comparison.

Twenty four years ago my father died and was buried in a local cemetery. Ten years later my mother died and was buried alongside my dad. In the intervening years till now,  as far as I can recollect, I have visited the cemetery only twice. If our family had been Estonians living in Estonia, even with a very conservative estimation,  I would have visited their grave at least 240 times. This comparison, I think anyone would agree,  highlights something very different in out two cultures.  As I have always been curious as to why we do the things we do, what drives our cultural mores, and what does this contribute to our understanding of life, I have found myself reflecting on this significant cultural dichotomy

Let me first explain. Estonian cemeteries are quite different from ours. They are more like a garden park, each family plot being approximately 4 x 4 metres and containing multiple family members. For instance, the Vasila family plot (Helve's family ) contains the remains of her great great grandmother, her great grandfather and mother, her grandfather and mother, three of her great grandparents children, one of her grandparents children and a sister and brother in law of her grandparents. In the times of their deaths burial was more or less the only option, the first being in 1913 ( coincidentally the year both Helve's  dad and both my dad and mum were born ) and the last around 1990. As you can see from the photos there is a small garden, a seat to sit on and a hedge surrounding the plot. The large headstone reads..."Perekond Vassila " which translates simply as the "Vassila Family". You can imagine that such cemeteries occupy large areas due to the plot size, a problem that is looming for coming town authorities. These plots are cared for by family members, not by the cemetery authority. Most family plots would be visited approximately 6 to 8 times per year purely for maintenance, that is gardening, cleaning etc. In addition Estonians mark all milestones such as birthdays, the date of death, Christmas, All Souls Day, New Years day, cemetery day and possibly some others we have not heard of. A simple calculation indicates that a family grave might be visited from 10 to 15 times a year. When you add to this that most families have two branches of the decedents ( his & hers ) you can see that a considerable amount of time is spent by Estonians carrying out these responsibilities. All this is interesting but even more interesting is what does it tell us about Estonian attitudes with regard to departed relatives, and for that matter, what does it tell us about ours in Australia also.

The Vasila Family Grave

Firstly, observing what we can of the Estonian situation a number of possibilities present themselves. I don't think that these possibilities are mutually exclusive, but rather are present in some degree across the board. In the first place one can hardly avoid the conclusion that Estonians have a greater sense of connection, respect, concern, remembrance, and responsibility for their dead, if we use 'time spent' as the measure. My 2 visits alongside the 240 visits does seem to justify that conclusion. Maybe....maybe not. Somehow I think the question may be more important than the answer. As you are reading this, what do you think about your response?

On another level, Estonians, like Aussies are not in general very religious. Even though "all souls day" has obvious connections to a more religious past, today, it seems at least to us,  that it is seen by the majority of Estonians as a day they have always lit the candles on their ancestors graves. Tradition. This is the thing that is done and has been handed down generation to generation. Modernisation everywhere seems to erode tradition, and there are clear evidences of that process at work here in Estonia. In this very cemetery there is now a crematorium and a new section of lawn graves. Maybe the differences in our responses can be attributed to the level of modernity that has worked its way through our respective societies. Maybe!

Then there is the respectability question. These family plots do exist so care of them on the one hand, or neglect on the other, has potential to reflect on the family in question. Do they care? Are they discharging their responsibilities? Not many families, whether Estonian or Australian feel comfortable being seen as negligent or irresponsible. Respectability alone provides a legitimate incentive for action. Does this explain the differences. I think not, but undoubtedly it contributes.
Let me say this. I have been with folks to the graves of their loved ones. I have witnessed genuine emotion, refection and respect. I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of those experiences. In some ways these moments have challenged me to examine what, if anything, I can learn.

So...is one society preoccupied with their dead and the other, at the best "wanting to move on", or at the worst, wanting to "deny or avoid" the reality of death? I, for one, am not sure. Perhaps there is truth in all the possibilities. Definitely people are different and we must realise that generalities have their limitations.  As an Australian I am aware that our nation was formed in the crucible of change. Wrenched from our original environments we we planted in what some of us now realise was someone else environment ( our aboriginal folks ) and forced to make changes or perish. That ethos has permeated our structure perhaps more than we realise. It seems, for instance, that we cannot keep a building beyond say 60 years and we want to pull it down and build a new one. Country towns that thrived 100 years ago have often completely disappeared. We are proficient at looking forward but perhaps deficient at considering the importance of our past. Perhaps European societies err in the opposite direction allowing the past to impede the journey forward. Maybe the best outcome is to take time to ask yourself the questions. Are we missing something here or have we found as a society an adequate way to express our relationship to the dead as well as the living, to the past as well as the future?  Could both our societies be enriched by a careful consideration, and perhaps, an appropriation of one another's strengths?

Let me apologise for a "heavy post", especially to some of you whom I know have had to face such experiences in the near past. Perhaps you, more than all of us, can point us in the right direction. I promise the next post will be light and sunny, which is more than I can say for our weather is at the moment.

Meantime, take care. If we don't get to "talk again" before Christmas we would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a really happy, relaxing and significant family time. It seems that 'everyone has everything' these days, so gifts are not as important as the love and genuine care we can share with one another. Helve & I will miss you all at this time but we have not forgotten you. As we eat our Christmas Eve dinner (cause thats when they celebrate here ) amidst the snow we will have you all in our hearts and minds.

Palu õnne jõuluks.

Just to cheer you up!

On October 20 the temperature dropped to below zero for the first time this autumn/winter season. Six days later it snowed. In between the days were bright sunny days with clear skies but low temperatures hovering around -2 to +5C. The contrast is significant, confronting your senses with daily challenges to adapt, to calibrate and to appreciate the new beauty of each change. Outside at this moment the ground,  that till yesterday was a carpet of gold and brown covering almost all of the landscape, is now brilliant white, as if the carpet layers quietly changed the decor overnight. It's stimulating to both body and mind, in a sense,  saving you from the danger of becoming "used" to things, and forcing you to realise that time and change are always with us. They are part of living in this world and invite us to embrace them, enjoy them, explore them, rather than find them a source of annoyance or foreboding. In an old classic Australian bush poem.........."We'll all be ruined said Hanrahan " (John O'Brien) Hanrahan, the old farmer sees each seasonal change as a threat. For winter it's floods, for summer it's bushfires and so on. So occupied by fears and forebodings he is unable to enjoy the spring grass and the summer warmth. Yes, there are some here in Estonia who look at the coming winter with some misgivings, just as there are in all communities wherever they live, but hopefully, most of us, whether here or there in Oz can find a real enjoyment in the changes around us, and  in us,  and be energised and refreshed

Today, in the course of our activities, ( Helve to visit Auntie Erna and me to language school ) we had cause to walk quite some distances on the snow covered streets and footpaths of Tartu. It was still snowing at the time, so all this was comparatively new for us. One thing that was evident was that these conditions did little to change the life of the town. People went about their business the same as the day before. We saw young mums, with two year olds wrapped warmly in their snow suits walking through the town on their daily exercise or shopping excursions. One little boy, just old enough to walk, was exploring the snow covered lawn behind Jaani Kirik (a large church in Tartu ) watched from a distance by his dad. When I boarded the bus this morning in the half light to head off to language school the usual travellers on the 7.46 were there, seemingly almost oblivious of the near total change in the landscape. Just another day, maybe just another layer of clothes. On the one hand there's the radical change, on the other the normality of it all. Fascinating!

Same place two days apart.

Most of the birds that habitat Estonia in the spring and summer have left now on their winter migration. The prospect of finding adequate food in a snow covered land is not great, so off they go to southern Europe, and even down into Africa and the Middle East. One little bird the Tihane ( about the size of our finches ) stays behind to tough it out and Estonians have made a 'contract' with this colourful bird to provide food over winter and sometimes beyond. So we stocked up supplies of a special ball of seed enclosed in a fine mesh. We hung this up in our front balcony and were thrilled three days later to have our first visit from "our " Tihane. Hopefully, by winters end we will be firm friends and maybe others will join him/her for their daily feed. I will try and photograph the Tihane feeding and put it in a later blog.  On another subject, with impeccable timing, our friend and relative Anti had arranged to have our new winter tyres fitted just the day before the snow came. It is required by law to have winter tyres from around this date until winter ends in March or April next year. Winter tyres look like ordinary tyres except they have steel studs imbedded in the tread to give extra grip in snow and in particular icy conditions. It's a bit like driving in your footy boots!  All these little ordinary things are introducing these Aussie foreigners to the joys of winter in Estonia.

Little Red Riding Hood

(The wolf is taking the photo )

Language. Being in language school has meant I have had to spend a fair bit of time thinking about language and how it works. Actually learning the language (i.e.. the words ) is one thing, and hard enough in Estonian. In addition, I have come to realise (maybe I'm a bit slow here) that people of a different race not only speak differently using different words, they think differently,  using completely different concepts to express common ideas. You are not able to simply take the words of many sentences and translate them word for word into your language. You may get the translation right, word for word, but the sense may be entirely different or meaningless. For example, Estonians when they meet might greet one another with the Estonian phrase...".kuidas käsi käib " This is essentially saying..." how are you"? If we translate these Estonian words into English they would read...."how is your hand going"? That greeting would seem a little puzzling to an Aussie or to any English speaking person, we don't have some concept of strength of hand in our greetings because we don't think that way. This problem besets a lot of conversation in another language and means that you don't have only learn the words of a new language, you have to come to some understanding of the thinking that underlies it also. By the way.....this is why Google Translator is so crazy at times...especially with a lesser known language like Estonian. You might have guessed that if you happened to see the translation of some Estonian language that I had written on my Facebook. Conversely, it is also true that you cannot expect to simple translate our way of talking directly into another language and expect to be understood. For example, if you translated our english saying...."well I had better be on my way" an Estonian would not have the faintest what you were talking about. So, when you meet someone who has come to our beautiful country and is trying to communicate with you, we need to appreciate that its not only our words but how we are thinking that they have to wrestle with and understand. Maybe we are asking for miracles for anyone to understand how Aussies think or whether some are thinking at all!!!!

Meantime, tomorrow morning at 8.30am I will be at my school desk, with my shorts, long socks and school bag, for my next lesson in this elusive language. The fact that it will probably be -4C makes no difference at all. As I am not into taking selfies you will have to use your imagination in this instance.

Till next time...as I would say here....nägemisene.....near enough to 'see you later'

One of my favourite songs is "When we walk in fields of Gold" sung by Eva Cassidy. Lately we have been doing just that. First the golden fields of wheat and barley on the farms of southern Estonia. Rolling hills with a patchwork of gold and green, the gold of the harvest and the green of the forest. Now, just a few weeks later, the gold of autumn. Here the predominant tree is the silver birch and in autumn it turns to gold. Dotted among the dark green pine trees of the forest it gives the impression of perpetual sunshine. This somewhat compensates for the grey overcast skies, an illusion that you willingly embrace in the hope that maybe it might become real. But no, winter is on its way and there is no avoiding it here. Temperatures are on their downward journey and will drop[ to near zero by the end of this week. We are being educated about winter clothing. Estonians say "there is no bad weather, only bad clothes" so now we must learn the art of keeping warm in sustained below zero temperatures. The saying is "layer up"......lots of individual layers of clothing that can be peeled away once you enter a warm house etc. In February we are being taken to Sweden for a weeks skiing in the "real snow country" and we are not sure what presents the greatest risk....freezing or breaking a leg!!!

Talking about Sweden we have just returned from a 2000km journey through Finland and Sweden. With Geoff and Jocelyn on board, we took our car on the ferry to Helsinki. Sixty kilometres to the east of Helsinki is the historic old town of Porvoo. Helve's cousin, Anne-Marie and her family live in this old town where nearly all of the buildings we constructed in the 1700,s. It's beautiful, quaint, and very well preserved. You can wander the cobblestone streets, poke into old shops selling all sorts of merchandise, or just sit in "historic" cafe and enjoy a latte.

 From here we journeyed north for some 800kms, passing through forests, farmland and beside dozens of Finlands 187,888 lakes. Yes, thats not a miss print. Our first days accommodation was on one such lake....

Our Cottage for the night

The view over the lake.

On the Baltic Sea, at the apex of the Bay of Bothnia, a large river (Tornio River)  constitutes the boarder between Finland and Sweden. On the banks of this river on the Swedish side our friend Birgit runs her farm based bed and breakfast known as" Nivagarden". Some of Birgits family have stayed with us in Newhaven and so, each time we are in Estonia, we take the opportunity to visit. Here you are only some 30kms from the Arctic Circle and the seasons exhibit extremes that are beyond our experience in Australia. In summer the sun does not set, it just goes round and round on a circular track, maybe just touching the horizon near midnight. In the winter the kilometre wide swift flowing river freezes as temperatures plummet to around -40 C. No matter what, life goes on. The farmers farm, the workers travel to work each day, the children go to school. For these northern folk this is normal, this is their country and their climate. We visited a large vegetable farm here where they grow cucumbers and tomatoes in huge greenhouses. The difference being, the greenhouses are necessary for growing these vegetables during the summer, not the winter as we would utilise greenhouses in Australia. The day we were there they were closing down the greenhouses as the temperature is way to low and the greenhouses freeze during winter. If you get the chance to travel in Sweden make sure you visit this region and stay at Nivagarden.....it's beautiful in the summer and bright sunshine at 2am!!! Google up Nivagarden and look at the pictures of that lovely peaceful place.

Kairi is like a daughter to us. Fifteen years ago she was in Australia working on a farm near Warragul and we met her there, She is an Estonian girl and so the connection was immediate. Over the years we have visited her and regularly we talk on Skype. Christmas 2015 Kairi brought her mum and dad and her sister and two of her nephews to Australia where we celebrated Christmas day together and spent sunny days on the Woolamai surf beach. Kairi has been living and working in Sweden for some years now and is currently studying at a institute in central Sweden. So...we managed to travel down some 800kms and visit her school, staying the night there and then the next day travelling the 400kms to her home town of Borlange to spend three days together. 

Maybe a bit hard to see..but that is Kairi outside the accomodation for students. 

Once again the beauty of these lands in autumn greeted us all along the way, with Swedens large and plentiful rivers crossing our tracks over the whole journey. Travelling for the sake of travelling has limited value ( at least I think ) but has real content and meaning when you spend time with friends who live in these areas. It was so good to spend time with Kairi, her sister and her family and long after we forget the sights they will remain in our hearts and lives.

Back to Eva's song......we have been literally walking in fields of gold. Today on our early morning walk through our little forest the path was carpeted in gold. Never seen so many leaves. Later in the day we walked the 3.7 kms into Tartu city centre, and once again our path was a golden carpet. Overhead the trees were dressed to perfection, with golden, red and brown leaves. 

The birch, the oak and the maple all contributing their particular colour to the street canvas. Later as we travelled home by bus it appeared as a giant frieze, the black tree trunks and the yellow leaves like a guard of honour on the road to our place.   ( If we didn't know better we could be forgiven for thinking Tartu was celebrating Richmonds win at the grand final!!!!! ) Unfortunately this show will be relatively short lived, each day the carpet on the ground is thicker and the branches above are a little more bare. We must enjoy it while it lasts. We are reminded again of how definite are the seasonal differences here in the far north. When this carpet has gone it will be replaced by the white carpet of snow ushering in the winter season. 

Yesterday I started school.  (Late developer! )  8.30am saw me seated in one of the lecture rooms at the Folk University in the centre of the old town of Tartu. My task is to try and fast track my learning of the Estonian language in the hope that I can soon put away my explanation to those I meet.....".Vabandust ...ma raggin eestikeel ainult nattukene " (which translates....sorry I only speak a little estonian )  It was all concentration for one and a half hours as our teacher, Evelyn,         ( Estonian lady with and english name!) speaking Estonian (yes she lectures in estonian,not english ) tries to help us understand and speak this notoriously difficult language. I have joined the class some weeks into its program, so this adds another degree of difficulty. For someone whose head has been around for as long as mine none of this comes easy. Yet I am making progress, and I am sure the discipline of the class will help. The emphasis is upon dialogue and my "dialogue partner" yesterday was a Russian woman who speaks no english.....interesting and challenging but good. The class meets two times a week, Tues and Thursday, and then of course there is the homework. At home Helve and I try to speak eestikeel, as it is called,  and this is helpful ( to me at least!), though it is so easy just to relapse into english to make life more comfortable. Perhaps, by the time we return to home in Newhaven , we will be able to talk about you without you knowing what we are saying! The possibilities are endless!!! Meantime, if you know any tricks for 'reconditioning old brains' please send them over ASAP. 

Just a few more pictures of Autumn. Today, as I finish this blog it was almost dark by 4 pm and the sky was heavy with the signs of more rain. Hopefully these pictures will keep all our spirits alive, yours in those days of searing hot north winds and ours in the winter dark and cold. so...

Nagamiseni.......or in Oz,  'see ya later"

                                             

"Tere tulemast Eestise". .......which being translated means.."Welcome to Estonia". That is what we have been busy doing for the last month or so since last I wrote. It has been family time. We have enjoyed visits first from Micky (our granddaughter) and Nathan her friend, Dave Michelle, Poppy and April (our youngest son, his wife and our two youngest grandchildren) and now Geoff and Jocelyn (our oldest son and his wife ). Isaac also visited us earlier in June.  Wow! What a feast of family. We have been missing them now for just on 6 months and it was so good to see them all again. Of course lots of cuddles and fun with Poppy (nearly 7) and April (5). Estonia has granted citizenship to our children and to our grandchildren because Helve's parents were born in Estonia. This amazing gesture by the Estonian government made these visits of the children and grandchildren so much more significant than just a catch up.

 For all of them it was their first visit to Estonia, their second country. For the first time they stood on Estonian soil, met their Estonian relatives, listened to Estonian language (which unfortunately they don't speak ), ate Estonian food, lived in Estonian houses and visited some of the most important landmarks of Estonia. For Helve and I it has been an great privilege and joy to introduce them to this interesting little land. Naturally this has meant much travelling, walking, meeting our Estonian relatives and talking about the history of this land and of Helve's family. We have stood together by the grave of their great, great, great grandfathers and mothers. We have walked through the ruins of the Vasila home on the Luunja farm first farmed by Helve's great grandfather. We have sat and talked with the two Matriarchs of our clan...Erna (96) and Liidia (90). We have seen the battlefields where Helve's father Walter fought for the independence of his beloved Estonia. We have shared the sauna in the age long tradition of Estonian families. We have visited the iconic "song ground" where so much of Estonias struggle for freedom was voiced. We have shared meals together in our little temporary home and mingled the Estonian and the Australian that makes us the family we are. We have celebrated our roots and planted a seed in the next generation that will bear fruit in their return from time to time to this "other fatherland". Perhaps, more than anything else, this has validated our decision to spend this year here physically so far away from them all, and from you our friends. In many ways their coming to Estonia completes the missing part of the DNA of our family. We have always known that Helve, wife and partner, mother, grandmother, was Estonian. Now we understand what that means and in what ways it has shaped all of our lives. This time here in Estonia has in so many ways,  enriched and expanded our understanding of the family we are, and hopefully set some directions for the future. Rowena and Garry were the only members of the family who were unable to visit while we are here. Rowena did come with us in 2010 for a short visit, but Garry was not with her then. We are excited by the news that Rowena and Garry will be spending next May living in "our apartment" here in Tartu. This will be great for them to meet family and experience something of Estonia for themselves.





Winter is coming. Nature is putting on one last magnificent display of colour, seemingly in defiance of the cold and dark months to follow. As I write this we are travelling through Sweden and experiencing this kaleidoscope of colour illuminating the expansive forests of northern Sweden. Natures artwork is in a league of its own and we have been very privileged to see it at this time in this beautiful Scandinavian country.

 Even in the presence of such a exotic display I can't help feeling a sense of sadness, if that's the right word for it, as I see this process unfold. It seemed only yesterday that we watched those leaves burst from the bare branches in an explosion of growth, life and activity. Now, just weeks later, they fall to the ground, yellow and gold, devoid of that exuberant life of spring, to lie on the cold ground as a carpeted road leading us to winter. Their job is done, their piece of history has been written, their life so short in the


scheme of things yet so vital in the larger life of the tree from which they fall. Now in death they nourish the ground from which they came. Is there here some insight for us, some message from nature, some understanding of life, especially for those of us who are facing the autumn of our lives, and for whom, maybe, the winter is faced with apprehension. Natures calm surrender to this process of autumn seems to be predicated on the certain knowledge that, after


the winter is past, new life will emerge again, new leaves will take the place of the fallen, and all will be well. Here, surrounded by this theatre of nature, I find peace for spirit and soul. Autumn and winter will come in their time but all will be well.

But this is not always the case. Tragedy recently struck our wider family when my nephew and his wife lost their beautiful 18 year old daughter due to an accident. This was not the gentle

falling of an autumn leaf. It was more the violent rending of a branch from the tree in full bloom of spring. Here peace and understanding are hard, if not impossible to find, and we are left with both our grief and our questions.

 Human experience, as with nature itself, seems not to be exempt from suffering and loss.

Winter in Estonia at 58N....this is something we have never experienced. Our Estonian friends are doing their best to prepare us for this "new experience". Temperatures can fall to -20 to -30 degrees C and provide challenges in how to dress and how to move around. Of course for the locals this is normal, this is winter. For us not so and we have much to learn as the winter runs its course. In one way we are looking forward to this time keen to understand this other side of life in Estonia which we have not seen on all our previous visits. It will be a challenge and hopefully we will not be frozen at the end of it!!. With winter comes Christmas. Christmas away from our family and Christmas in mid winter.  We will spend this time with our relatives Merike and Raimu being introduced to the traditions and food of an Estonian Christmas. This will be exciting and interesting for us and we look forward eagerly to sharing this time with our friends here. In between now and then I plan to attend language school in an attempt to improve on my abilities in the Estonian language. Maybe the next blog will be written in Estonian!!  Then again.......maybe not.

Today Tartu is alive again. The summer slumber is over. The students are back.

 The University year starts tomorrow 1st. Sept. This town is a university town. It provides the most employment and brings to the town around 14,000  students who all have to find somewhere to live. So, when they are here the town buzzes with student life. Bicycles, scooters, skateboards and just plain old boot leather transport the parade of students through the streets and plaza's of Tartu. Approximately 1400  are international students from many different countries of the world. The rest come from the towns and regions of Estonia. Their presence adds a rich tapestry of linguistic, cultural and ethnic expression to the daily life of Tartu. Sitting (maybe too often) at our favourite coffee watering hole, we watch them passing by, this way and that, and optimism and excitement stirs in us and seems to validate a positive view of the future of life, the planet and humanity in spite of the gloomy picture so often portrayed in the daily media assault.

The grand main building of the Tartu University

Tartu's university has a right to be proud of its tradition. It was one of the first, if not the first, university to be established in Europe, having been founded by Gustavus, King of Sweden in 1632. From that time on the UT (University of Tartu) as it is affectionately called, has produced more than its share of prominent intellectuals, world renowned scientists and prolific writers and artists. It has had to endure numerous political upheavals, occupations by foreign powers and ravages of out right war. It possesses numerous heritage listed buildings, preeminent among which is the main University Building in Ulikooli Street. It has an academic staff of 1700 and an administrative staff of 1800. It brings an atmosphere of learning, enquiry and debate to the town. The motto of Tartu is...." Heade mõtete linn "...which translates as..."city of good thoughts ". Whilst the university population represents only about 18% of Tartu's total population, its influence is well beyond its pure statistical status.

All this makes Tartu a great place to live, especially if you value informed debate and discussion, and see education as value adding to life in general. We love it here. There is something stimulating about this environment, encouraging us to explore our own assumptions and to seek to listen to, and expose ourselves to, the conversation of this town. If there happens to be a current student in Australia who reads this blog, you could do well to consider completing some of your studies here in Tartu. One thing that would assist you is the fact that all post graduate degrees are taught in english, though the chance to learn Estonian while you were here would be great. All this does not mean that Tartu is the perfect town. Of course it has its problems and challenges, but overall it scrubs up pretty well. With a population of just on 100,000 traffic jams and peak hour horrors are almost non existant.

While I am writing about education, I should mention that children in Estonia don't start school until the age of 7yrs. Given the constant push to get our children in Oz to go at younger and younger ages this seems interesting. I remember reading years ago where an educational expert from the USA declared that children were not ready for school and the schoolyard until at least the age of 7...so maybe Estonia has it right. Not only that, but though their school day starts early, around 8am, it finishes early, just after lunch. And lunch, a hot one at that, is provided by the school! If that was not impressive, then the school also provides a varied after school program for those whose parents are working and not at home to be with their children when school finishes. Maybe, just maybe, there are some advantages of a tax regime that returns to the citizen in worthwhile, relevant and helpful programs such as these. Unfortunately, our Aussie politicians seem terrified by any mention of tax increases to fund such citizen centred activities. We seem totally welded to the questionable assumption that user pays is the only way to go. We have forgotten that the origins of government were to be found in the pursuit of "the common good"....the role of government was to ensure that all its citizens shared in the "common wealth" and that disparity between the rich and the poor was minimised as much as was possible. Our society seems all too often to reward the rich and penalise the poor. Our governments seem all too willing to allow a few to profit from the resources of our land, our common property. Its easy to dismiss these sentiments as "leftist.....socialist..or even communist...(especially if we are among the "winners" ) but just maybe we could take the time to examine how and why government, especially democratic government, originated.
Sorry....I forgot the taboo's on politics and religion!!!!!

And still there's more!!!! Tartu is the home of yet another university. It is known as "The University of Life Sciences " or  "Eesti Maaülikool". It is what we might call an Agricultural University. They offer degree and post graduate courses in all aspects of agriculture and environment and have made a huge contribution to the development of farming and forestry in Estonia in the past 25 years or so. They have around 3500 students of which around 200 are international students. Their staff numbers approximately 950 people. They have a stunning new campus and a number of regional rural sites for their trials and experiments. The rapid development of large scale commercial farming, in both cropping and dairy farming has been very noticeable to us during the 14 years we have been visiting Estonia. I am amazed at the high level of technology utilised, the quality of the production and the wholehearted emphasis upon sustainability, which, I believe, is to a large extent one of the impacts of this agricultural university.

Oh yes, of course, there's the Folkuniversities (two of them) but I might leave them to another time.

So I think its fair to say that education, the pursuit of knowledge and the development of appropriate technologies, is the heat-beat of Tartu.  In many ways, this town of Tartu, holds the future of this emerging country firmly in its hands. As "locals for a year" we are proud of this and confident they are good, safe and caring hands.

Hi......on the last post I forgot to add some photos relevant to what I has written about. So here's a special photo post. Hope these give a little visual insight to the festival season during summer in Estonia.

The crowd in the park for the symphony orchestra concert. A natural amphitheater with folks just sitting on the grass.....fortunately courtesy of Raimu we had seats right at the front.

The pop-up stage with orchestra and opera singer. Beautiful evening, beautiful program.

One of the brass bands that performed in Tartu. This one from Tartu itself performed an amazing medley of tunes from the 'Sound of Music"

 The crowd of 2500 start to assemble for the first of the six nights of the Love Film Festival.Note the big inflatable screen 20  x 16 meters.

 Helve, Merike and Raimu at the night movies waiting for the start at 10pm. You can see we needed some warm clothing. Even at this time near 10pm it is still light.

 Looking back up the town square towards the Town Hall in the background. All this...seating...films...entertainment all provided free by the city of Tartu.

 The latest of our many visitors, our granddaughter Micky and Nathan her boyfriend along with Merike, Raimu and Helve at the summer house in Kulitse.

 Helve chatting with Seto ladies in national costume at the Seto Kingdom Day. They are wearing the very distinctive silver jewellery made and warn by Seto women.

 Leelo singers from the Seto community. This type of ancient traditional song has been recognised by the UNESC Cultural Heritage List

 The Seto Queen for the coming year accepts the Staff of office from representatives of the Seto communities.

The Staff with all its braided belts from each of the separate Seto communities.

Hi again from Estonia where we have had summer, but we are not sure which day it was!!Well...its not quite that bad, but this summer has been a bit disappointing for our Estonian friends who really look forward to a break from the rainy weather. I think our hottest day so far has been around 25 degrees, but we are hoping for some more warm days before autumn starts to set in.

Its been a while since I wrote, partly because my computer crashed and partly because we have been kept busy with visitors from Australia. Since the last post we have had visits from Isaac again for a week and then Rowan and Yvonne, neighbours from Newhaven who also stayed with us for a week. Once again we have enjoyed the visits of our family and friends as we learn more about this country as we share it with others. The car continues to clock up the kilometres having passed 10,000ks now all in a country that is only about 250km north to south and 350 east to west. We find that each visitor has different interests and helps us to see Estonia from different points of view. Visitors to come are Micky (our lovely granddaughter) and Nathan her boyfriend, (Aug 24 ) then we are off to Paris to meet up with Dave and Michelle, Poppy and April (Sept 6 ) and, after a few days together in Paris, we will bring them back here to Estonia for a couple of weeks. Before Dave, Mich and family leave us , Geoff and Jocelyn will arrive (Sept 22) so for just a little while we will all be together. This will be so much fun and we can't tell you how much we are looking forward to having them with us. Poppy (6) and April (4) will get plenty of cuddles that we have been missing these last 5 months.
When finally they all have to return home to Australia....the last ones leave 5Oct....we will have to settle down on our own and get ready to experience our first Estonian winter. Meantime, before the family arrives we are sneaking off to Finland to spend a week with Harry and Britta (Helve,s uncle who is younger than her!!) on their lovely Island in the Baltic Sea just of the coast of Helsinki. This will be a great relaxing time and so good to see them again as it was with them that we spent most of our time in our visit last year.

Back to writing again. Since the last sentence we have had a great week in Finland, the computer has crashed again and been resurrected again, and we have had another unplanned visitor with us for 4 days, this time our friend Kairi who is an Estonian living and working in Sweden. We have long since discovered when travelling that people are so much more important than places. The places you forget in time, the people make a lasting contribution to your life.

This being a summer post I would like to write a bit about the festival season in Estonia. As we have learnt this year, summer is short and as such is a very valuable commodity to the Estonian people. It seems, and I am sure this is an accurate observation, that not one day, and perhaps not one hour, is to be wasted of this precious resource of daylight and (hopefully) sunshine. This hyperactive season delivers a plethora of festivals, concerts, cultural days and celebrations that highlight issues of national, cultural, linguistic, artistic and historic significance to all Estonians. Everyday of these summer months serves up a program of events across this land that seriously challenges the stamina of the most ardent attendee, whilst, at the same time, by virtue of its enticing menu, makes non attendance almost unthinkable. To illustrate, we have had festivals to celebrate the town of Tartu and its history. Another to celebrate the children of Estonia. Yet another to commemorate Tartu,s place in the old trading alliance known as the Hanseatic Towns. The Food and Wine festival showcased local cuisine and the growing local wine industry. The Street Art Festival highlighted stencil art as a form of public expression. The "Glasperlenspiel Festival" introduced us to unusual and rare musical instruments and to innovative and unorthodox interpretation of music generally. For three days brass bands from Estonia and neighbouring countries descended on Tartu to give us a feast of band performances. On what was one of our beautiful summer nights, the Tartu Symphony Orchestra, along with some of Estonia,s eminent opera singers, came out to a natural amphitheater in the park and, under the summer evening sky, held us spellbound with both music and song. Then, to add to this sensual extravagance the town square was converted into a giant open air cinema, and for 6 nights we were treated to a Love Film Festival. Commencing each night at 10.00pm (starting to get a bit darker by then!) we joined up to 2500 people to watch films from around the world that emphasised peoples love and care for one another, all projected onto a giant inflatable screen (20 x 16 meters) Unfortunately our stamina did not extend to the second film each night, starting at 12 midnight but those of younger age relished the idea. With each of these festivals and events the town plazas were transformed into markets and stalls of all kinds. Buskers, amateur performers and carnivals joined in the fun and fostered atmosphere of celebration. Meantime while all this was happening Tartu hosted the World Orienteering Championships, European Car Rally, Tartu Marathon and the Tartu to Viljandi Cycle Road Race. What makes this experience even more remarkable and relevant, is that almost all, if not all, of these events were free. This was not just more entertainment for those rich enough to afford it, this was for everyone. I have lamented before, and do so again, at Australia's tendency to place art and artistic performance beyond the reach of so many of our less well off citizens. We must do better.
I don't wish to infer that everything happened in Tartu, our town. No.  Suchlike events were occurring simultaneously all over Estonia, which, I think makes it all the more remarkable. One event we travelled to attend was the "Seto Kingdom Day". The Seto's are an indigenous ethnic and linguistic minority of Estonians. They originally lived in the south east corner of Estonia where many still reside, with some also now living over the boarder in Russia (this is due to the boundary being altered in the conflicts between Russia and Estonia). The Seto people are proud of their culture and organise numerous cultural events to keep their traditions alive. On this particular day they meet to elect their monarch (king or queen) for the year ahead. This position is in no way political. Seto's are ordinary Estonian citizens with the same rights and responsibilities of all Estonians. The Monarch has responsibility to foster Seto community life and culture. It was a fun day with around 10,000 people attending, both Seto's and non Seto Estonians. Markets, traditional dance competitions, music competitions, singing and all sorts of fun make up this open air festival. Central is the election of the monarch which on this occasion was a queen.
Everyone present gets the opportunity to vote for one of the candidates. This year there were three candidates. Each one addressed the crowd and outlined what they thought they could bring to the Seto community. Then organisers run out a long piece of string, one for each candidate. To vote you go and hold onto the string belonging to your chosen candidate. Once all are attached to one of the strings a team of officials count the hands on each string. First past the post wins. Brilliant!

So summer in Estonia is rich in culture, tradition and artistic expression. It's a hectic time but it serves to fuel the community spirit for the long dark winter ahead. It's an important reminder that culture and tradition do not only belong to the past but also value add to the present and the future by declaring explicitly that a people and their community cannot be reduced to a statistic or an economic unit. People are about belonging, and that belonging has its roots in its past, its expression in its present and its vision in its future.

But for now we can hear the winds of autumn blowing in the trees.

Hi.....Its funny the little things you notice. Back home in Oz it doesn't seem to matter which petrol station I go to the little latch on the pump nozzle designed to allow you to just let it go while it fills NEVER ever seems to work!! Here in both Estonia and Latvia for that matter, it doesn't matter what petrol station we go to it ALWAYS works. This almost constitutes a reason for living here on a permanent basis......or maybe, starting up a company dedicated to fixing the stupid things. Cant be that hard. I guess the petrol companies are a bit short of cash!!!

Today in Estonia they celebrate Jaanipaev. This translates as St Johns day but as far as I can tell, it has very little to do with St John any more. Now days it is all about the summer solstice, that day in the year when the daylight is at is longest and the night at its shortest. This happens on the 24th June each year and Estonians have a holiday to enjoy this day. Yesterday, 23rd June, was "Voidupuha" which translates as " Victory Day" and celebrates Estonia's first independence in 1918, at the close of the First Word War and now, understandably, their current independence achieved in 1992. Of course, this is a holiday also, and this day Estonians raise their flag on every house, the blue, black and white emblem of this small republic. Incidentally, this is the only day of the year where the flag may remain up over night, for reasons I am not actually sure about, and so today, as we walk or drive around Tartu, from most houses the flag is flying. Like these sort of celebrations in most countries, Estonia's celebration of "Victory Day" gives prominence to the military and implies, as I observe it, that "victory" was a result of some sort of successful military campaign. Now it is true that in Estonia's history that there have been periods of "military" resistance, especially during the latter stages of the First World War (1918) and again during the period of the Second World War, but neither of these armed resistance activities on their own actually achieved independence. This is totally understandable Estonia being a tiny country in comparison to its aggressor, which on both these occasions was neighbouring Russia. Military success in such an unbalanced conflict was never a realistic outcome. It seems, at least to me and also some of Estonias historians, that independence was achieved on both these occasions by some astute and skilful 'leaders' who realised that the time was right to negotiate their independence. In the first instance of 1919 Russian power was severely depleted by their involvement in the First World War in Europe,  and on the second occasion (1992) the opportunity arose due to Gorbachev's reforms, which again marked a period of diminishing Russian power.  On both occasions these 'leaders', not necessarily politicians but including some, saw the opportunity and achieved a remarkable result, namely independence and Nationhood. Now it was true that military action proceeded the first period of independence, and the then Estonian military forces fought bravely and suffered losses in their bid for independence, but in the second and current experience (1992 ) no shot was fired and no blood shed. To me these achievements are all the more significant because they were not primarily military victories, but examples of skilful and, in particular, timely diplomacy. Trotting out the tanks for a military parade in some ways seems to perhaps overlook the central role of diplomacy in achieving independence. Perhaps more prominence could be given to the "Singing Revolution" that I wrote about in a previous post on this blog. On the other hand, there were people, in Estonia's history,who sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom, and this day is also a recognition of those sacrifices.

 Celebrations of these two national holidays days vary from the public to the private, from large city or town festivities to small family gatherings. One thing is certain, all people will celebrate in some way, and often it reminds me of our christmas celebrations.This is perhaps because of the warm summer weather, though in fact the weather this year was decidedly on the cool side. For example, in Tartu our city, on Jaanipaev eve there was a festival of music and dancing at one of the properties belonging to the National Museum called Raadi Park. This happy family orientated time included the lighting of a large bonfire on the stroke of midnight. These bonfires are the centre piece of celebrations all over Estonia on this night, whether they be official public celebrations in cities and towns, or just the celebrations of a family group. Bonfires feature often in Estonias festive periods, but this is the main night of fire for all Estonians. There is a tradition that when the fire begins to die down, you can take your partner, or just yourself, and jump over the fire. If you do that without getting singed it indicated that life ahead will be good and happy. If you don't make it, then life right then would not be so happy!!!!!! (This last bit is not in the tradition). Also on Victory Day some traditions apply. As the flag is raised people present, with hand over heart, sing the national anthem.....Muu Isamaa  (My Fatherland). This is a solemn and moving moment for Estonia people, and one can understand the depth of feeling given their tumultuous and painful history.
Once the formal  things are over it is time for beer and the grill (barbecue ). Maybe, if you are lucky, a chance to have a time in the sauna to help with the relaxation.  We celebrated here with our family and friends at the summer house in Kulitse, where all of the things mentioned above were experienced. Some years ago, when we celebrated Jaanipaev with our relatives, Raimu and Merike, I was made a honoury Estonian in a ceremony that required me to kneel and be tapped on each shoulder with bunch of birch leaves similar to those used in the sauna. This time we were be able to celebrate my  official status as a Temporary Resident.  Whether this designation has to do with my age and health, or just when they would like me to leave I am not quite certain.

It was fun to watch the excitement build as people approached these holidays in summer. As I mentioned above it was somewhat akin to our anticipation of christmas in Australia and our summer holiday period. Fortunately it is not accompanied by the frantic shopping for presents that mars this time in Australian life. One very noticeable thing is the presence of bunches and boquetes of flowers. Partly this is the product of all the graduating ceremonies from the university here in Tartu. Summer, therefore July through August, is university holidays. June is the time for final exams and for graduation. As there are many faculties at the university there are many graduations. Everyone, students and family and friends attending get dressed up in their very best and latest outfits to attend the gatherings. Every student, whether male or female, is given a large bouquet of flowers. So in central Tartu the town is beautified by the presence of all these students and staff carrying their bunches of colourful flowers. This continues for at least a couple of weeks and is a really nice experience for anyone walking around in the town centre. One wonders would our young men feel at home carrying flowers publicly like they do here. Sadly probably not. Culture is both designer and the outcome of prevailing public attitudes and actions wherever you live. Estonian culture turns June into a daily flower show, a event that adds considerably to the enjoyment of this month of the year.

Summer is the time for our Australian visitors, and we have been excited to greet them all and to show them a little of this lovely country. So far we have had Dave and Chris Hutchison from Tassie, Mike Allan from Tassie, Isaac Cann our grandson from Warragul, and at the moment Graeme and Julia Cann my brother and sister-in-law. Each one has brought something different to our lives here and hopefully Estonia has left a mark on their lives as well. Till next time.....Take care and enjoy each day.

Hi from sunny Estonia, or at least at the moment. Early summer here is much the same as home in Oz where the weather is quite variable. So, sunshine and rain, but definitely no snow as temperature are above zero at night now.

Thanks to those who have contacted me after reading the blog and encouraged me to keep posting. Of course, what I write are my impressions of the country and its culture. Maybe someone else would see it differently and hopefully it might encourage you to come and see Estonias for yourself. I must add here, that just spending a day in the Old City of Tallinn is not really a visit to Estonia anymore than a day in Venice gives you a picture of life in Italy. One needs to escape the "tourist track" and spend time looking and listening, tasting and talking, dining and doing those things the locals do. Unfortunately holidays don't often allow for all that and we are so grateful that we can spend this time to really immerse ourselves in the life of this fascinating little country. So, hopefully, our insights might enable you to understand Estonia and Estonians in a little more depth than would otherwise be possible for most. If it raises any questions please feel free to let us know so we can answer them through this blog.

Now, I would like to set you a little homework. If you haven't already done this I would like you to access a map of Estonia and maybe Latvia as well. I'm sure you can find a good map on the net and maybe it is worth printing it off so you can follow more easily some of our ramblings. Lately we have been on the road quite a bit due to the fact that we have had our first two visits from Australian friends. Firstly Dave and Chris Hutchison from Tassie who stayed with us just on two weeks and then Mike Allen, who is also latterly from Tassie but formerly from San Remo who's was with us just five days. It was so good to have these friends with us to share something of life in Estonia, and perhaps, more importantly, to renew our supplies of vegemite! We had great times talking, travelling, eating and just doing ordinary things that make up daily life anywhere in the world, such as shopping for food, having a coffee and so on. As for the travelling (now refer to your map) we have done trips from our base in Tartu to Narva in the east (two visits) to the island of Saaremaa in the west, (one visit) to Tallinn in the north ( five visits) right down to Riga (Latvia) in the south (one visit ) and most places in between. In fact we have clocked up some 5000kms already in our little car as well as some bus and train journeys. Keep in mind it is a small country so east to west represents approximately 400kms and Tartu to Riga in Latvia is approximately 250kms. The benefit to us is as we show something of the country to our guests we learn more about it for ourselves. It is in the visiting and revisiting that the more important and often more subtle aspects of country and culture begin to make themselves more intelligible to us as outsiders.

The Narva River divides the Estonian fortress on the left from the Russian fortress on the right.

Trucks wait on the bridge joining Estonia to Russia for customs clearance.

I dont intend to give you a traveler description of these places but rather to indicate some of the significance to Estonian life and history that these places represent. Our trips to Narva, Estonia's most eastern town bring into focus Estonia's turbulent relationship with Russia. In Narva you can stand on the bank of the Narva River and throw a stone over the water to Russia....it's that close. Standing on each bank are two huge 16th century fortresses, on the west bank the Estonian fortress and on the east the Russian fortress. They stand as a poignant symbol of more than 400 years of Estonia's subjugation  by either Russia from the east or Sweden from the west. Here numerous bloody battles have been fought, the latest being in the dying days of the second world war, when Narva was almost totally destroyed. Now, in 2017, a beautifully restored, scenic and peaceful place in free Estonia, the echos of those terrifying, tragic and turbulent times are still present, and serve to enhance the triumph of Estonia's present independence and freedom. Yet ghosts are reluctant to diss-inhabit their domains and thus some folks, whose personal history evokes memories of these darker days are often unsure as to the permanence of the current peace.  In spite of these latent fears in some, Estonia as a whole is optimistically and energetically embracing its future, determined to take its place in the modern free world, and with its membership in the EU and its hosting of NATO I feel sure it will be able to pursue those goals with confidence. Narva, perhaps more than any other place in Estonia epitomises the past, present and future of the nation, and, no matter how often I visit,  I always feel it is a rare privilege and deeply emotive experience to stand by that river that flows with so much history.

The immaculate 16th Century Swedish Castle at Kuresaare Saaremaa

If you trace your finger on the map of Estonia to the western extreme you will come to the island of Saaremaa (meaning...Island Land ) This is a beautiful little island, approximately 100kms long and maybe 50kms wide. It is rich in tradition and history. Over the centuries Saaremaa has been influenced by Swedish settlers and that influence is still visible today in the rich red colours of their costumes and streetscapes. Neatly landscaped gardens and a castle, in Kuresaare their main town,  that almost looks painted into its surroundings seem all to reflect that design and order that is reminiscent of Swedish culture. In spite of some dark days in their history, such as the "night of red terror" when 106 ordinary people were massacred by the retreating Russian Army, the overwhelming ethos of this place is that of peace and security. Surrounded as it is by the Baltic Sea, which itself is a substantially calm expanse of water, it seems to draw you into itself, into a place where life moves at a slower pace and wellbeing is a given. It is no wonder to me that so many Estonians want to holiday on this little Island, almost as if boarding the ferry that takes you on the half hour journey from mainland to island is like exchanging all those pressing realities of daily life for a period of peace. This harmony between the land and the people was further emphasised to us when we came across a family of swans, raising their chicks in a nest right beside the main highway. These magnificent white birds, all swans in Europe are white, were unperturbed by our presence and the clicking of our cameras. Now, of course, Saaremaa too suffered under 60 years of foreign occupation. Saaremaa too has had its dark days and deprivation. Along with the whole nation of Estonia it shares the same challenges, opportunities, uncertainties and hopes. It too is populated with real people with real problems. It, no more than any other place on earth, is utopia, but nevertheless one cannot visit it without experiencing a calming presence. If you have the chance to visit Estonia make sure Saaremaa is on your itinerary.

White swans nesting beside the highway on Saaremaa

Tourism is changing the world. The impact of thousands of tourist feet tramping the tourist path actually changes the things they came to see. My question is....."are the places changing the tourists?"
Are we learning, listening, understanding, coming to comprehend what history and place are trying to tell us. Maybe if we shrunk our itineraries down, took time to hear as well as see, tourism might well become a force for good in our troubled world.
Till next time.........