Giday!

Well one thing, I never realised how much energy it took to hang on with your toes down under. Up here, on top of the world it is so much more relaxing not having to cling onto an upside down world!!
And actually, you feel as if one of us is upside down.

The reasons: here for instance they drive on the other (right) side of the road. Whilst it doesn't take long to adapt as a driver, it can be positively hazardous as a pedestrian. Easy to step off the footpath right into the path of the vehicle bearing down on you to the left. Another "upside down" thing are the light switches. You guessed it, up is ON and down is OFF. Coupled with the fact that light switches are often outside the door, you can raise the ire of your living companion after the sixth time you have turned off the light to the loo while they are in occupation. Then there is the fact that the warm winds blow from the south and the cold blasts from the north, not that we have had any warm winds. So far the average temperature is still around 5 degrees C and most days for the last week we have had snow, and its only spring. Last blog I mentioned that everything is brown in the winter and green in the summer, no matter how much rain falls in the winter and how hot it is in the summer (not very!) Then there's the language. If someone says "my dear" (or at least what sounds like that) they are not being affectionate, they are actually saying  "they haven't got the faintest". In addition there are not a few words that sound like very naughty words in english which can leave you a bit shocked in a friendly conversation!

So, with these things, small as they are, and a few I have not mentioned, you perhaps understand why it feels like either "us" or "them" are upside down. Amazing, isn't it, what we take for granted in our own environment.

I guess you've noticed when Aussies meet and don't know what to talk about it often comes down to the weather. So let's talk about the weather. As we have already mentioned the weather has been pretty cool. This is not really typical of April, so the locals tell us, though it is not unknown for it to be like this. Just hasn't happened for a few years. Its interesting for us to be living in this climate. In their spring time, which it is officially now, the weather can change very rapidly. As I am writing this I am sitting in our lounge room and the sun has been quite warm and bright. Then within just minutes, maybe 3 or 4 minutes, I look up and its snowing again. The changes come so quickly its hard to believe. Yesterday we must have had a dozen changes including full sun, hail, rain and snow, all in one day. Inspite of all this spring is certainly on the way and you can sense the excitement around as the first green shoots start to appear. We are told the larger trees, birches and oaks won't get their leaves until into May, and when that happens the landscape will undergo a radical change. Once this process starts, as we have seen on previous visits to Estonia, it is an explosion of vegetation, everything appearing to know that there is limited time to grow and flower before the slide into winter begins again. Estonia has a definite, observable and exotic seasonal experience, and at this particular junction of winter and spring everything is in a hurry.

This picture is taken at the same place just 3 weeks after the one above.                              

Estonia is the breading place of the White Stork (Ciconia Ciconia). It was first observed breeding in Estonia in 1841. The Stork winters in Africa and Spain leaving Estonia before the first snow falls in autumn. Every year this magnificent bird returns, not only to Estonia, but the same nest. The appearance of the Stork in early spring is a welcome indication that spring is definitely on the way. We have been excited to see the storks taking possession of their nests again and settling down to hatch the 2017 batch of new Storks. One of the peculiarities of the White Stork is its preference to build its nest in close proximity to housing and people. Rural families will develop a long term relationship with their particular family of Storks, who likely will build their nest on the top of the nearby electrical post. In the past, the stork more often nested on the top of chimney's, but this often caused inconvenience for the householder. One good aspect of "progress" has been the emergence of a multitude of electricity poles and the like, which provide the perfect location for a nest. The storks ability to adapt to new conditions is illustrated by the fact that in 1939  93% of the storks nests were located in trees. Flipping forward to 2008 there was 72% of storks nesting on poles. These nests are of considerable size, reportedly weighing up to half a ton and are refurbished and extended each breeding season. The well known Jabaru ( now officially known as the Black Necked Stork) of northern Australia is a relative of this northern bird. Given all this it is no surprise that the Stork in Estonia has iconic status.

                                           The beautiful stage at Ellerie Music School Tartu
                                              (yes thats a big window and a real forest )

This afternoon we are off to our fourth concert in four days! Surprisingly all these concerts are free. We have had full orchestra, mens choir and a number of chamber orchestra groups from four different countries in our region. An amazing feast of music and the display of incredible talent, especially amongst the young musicians of Estonia and their neighbours. All this provided freely, so that ordinary folks here can enjoy quality music, not just those who can afford $50+ ticket prices (and some times hundreds of dollars in Pop concerts) like we have in Australia. This approach to making artistic events available to all is something I have grown to appreciate here and to wonder why we , in Australia,have priced art out of the reach of those who would most benefit by inclusion. Australia with its mantra of "user pays" is missing out on the social benefits of artistic expression. Reducing art to a commodity to be traded is, I think, a big mistake that will bear unwanted fruit in generations to come. So tonight we will enjoy the talents of young Lithuanian and Latvian musicians, and tomorrow it will be Russian's turn.

Well, to next time. Cheers

Well this time its greetings from Tartu Estonia. After a long 34 hour journey we have made it to our new home for the year ahead. Now the reality of our decision to make this journey and to stay for a year is beginning to sink in. It's an interesting feeling to be away from your own land and going about daily living in "someone else place". I guess it helps you to realise that you are Australian, and that actually means something, and that the prospect of being absent from 'your land' for a significant period brings into focus your sense of place in the world. The positives in this reflection are to be found in the realisation that the values, the connections, the environment have made you what you are and and shaped your personality, your sense of self and your outlook on the world. The negatives could be a retreat into 'nationalism' with all its attendant pitfalls of bigotry, racism and notions of superiority. When you are surrounded on a daily basis with a language you don't understand, with customs that are unfamiliar and with an environment that is radically different the danger is that you can fall into the trap of endless comparisons, and judging everything around you by the standards of Australian experience. In essence I think it is perfectly proper to be proud to be an Aussie and that this pride of country should not be a reason to undervalue the culture and norms of any other place. Nor should that pride blind us to the contribution another land, culture and people can make to our own growth as a person, or for that matter, as a nation. It is with these things in mind that we put on our coats (average temp so far about 5C ) and head out to discover more of this interesting land of Estonian and in the doing discover more about ourselves as we are and as we would like to be. Now down to the news.

We arrived in Estonia at 1am on Thursday 30th March. Our transport was a ferry from Helsinki Finland where earlier in the day our plane from Australia had disgorged its weary travellers. The mercury was hovering around 0C as we exited the taxi at the hotel entrance, and we did not take long to roll into bed thankful to be horizontal at last. Waking early, around 5.30am I guess as a result of time confusion, we were met by the sight of a snow covered landscape. Amazing. No sign of snow just hours before and now everything was covered in a brilliant carpet of white. What a welcome to our new land of choice, and perhaps more significantly, to Helve's fatherland. As we wandered the snow covered pathways and parks that day in Tallinn it felt as if this show had been orchestrated  for our benefit alone. Curiously it is probably the first and last snowfall we will witness unto the coming of winter in Nov/Dec this year, although the weather man has said it might snow this coming Friday.

Our arrival in Tartu was on Sat 1st April mid morning, having travelled by bus the 180kms from Tallinn. We were welcomed by Anti and Karin and taken to the apartment which is to be our home for the next year. This apartment has generously been made available to us by Anti and Karin and we are most grateful to them. Not only have they made this apartment available they have showered us with help and gifts towards making this place "our place".

The apartment block  Vaarika 1 Tartu

The bottom window second from the left is our kitchen window.

The green car is ours.

Our first days in the apartment have been busy with shopping and with jobs like fitting new upper kitchen cupboards, painting and all sorts of small home making efforts. As well as this much of the first few days was spent travelling to numerous government offices and police to fill out paper work to make our status legal. Helve, of course, is an Estonian citizen and only had to register her residency. I, on the other hand, must apply for temporary residency, a process, which we discovered, takes about two months to complete. 

This first week had its share of drama's and fun. On the Sunday night, our first full day in Tartu, Helve ended up in hospital, having been delivered there by ambulance. It all come about due to her collapsing whilst having a sauna at Merike and Raimu's place. Merike and Raimu are our relatives also and it was their summer house we have stayed in on our last few visits to Estonia. As it was ladies turn in the sauna, I wasn't present when the fainting happened and by the time I was told the ambulance was already there. Helve has always had low blood pressure and given the right set of circumstances, such as tiredness, lack of hydration she has been known to faint. Usually she is able to recover after a bit of rest, but the girls in the sauna didn't know this and they thought she had died as they couldn't find a pulse. Drama! Anyway, after a short stay in hospital, she was released and is doing fine. Unfortunately it was the next day, Monday, that we had an appointment to purchase her health insurance...... so it came with a small bill. Fortunately everyone, inspite of who they are and where they come from, is entitled to "first aid" in the case of an emergency so that was a big help.

A couple of days later Anti phoned to say he had seen a car for sale that was the type we were looking for. We needed a car that had some extra seats as we will be having numerous guests over the next year, and in the case of David, Michelle, Poppy and April extra space is needed. When Anti came to pick me up to go see the vehicle it was about 4.30pm. We immediately took a liking to the car as it seemed to be in great condition for its age. (2003) After a test drive we agreed to buy it..but

the seller needed cash and I certainly didn't have the 2000 euro in my pocket. Some confusion arose due to the language problems and so the seller decided to drive us back to our apartment to try and solve the cash problem. This was the fastest most hair raising trip I have ever had. The guy drove some mean, black, tinted windows, sports BMW with a huge V8 engine and he drove fast. Very fast!!!! Anyway back at the apartment great discussions in various languages ensued, trying to discover where we could find the cash at this time of the day. Cash was necessitated because there was at least three other guys wanting the car if we didn't produce the money. In the midst of all this (now 5.45pm) someone discover the Swedbank where we had an account was open to 6pm. This time it was a mad scramble in Anti's old Volga Russian vintage car to get to the bank. We arrived as they were about to close the doors. The bank arranged to give us a temporary card (our permanent ones hadn't arrived yet) so we could draw the money from their ATM. So off to the ATM only to find the card didn't work. By this time the bank was closed. Someone suggested trying another ATM and fortunately it worked. Phew!! So with the cash in our pocket it was off in the vintage Russian car back to the sellers place to make the purchase. It was a lot of fun in the end, and the car, which is in the photo above is proving to be fantastic. And all this had happened in our first 3 days in Tartu!!

Since then life has settled down and we are enjoying our town and our home. We have been able to make several visits to see Helve's 96 year old Auntie Erna, who is now a resident in an aged care facility. This is one of the reasons we decided to come for this year, so we could give some time, care and support to Erna. Its great to see her and Helve chatting away, looking at photos and delving into the families history. Similarly we plan to make regular visits to see Auntie Liidia in Tallinn who is 90 years old and still living on her own in her apartment.

Today as I write this it is Good Friday, two weeks from our arrival in Estonia. As I mentioned above, snow covered the ground on our first morning. Amazingly, when we woke this morning exactly two week later snow again covered the ground. To us, beautiful. Not a heavy fall but enough to cover the ground and hang on the trees. We put on our coats, scarves and went for an hours walk to see the snow in our neighbourhood. 

Next time I will tell you a little more about our experiences of living in a place where all the signs are in another language, where cars travel on the "wrong" side of the road, where light switches are up for on and down for off, where the warm sunshine comes from the south and where spring comes in May. Till then, take care.