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.........

Hi....now from sunny Estonia! Yes that's right, the spring has sprung with unbelievable energy. Trees literally exploding into leaf. Once day barren branches, the next a panoply of green. Nature is on steroids here as the time for growing, flowering and fruiting is short. Somehow these plants know this and adapt their growing patterns to suit. This ecological frenzy is contagious, infecting the whole community. Everybody is 'out and about'. Festivals, markets, concerts, gardening, and of course opening up the summer house for the season.

Spring has sprung in Eesti

I promised to tell you about the 'summer house'. In Oz we are familiar with the 'holiday house', usually, though not always , down by the beach. A place to go for weekends throughout the year and maybe an extended time in summer for swimming, fishing, sailing or just general relaxation. The Aussie holiday house owes its existence to a relatively affluent society with both time and money to spend enjoying the beauties of the Australian climate and environment. On the other hand, the Estonian summer house has an entirely different genesis, one deeply entwined in the complex political and social upheavals of Estonia's recent past
.

The Summer House at Kulitse where we have stayed quite often.

After the First Word War, Estonia experienced a brief period of independence ( just 20 years) for the first time in nearly two millenniums. During this time their industry and development in the urban areas was quite prolific, leading the way amongst the countries of their region in many aspects of design and manufacture. In rural areas modernisation was slower and small farms, often 10 to 20 acres, still dominated the rural scene when Estonia came under Russian occupation again 1939-44. Russian agricultural policy was to establish large collective farms, called 'kolhoz' and 'sovhoz'. To achieve this, the government forcible acquired all these small family owned farms, aggregating them into large agriculture enterprises. Families were moved out of their rural houses into apartment blocks constructed by the Russian government and assigned to work on the kolhoz. Often these rural families were assigned to a kolhoz in an different area, a technique the Russians used to help break down traditional social order in an effort to reduce resistance to their regime. This action antagonised the Estonian rural population whose families had owned and farmed these lands for generations. Resistance was futile, and if publicly expressed usually resulted in exile to Siberia or even the firing squad. Gradually, reluctantly, life settled down and the collective farms operate throughout the 60 years of Russian occupation ending in 1991/2.  Not everything was negative. The apartment blocks, though somewhat crudely constructed, did provide an amenity not often present in the little country houses of the Estonian rural area. Heating, provided by central boiler stations, electricity and better insulation were some of the benefits of the apartments. Regular 'paid' work, nearby schools, organised and provided holidays also had some added benefit. Nevertheless there was wide spread anger and grief at the loss of those traditional family plots of land, and their location, boundaries and ownership were not forgotten through the long and dark times of occupation.

Estonia's current independence and nationhood came about in the early 90's in conjunction with the disintegration of the USSR during Gorbachev's presidency. After the initial exuberant celebrations had subsided the new fledgling Estonian government (Republic of Estonia ) was confronted with a  difficult decision in rural policy. When Russia withdrew from the Estonian rural area, all collective farms ceased to operate. The machinery and plant were removed, buildings often destroyed (out of spite in some instances) and the market, Russia, closed. Ownership of the land was now officially vested in the new government of Estonia. What to do? The government had neither the resources or the desire to farm the land itself. Descendants of the families dispossessed of their land 60 years ago believed, justifiably so, that the land belonged to them. Meantime the world had moved on, and small acreage no longer constituted a viable commercial farm, and in addition, this new generation neither had the finance or often the skills to establish a rural enterprise that would be financially viable. In the end the Estonian government took the view that the land should be returned to the families from whom it had been "stolen". Now, often urbanised families, had ownership and access to scattered small blocks of land, many with old, scantily equipped cottages. There was little or no real agricultural industry as such in those early days. To the people, this was justice, vindication of their rightful ownership, and they held these little plots in high esteem in memory of their forebears who had been forced off the land. The early days of nationhood for Estonia were not easy, and food shortages were among some of the problems facing this emerging little nation. Families who had received back their small family plot and hopefully a cottage started to use these properties for growing fruits and vegetables, preserving many of them for the long winter months. Wh.ere skills and money was available, cottages were renovated and made more liveable. Nevertheless, when winter came and the snow threatened families moved back to their apartments and their centres of employment, as these farm cottages were now not capable of being lived in through the cold months.


So the "Summer House" was born. A gestation and birth forged by both the dark times of the occupation and the light times of independence. Shaped, as always, by the larger movements of technological advance and social change. History, by its very nature is episodic, new pages are written every day, new eras emerge and evolve. This story is not over, it is never-ending. The "Summer House" itself is evolving. Food is readily available year round from the modern supermarket. Convenience is becoming the byword of a modern society, so the task of growing and preserving ones own produce is less palitable. Mobility, travel, work life diversity, all of these factors are influencing the evolution of the Summer House and its place in the life of Estonian families. Agriculture in Estonia has developed enormously from that first visit we had 14 years ago. Now broad acres of cropping, large dairy farms with up to date technology are common place in the rural areas of Estonia. Foreign capital and the aggregation of small land holdings either through rental agreements or purchase facilitating this growth in agricultural production. For the moment the Summer House remains. Maybe it is evolving more into a Holiday House as we have in Australia. History alone will tell the future story just as it shaped its past. My personal hope is that Estonians will find a way to preserve this history, to maintain those connections even as they pursue their place in a modern world.

Well as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, spring has come albeit late, so summer is just around the corner. Our neighbouring family have loaded the car and left to spend summer at their Summer House. The tradition lives on. By the way, cars and driving is another aspect to life in Estonia that differs in some ways from our experience. Maybe next blog we can talk about life on the wrong side the road. See you then.

Hi. 

Just arrived back in our apartment at Vaarika 1-25 Tammelinn Tartu. We have been out to yet another free concert put on by the French Horn players in Tartu. They have had a visiting teacher from Portugal for a week or so and gave a concert to demonstrate all they have learned from this expert player. He also played some pieces and showed how versatile the french horn can be.  As it was a lovely warm evening, about 15 degrees C, we went for a walk around central Tartu and discovered they had set up a motor cross course in the park and were into a competition between riders from Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. You never know what will happen here.

I mentioned our apartment. In Estonia a majority of people live in apartments. These apartment blocks can be quite large. In Tartu they seldom exceed 4 - 5 stories, but in Tallinn they can be 10 - 20 stories high. Our block is three stories and contains 30 apartments, mostly 2 bedrooms. Ours has 5 entrances, and in each entrance there a 6 units. (2 on each floor x 3 floors ) We are on the ground floor and only have 6 steps to climb to reach our door. 

Our apartment...lower balcony second from the left is our kitchen balcony.

One of the main reasons for apartment living is the fact of heating. The heating in apartments comes from the town central heating stations. These generate hot water, here with the use of gas, and circulate this water over remarkable distances to heat the apartment blocks. Stand alone houses seem to  to provide their own heating, much of which is done by wood burning heaters. There is also much less maintenance to do especially with regard to the land or gardens around stand alone houses. Care of the block is complicated by the long winter and not quite so attractive as a quarter acre block is in Oz. The apartments are not generally very large in area, though some of course can be bigger. Our apartment is quite a good sized one with 2 bedrooms, lounge, separate kitchen, toilet and bathroom. In addition it has a generous entrance hall which is necessary for the removal of shoes and the hanging of coats that this climate necessitates. Still, this apartment is just on 65Sq. meters, much smaller than the average home in Australia. Somehow here they seem quite adequate and we are constantly amazed at how much stuff people seem to be able to fit into apartments, many of which are considerably smaller than ours. In addition most apartments have a basement which includes space for more storage like winter tyres, skis, sledge, bikes and if your lucky a sauna. There seems to be a reasonable balance between rented and owned apartments and prices seem to range from around 30,000  to 150,000 Euros. Many of the apartment blocks built during the occupation lack considerably in the quality of both materials and workmanship. Nowdays there is a lot of a activity in renovating these apartments and improving the finish and fittings. Our apartment was built just as occupation was ending and suffers from the same quality issues. This means there is plenty of renovating work for me to do and already we have upgrade the kitchen area, replastered areas after some very shoddy work done fitting new double glazed windows and of course lots of painting.

                                                                     

                                  
       Our kitchen before.............................................and after renovations .                



 Most have a small balcony, ours opens off our kitchen, and provides a place for some flower pots and a cuppa when the sun is shining. Currently we have a lovely display of pansies, which we have discovered are the only flowers that can cope with the zero or sub-zero temperatures at this time of the year. Soon, we are told we will be able to plant other varieties but that must wait until nighttime temperatures climb above zero. To us Australians, used to "our block of land" this apartment living may seem less than attractive. On the other hand, it does have numerous positive aspects, not the least of which are the environmental benefits and the retarding of urban sprawl. One slightly strange part of this experience is the surprising fact that we hardly see our fellow apartment dwellers. We have met some, but given our proximity to one another contact is minimal and noise from neighbouring apartments is almost non existent. Overall, we are finding the experience comfortable and enjoyable, and maybe, in the future this is the way thing will go in Australia also.


Quite a number of families, particularly those who live in apartments, have what they call summer houses. I want to make this a subject of the next blog, as these summer houses play quite a different role in family life than do the "holiday house" in Australia. Unfortunately, modernisation, especially the Western brand, is putting extreme pressure on some of these unique cultural phenomena, but this is a story for the next post.

Well, enjoy your life in Australia, cause on any reckoning its really a paradise.

 
PS. Remember last time I wrote about the storks.....well we were out driving the other day and went past this house that had its own stork family.....you can just see the mother stork sitting on the eggs. This will give you something to 'stork' about.

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.

Hi,

Back again.......

Since our last post time has flown by and now it is just days before we leave these lovely sun drenched shores for Estonia's somewhat more subdues tones of late winter. As you can imagine the last few weeks have been occupied with finishing all the little jobs needing attention before we absent ourselves for the year ahead. So far we haven't got around to packing yet but that is the next task now that other things are out of the way. Also trying to spend time with family and friends whom we will be missing for sure in the months ahead.

Many people have asked us "What will you be doing while you are in Estonia?" The answer is that we don't fully know, and that is deliberate. Our main aim is to 'be there' and to experience the rhythm of life over the cycle of a year. Obviously there will be things to be done. Support of our relatives, especially our elderly aunties ( 96 and 90 repectively ), learning language, especially for Neville, entertaining and tour guiding the numerous visitors both family and friends, getting some skills in Estonian cuisine and maybe even a bit of building or renovation where required. As we see it, the most important aspect of the year will be the opportunity, in particular for Helve, to deepen the bond she has to her 'fatherland' and her 'mother tongue'. A special joy will be introduce most of our immediate family to Estonia, where they all hold citizenship due to the generous policies of the Estonian Government.

Another question often asked is "how do you get to Estonia?" The best way to travel to Estonia is via Helsinki in Finland. Estonia does have an international airport in Tallinn, but flights initiating in Australia are not common into that airport. Helsinki is just 87kms from Tallinn across the Baltic Sea. A two hour ferry ride gets you from Helsinki to Tallinn and ferries depart regularly each day. This is the way we will travel, leaving Melbourne 11.05pm Wed 29th March and arriving in Tallinn about midnight Thur 30th Estonian time. That will be approximately 9.00am Frid Melbourne time, so that is around 33 hours of travelling for us. Hopefully a good sleep in the next morning. After a day to recover and to visit Liidia, one of the elderly aunties, we will travel the 180kms south west too Tartu the town where we have our apartment and where we live for the coming year.

Our first tasks will be to make application for Neville's temporary residency permit. Helve, of course, is an Estonian citizen and can stay as long as she likes, but Neville must apply to stay beyond the three months that any tourist can stay. Also we have to arrange our health cover as all Estonians must have this. Fortunately once arranged all health needs are covered and there is no lurking 'gap' like there is here. Also there is the banking and the internet and phone to be sorted out along with the normal housekeeping, food, clothing etc. Finally we need to purchase a car that will last at least for the year we are there, so these things will occupy us for the first week or so. Once we are 'in' we will certainly make contact with you along the way. We will have Skype so perhaps we can speak 'face to face' and that will be exciting (and a chance to speak english!!)

Well, this has just been a 'nuts and bolts' blog, just to keep you in touch with the when and where. Hopefully the next one will be from Tartu and will include some of our impressions and experiences as we settle in to life in Estonia.

Take care till next time.