The World's Most Powerful Man in Tallinn

Airforce One touched down in Tallinn today, as George W Bush made a whistle stop visit to Estonia. For the 15 hours that he was here Tallinn came to a standstill as security preparations closed off part of the town centre. Bush booked out the whole Radisson hotel for his night here, and the surrounding area was cut off to traffic. Many business had to close for the day, unfortunately my work is on the outskirts of town and was unaffected. Although it was only my second day so I'm not exactly looking for a day off.

There were even snipers on the roofs of buildings, as you can see in the picture below. I'd be surprised if Dubbya would have been able to find Estonia on a map before this trip, but his visit certainly made an impact. I think most Estonians are just glad he's gone now so that they can have their city back to normal.

Living the Immigrant Life

I am really living the immigrant life. Today I started working at an office supplies warehouse, which I personally feel is a job far removed from what my education qualifies me for, and pays about 25% of what I would earn in Australia! I feel a little bit like all those Indian IT graduates who drive you home pissed in Melbourne after a Saturday night out! Anyway at least I know it wont be forever and the place is pretty good to work. It's at a place called Büroo Maailm (Office World) which is life the Corporate Express of the Baltics. The worst part was that I had to catch the bus to work today, and will have to do the same in the future. Actually, maybe the worst part is the fact that it's totally dark when I arrive to work and totally dark when I leave. Oh well, now I know what life is like for average Estonians, and I'm learning some Russian swear words as well!!

Cricket

Well, the Ashes battle is about to start, and having just woken up here in Tallinn it's down to 0 sleeps. The time difference is going to make watching cricket something of a nightmare, with play starting at 2.00 and finishing at 9.00 for the 1st test. The good thing is that I have found a site which will let me watch all of the cricket on the internet, albeit at a price! So send me an email while the cricket is on, I just may be sitting up watching in the middle of the Estonian night!

Theatre

I went to see a theater show today. It was in Estonian. I understood 10% of what they were saying!!! Makes me realise how much more of the language I have to learn!! Luckily I have class tomorrow!

It's not so cold here

I'm sitting watching the news here at the moment, and a story has just come on about the cold snap in Victoria! Seeing pictures of snow covered cars and heavy hail made me feel as though the weather here in Tallinn is not quite as bad as I thought. And in case anyone is wondering exactly what the weather is like here, I've added a weather box which you will see on the right.

Life on the other side

I submitted an application for an Estonian residency permit today, which was an interesting experience. Having worked for Immigration in Australia it was interesting to compare the systems of the two countries, as well as to experience being on the other side of the desk. The most obvious thing is that the staff at the Estonian Migration Board could do with some customer service training, though that is true of pretty much every service oriented organisation in Estonia. Though I must admit I'm sure they'd smile more if they were paid as much as I was in Melbourne!! While the smiles are lacking, the IT systems seem much better here in Estonia. Though it must be said I only got a five second peek at the lady's screen when she went to photocopy my passport! The forms I had to fill out were equally as pointless and over complicated as the ones I handed out in Australia, though the customer service rep had all the details entered into the computer pretty quickly as I sat there. It was interesting to hear my mother's middle name is "Yoanne." If only they knew that her favorite town in Estonia is "Keela Jowa"!!

Now i just sit back and wait for them to make a decision, which could take until February. Obviously public servants here work about as hard as me and my colleagues back in Australia!!!!

Snow - Pictures from my apartment

Some early cold weather has arrived in Estonia, and has brought some snow along with it. I took some photos from my apartment today around lunch time. The top two pictures are from the bedroom window. The roads get fairly slippery despite the salt they use, and the footpaths turn to ice if there are a lot of people walking on them. The bottom ones are taken from the kitchen window, where the view is of a kindergarten playground. I didn't see the kids out there today, which I guess is no surprise! As you can see from the thermometer it is below zero, but that is actually a bit warmer than it has been over the last week. It has been as cold a -7 or 8 during the day, and much colder at night. Anyway, now I'm about to brave the icy streets to go to my Estonian language class.