Christmas

IMG_1636
Originally uploaded by meeky.

Christmas Pictures are up on my Flickr page!
My first Estonian Christmas was filled with too much eating and drinking as is the case everywhere. Unfortunately no snow, so I missed out on a white Christmas. It seems with Melbourne's cold weather I would have been better of in Australia if I wanted the White Christmas!!

Brydie's Scratchie

My sister sent me a lotto 'scratchie' for Christmas. I videoed me playing so she could see.

Snow in Tallinn

It has JUST started to snow outside! "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!!"

I hope I haven't jinxed it now...

To see if I have, take a look at the Tallinn weather webcam.

Christmas Market in Tallinn

One of the upsides of the wintry weather here in Tallinn at the moment is the Christmas Market in the town hall square. It really provides a Christmas feel, especially at night when it is all lit up. I walked through the square last night and happened to have a camera with me, and took some pictures. This one here is of the little huts the shopkeepers use to sell their Christmas wares, with the Town Hall in the background (built in 1402).

In fact, Tallinn was the first town in Europe to put up a municipal Christmas tree, back in 1441. 

Estonian Drivers

Sometimes people ask if I drive in Estonia. Apart from the fact that I would have to drive on the right hand side, the main reason I don't is that Estonians are maniacs behind the wheel. Almost daily there is a head on collision on one of Estonia's roads. The picture here is from today, a head on which happened on the road between Tallinn and Tartu. No one died in this accident, though there are numerous fatalities every week, which is pretty poor for such a small country.

Tallinn and Tartu Estonia's two biggest towns, and there is lots of traffic, however it is unseparated single carriage-way for most of the trip. In summer especially when people are getting out of town for the holidays, drivers make suicide overtake maneuvers, and it is pretty common to see a car driving straight at you at 130km/ph only to pull back to their own side of the road with seconds to spare. Once while on a buss to Viljandi one car overtaking actually passed us on our right (i.e. on the hard shoulder of the wrong side of the road!!)

I will drive here eventually, but i don't have a car at the moment, so really I don't have to worry too much about the madness on Estonian roads just yet.

Residency and ID Cards

Two weeks ago I received my Estonian residency, and this week I received my ID card. It's a pretty amazing thing, as it's a smart card, which allows the holder to do a huge range of things. For example the card can be used to vote in online elections, Tallinn being the first electorate in the world to hold an e-election. Essentially the card is used for ID purposes in the real world but also as an online signature. The cards are so useful here, it makes me wonder why there is so much concern over the new non-id card that Australia is planning to bring in. By coincidence there was a radio report that I listed to radio national and it seemed so stupid that there was even debate over ID cards. If anyone has time I recommend listening to the podcast.

I just wish that I hadn't used such an old photo

Jeff on Estonian Television

My former lecturer from Monash was on Estonian television this week talking about tourism. I think the most interesting part is the Translator. I've got no idea how she is able to do that. She is apparently the best translator in Estonia, and the day before this interview she was translating for George bush during his visit.
Clip one is here, all three clips are on my you tube page. (LINK ON THE RIGHT)

Estonia in the NY Times

Bushes visit here got a mention in a recent New York Times article. Worth reading for anyone who still thinks of Estonia as some sort of post soviet backwater.