State of the World - A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I did a tour last week with a group of Americans. One couple had bought some gifts along such as New York T-Shirts to give to guides and people they met along the way. They gave some gifts to me, even though I wasn't as "Eastern European" as they had envisaged their Tallinn guide would be!! One of the gifts was a badge. A small, hastily considered choice on their part I'm sure. But I thought it said a great deal about the way the world is headed. A picture truly is worth a thousand words...

Summer Days

I just thought I'd post a photo to show everyone how much fun Summer is in Estonia.

You Just Can't Escape Them

One of the Advantages of living in Estonia is the fact that I can avoid annoying celebrity couples.... Or can I????? This was the latest cover if Nädal, the local version of TV Week.

King Andrew I of Estonia

I mentioned in my last post that I would guarantee a day off work even when public holidays fall on a weekend when I became Estonian Prime Minister. But screw that! What I need is to be the King of Estonia, so that I could pass whatever rules I liked. Estonia has never really had its own king, but it has been the territory of Kings, as well as Czars, Führers and General Secretaries. There were a bunch of crazies who proposed that Estonia set up a Monarchy after independence, and their party received 7 percent of the vote in the first post soviet election in 1992. So I think the planets have aligned, and my destiny as absolute ruler is nigh! My first decrees, in addition to the change in public holidays, will be as follows:

• Complete ban on beige suits for men.
• Complete ban on socks and sandals.
• complete ban on the mullett.
  
• Drivers who fail to give a courtesy wave when they are let into traffic will lose their license on the spot. This should also solve any traffic problems as most drivers would be taken off the road.
  
• Aussie Rules football will be telecast live on ETV. Every game, every week.
• Cruise passengers will face a 50 Crown ($5) for leaving the ship. All these fat Americans are wearing out Tallinn's streets faster than heavy trucks! Plus they're just annoying, walking around in groups of 45 just itching to buy crappy souvenirs.
• Cars will no longer be allowed to park on the footpath. In fact I don't think they are now, but I would actually enforce that law.
• I would discontinue the use of coins. The lowest note is 2 Crowns (20c) and the highest coin is 1 Crown (10c) Most people hate ending up with a wad of worthless notes. I actually love it though, as I no longer wear out the coin pocket in my jeans or wreck my wallet. The coins that are here are pointless, so just get rid of them.
• Estonian air would begin offering direct flights between Melbourne and Tallinn at cost. Though knowing Estonian Air it would probably still be expensive, and without doubt the flights would always be delayed!
• Estonian housewives will be limited to garnishing one dish per week with dill, a reduction from the current average of 14.
• Laughing at a foreigner speaking Estonian will be illegal, no matter how badly they mangle Eesti Keel.
• Serving warm beer will result in a very large fine. Anything warmer than 2 degrees is clearly unaceptable. Military service for young Estonian men will be replaced with training on how it is unacceptable to dump a six pack of cans on the table at a BBQ and leave them out, getting warm, for people to take as they please.
  

I will fund my rule from speeding fines. Speed cameras on each of the main highways between the bigger towns would provide me with plenty of funds for building a nice palace or two. In fact, I may just restore the Keili Joa Manor to its former glory, as seen below, and rule from there. I think it would suit me nicely.

Jaani Päev

Monday and Tuesday were public holidays here in Estonia. The 23rd is Victory day which commemorates a rare Estonian military victory, over the Germans in WWI. The 24th is Mid Summers day, or Jaanipäev (St. Johns Day) I wont regurgitate information from Wikipedia, in the unlikely cast that anyone wants to read more you can do it straight from Wikipedia! I just thought I'd make a few random observations that popped into my head this year.

• The weather is always crap on Jaanipäev. This year it bucketed down, which pretty much ruins the whole concept of sitting out drinking and BBQing all night. It's a bit like Geelong Show day, for those from the city of dreams. The sun came back out today as everyone went back to work.
  
• I haven't met a single Estonian who actually know what victory Victory Day commemorates. A bit like asking Aussies who the first Australian PM was!
• Driving around town over the long weekend felt like being in one of those post apocalyptic films like 28 days later. Everyone escapes Tallinn for the country side, and as a result roads are empty, parking spots abound, and tourists amble through the cobble stoned streets wondering where the hell the people are.
• It was good that the days fell on Monday/Tuesday. In estonia if a public holiday falls on a weekend, there is no day off in leiu. I aim to change that when I am Estonian President. I have a lot of new rules to make when I am Estonian President, perhaps I'll outline my plans in my next post.
  

Getting my 7 cents worth, even if I don't pay it!

Whenever I get an email or talk with someone from Australia, they always seem to want to tell me about the news, particularly sporting events. What they seemingly fail to realise is that I already know. I read at least one, if not two newspapers online everyday, I listen top the footy live quite a bit, and I even watch TV news. The strange thing is that since I have moved to Estonia I think I have a better idea about what's going on in Austalia than when I lived there. The main reason for this is that grand old media institution, the ABC.

Since I relocated to the other side of the globe, I have found that Austalia's government broadcaster is a hell of a lot better at using the web than commercial media. I guess it may be easier for them in that they are not protecting entrenched commercial interests, but even so they put Austalia's commercial broadcasters to shame.

Estonia is an internet country. Every decent sized institution, both public and private, makes use of the internet to provide better customer service, save money, or just to show off (like the e-elections. A tiny percentage of the population voted online, but Estonians loved the idea they did it). All in all, a tiny, still developing country like Estonia puts my home country to shame when it comes to e-commerce. The one player getting any kicks on the Aussie team is the ABC.

I have to confess that I have always loved the ABC, both TV and Radio. My housemates in Melbourne used to joke that I glued the 2 button down on the TV remote. But I love it even more since moving overseas. I can watch all of my favourite ABC shows, such as Insiders and Offsiders (Barry Cassidy is my hero, and I want his job. Analysing sport and politics, I'd be in heaven!), as well as discovering some new shows which have appeared since I've been in Tallinn, like Q&A. By the way, it's a great show, check it out if you haven't already. I also listen to a stack of ABC podcasts, especially from Radio National (which makes me feel old!) Sirli now loves listening to John Safran and Father Bob on the ABC more than I do! All thanks to Triple J.

So this long winded post is basically to say two things. Firstly, I think the ABC does great things given how poorly it's funded. Secondly, don't bother telling me who won the footy in your next email. Unless Richmond won, it doesn't happen often so I don't mind hearing about it twice!!

Tower Views

This week Tallinn has been hosting the Old Town Days, which involves a series of concerts and performances around the Old Town. As part of the festival the Town Hall tower was open, so I climbed up there this after noon. As I was wondering around I decided to do another touristy thing I have never done before, and visit Keik in de Kök, a cannon tower which is part of the town wall and is part of Estonian city Museum.

Here's some pictures...

100th Post

Given how terrible I am at putting any news up on this blog (and some might say putting anything of interest up!), it seems surprising that this is my 100th blog post. I thought that it might be worth doing a bit of a retrospective. I've been playing with a service called VUVOX, so I decided that I'd use it to show some photos from my nearly 2 years in Estonia. You'll have to click the arrow which appears on the right when you hover your mouse over the picture.

UPDATE
I deleted the VUVOX Thing, because the music came on automatically, and wouldn't stop. The song was quite annoying, and I'm not sure why i chose it in the first place!

Soviet Statues

Yesterday I finally made it to The Estonian History Museum in Pirita, somewhere I've been meaning to since I first came to Estonia. I actually went there when I was studying in Tallinn, but it was closed, and have never made it back until now. The museum had a good exhibit on the 90 years of the Estonian Republic, but what most interested me was the Soviet statues placed around the back of the museum. Far out of sight, without any signage, you can see Lenin, Stalin and a range of more obscure Estonian communists dumped in random piles.

Dumped Statues

This is the sort of thing that many tourists would love to see, but Estonians just don't realise it's value. We got talking to a security guard, who said that there are plans to place them all in a park nearby, but they are just waiting for funding from the government. The security guard was there because one Estonian activist has recently removed some Soviet monuments and dumped them there. This is risky business given the consequences of moving statues in Tallinn in the recent past!

Stalin - Once stood proudly near Balti Train Station

This is typical of Estonia's complete lack of interest in preserving their Soviet past. I know it wasn't a pleasant time, but it is a part of their history, and for me its sad that the country sweeps its communist past under the carpet.

Lenin - removed from tartu and dumped here. At least he's standing

Communist Mural inside the museum. From 1987, did
anyone actually still believe at that stage??!"!

Corruption in Estonia

This weeks edition of the economist has published an article about corruption in Eastern Europe, in which it singles out Estonia as "probably the cleanest country in the region." It was interesting to read this. I don't have experience about corruption in any other Eastern European countries (except the one time I got fined in Sarajevo for not validating a tram ticket and had to pay a cash fine, which I knew was going straight into the dodgy inspectors pockets) but I would believe that Estonia is not a particularly corrupt place. Real Estate and local government seem to be two areas that are a dodgy as hell, but otherwise most activities seem pretty clean cut. A friend of mine wanted to participate in an auction of a property repossessed by a bank last week, but was prevented from bidding. He was persistent enough to discover that there was one bidder, who was going to buy the property for about half what it was valued at. The solicitor acting for the bank, who should have been seeking the highest price possible, was doing everything possible to prevent my friend placing a bid. Obviously the one bidder was giving the solicitor a kick back. One wonders what the bank would think if they learnt this, and the Economist!

Alcopop

The recent decision by the Australian Government to increase the excise on "Alcopop" drinks managed to make it into the news here in Estonia. While I'm always happy to see Australia in the news here, do I really want to see it depicted like this! The picture below accompanied the article! I wonder who this girl is and if she knows she's being used as an example of a drunken Australian teenager!?

Expats on TV

Sirli has always wanted me to go on Estonia's version of Deal or No Deal, because she thinks that as a foreigner they'd put me on as I'd be an interesting contestant. It would be a laugh and we might win some money. I'd prefer not to make a fool of myself on national television, even if it is a nation as small as Estonia! I have an image of myself repeating "Mida? Mida?" (What? What?) to every question i was asked. Plus I also find number really hard in Estonian, and they're a pretty important part of the show. So I don't think I'll nominate myself just yet.

In estonian Idol (Eesti Otsib Superstaar) An english guy just got knocked out in the semi final (I think, I don't really follow it closely enough to know what stage they are up to). He was pretty good i thought, but got knocked out anyway. I thought some of the other contestants were awfull, but I guess you can always rely on the general publics inablity to know talent. You can see an interview here, and I must say he plays it perfectly. Estonians love it when foregners give them praise, in that regard they're worse than Australians. I think if he keeps saying how wonderful Estonia is he'll become famous in no time. (it's not that hard to be famous in Estonia, even I made the pages of a gossip magazine!!) It's good to see that he is now Timothy Yarman!




Perhaps I could try out for this show. Do you recognise it?????

Some New Vidoes

I've been using Animoto to put Vidos on the EstAdventures website. I figure I may as well put them here. Enjoy.

Milan

I've just returned from 4 days in Milan. Rather than post photos I thought I'd just post this Animoto video.

Russia and the World

The BBC World Service has released an interesting series about Russia's relations with the rest of the world. The latest instalment focuses on the relationship with Russia, particularly in light of the "Bronze Night" riots in April last year. It was interesting to hear the Estonian President Toomas-Hendrik Ilves speaking English. I've heard him make speeches in Estonian before, but was surprised to hear how American his accent was when speaking English.

Independence Day at Toompea

Today marks the 90th Anniversary of the declaration of Estonian independence. As Sirli and I did last year, we went to Toompea castle , which is where the Estonian parliament is located, for the ceremony. Basically it involved watching the flag being raised on Tall Hermann Tower and singing the national anthem . Historically the flag flying atop Tall Hermann has signified the power who rules Estonia, so it means something to Estonians that they can put their flag up there now days. The weather was quite mild this year, which was a relief as I thought I had frostbite last year!

Outside Toompea Castle with the Estonian flag.

Sirli with the flag, Kaarli Church in the background.
The flag in the foreground is an example of the type
of flag that is put up outside every building today.

If anyone is bored, here are some interesting articles just published about Estonia.

1. The normally Russian favouring BBC may finally begin to see it Estonia's way.
   
2. A good article about Independence Day.
   
3. A very interesting article from the Telegraph about cyber crime/terrorism, and the role estonia is playing it its prevention. If you read any of these, read this one.
   

Independence Day

Tomorrow is the 90th Anniversary of Estonian Independence. Rather than me blabber on about what it all means here is a link to a good article which sums it all up pretty well. It's a bit of a strange source... The Kuwait Times!
Happy 90th Birthday Estonia.

Fresh Perspectives

Having just arrived back in Tallinn after 6 weeks in Australia, there are some things which stand out in great contrast to Melbourne after a bit of time away. They are things I always realised about Tallinn, but had stopped taking notice of as I became accustomed to them after living here for so long. Here's what I've noticed:

1. The streets are dirty! Not with rubbish, but actual dirt. I've never figured out why that is. Tallinn has street sweepers, but I guess just not enough. And using little old ladies to sweep the streets only removes so much dirt!
2. It pays to be young. I went to the supermarket and there was a 60 year old man collecting trolleys. In Australia it would be a 16 year old, or possibly someone with a disability who has been kicked off welfare! In Estonia old people do menial work. Young people run large corporations. Baby-boomers may rule OZ, but not Estonia.
3. People aren't friendly. Well they are, but not to strangers. Not in an outgoing way. No one smiles at you in the street. I was a bit shocked by this after easy-going, happy go lucky Australia.
   
4. Waiting staff are really good. HANG ON, WHAT???! I'm sure that when I left Estonia the staff in restaurants were all rude, incompetent bastards. Since I've been back, everywhere I've been the service has been outstanding. In fact much better than any restaurant I ate at in Australia. (Piece of advice - avoid the Wood Oven Pizza Restaurant in Mercer Street Geelong like the plague.) However, the down side is that eating out doesn't seem that cheap. Last time I came back from Australia I remember thinking how cheap restaurants seemed compared to Melbourne. Not any more! I guess that's what 11% inflation does. Well at least I don't live in Zimbabwe!
5. It's cold in Winter.
   

Delivering Grain to Geelong

Today I went in with Robert to take load of Barley into the "Bunker". I took the camera with me, here a some of the pictures.

Robert's truck, waiting to unload next to the heap.

Driving onto the grid.

Tipping the grain out the back tail-gate.

Tipping, with the Barley going onto the heap up the conveyor-belt.

Harvest

A few pictures taken on Boxing Day harvesting oats. Back on the farm ion Shelford.

Jenko in the header

Brydie Harry and Jared, towing a fieldbin with the ute.

Robert in the new truck, tipping the trailer.