Independence Days

This past Friday, Friday February 24th was Estonia's original independence Day. This is the day they declared themselves independent for the first time. I say the first time because if you are familiar with Estonia's history you will know they lost their independence, and only gained it back when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1992. So they have their reindependance day in August. But for this entry I am going to focus on the differences between Estonia's independence Day and our own independence day in America. From the first time people started talking about independence Day coming up I knew that it was going to be a bigger deal here than it was in the states. The thing that first clued me into that was that the cancelled school not only on independence Day, but also the day before. I am not really sure why they did this since there were no activities that I knew about that day, but they did that anyways. In the states of course I will never know if they will do this since our independence Day occurs during the summer, however I seriously doubt that they would ever do that. It was also obvious to all of us that Estonians are extremely proud of their country. And they were not shy to tell you that this was the 88th birthday of their country. They also all went to great measures to celebrate this occasion. They have several country wide activities that they do to celebrate also. One occurs at sunrise. Anyone who wanted too gathered at Toome Hill, which is in the center of the town, and watched as the Estonian flag was hoistered to the top of the flag pole at the Old Observatory, which is at the top of Toome Hill. Then all who gathered sung the National Anthem. I was told it was an awesome time, however I was not willing to get up so early and go out in the cold. This ceremony, however, occurred in Tallinn as well, and maybe even some of the other cities, that I am not sure about. At 10 a.m. another celebration activity occurred. Anyone interested gathered again at the Observatory Tower and there a choir sang, someone from the government administration gave a speech, and many of the sororities and fraternities members were there to hoist their flag in honor of the independence Day. There was also a joint singing of "Eesti Lipp". Normally because of the weather many of the flag poles around the city are found to be without flags on them. But not on this day. You really couldn't go anywhere without seeing the flag. Then as you continued to wander around the city you rarely saw a shop that was open. Almost ever shop you saw had a sign in their window, that I assumed said something like "closed for independence Day" or something like that. However after seeing how serious the Estonians were about their independence Day I assumed everything would be closed, but that was not the case. Their were the occasional grocery stores and cafes open. During the evening hours, however, when us Americans really go out and celebrate our own independence Day, the Estonians say in and don't really do anything more to celebrate the day. Overall everything that Estonians do to celebrate their independence Day, is completely different than the way us Americans do it. First of all I do not think that many Americans take their nation's birthday as serious or as proudly as the Estonians take theirs. Some people put the American flag out in front of their house, some do not. Many Americans go about their day as usual, as if there was nothing special about the day. Estonians celebrate in the day, Americans celebrate at night. And many Americans do not celebrate at all. I know in my own family we used to always go to Tanglewood, where there was always a huge fireworks show on July 4th, but even that tradition has died down over the years so that many times all we do is go out in the back yard and play with some sparklers. And I think that this is the case for many families, because attendance to the fireworks show at Tanglewood has significantly decreased. Estonia is a small country with a small population, but they are extremely proud of their small country. America I think is just the opposite, a large country with a large population, but with we are not as proud of our country as Estonians are of theirs. We do not have any city wide or nation wide celebrations, or anything like that. I would say the only similarity between the two countries is that in both cases grocery stores and restaurants are the only shops that are actually open on that day. It was interesting being here while they celebrated their independence Day, I really got a look into their culture and their past. And I enjoyed comparing and talking about the differences between the way the two countries celebrate.

So I have been in Tartu about a week now, and things are great. I have an awesome roommate, and and have made a lot of friends from all over the place! I really am loving it here! There are a lot of differences between the United States and Estonia, and I am sure I will explore them all on here eventually. I would have to say first the biggest difference, and the thing that I have had the most trouble adjusting to is how cold it has been. The majority of the time I have been here it has been in the -10s and -20s farenheight, and it has just began to warm up into the plus temps. Going from it being in the 60s at home to here it has been a huge adjustment. But the other thing that is going to take some time to get used to is going to the grocery store. I am used to at home most grocery stores carrying everything that I might need to make a meal or whatnot. That is not the case here. Different grocery stores carry different things and many times it takes going to more that one, or going to the biggest one in town, even if it is much further away. I have found it very annoying, especially since I have to walk everywhere. But this is not the US and I have to keep reminding myself of that fact. The other thing that is hard to get used to is remembering to bring a bag with me to put the groceries in. They do not provide bags for their customers, if you want them you have to pay for them. It is not much at all to buy one, about 1 krooni, but still, I dont like wasting my money on a bag to put the groceries in. I am just having to get into the habit of bringing a bag with me where ever I go. There is one thing that I like about the grocery stores here though. They provide a place for their cashiers to sit. I always thought at home that I would never like to work at a grocery store because I wouldn't like standing up all day at work. But here they do not have to do that. All of the cashiers have a little stool, and the counters are low enough so that they can reach up to give the customers their change and reciept. I think that is very nice. Another thing that I learned about the food here is that never buy any of it that has English written on it. Going through the store the first few times I was with other international students and of course none of them speak Estonian. We would kind of flock towards the items that had English written on them, since we were not sure exactly what the other stuff was. Well, lesson learned, the items with English on it were not very good at all. Now we are just taking our chances with the true Estonian items. However another good thing about the stores here, or at least the one that is right beside our dorm is that it sells already cooked food. So we can go in there and get baked chicken and rice or pasta if we don't feel like cooking one night. So that is really nice to have. I think that is about all the differences that I found there though...

Finally here....

I finally arrived in Tartu after about 24 hours of travelling last night. I was so nervous getting off of the plane in Tallinn at first though. But luckily I met another girl from Germany who was coming to Tartu and we were able to travel together. When we first arrived it was dark and neither of us really knew what we were doing. But I liked what I saw. It was different than what I expected. There were a lot more houses than what I thought there would be. And not as many people spoke english. The dorm is very small, and the beds are uncomfortable, but it is livable. My roommate hasnt arrived yet, and I think only one of my suitemates is here, but I havent met them yet either. My dorm is on the fourth floor, and it has a very pretty view of the city. It hasnt stopped snowing since I got here, which is a nice change from the 60 degree weather back in NC. Although I am sure that I will get tired of it in a few days. My first day in the city was nice, I got up late and I went to meet Kaie. She is the student who was at UNCG last semester from Tartu. Anyways, I met her this afternoon and she took me shopping which was very good, since a lot of the people we met didnt speak english. We drove around the city and went from shop to shop to pick up some of the items that I couldnt bring with me but that I needed. After that we went to her house, which was very nice, and I really liked it. Overall I really like it here, it is different and will take some adjusting too though. While Kaie and I were out today we wet to eat and I had a pancake with steamed chicken in it, which wasnt all that great, there were so many peppers in it. Some of the food is just like the United States, however they do have their own specialties, which I intend to try in time. For now the pancake was enough of their food for a while. I went and bought some bread and other sandwhich stuff to live on for now. The shopping centers are much nicer here, I think. Everything is enclosed, unlike our shopping centers, like Friendly Center. Although they are much smaller, they are everywhere, there is several of them throughout the city. Now that I am here it is nice. I have to say to you Polish students you have it much easier with that person picking you up at the airport! If I had not met the girl from Germany (Sandra) I dont know what I would have done. We had to catch a bus from the airport to the bus station then get a bus to Tartu which was two and a half hours long then get a taxi from the bus station to the dorm, the whole time dragging our luggage from place to place in the snow. It was difficult, but we made it. Well I think that about covers it, tonight Kaie is taking Sandra and myself out to walk around the city. Until next week...