The Christmas season

Christmas time is here and I have to say that for some reason the snow does make it feel more like Christmas. Maybe it’s because of all those songs that sing about a white Christmas and the snow, those have never really made much sense to me as we are normally outside in the sun around Christmas time. But they fit perfectly here. I try to go into oldtown whenever I can because it is all decorated beautifully and has a very warm Christmas feeling even though its freezing outside. There is a little Christmas market in the main square. A large decorated tree standing in the square surrounded by little wooden huts selling different goods. Wooly gloves, hats and scarves, candles, jewelery made from amber, wooden objects, glass decorations, different souvenirs and so on. Lights hang all around the market above the little huts and on surrounding buildings. The market is always buzzing with people and there is constantly some music playing through the air. There are some small reindeer that people come to look at and pony rides around the square for kids as well as a little blue train that travels around oldtown. So imagine all of that topped off with the snow which falls over the town settling on top of everything. There is some warm food and drinks being sold on the cold evenings too. There is also an outdoor ice rink up now and its strange to see people ice skating outside with huge winter jackets and hats on, I’m surprised they don’t fall over. I’m hoping to go soon to get some pictures of this beautiful place at Christmas time.

We now also have a Christmas tree (kuusk) at home, a real one, straight from the forest! Sonja, our cat, lies under it in the evenings and plays with the decorations hanging near the bottom. 

The darkness isn’t that bad now that there is snow on the ground. I’ve decided though that I quite like the darkness at Christmas time because it means that in the mornings on my way to school, I can see streets and houses all shining with their decorative lights.

Although now the real cold is coming . . . we were at -9 degrees on the weekend and still during the week the temperature and dropped to now -18. There has also been a lot of wind which only makes it even more cold that my face stings. Yet still when I say it’s cold I get the response ‘It’ll get colder, just wait’ my big question is: How can it get any colder?! I guess I’ll find out soon . . 

Today was our last school day for the year. We had a secret Santa thing where each person got a name and had to buy a gift for someone else, so today we all got our presents. My schools hallways are all decorated and Christmas music is played during breaks. It seems strange though that we are only half way through the school year because i feel like it's the end because its Christmas time. Tomorrow we will be going to Kaarli Kirikus, a Church in old town. And then thats it for the year.

We also had the YFU jõulupidu (Christmas party) We met in a wooden house in a forest about an hours drive away. It was the first time I was in a forest since it had been snowing, and it looked beautiful. Soft snow all over the ground and all the tall trees coated in the whiteness too. We spent the day there playing different games and spending time with the other exchange students and their host families.

 Piret had her 20^th Birthday last Sunday! We had some family over again and enjoyed an afternoon together to celebrate her Birthday.

I was asked to make a promo video for my youth groups jõulupidu which is tomorrow evening. My host dad also asked if I could help with a Christmas video which gets sent out via email next week. So I have been working on different movie projects. My film lessons at school though are over for the moment but I will have them again near the end of the school year. 

Helsinki

This has been a good week. Wednesday morning just before school I looked out the window to see the ground covered in snow and the little flakes still falling fast. Walking to school was quiet an experience. It was a really windy day and the snow was being thrown around violently, slapping me in the face. So I had to cover my eyes and get to school by hoping I was going the right way.

In the evening I went with Mari and some of her friends to a musical called, ‘Kuu ja paike’ (moon and sun) It was a lot shorter than we were expecting but it was good. Obviously in Estonian but I managed to figure out what was happening with the bits of Estonian I understand.

The weekend was packed with cold, walking, sore feet, laughter and snow. We had our YFU trip to Helsinki, Finland. So Saturday morning I was up early and off to the marina to meet with some of the other exchange students who were going on the trip. The ferry which took us across the Baltic sea to Finland felt more like a little town than a boat. Onboard we had some time to catch up with each other and wonder around the boat.

The guy driving this little truck was laughing on his cellphone as he drove past us

Arriving in Helsinki I found it hard to believe we had just traveled about 2 hours and were now in a different country. After dropping our bags at the hotel we were given a quick tour of the main sites in Helsinki. Then each given a map and were told to meet at a restaurant at 6 for dinner. The rest of the day was ours. We all split off into groups and wondered around Helsinki, which is a lot bigger that Tallinn. It was cold, -7 and the snow was piled up at street corners. People were buzzing around everywhere, in and out of shops. The streets were decorated for Christmas, and we passed a few people busking on the side lines. Trams going back and forth and little trucks driving through the city streets clearing away the snow. Throughout the day we often used Estonian when talking to other people, we would say things like 'aitäh' (thank you) or 'vabandust' (sorry) then would laugh because we remembered we werent actually in Estonia anymore. We ended up asking people how to say hello, thank you and good bye in Finnish and then started using those words instead. 

This is one of the many trams driving around

It took us a long time to navigate our way to the restaurant where we were meeting with everyone else. It felt like a game of I spy, we followed signs and buildings that we recognized from earlier in the day. After walking in circles for a long time we found the restaurant where we all shared our adventures from the cold day. We then went to a rooftop to get a view of Helsinki at night. It was a beautiful site, lined with lights and cars and people still moving around down below. On our way back to the hotel some of us ended up having a snow ball fight and taking picture in the snow.  It took us about 15 minutes to clean all the snow off of ourselves before heading back into the hotel.

After checking out of the hotel on Sunday morning we were off to the train station where we caught a train up North to a science center. We spent the day there, it was similar to the center in Tartu, but at the same time had many new a different things to see and do. In the afternoon we went back to Helsinki by train and were again given some free time. A small group of us ended up in a little food place debating the difference between tomato sauce and ketchup over burgers and chips.
It was then back on the boat for our journey to Tallinn. We were out on the boat deck taking photos of the city lights as we said good bye to Finland and great weekend with new memories made.

Arriving in Tallinn we said our goodbyes. Some of us ended up going to the Christmas market in oldtown. It was warmer in Tallinn and it was good to walk through familiar streets and know my way around. Hearing Estonian was strangely comforting and it felt like I was coming back home after a good holiday. So it was a good weekend which ended in sore feet and good nights sleep.

Walking down to the boat we were lucky to have our last time in Finland lined with an orange sky

The group of exchange students. Yes thats a little bit of sun in the back