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

Haanja

Last week at school was style week. So each day we could dress for a different theme. Olden day, pajama day, cross gender dress, cartoons and office dress. So it was an interesting week seeing all the different outfits students came up with. 

This week at school we have had a lot of practice for out play box performance which was on Thursday evening. Our performance went really well, everyone was in a good mood and excited for the night. The hall was packed. We had gotten together different vampire, zombie and mummy costumes which looked really cool on stage as well as some props like a coffin which stood at the back. We came third overall so it was a good night. 

The 'black nights film festival' began at the beginning of last week, It takes place over two weeks and each day a whole lot of new films are shown. Sunday night after a long day of shopping for winter clothes, Mari, Epp and I went to see the movie ‘Death of a superhero’. Let me just say I really like Estonian cinema so much bigger than the ones in NZ. 

At the moment the shops are filled with Christmas decorations. It seems to be getting warmer though and that’s a bad thing for one simple reason. No snow. We’re hoping the snow will come in time for Christmas, FINGERS CROSSED. I’m now getting busier and busier. Next weekend I have the YFU trip to Helsinki. Most of the exchange students are going and I’m getting more and more excited as it gets closer. 

This weekend I was invited to stay with another exchange student from Belgium, Iris. She lives in Haanja which is right on the other side of Estonia, close to the Latvian border. So early Saturday morning I hoped on a bus and drove two and a half hours to Tartu where I met Iris and another exchange student from Mexico. The three of us went to a science center called ‘Ahhaa’ cool name. There were a lot of cool and interesting things there.

This is at Ahhaa

Later that afternoon Iris and I got on another bus for an hours ride to where she lives in Haanja. She lives in a beautiful big house surrounded by forest, and a lake which the family owns. Arriving at the house we were greeted by their big fluffy dog, Ben, who was quite excited to see they had a visitor. That night we went for a walk through the forest in the dark. Iris’s host dad told us many stories about the soviet union time and what it was like for his father and grandparents.

Iris and her host family

Sunday morning we went for a walk through a bog which has

wooden pathways running just above the water. The water though is hidden by plants but it deep so if you decided to take a step of the wooden boards you would find yourself sinking very quickly. Now that its winter though all the birds are gone. It was strange walking through the bog because everything was completely still. The water, the sky, the trees, even the silence seemed still because there were no birds singing. There was a part where the planks we were walking on were flooded. Iris asked me if my shoes were water proof, “I don’t know but I guess we will find out soon,’ I said . . . well yes as I found out, they were not water proof. We followed the path for a while (me with wet feet now) and it  eventually led to a little ‘bog island’ where to my surprise there was a small wooden cabin. So if you decide you want to spend the night on a little island in the middle of a bog, hey don't worry theres a little house for you to use free of charge. This cabin is for anyone to use and has everything you would need. Beds, chairs, a table, fireplace, a kettle, coffee, some cooking stuff, a book to read, you name it, it was all there. It was such a strange thing to see. Just anyone could decide to stay the night and they would be perfectly safe and warm. There was also a little guests book where you could leave a note. Paging through it Iris and I found that we knew one of the recent visitors. Aiden had been there too at some stage and written in the book. What can I say, Estonia is a small place! 

The path leading through the bog

The little cabin

That night back at the house we had sauna again. My second time since being here. Then Monday morning the family drove me back up to Tallinn where I caught a bus the rest of the way home.

õ ö ü ä

I thought I should start by saying I survived the verivorst. It's not the nicest thing though, the sausage itself looks black and the inside is just brown and mushy. Not exactly the image of 'cutting open the sausage to find red blood pouring out the side' that I had in my head the first time someone spoke about it.  

 Well tt school we have this performance thing called ‘playbox’ where each class gets together some kind of performance imitating a music video. My class has chosen backstreet boys ‘backstreets back’ So on Friday we spent most of the day learning the dance moves and getting everyone parts in the video.

At youth that evening we had a special event called the GLS, Global Leadership Summit. There were a lot of people from other youth groups and Churches who had all come together to our Church. We watched two interviews, one with Marc Kielburger and the other with Bono from U2. It was a really good inspiring night. Everyone left with high spirits and smiling faces. A friend offered to drive me home which I was grateful for because taking the bus at 10 at night by myself is not much fun. I saw on her car that she had a little sign in the window. It was of a white square with a green leaf in the center. I have seen them around and thought it was just some decoration trend that was catching on. I was wrong of course as she explained, the sign had to be in your car window for two years after getting your drivers license. 

She dropped me at home and I waved goodbye and watched the little green leaf drive away.

I would just like to point out now that in my blog I talk a lot about not only the main sites and tourist attractions that I have been to in Estonia. I like to talk about the little things and the day to day life because I’m not just a tourist here. I’m living here and so I share all the other little things too. Anyway continuing . . . 

Spaghetti :)

The weekend was a good one. Saturday was spent filming our ‘cooking show’ for our youth groups talent show which is on this coming Friday. Epp made spaghetti and a chicken sauce which was great because we got to eat it afterwards.

That evening I went to a friends birthday party. She is another exchange student from France and she had a get together at her house. It was cool because there were a few of the other exchange students there too, most of who I haven’t seen since the camp. There were also some of her school friends who were all very nice and interested in all our stories about our exchange year so far. 

We got onto the topic of the Estonian language, some of the exchange students complained about these letters õ ö ü ä, saying they all sound the same and are hard to pronounce. I'm just thankful that my host sisters taught me all those in the very first weeks I was here, so I no longer have that problem.

We all spoke in English, thought I should mention that because the different languages were: Estonian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German and then the common language, English.

The Estonians were eager to hear all the exchange students speak Estonian so we  had to introduce ourselves in Estonian. We were then all asked the same question we have been asked literally since day one, ‘Why Estonia?’

Sunday was fathers day so we gave my host dad some chocolates and a macaroni man that Mari and I had made. We had porridge mixed with whipped cream for breakfast, surprisingly good, accompanied by waffles and cream. Then after Church we went to my host dads parents for lunch.

After which we went to the theater where we watched the famous Swan Lake ballet. It was a bit cold to be wearing dresses but inside the theater was warm. It was a good show accompanied by a live orchestra. Each time the dancers stood on the tips of their toes though I cringed, the tips of the girls shoes where completely flat and I could just imagine their toes being squished down every time they were stood on. 

Overall the music was great, the performance was amazing and costumes were pretty cool too. They looked like they came straight out of a fairytale book, all bright and colourful and sparkly. The ending of the story however . . . well let’s just say it's not exactly a happy fairytale ending.