Half way through

For YFU, the exchange students have a sort of art exhibition where we can display a piece of art for this years topic, ‘Why I came to Estonia’ The exhibition is in March so I'd better get moving and pull something together soon! I've started going through all my pictures from my time in Estonia to get some inspiration on an idea. Doing this has really made me think of all the opportunities I’ve had here and all my new experiences. Most importantly of all the people I’ve met and the friends I’ve made. I don’t often talk about the people I've met but really, this whole experience has been made so much better because of all the  people who have been with me along the way.

 I also realized that I am now over half way through my exchange year in Estonia . . . even though I have become very comfortable with the way of life here, with my family and friends, it still feels like I only just waved goodbye to New Zealand and hopped on a plane. The long flight, my first tour around Tallinn (which has now become so familiar) the camp, the exchange students, hearing the strange new language, meeting my family, starting school, making new friends, finding hobbies and groups, traveling a bit, the first winter snow . . . the cold. All this has happened in only 5 months and I can’t wait to see what the next 5 months bring. New adventures, new places, new experiences and most importantly new people and new friends. 

So because I've been quite slack and haven't updated in a while (sorry) I think I'll jump back a few weekends. So one Friday a while back, I had a friend stay the night. She is a girl I met from the very first church (in Keila) I went to when I first arrived in Estonia. Mari and I met her at the train station and that evening she joined Epp and I at youth. Saturday morning we decided to go into oldtown for some outdoor ice skating in the cold. Then it was back to the train station to say goodbye.
That Sunday a Mexican exchange student, asked if I could give a tour of Tallinn to his sister who had come to visit him. So Sunday after Church I met him and his sister and took them around to the places I remember my host sisters taking me when I arrived. I thought I would be a little adventurous and take them to a park in Tallinn only problem was I couldn't exactly remember how to get there. So after getting lost at first (or taking the 'scenic' route as I like to think of it) we eventually got there and the tour was successful.

Yes this is a boat that we drove past on the ice road :)

It's hard to tell exactly where the sea ends and where the sky begins.

Last weekend was quite cold. No it was very cold. My family headed to Vormsi island (vormsimaa) a small island near Saaremaa (which is Estonias biggest island), there the wind was blowing strongly. How did we get to this little island? By car. We drove on the sea, yup a 'jäätee' (ice road) took us across the ocean a few kilometers to the island where we spent some of the day. The road was marked by trees stuck into the ice. Vormsi has population of 406 people but the largest collection of wheel crosses with over 300 in one cemetery. We left the island red faced from the stinging wind. Back inland we went to a town called Haapsalu, it’s a cute town with colourful buildiings lining the small streets. At first it seemed like a ghost town because there were no people around at all. But as we got nearer to the frozen sea we saw the reason for the lack of people on the streets, they were all ice skating or watching an intense game of ice hockey among locals. We also visited a little castle with a bit of a sad legend to it. They say that on August nights 'the white lady' stands in one of the windows, looking out. She was the lover of one of the solders in 14th century, but woman were not allowed to enter the castle, so he dressed her as a boy so they could be together. When it was found out that she was in fact a woman, she was plastered into one of the walls. So now she stands in the window watching for her lover to return. 

Piret and I braving the cold

Mari

Me excitedly standing on the frozen sea.

 Now this weekend we had our YFU midyear seminar. All the exchange students flocked to the small town of Põltsamaa in the middle of Estonia. We spent the time catching up and doing a few little workshops to find out how our lives in Estonia were doing. Saturday evening we were put into small groups and then had to do a little play in Estonian. After this was a movie and then bed, not that many of us got much sleep anyway. Sunday went by rather quickly. A few of us went for a bit of an exploration around this strange place. We found ourselves in a large Church, there was a lady who was so excited by the fact that a group of exchange students had found their way into this church that she gave us a tour and a long history of the building, testing our Estonian skills.

As the say went on students started heading off in their different groups. I was part of the last group to get on a bus for the 2 and a half hour journey back to Tallinn. It was good to be with all the other exchange students again and was quite sad to see everyone split up again. As one girl said to me “It’s like saying goodbye to my third family.”

Some of the 'third family' catching up

This the room where everyone had to find space to sleep