Estonian at its most aesthetic

A board of language experts recently picked ten sentences which they claim best showcase the beauty of the Estonian language. These are they.

• «Üle oja mäele, läbi oru jõele.»

• «Kalli ema hella soojust jagub üle mitme põlve.»

• «Kuula, kulla külanaine – kuuled külla tulnud vaime.»

• «Küll küllale liiga ei tee.»

• «Mahlakas jõhvikas maitses soisel kaldal hää.»

• «Ämber läks ümber.»

• «Millal maksan memme vaeva.»

• «Tilluke talleke tatsas tasasel pinnal.»

• «Ema tuli koju.»

• «Pöidlad pihku, pöialpoisid!»

To me half of them seem like they were just designed to be tonguetwisters or entries in an Alliteration Can Be Fun contest. For what it's worth, here's my translations of them.

• "Over the creek to the hill, through the valley to the river."
• "The gentle warmth of a beloved mother is felt over several generations."
• "Listen, dear village woman – you will hear the spirits who have come to the village."
• "A little bit more won't make any difference."*
• "The juicy cranberry tasted good on the boggy bank."
• "The bucket tipped over."
• "When will I give mum her due?"*
• "The tiny little lamb toddled on even ground."
• "Mother came home."
• "Thumbs up, Thumbelina!"*

They don't have quite the same ring to them in English, do they. Personally, my favourite is «Üle oja mäele, läbi oru jõele», although «Ämber läks ümber» has an ironic sense of balance to it too.

*Thanks to Greta for helping me out with these, which are either very colloquial or don't really mean anything. Apparently «Küll küllale liiga ei tee» is what you might say in a situation where you have done something so much that doing a bit more of it won't change anything or make the situation noticeably worse eg if you've run up so much debt on your credit card that buying something else won't make much difference. «Millal maksan memme vaeva» is an old saying related to paying someone the respect they deserve. «Pöidlad pihku, pöialpoisid!» means bugger all and was presumably coined just because the 'experts' liked the sound of it. Ironically (again) it's probably the one that sounds best in English :)

Now that's what I call service

I had to laugh at the results of a Postimees survey published yesterday. It asked the question: "What can we use to attract tourists to Estonia?" The following is a breakdown of the responses.

49% - Beautiful natural environment

17% - Good service

11% - Low prices

9% - Sights of historical interest

6% - Friendly and attractive people

5% - Cultural events

3% - Nice museums

Can you guess which answers made me chuckle? Obviously I agree with every other respondent about how beautiful the country is, and I wouldn't even argue the point about the locals being friendly or things being cheap (although clearly the majority of those who answered don't live in Tallinn).

What surprises me most is that almost one in every five people believe that the standard of service in Estonia is good enough to attract tourists. True, things are improving, particularly on the restaurant and cafe scene. But let me share this little vignette with you about a recent trip to the one and only local franchise of T.G.I. Friday's. You can take the part of the waitress if you like.

Us: "Excuse me, miss, these fries are cold."

Her: [with a smile and a ridiculous hat] "Oh."

Us: "Can you take them back and bring us some hot ones?"

Her: [still with a smile] "Sorry, no."

Us: [shocked silence as we look from one person to another]

Her: [still smiling]

Us: "Then we won't pay for them."

Her: [smiles, shrugs and walks away]

:(

Flying the flag

Today is Estonian Flag Day. Estonian Flag Day is celebrated every year on June 4 to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the sinimustvalge (the 'blue, black and white' as it is affectionately known) as the national flag by the Estonian Students Society 125 years ago. And here's a picture.

For those of you who don't know why the Estonian flag is such an odd combination of colours, Wikipedia explains: "Blue is the colour of loyalty and also represents the sky, sea, and lakes. Black symbolises the past suffering of the people, the soil, and the traditional black peasant's jacket. White represents virtue and the struggle for freedom. It is also the colour of birch bark and snow."

.

I think it is rather lovely.

Ace!

Kaia Kanepi has become the first Estonian ever (I think) to make it to the quarter finals of the French Open, seeing her WTA ranking shoot up from where it used to be, probably somewhere in the three digits, to somewhere close to the top 40.

She is set to face Russian world #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova in today's round of play, and if she manages to make it past her to the semi-finals she will have pulled off the biggest coup of her tennis life. Let's just hope she doesn't make a hash of it, otherwise her budding ambitions might go to pot. And other such puns based on the fact that her name means 'cannabis' in Estonian.

It is a bit of a Baltic onslaught at Roland Garros this year, incidentally, with not only our Kaia making it to the final eight, but also Ernests Gulbis in the men's draw. But then he's from Latvia, so we don't care about him.

Hiatus over

Eurovision over - Estonia having come 41st out of a field of 43 - you will, I'm sure, all be delighted to hear that normal service should resume on this blog 'in the nearest future' as the locals are wont to say. Typically, lots of things have happened in the last couple of months I would have liked to blog about, but alas, time was not on my side. Still, that should all change now. Hurrah! you all cry.

Hiatus

Brief update to let all you untold thousands of readers know that there will be a brief pause in proceedings between now (or rather two weeks ago) and the end of May while I focus on my other blog. This is good news for anyone with a particular interest in the 2008 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Normal service shall resume in June at the latest.

You could have fooled me

Delfi today has at least eight stories on its front page alone that are clearly April Fool's jokes just from the headlines.

They include 'Parliamentarians to give up salaries', which is obviously ludicrous, and 'Anu Saagim to become editor of Postimees', which I only hope is.

Now I know Delfi's is not the most educated of target audiences, but all the same: what's the point of an April Fool's joke if it's so obvious you can spot it a mile away?

The Weathergirl

In a terrible indictment of the state of pop music in this country, Niki (aka Kanal 2 weathergirl Kairit Tuhkanen) was awarded the title of Female Artist of the Year at last weekend's Estonian Music Awards, and also walked away with Album of the Year for Äike Päike. Then again, the super-talented Mari-Leen won last year, so at least the voting is consistent.

Surprisingly, the singer herself - perhaps suspecting that people might scoff at the announcement - was quick to downplay her success, as reported by SL Õhtuleht. "I'm shocked," she told her audience of peers when she took to the podium. "I'm not a singer - I'm someone's project! There are plenty of us around, but we never last long." We can only hope so.

http://www.sloleht.ee/index.aspx?id=273042

Perfectly average

Independent weekly paper Eesti Ekspress has analysed a range of surveys to produce an identikit of Estonia's Mr & Mrs Average. Here are their bullet-point findings:

Mr Average (aged 37)

*Mr Average will live to the age of 67, so he has another good 30 years ahead of him.
*His name is likely Sergei, Margus or Andrei, as these were the most popular boys' names in 1971.
*He works in the processing industry or construction or as an equipment or machine operator. He received a vocational education.
*He probably drives a Volkswagen, as they are the most common cars in the country. If not that then the number two: a Ford.
*He wears size 43 shoes.
*He smokes, having started at the age of 18.
*The most popular alcoholic beverage with Mr Average is beer (he drinks it every week).
*In the last 30 days he could well have had a bad back.
*He is a tad overweight.

Mrs Average (aged 42)

*Unlike her husband, Mrs Average will live to the ripe old age of 78.

*Her name is most probably Jelena, Svetlana or Tiina.

*She works in a factory or a shop or has something to do with education. She is probably a middle-level or senior specialist in her field.

*While she has the same i.e. vocational education as her husband (or partner), she has also done in-service training.

*She had her first baby at 25, which means that baby is now 17 years old (and called either Martin or Kristina).

*Mrs Average wears size 38 or 39 shoes.

*She doesn't smoke and is in the healthy weight range.

*She has a glass of wine or some other alcohol at least once a month.

*She most likely had a headache at some point in the past 30 days.

Other interesting titbits the Eesti Ekspress article threw up included the following facts:

*While Mr & Mrs Average do their shopping two to three times a week at big supermarkets, eschewing corner shops and convenience stores, they still get their potatoes from acquaintances who grow their own and honey from a friendly beekeeper.

*In the event that the beekeeper or anyone else tempts them into casual sex outside of the relationship, they won't use a condom.
*If this doesn't kill them, a coronary will. Or cancer.

*Mr & Mrs Average do not represent the average Estonian family at all: the most widespread family unit in the country is the single-parent model. Since they're together they are most likely an amalgam of families, with at least one child not being the fruit of both of their loins.

http://www.ekspress.ee/2008/03/27/eesti-uudised/1864-saage-tuttavaks-marju-ja-harju-keskmine

Snowed under

A week after the official start of spring, Tallinn (and the rest of Estonia) awoke this morning to snowdrifts up to a metre high, with more snow having fallen in one night than fell during the whole of winter.

This makes for rather a pretty sight when you're looking at it out of the window, but proves rather more challenging when you have to make your way through it. Apart from the obvious - broken down buses and people staring helplessly at the car-shaped piles of snow they're meant to be driving - the blizzard has seen a sharp rise in the number of perplexed tourists from southern Europe saying things like "what happened to spring?".

Great Friday

The Good Friday public holiday yesterday was marked in Tallinn by an unusual bout of sunshine lasting pretty much all day long. It inspired me to go out and walk around the Old Town, which in turn inspired me to take some photos. Here's a montage or two of some of them.

Your worship

Spring started this morning at 7.48 am with Bishop Andres Põder of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church delivering a sermon on ETV's morning television programme Terevisioon denouncing the false god that people in Estonia have taken to worshipping of late.

"The only god Estonians know is money, but at least they've started to realise that it's not the only source of happiness in the world," his bishopness said. He added that they have achieved a level of wealth at which they should stop and take stock, before they burn out completely in their quest to be better than everyone else.

Interestingly, Põder did not seem to be on a recruitment drive (not that one would be very successful in a country as areligious as Estonia) and becomes the first religious leader in a long time who has said anything I actually agree with.

How Estonian are you?

A former colleague of mine sent me a list the other day with which to check whether you've been in Estonia too long or how Estonian you really are. Having cut out about two-thirds of it, it goes something like this:

You know you’ve been in Estonia too long when...

- Things are not ‘great’ or ‘amazing’ anymore; they’re just ‘normal’.

- You hear loud-talking passengers on the bus and immediately assume they are drunkor Russian-speaking or both.

- You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the supermarket and which ones can be used for garbage.

- You chat with people by MSN or Skype even if they’re two metres away from you.

- You stop asking “How are you?” when you meet people: you simply greet them with ‘hei’ or ‘chau’ and keep your distance. If you want to be very effusive, you lengthen the last vowel.
- You’ve replaced other English expressions with Estonian ones too. Your native language has seriously deteriorated.

- Your definition of spicy food has seriously deteriorated.

- Customer service is no longer linked with courtesy.

- You don’t think twice about wearing flip-flops indoors.

You know you are from Estonia when...

- You are convinced that Estonia is very strategically located.

- When someone asks you “Where is Estonia?” you quickly reply that it’s in Northern Europe close to Finland.

- You have actually been to Finland.
- You take a box of Kalev chocolates when visiting friends abroad.

- Kohukesed form part of your diet.

- You check the thermometer before going out.

- You look in both directions before crossing the road, even if it’s a one-way street (or pedestrian mall).

- You declare your taxes on the internet like all normal people do.

- A foreigner speaks to you in broken, horrible Estonian and you go on and on about how wonderful their Estonian is compared to ‘the Russians’.

- Your best friend’s girlfriend is your English teacher’s daughter and they live next door to your grandparents, who were colleagues with your advisor, who is friends with your...

- You’ve cheated on your partner at least ten times but still think you’re in a good relationship.

Funnily enough, most of the second lot also apply to me. I guess that means I've been in Estonia a fair while?

Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu

Only a year and a month after it was released, I finally finished Andrus Kivirähk's latest novel over the weekend. Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu or 'The man who could speak the language of snakes' is an unrelentingly dark and sullen tale of decay laced with black humour and unflinching in its atheism.

Set somewhere in Estonia at some point in the Middle Ages when the old world was steadily being submerged by the new, it features a memorable cast of characters and tells an unfolding story that spirals ever downwards from the first line until it reaches its inevitably gloomy (but still rather moving) conclusion. Needless to say it is not for those looking for cheery bed-time reading.

Indeed, it's not for people who don't understand Estonian either, at least until it appears in translation. But if you're a foreigner with a grasp of the language and a desire to look at the country in a different light, it's a book I highly recommend. Everyone else should keep their eyes and ears open for it in the hope it hits the shelves in other languages over the next few years.

(Oh, and by the way: the author, Andrus Kivirähk, has also written a fantastic children's book called Kaelkirjak or 'The giraffe'. Not sure whether that's available in translation either, but the recommendation applies all the same to this. Plus it's recently been re-released in a new hardcover version with lavish illustrations which makes a great read for [more advanced] learners of the language.)

That's not for me to say

Eesti Ekspress is reporting that like his Russian-speaking constituents being anti-foreigner, Tallinn mayor Edgar Savisaar is anti-gay.

Under the headline "Savisaar shows no support for sexual minorities", the independent weekly reveals that the jolly leader of the Centrist Party has declined to join other European mayors - including those of Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Barcelona - in upholding the rights of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals to freedom of speech and public expression.

Sparking controversy is the fact that though personally called upon to address the matter, Savisaar passed the buck on deciding not to support it to his underlings. "What we are dealing with here in an important stance and an issue that is very topical in society today, which is why I am asking the education and culture committee of Tallinn City Council to examine the issue and make their own proposals," Savisaar wrote. They advised him not to sign up.

The nub of the letter addressed to Europe's mayors by sexual minority representatives is the infringement of their rights in post-Communist Eastern Europe: restricting freedom of speech and making it almost impossible to hold demonstrations and public gatherings, with the police failing to provide sufficient security. It also points out that leading politicians in neighbouring countries (but not Estonia itself) have used discriminatory language in reference to sexual minorities.

Sadly, whether or not Itkar acted appropriately in delegating responsibility for weighing up the issue, it was a no-win situation to begin with: someone in his position, from his party, considering its grass roots support, was never going to sign up to anything so taboo, and the fact that the issue remains so in the country means that his inevitable 'no' will only reinforce the image of Estonia as a homophobic nation. Which it perhaps deserves.

http://www.ekspress.ee/2008/03/13/eesti-uudised/1618-savisaar-ei-toeta-seksuaalvahemusi

What are they good for?

With news that the government is set to take a more lenient stance on the issue of allowing foreign workers into Estonia (reducing the amount of red tape from 'suffocating' to 'mild choking') comes the inevitable vox populi which highlights that - surprise! - Joe Average is overwhelmingly against the idea.

A survey has shown that two thirds of the population in no way support the importing of Johnny Foreigner. Interestingly enough, given what the last mass introduction of outsiders meant for their country, it was the Estonian-speakers who proved more tolerant of the notion than the Russian-speakers. Then again, that could be down to paranoid protectionism and/or inherent racism.

The reasons the respondents gave for their views varied. Of the few who support the idea, the main arguments proferred were the need for specialists and, less objectively, the inevitability of it all. Those condemning the plan did so because they don't like foreigners, are convinced that the Estonian people will be wiped off the face of the Earth and assume that there are huge untapped human resources in the country.

Those with such clearly well-informed views need fear not, however, for while the government may be increasing the numbers of people it will let in to Estonia, it will also be knuckling down to ensure that these numbers are not exceeded, which they have never really done in the past. Besides, even if they do shorten the time they are given to be generally unpleasant, unhelpful, unwelcoming and condescending towards potential residents from six to two months, the fact that such attitudes are unlikely to change may still see many applicants turning away in frustration and disgust anyway.

English at the gates

The future of Estonia is in jeopardy: officials are concerned that with as many as 84% of all students in Estonian schools studying English as a second language and the popularity of languages such as German and French seriously on the wane, there will not be enough speakers of other EU languages in the years to come.

“The only way we'll get ourselves any proper specialists is if these languages are taught thoroughly and if the students gain experience in learning a number of them,” said Kersti Sõstar, the director of the language department of the National Examinations and Qualifications Centre.

41% of students (and rising) are currently taking Russian classes, while only 18% are studying German and a mere 3% French - with just 4% and 1% respectively studying the latter two as their first foreign language. Meanwhile, 71% are plumping for English as their foreign tongue of choice.

However, it is generally the schools themselves who decide which languages they teach (rather than the students being given the choice) and therefore which are given priority. This has led to many teachers of other languages having to turn traitor and take up teaching English lest they find themselves out of a job.

Now call me a cynic, but this in itself does not necessarily bode well for the teaching of English in Estonian schools. Sure, the methodology might be the same, but are the skills necessarily on par? Besides, if the state's education honchos are really so concerned about Estonians speaking EU languages, where are the schools offering Maltese and Irish Gaelic?

http://www.epl.ee/uudised/422052

True blue ambassadors

MP Marko Mihkelson has been blogging about his trip to Australia as part of a delegation led by Riigikogu chair Ene Ergma. It has convinced him that the Estonian government should seriously consider opening an embassy in Canberra (yes, it's the capital). Here is what he says.

Here and there in Estonia you hear dissenting voices saying: why should we bother building an embassy that far away and waste the state's money? It's obvious that the country's options are pretty limited when it comes to new embassies, so every decision to do so needs to be weighed up very carefully.

But if we are to establish embassies anywhere [other than the new ones planned for Egypt, Israel and India over the next couple of years], our first choice should be Australia. There are a number of reasons for this. For a start, Australia is one of our closest allies. Secondly, it is home to the fifth-largest Estonian population in the world and the only community of its size not to be represented by an embassy. Thirdly, Australia is the perfect gateway to south-east Asia and the Pacific. Fourthly, there is huge growth potential in bilateral trade of goods and knowledge. And fifthly, of the 27 member states of the European Union, 23 have embassies in Canberra. Those that don't are Luxembourg and the three Baltic States. Which says a lot.

Other factors which Mihkelson mentions, albeit not necessarily as part of his argument for setting up an embassy, are the fact that Estonia's ambassador to Australia is currently based in Japan (and I thought having to get my passport renewed through Stockholm was a pain in the arse!) and the revelation that the first Estonians in fact reached Terra Australis as long ago as 1696 - as part of the crew of a Dutch expedition led by Willem de Vlamingh. (I should probably point out to Sandy Casar, who pondered about this amazing discovery on Mihkelson's blog, that the likelihood of the three men in question 'staying on to live in Australia' is not very high.)

Mihkelson, Ergma and a few other MPs are ostensibly in Australia on an official visit to Sydney and Canberra, meeting parliamentary delegates, federal representatives and local Estonian residents and associations, but undoubtedly also living it up if our Marko's blog is anything to go by.

PS Can I work in the Australian embassy if one is ever opened here in Tallinn?

http://markomihkelson.blogspot.com/

A woman's work is never done

Estonian women are learning more and working more. Estonian men are getting more and more stupid and dying sooner, but still earning more than women. Such are the findings of the latest Eurostat report, which looks at the lives of men and women all over Europe.

The report finds that Estonian women are typical of those in Eastern Europe: compared to their sisters in the west, they marry, have children and die younger, after lengthy stints as widows, since all of the men are dying before them - and there are less of them anyway. Many in fact do so long before them; Estonia is second only to Lithuania in the number of teenage boys dying in accidents. (And despite the fact that it is second to none in the number of teenage girls dying in the same way.)

In terms of education and employment, Estonian women benefit from the legacy of the Soviet Union: while post-graduate studies elsewhere in Europe are dominated by men, Estonia is one of the very few countries in which there are more women doing PhDs; and the only country in the EU in which the number of men and women in work are equal. Mind you, this could have something to do with the fact that the lads are popping their clogs so soon - on average 11.2 years before the lasses - which could also explain why Estonia's ladies are considered the hardest-working on the continent.

The rest of the report, which in fact makes for interest reading, goes on to talk about the differences in pay between men and women and the way certain professions are categorised as "women's" and other jobs as "men's", and treated accordingly (i.e. outrageously). Click on the link below to read it in Estonian, or find it in English on the Internet... somewhere.

http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/eesti/article.php?id=18415321

Demigods of democracy

A number of sources have been trumpeting the fact that some German foundation is claiming Estonia's political elite are the equivalent of global first princess in a Miss Democracy and Financial Management competition.

Estonia has been ranked the second most democratic and economically successful country in the world* in a report put together by the Bertelsmann Foundation, who say that the country's system of government is completely consolidated i.e. enjoys a relatively stable party system. The only cloud the foundation can spot on the horizon is the public's disillusionment in politics generally.

Indeed, the foundation is full of praise for the steady hand on Estonia's economic tiller, encouraging it to make the most of the opportunities that accession to the European Union has opened up to it. The only sour note in their report stems from the integration situation in the country. "To prevent the division of Estonia along ethnic lines, the integration programme designed for the Russian minority must continue," it said. "First and foremost this affects young Russian-speakers, who must not be ostracised. They are the key in shoring up the nation's human resources and ameliorating tension with Russia."

http://www.sloleht.ee/index.aspx?id=270561

*of the 125 developing nations and transitional states whose quality of democracy, market economics and political management they studied

Spot the difference

The new Chancellor of Justice has taken up his post. On the left, ex-CoJ Allar Jõks. On the right, new boy Indrek Teder. Any focally and follicly challenged up and coming legal genii: your future is right here.

Purr

Here's a picture of the cat we adopted on the weekend. We named her Nurr, which is Estonian for 'purr' (but doesn't rhyme with it).

She had been at the animal shelter for the better part of a year, having been found in a dilapidated cellar in a coma and suffering from all manner of illnesses and injuries, but pulled through and was nursed back to health. Amongst all the kittens and more glamorous contenders however she had been consistently overlooked... until we turned up.

"You don't choose them, they choose you" was certainly true in this case, as she came straight up to us, rubbing around our legs, rubbing our knuckles - just looking for a bit of love. Since then she's proven to be extremely affectionate, almost to the point of overkill - but it will take time for her to settle in and settle down, and she seems to like it here with us.

So Nurr is our contribution to the Estonian animal welfare system and she is a contribution to our welfare too. Like I said in the last post, I encourage anyone thinking of getting a pet to do so through the shelter - the staff there are friendly, helpful, encouraging and most of all grateful, and the animals really do need good homes to go to.

Pat-a-Cat

Tomorrow we're off to the ASBL Animal Shelter (known as MTÜ Loomade Hoiupaik in Estonian). They have an ad on their site at the moment which reads thus:

COME AND PAT A CAT OR TAKE A DOG FOR A WALK!
Not all pets are lucky - some of them have no owners. Those in our animal shelter miss the interaction that relationship provides. Come and visit them, talk to them, take the dogs for a walk and pat the cats, and you'll be doing more for them than you might think :-)
__________

TULE TEE KASSILE PAI VÕI VII KOER JALUTAMA!
Kõigil loomadel ei ole vedanud, paljudel neist puudub oma inimene. Loomade Hoiupaiga asukad tunnevad puudust suhtlemisest ja tegevusest. Tule neile külla, aja juttu, jaluta koertega ja silita kasse ning Sa aitad neid rohkem kui oskad arvata :-)

Here at Positively Transforming: Estonia we love animals and wholeheartedly support any non-profit organisation dedicated to looking after them - especially those lost or abandoned. We are planning to make our own contribution to the shelter and recommend that anyone reading this consider doing the same. A little bit of affection goes a long way, and costs sod all.

http://www.loomadehoiupaik.ee/?lang=est

Power to the principals

It's been a day for school-related news. At the annual conference of the Association of Estonian School Principals, Minister for Education Tõnis Lukas has confirmed his intention to submit a proposal to local governments to provide principals with greater powers of reprimand.

“That way they could decide for themselves on the spot whether to issue the likes of a verbal warning or a fine to students or anyone else who happens to misbehave on school premises,” the minister said. “This will undoubtedly help to rein in students who act out, use foul language, deliberately provoke teachers and other students or smoke on school grounds.”

Why do I not share his conviction?

School ≠ holidays

School principals the length and breadth of Tartu (the 'City of Good Thoughts') have been whinging to Delfi that they'd had it up to here with their students bunking off to go on package holidays with their families.

Hugo Treffner High School, one of the most prestigious in the education capital of the country, has published a plee to parents on its website to no longer withdraw the fruit of their loins from classes for the purpose of frivolous travel. "There's a time and a place for holidays from school," said principal Ott Ojaveer, "and that's school holidays. The rate of absenteeism has gone through the roof."

The frustrated principal complains that parents seeking permission for their children to play hooky and skip the country means extra work for teachers and administrative staff. As things stand, schools have no right to refuse such permission and are left in the impotent position of merely being able to suggest that it might not be such a great idea.

The board of Miina Härma High School are facing the same problem. Stand-in principal Heikki Veinimäe* says a lot of travel agencies offer discount package tours during the off season which families latch onto. The only solution he foresees is the implementation of national regulations. "If the number of holidays being taken continues to increase, as well as the length of time these kids are out of school, we'll have to take the matter in hand," he said.

* what's the betting the real principal was on holiday?

Put paid to payrises!

Independent weekly Eesti Ekspress has been joined by a number of other media publications and public figures in calling on Estonia's parliamentarians to stop giving themselves pay rises when they're clearly not doing anything to deserve it. The following is a translation of the text that appeared in the newspaper yesterday.

At a time when even prime minister Andrus "Don't worry, everything's fine" Ansip is talking about belt-tightening, there is a select group of people in our society already living the high life whose salaries are going up yet again this winter - this time by 20 percent! And they'll be going up again in the coming year, and the year after that, and will keep on going up.

We're talking, of course, about the 101 members of the Riigikogu (the Estonian parliament - Ed.), whose salaries are four times the national average. At the beginning of the '90s this kind of pay was justified if normal people were ever to be enticed to enter parliament. But the system has long since become very unfair in the eyes of the majority of Estonia's citizens.

The overweening lifestyle our parliament leads has deepened disillusionment in politics as a whole and is damaging Estonia's reputation. Parties and politicians, wake up and smell the coffee! Agree that things can't go on the way they have been. Figure out a new salary system that doesn't fly in the face of fairness. And if you can't come up with anything yourselves, find some intelligent people who can.

We've had it up to here with party BS and politicians not being able to come to any agreement. For Christ's sake, just do it!

Daily broadsheet Postimees conducted a poll in response to the issue the Eesti Ekspress article raised, asking readers who they thought she be responsible for determining how much the country's parliamentarians get paid. 0.5% said the Riigikogu itself, 3.5% said the president, and the remaining 96% were united in saying the job should fall to an impartial commission. But who appoints the members?

http://www.ekspress.ee/2008/02/28/eesti-uudised/1413-eesti-ekspressi-yleskutse-riigikogu-peatage-oma-taltsutamatu-palgatous

Doing it for Estonia: the apology

Disgraced* athlete Kristjan Rahnu has, as promised, issued a statement to the press about the whorehouse-related charges brought against him. It goes something like this:

"I'm a decathlete who, out of naievity and stupidity, has found himself in the thick of something I wouldn't recommend to anybody. For the confusion and unpleasantness I've caused I would like to apologise to [a long list of people]...

I've made mistakes, but I'm not a pimp. On the advice of my legal counsel and because the law dictates, I'm restricting my communication with the media, and to be honest I'm not ready for anything more... I know that my statement today and my wish not to appear on TV may be interpreted as an admission of guilt in terms of the accusations that have been made in the press. Honest people have nothing to hide and all that. But while the case is ongoing I can only repeat that I'm not a pimp.

What I want is to continue my career in sport, and I hope that's possible. It's the only way I'll be able to get my life back on track. In the meantime I'll provide all the help I can to the authorities in the name of a just finding. I hope you understand me. If you don't, I understand why."

* in the sense of 'by association'

I don't want to hear your words

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves has hit the headlines in the Estonian and international press for his views on speaking Russian.

Interviewed by an 'old friend', BBC journalist and Russophile Tim Whewell, and asked why he doesn't speak the language spoken by more than a quarter of Estonia's population, Ilves was quoted/misquoted/taken out of context as saying that speaking Russian would be like giving the nod to 50 years of brutal suppression. This inflammatory soundbite was quickly taken up by the local Russian press, with headlines along the lines of 'president refuses to speak language of occupiers', and also made it into the foreign media.

An opinion piece written by one Laur Viirand appeared on Delfi today in response to the controversy, extracts of which I have translated hereunder. Healthy debate of contentious issues is encouraged.

It's perfectly understandable that Ilves as an individual may not necessarily like the idea of studying and speaking Russian. To foreign Estonians the language perhaps symbolises their being forced to flee from occupation and the loss of their homeland. Unfortunately, things aren't quite so black and white when it's the president we're talking about. Such an inflexible position is not becoming of the office of president, whose primary role should be to mitigate conflict in society.

A foreign Estonian president taking up Russian lessons would be a magnanimous gesture, something the undercurrent of tension in the country needs. It would by no means be a sign of weakness, the imminent arrival of a second national language or some kind of white flag — rather it would be an indication of strength and the overcoming of complexes.

It would also be a sign of the maturity of the country. A decision by the president to learn Russian would not only be welcomed by the local Russian-speaking population, but it would also show solidarity with the majority of the Estonian-speaking population — most of whom were once forced to learn the language themselves.

http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/arvamus/article.php?id=18297311

Ticking time bomb

A passing reference by my partner led me to an article (link below) in Maaleht, Estonia's country newspaper, talking about the pros and cons of a warm, dry, snowless winter i.e. what we are experiencing at the moment. Though more than a year old, the stark warnings it delivers remain as pertinent as ever. Here is one we should all bear in mind for the forthcoming summer.

Warm winters are terrific for ticks: they breed like rabbits. Ticks will remain active even if the temperature is only hovering around +5 degrees, but since people rarely get back to nature in winter, infections just as rarely present themselves.

Now is nevertheless a good time to think of immunisation, getting your first shots in February or March. “Ticks are getting more infectious every year, which is why more people are getting sick,” explained someone from some hospital (etc).

The article goes on to say that on the plus side, warm winters mean there will be enough oxygen for fish (?) and that wild pigs will have plenty to forage for. Better yet, less people are likely to top themselves - something that is more common than you might think:

Thoughts frequently turn to suicide [at this time of year] – the majority of us have contemplated it at some point. This generally never develops into a concrete plan, however, and nothing comes of it.

Life in the country must really be hard with all these rampaging ticks and oxygen-starved fish.

http://www.maaleht.ee/?page=&grupp=artikkel&artikkel=7644

Foreign perspective

Saturday's Arter, the weekend magazine supplement to Postimees, featured an article entitled 'Do foreigners love us?' in which seven international students at the University of Tartu were interviewed about Estonia and Estonians and how their ideas and preconceptions about them have changed.

It made for interesting if slightly predictable reading, with most of the seven giving responses you might expect of people with their backgrounds - the Caucuses, Central Asia and the Far East - who have been in the country for a short time. The most amusing (qv scathing and on the mark) came from the only female respondent, Brazilian Helena de Mesquita da Silva (pictured with the caption that accompanied her snapshot in the magazine). What follows are the questions submitted to the group and Helena's responses to them.

What has surprised you most in Estonia?
The looks I get, affronted and rude, because I'm black. And the fact that the teenagers get around in expensive clothes but spend most of their time in parks smoking and drinking and their parents don't seem to care at all.

What was the most interesting thing you heard about Estonia or Estonians before you came here which turned out to be a myth?
I hadn't really heard anything about the country or the people. I asked some Brazilians who knew a bit about it, and they said everything was OK, but when I got here I felt quite uncomfortable. I expected more from a European country. I'm from a Third World nation, so I was shocked when I saw that in some areas Europeans can be just as bad off or even worse off than we are.

How would you describe Estonians?
Cold and closed. Polite to the point of being impolite. They're easily intimidated and vulnerable and probably because of it paranoid about their privacy.

Estonian men consider Estonian women to be the most beautiful in the world. What do you think?
I guess Estonian men don't travel much. Men everywhere say the women in their country are the most beautiful. Some of these ideas cross borders, but before I came here I'd never heard that Estonian women were meant to be the best-looking in the world.

Estonian men often come across as male chauvinist pigs. Would you agree?
Perhaps that's why more and more Estonian women are marrying foreigners, at least statistically. Estonian men ought to think more about the way they behave towards women.

http://www.postimees.ee/230208/lisad/arter/313412.php?kas-valismaalased-armastavad-meid

Congratulations and jubilations

A blot on your escutcheon!

Outgoing Chancellor for Justice Allar Jõks has taken a swipe at the Riigikogu for sitting on their hands in regard to his proposal to remove all members of parliament from the boards of companies which the state has a financial interest in. It is not known whether their thumb twiddling has anything to do with the fact that many of them hold plum positions on the supervisory boards of many of the biggest corporations in Estonia.

"Just days before the 90th anniversary of our independence it is pathetic to see the political culture of our nation and its respect for the constitution reduced to the level of a spotty teenager," Jõks said, with a little embellishment from yours truly. "The fact that the majority of our parliamentarians continue to support a situation that flies in the face of the constitution is like them attending the Independence Day reception with a glaring great stain on their lapel."

http://www.postimees.ee/220208/esileht/siseuudised/313495.php

Doing it for Estonia

Olympic decathlon hope Kristjan Rahnu has been arrested on suspicion of running a whorehouse.

We won't go into details here, because we don't know any, and we would never stoop to making tabloid generalisations and assumptions. Here at Positively Transforming: Estonia we work on the principle of innocent until proven guilty, which is clearly something we share in common with former Olympic gold medallist Erki Nool and Minister for Justice Rein "Proud to be Bull-Headed" Lang, who have come out in defence of the athlete, and not with the Estonian Olympic Committee, who have removed Rahnu from the list of potential athletes for the Bird's Nest.

Whether or not any guilt is attributed to Rahnu - in the event of which he may face up to 12 years in prison - we couldn't think of a better story to attach a tagline to a la "you can take the boy out of Estonia, but you can't take Estonia out of the boy". We wish him well in his name-clearing endeavours (starting Monday) and look forward to cheering him on to a probably middling result in Beijing.

I want my independence

After topping charts by being the first country to recognise the independence of Montenegro, Estonia has plummeted to somewhere only just inside the top ten with its rubber-stamped recognition today of the newborn Republic of Kosovo.

Commenting on this historic decision, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet gushed about the importance of the western Balkans in the security policy of the European Union, applauded the leaders of the breakaway region for upholding the Ahtisaari plan and writing the protection of minorities (i.e. the Serbs) and their cultural heritage into their declaration of independence, and promised that Estonia would play its role in any civic mission to the country.

What Paet failed to mention was the terrible repercussions recognising Kosovo's independence may bring for Estonia. Let's look at the most serious of these: the reception the Estonian entry is likely to receive at the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade in May. As if the situation wasn't desperate enough with the fan maffia in the front row promising to boo the 'joke entry' out of contention, Kreisiraadio will now have to face the wrath of the rest of the audience plus a hostile Serb media.

If only our politicians took in the bigger picture before making such rash decisions.

PS What are we thinking of the flag? It's all a bit too Bosnia for my liking.

Moving experience

Remember this? I used to live somewhere that looked a bit like it.

I don't live there any more. I live somewhere that looks like this.

It's on Town Hall Square. For those of you who don't know Tallinn all that well, it is the central square in the Old Town. As addresses go, it is rather glamorous. And as we all know these days, if your life in Tallinn isn't glamorous, it is, quite literally, N O T H I N G.

You too can be share in this glamorous lifestyle by viewing the pictures we've taken of the place at http://www.gamelink.planet.ee/. Don't say I'm not generous.

Public service announcement

January has become February and we're not that far off March, but needless to say I haven't gotten around to blogging again. Partly because I've been spending the last month moving; partly I've been very busy at work; and partly I couldn't be arsed. However, I may yet, given the overwhelming support of all these anonymous readers. (Why don't you have names?)