Mike's Trip to Estonia
10 November 2003: I've been in Estonia just over a month now, and I'm enjoying it very much. I like the food, the cafes, the stone brick streets, the old houses, and my apartment. I took some more pictures of the apartment: living area, reverse view, view from window, and bed.
Everyone told me that I would be surprised by the things I would miss (or would have trouble getting used to). This is true. I miss Wal-Mart. Actually, I just miss a grocery store that has every type of food you could want. In Garrett County that was the local Wal-Mart, but I'd take a Super K or a Food Giant. The grocery store that is in walking distance to the apartment is rather small.
Next, I miss peanut butter, though I throroughly expected this to be the case. Mom secretly packed some squeeze tubes of Jif in my bags, but I have exhausted my stores.
Also, I got used to not wearing shoes in the house. In Estonia, it's extremely bad form to wear shoes into a home, your own included. However, when leaving the house I refuse to take my shoes off again just to go fetch a forgotten wallet from my desk or something. Although Ave cringes as my shoe-clad footsteps reverberate through the apartment, she bites her tongue. We must be culturally tolerant.
Finally, I have trouble getting used to the fact that I have to sweep up after my shower. It is not because it is any great effort, but just that I find this process very strange. Here's the giant squeegee I use to sweep the standing water down the drain afer showering. See, there's no separation between shower and bathroom floor, so when you shower, the water seeps out into the middle of the bathroom. To avoid brushing your teeth in a puddle of water, you must squeege the water down the drain. Apparently, all Estonians do this; they know no better. I told Ave we're going to the Home Depot sometime to get a little sticky strip which which will contain the water to the shower area.
These things are all trivial of course (except the peanut butter). That is an indication of how much I'm enjoying myself here.
18 September 2003: Estonia emailed me! I got my residence permit, good until 14.09.2005 (as they say there). I have to pick up an ID card when I go there.
Ave got our apartment! Here are some pictures of it. One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
The story starts when I moved to Garrett County in western Maryland for my employer Sycamore Associates. Sycamore had started an office there, but didn't have the personnel in place to manage the office. I volunteered, and promptly moved from Frederick to McHenry.
The local community college, Garrett College had an exchange program with Estonia. Although I don't know of any American students who have travelled to Estonia to study, several Estonians were studying in McHenry. It's an odd program, where some of the top Estonian university students spend two years getting an Associates' degree in a Maryland community college. Nonetheless, the Estonians seem eager to visit the US.
I met one of the Estonian students while experiencing the local McHenry culture (at a bar). Ave was studying in McHenry via an exchange with her home university, the Estonian Agricultural University. Through Ave, I met a lot of the other Estonians, too.
Ave has finished her school at Garrett College, and needs to return to Estonia to complete her full degree. She was nice enough to let me tag along.
Here's some information about Estonia: it's a Baltic State; one of the former Soviet republics that gained independence in 1991. It borders Russia and Latvia, and is right across the water (the Baltic Sea) from Finland. It's pretty small: maybe half the size of Indiana. They speak Estonian there. More information is available at visitestonia.com or the CIA World Factbook if you're into numbers.
Ave and I took a trip there not too long ago. We had a great time, and I really liked the country. Tallinn, the capital (where I will live), has an old downtown whose architecture dates to medieval times. However, there are plenty of fancy stores and hip cafes. Also, I was very pleased with the availability of cheap, fast internet access all over the country.
When I go, I'll be renting an apartment in downtown Tallinn. You can see the sorts of places that are available courtesy of Oberhaus real estate.
In order to live there, I have to have a temporary residency permit. Ave and I made a trip to New York on June 7 to submit my paperwork to the Consulate. You can read my letter to the consulate that was submitted with my paperwork. I have not heard back from them yet, but they said it could take up to three months.