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A View of Estonian Life |
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A View of Estonian Life |
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We have arrived and begun to settle in our apartment in Tartu, Estonia. The August weather, as expected, is cool with high temperature around 70F. Most days are partly cloudy with scattered light showers. Tartu is a city of over 100,000 people, and the university is the major "industry" of the town. Our apartment is located on the edge of the city with a quiet residential neighborhood on one side and a railroad on the other. The railroad is a main route for shipping Russian oil to the seaport at Tallinn, so trains pass frequently--sounds like Emporia.
Everybody here has a cell phone, even children, and nearly everyone has a computer as well. Hooking our computers to Internet took only a few minutes, and the useage will be billed with the monthly telephone. Our connection to ESU is faster from here than from our home in Emporia. The cost for cell phones and Internet access is quite small compared to the U.S.
Estonian language is quite different, but fortunately there are many loan words from Swedish, German and some Latin, which helps us understand a little. All road signs are international style, and many people speak some English. Stores carry items from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and many other sources, so we've had no difficulty in quickly acquiring household supplies, food, etc.
We'll spend next week at a summer cottage on Vormsi, a small island in western Estonia. We hope to examine the glacial and coastal geology of the island and take kite aerial photographs of the landscape. The following week our older son Jermey, will attend orientation for international students at the University of Tartu (UT), and classes begin the first week of September. Jim and Susie will teach Internet classes from ESU, and we anticipate some exchange students from UT in these classes. Jay will be working with Emporia High teachers via email and will miss participating in the marching band.
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