Estonia 1998: The End of Vacation

From the archives: It turns out that I was blogging long before anyone had ever heard the term “blog.” Twenty years ago I was an exchange student in Estonia. While studying at the University of Tartu, I created an online travelogue to keep my family and friends apprised of my experiences. Both my life and the nation of Estonia have changed a lot the two decades since. This reprise is providing me with a glimpse at who I was back then and the excuse to learn more about more recent developments in my temporary home, even if some of the opinions that I expressed back then may make me a little bit uncomfortable today. It is interesting to see how people grow and change.

27 January-8 February 1998

As you can tell by the dates at the top of the page, this entry is actually a week and some change. A lot happened, and I truly savored every last wonderful moment before school begins next week. I started to get settled back into the routine of Tartu after so many weeks on the road and got ready for the return of a normal school schedule, or at least as normal a schedule as study abroad allows. There were a lot of significant events, but I think that saying goodbye to a couple of fellow international students, Mark and Herle, was the most memorable.

28 January 1998
Wednesday

I actually got up this morning at a decent time and ate breakfast with Raivo. Even though I went back to sleep after that, the simple fact that I managed to get up and spend some time with the family in the morning felt good. I am going to try that again some and see how it feels.

For lunch I went with Silke and Herle to the bistro on Raekoja Plats. It was nothing special, as a matter of fact the food was actually quite bad, but it was a good time and proved to me why I have chosen to go to other bistros and cafes for lunch. Sometimes I just need a little reminding every now and a gain.

In the afternoon I actually got my homepage a little more close to caught up. I got all of my Sweden experiences posted and am starting to get closer to the point where I can actually start to do some creative publishing stuff with the homepage rather than the kind of dull layout that it has right now. We’ll see how it goes.

We finished off the night at Illegaard. There were not many people there, but it was still a fun time. I got to see Mark for probably the last time here in Estonia. We had a good in depth American politics discussion and actually got to some of the root of the Clinton scandal thing. It is nice to talk to someone who doesn’t simply put the whole Clinton thing in the “crazy Americans, it could only happen there” barrel. I am getting rather frustrated trying to explain that the real problem here is not who my president is or is not sleeping with, it is possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power followed by potential impeachment that has us all so excited. After all, Clinton already admitted several years ago that he has cheated on his wife, that is nothing new by now.

It’s just hard to explain the American constitutional law system to people that have never experienced it, especially when I have to do it a second language. If most Americans can’t figure it out, how is a European supposed to be able to make heads or tails of the bizarre workings of the American government?

29 January 1998
Thursday

I spent most of the day writing. I got a lot of letters sent out and got one week closer to caught up on my homepage. It’s a nice feeling to be creating rather than only sitting and absorbing. I should do this more often.

30 January 1998
Friday

This afternoon I went for a walk to enjoy the absolutely wonderful weather that we are having. After nearly a month of terrible drizzle, mud and constant gray we are enjoying a glorious cover of snow and crystal clear skies. Fabulous, I can feel my spirit picking up so much. I just wish that it had been like this during my time in Sweden. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

In the evening I went to Illegaard, an unusual Friday night outing organized by Rob because he slept through it on Wednesday. Ironically enough, he wasn’t there tonight either. I have to write and see what happened.

We finished off with a Mexican party at Zum-Zum organized by the American that I had tried to organize the Thanksgiving party with. It was a lot of fun, and actually worked, I’m just glad that I’m not involved in the whole planning of everything. That’s a bit of pain, agony and frustration that I do not need myself. I’ll just support him and watch the continued good work.

I sometimes wonder just where in this great world is my home. I should know the answer to that. When it comes right down to it, I do in fact know the answer. I am an Iowan. I was raised and spent the better part of my life in one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth. In the past four years since I left home and my beloved state of Iowa I have have had the good chance to see a great deal of the world, living both in a different state in my own country and traveling over a good part of the rest of Estonia but no other place has ever really captured my heart in the same way my childhood home has.

3 February 1998
Tuesday

I met Silke and Herle for lunch at Pronto Pizza. Good standard päevapitsa and some friendly conversation. I can’t believe that Herle is already leaving this week. Time really flies.