1997: My First Week in Estonian

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.

Previous entry: My Last Few English Days

October 1-5, 1997

This was a great week. I had a wonderful trip to Tallinn, met a lot of new friends and learned a lot about myself. The best part was that I have started to speak only Estonian with my host family and have been writing my journal almost completely in Estonian. This is definitely a lot of fun.

See oli väga hea nädal. Mul oli hea reis Tallinnasse, kohtasin palju uusi inimesi ja õppisin palju enda kohta. Parim oli, et ma alustasin rääkimist eesti keeles minu perekonnaga ja ma kirjutasin oma päeviku eesti keeles. Oli surepärane.

October 1, 1997
Wednesday

I just had by far my best single day since returning to Estonia. I went with Diemo to Tallinn to visit the Methodist Theological Seminary there. It was an interesting experience. I must admit that I was not too impressed by the whole operation. I know that it is still quite small, but it seemed very unprofessional and a little fly by night. I did like the small family mentality of the whole thing, however. It would not be too bad and would give me a good basis for my future theological education. I really would like to have studied a little theology somewhere in Estonia, but I am sure that Tallinn Theological Seminary is not the place. We’ll just have to wait and see where I end up.

After listening to one normal lecture, Diemo and I got to hear the head chaplain of the Estonian military. It was quite interesting to listen to him and I did learn a lot about the military chaplain system, even if my father is a chaplain himself. In many ways the system is the same all over the world, but in many ways it is also very different from anything that I have ever seen before.

Running out of the lecture as soon as it was finished, Diemo and I went to go see Tricia, an American student who studied here in Tartu with me last year. Right now she is working in Tallinn as editor of the tourist information guide “Tallinn in Your Pocket”. It was great to see her, she seems like she’s doing wonderfully, but unfortunately I did not plan far enough ahead in scheduling and left myself much too little time for getting to see her before I had to run and go meet Kristel. In many ways this was just way too much to try to squeeze into one afternoon. I think that I will learn from this. Next time plan nothing and then maybe I will come out with a half way normal schedule.

The best part of the day came in the afternoon when I got to meet Kristel, an Estonian student that I have been pen palling with since earlier this year. We have written back and forth ever since Warrensburg and it was wonderful putting a face and a voice behind all of those letters. I had a great time getting to meet her and her friend, Kairit, another student who is working on her degree in business administration.

The ride back was quite tiring. I would have loved to have been in bed a couple of hours ago, but we made it. Diemo and I had a great talk the whole way home. I love talking with theologians. It may drive other people nuts, but it feels so good to finally talk shop with someone. At home I always have my family for that purpose, here I am a little short. Oh what a great day.

Täna oli kõige parem päev pärast minu Eestisse tagasi tulekut. Ma käisin Tallinnas külastamas Balti Metodisti Teologilist Seminari koos minu sõbra, Diemoga, Saksamaalt. Meile ei meeldinud see seminar eriti. Õpilased olid head, aga õpetajate mõtlemisviis ei olnud nii hea. Nad olid natuke ebaprofessionaalsed ja ebasõbralikud. Ma tahaksin õppida natukene teoloogiat siin Eestis, aga ma kardan, et see ei ole võimalik slles koolis.

Kui me olime selles koolis, me käisime ühes tavalises loengus, ja seejärel me kuulastame Eesti armee peakaplinit. Ta oli väga huvitav ja ma õppisin palju. Minu isa on ka armee kaplin, aga see süsteem ei ole sama kõikjal maailmas.

Pärast seminari, me ruttasime minu sõbra, Tricia poole. Ta on ameeriklane, kes õppis koos minuga eelmisel aastal Tartus. Praegu ta töötab direktorina “Tallinn in Your Pocket”, mis on uus inglise keelne ajakiri Tallinna turistidele. Oli tore teda jälle näha, kahjuks ei olnud mul küllalt aega, sest pidin minema kohtama minu teise sõbra Kristeliga. Järgmisel korral, kui ma Tallinnasse lähen, ei planeeri ma nii palju asju, sest seekord oli seda liiga palju üheks päevaks.

Kõige parem osa päevast oli kell 15.00, kui ma kohtasin oma kirjsõpra Kristelist, kes on eestlane. Me oleme kirjutanud teineteisega sellest aastast saadik. Me alustasime kirjutamist kui ma olin Warrensburgis. Oli tore teda lõpuks näha, kuna siiani olime ainult kirja teel suhtlenud. Me rääkisime palju ja ma kohtasin tema head sõpra Kairiti, kes õpib ka Tallinnas ülikoolis.

Reis tagasi Tartusse võttis kaua aega, sest oli palju udu. Aga oli lõbus. Mulle meeldib rääkida Diemoga teoloogiast. Mõnikord on hea vestelda inimestega, kellel on samad huvid. Ameerikas on mul võimalik rääkida oma perekonnaga, millest ma vahel siin olles puudust tunnen. Oli hea päev.

October 2, 1997
Thursday

Today after classes I went to tutor Jane and Silvi at the Catholic School. It was just a short session and afterwards I went to the International Bible Study put on by the Estonian Evangelical Student’s Organization. J.J., an American from my grammar class was the discussion leader. It was interesting and I got to meet a couple of new people, one Japanese student and one Estonian student. After the session we went to the cafe Heller and talked for a long time. I really enjoyed talking with them, especially because I was able to carry on most of the conversation in Estonian language. It’s amazing to me how much my Estonian has improved in the past two months since I came back to Estonia.

Täna käisin ma pärast loenguid õpetamas Jane ja Silvi Katoliku koolis. Oli lühike loeng pärast mida ma käisin International Bible Study’s, mis toimus inglise keeles. See oli organiseeritud EEÜÜ poolt, õpetajaks oli ameeriklane nimega J.J. kes käib koos minuga eesti keele grammatika loengul. Oli huvitav, ma kohtaisin kahte uut inimest- jaapanlast ja eestlast. Pärast me läksime Helleri kohvikusse ja rääkisime kaua. Mulle meeldis nendega juttu ajada. Enamus vestlust oli eesti keeles, vahest mind üllatab see, kui palju on minu eesti keel nende kahe kuu jooksul paranenud.

October 3, 1997
Friday

I had a big problem with my bicycle today. While I was on my way to class the front wheel suddenly went flat and I had to drag my dead bike back home with me on foot. Most definitely not a fun experience. In the afternoon I had Russian class and afterwards went to play on the web for a while. I did have a bit of trouble with my email account because the account expired the first of October. It seems like a very strange time for accounts to expire. Summer or winter break might make a little sense. The first of October just seems incredibly bizarre.

It was a very peaceful evening. I sat and watched the movie “Beethoven’s Second” with my host family. A beautiful day. (Minus the dead bike.)

Täna mul oli suur prooblem minu jalgrataga. Kui ma läksin ülikooli, minu ees rata kuumi läks tuhi. Ma peasin jalutama koju tagasi oma surnud rataga. Muidugi mulle ei meeldib. Parast lounat oli vene keel tund ja siis ma mangisin WWWiga, aga oli prooblem minu email adressiga. Esimesest Oktoobrist oli liiga vana ja kui ma proovisin kirjutama minu kirjad ei oli võimalik.

Täna õhtul oli väga rahulik. Ma vaatasin “Beethoven’s 2nd” oma perekonnaga. Ilus päev. Väga hea.

October 4, 1997
Saturday

I took sauna with the Kuldmet’s this evening. It was very good, but the night out was even better. I went to Zum-Zum with Sue, Karolina and Kristina. Afterwards we went to Zavood where we bumped into Tricia and some other friends. We talked all night. It is even possible that we might be playing a game of American football sometime next week!

Ma kaisin saunas Kuldmetsidiga. Oli väga hea, aga õhtu oli palju parem. Ma kaisin Zum-Zum’is Sue, Karolina ja Kristinaga minu eesti keel korsust. Seal oli Tricia Cornell ja mõned teised sõprad. Me räägisime ja on võimalik et meil on ameriklane jalgpalli mäng järgmine nadalal.

October 5, 1997
Sunday

I attended the Methodist Church with Diemo. I think that he liked it and we are definitely in agreement that it was a much better service than Peetri (St. Peter’s) Church. We also went to the English language service at Salem Baptist Church. We did not enjoy that service. The sermon was quite bad and it was a very uncomfortable, unfulfilling service. There really weren’t any big problems, it was just a very different service than what we were looking for. There are many ideas of what makes up a “proper” church, fortunately there are denominations to peddle to every idea. What is uncomfortable to me is comfortable to someone else. More power to them. God is God, whatever church we pray in is not important.

When Diemo brought me home, we ended up sitting and talking theology for almost an hour and a half. It is very interesting to speak with someone else about church. It’s actually like my home, there are four pastors in my family. What is abnormal for most, is an everyday thing for me.

We have a new language system here at home. We are going to try only speaking the language that we are trying to learn. Previously we have been alternating days in Estonian and English. It was very frustrating because I was not learning very much Estonian from that because I spent most time speaking English, either explaining something or listening once they had switched all too soon to English when I did not understand the Estonian. At Bible study on Thursday we followed this system and it worked very well. I hope that it goes as well here.

Ma kaisin metodisti kirikus Diemoga. Ma arvan et temale meeldib palju ja me oleme nous et se on parem kirik kui Peetri. Parast sellest ma kaisime Salemi baptisti kirikus jumalateenistusse inglise keeles. Meiele ei meeldib. Jutlus oli halvasti ja väga ebamugav jumalateenistus. Ei oli suur prooblemid, aga oli väga kaugelt mida me tahaksime. Selleparast on ni palju teised mõted kirikust, on palju teised kiriku süsteemid maailmas. Et selles ei ole mugav minulle on mugav kellagagile. Jumal on Jumal, kiriku süsteem ei ole tähtis.

Kui Diemo ja mina tulime koju tagasi me istume ha rääkisime autos peaaegu poolteist tundid. On väga huvitav rääkida teise teoloogia üliõpilasega. On nagu kodus. Mul on neli kirikuõpetajad minu perekonna. Ebatavaline, aga minule on normaal.

Meil on uus keel süstem siin kodus. Me proovime räägida ainult teise keeles koos. Naiteks ma räägin eesti keeles nendega, ja nad räägivad inglise keeles minuga. Ma mõtlen et see on parem. Ma olen siin õppida eesti keelt ja enne ma ei õpinud palju eesti keele päevadel sellepärast ma peasin õpetama palju ja kui ma ei saanud aru, nad kohe vahetasid inglise keelele. Piibelõpiks neljapäeval meie vestlus oli saamamoodi ja töötas väga hea. Ma loodan et see töötab ni hea siin.

Next entry: Back into English