Civil Servants

Saw an interesting sight at the Estonian immigration office this morning. A man, perhaps in his late thirties or early fourties, came in with a bright red CCCP jacket (i.e. the old Soviet Union insignia) . I wonder what kind of responses he gets as he traverses through the streets of Tallinn. Probably not much, now that I think of it for a bit. The Estonians I've seen seem to be passive and quiet, definitely not confrontational or outspoken, hence the very reason why this guy can strut around town wearing this jacket.

I finished my first week of classes and I have two very differing sets of students. My Civil Servants (CS) class are very quiet and anemic, whereas my Open proficiency class are conversational and quite lively. On Wednesday, during my CS class, I was prepare to call an autopsy at one point to check for a pulse. They were quite listless and I realize that I've been spoiled for the last 9 months with my South American students in my language school in Toronto. I'm actually happy that I have my CS class because now I will need to develop some strategies to make their classes interesting and engaging. I have a goal and an objective. This also falls nicely into my overall teaching goal for this year - simply put, to become a better teacher. My CS class will help my with this.

Finally got on a tram (streetcar) yesterday. They are quite different than the ones I'm used to, in Toronto. The trams here are old and clanky, almost what you'd see in a transportation museum. As they turn corners, they rumble and shake like they are going to fall apart. I love it - lot's of character. One piece of advice though, if you get on one of these trams, head right for the back, because if you don't, you'll be run over by these small Estonian/Russian ladies zeroing in on the few empty seats. I got elbowed twice and bumped until I moved to the back with the other foreigners flashing me the "yeah, been there" look.

There are four tram lines in Tallinn, numbered strangely 1, 2, 3 and 4. Then there are the trolley buses which are electric buses with the overhead wires. And the rest of the fleet is made up of the usual petro buses. There are no subways in Tallinn - it's just not big enough of a city to justify one.

The cab driver's here have the reputation of being mostly Russian and being crooks. I've heard stories where you'd be riding in the back of one and the meter says 13.00 Kroons. Suddenly, you hit a bump and the meter jumps to 18.00 Kroon. Fun and games.

One of my students noticed my last name and asked me if I am Estonian. I said that my parents were. He asked where exactly did my parents come from, and when I answered Saramaa (the island off the west coast of the country). His eyes lit up and mentioned that he knows of someone with the same last name on the island. What became ever stranger was that they come from the same small town on Saramaa, Leisi. So I guess I have found a long-lost relative. Man, what are the chances of finding a relative in my first week of teaching...

Started my quest looking for the local hockey teams and arenas so I can watch some games. It seems a bit more difficult than I first thought. I've plowed through many Estonian web pages but there isn't much on the a) location of Tallinn arenas, or b) where the local hockey clubs (pro or junior) play. Funny enough, there are places to curl (not hair, but curling as in the sport). There are places to watch basketball and volleyball. I'll keep searching...