Tis The Season...

I apoligize for not updating my blog for a few weeks. I got wrapped up in celebration the Holidays. I'd like to thank my family for five wonderful days at home. I love you all. And grandma, thanks for the silk underwear, they fit just fine. In seven days, I traveled for about 50 hours over 10,000 miles. To see a description of what this is like, check out another American-living in Estonia's blog at www.lettersfromestonia.blogspot.com (article "Champions of the Flight"). It is truly funny, yet accurate. I arrived back in Tallinn on Dec. 28th whereupon I walked out of the plane (Tallinn is one of those board the plane from the runway type places) into -11C/13F wintery wonderland, complete with a frigid windchill and falling snow....Welcome Back! Needless to say, I will be wearing my gift a lot.

Because I had been out of town, my refrigerator was empty ( I also needed liquid fabric softener), so I decided a trip to the grocery store was in order. Subsequently, I learned that you can have a cultural adventure just about anywhere, even a western safe-haven like the grocery store (see "To Queue or Not to Queue"). We folk living in Estonia don't have dryers, so we all use liquid fabric softener that goes in the wash. It's not as good as a Bounce sheet, but hey...they used to be communist. Despite their unfortunate past, Estonians now have more brands and types of liquid fabric softener to choose from than you shake a stick at (stick shaking will be discussed later). I use a brand called Lenore...it has English words on the bottle (maybe it is sponsored by Poe's lost love...forevermore). Lenore comes in your typical fragrances like Fresh, Rain, Lilac, and Moonflower. For folks into risk taking, multiculturalism, or without olfactory senses, they also have Amazon, and Flamenco. I never thought laundry could get so cosmopolitan.

Though smelling like a sweaty Spaniard is tempting, I have to say I was most intrigued by Amazon. Besides, I left my flared red shirt and tassled hat back in the U.S. Anyhow, you can't scratch-and-sniff the bottle, and the picture on the front portrays a mountain, a bird, and some foliage, so I'm wondering which part of the amazon are your clothes supposed to smell like? Is it the balminess of a Warrior Princess? The fear of being chased by an Anaconda? Perhaps the pheremones of a blodsucking bat or giant insect? Maybe it's what your clothes would smell like after washing them in the Amazon river...mmhmm. This leads me ask, "What do the Estonians know about the Amazon that I don't?" I decided to pursue a safer course and purchase Honey and Vanilla. Perhaps I will make a New Year's Resolution to be more globally minded when purchasing my household items.

Speaking of New Years, it's very close. I have had a few party invitations. One of them includes traveling to a small town outside of the capital for revelry, merrymaking, and sauna. But this is not the Sauna you're used to...it's Estonian. The traditional sauna involves sitting naked in a small wooden room heated by wood or stones. You pour water over the wood/stones to create moist steam. This can be done single-gender or coed. To get an even more authentic experience, one takes a birch rod and then beats the skin, increasing bloodflow, persperation, and exfoliation. For better results, give the rod to your friend. After about 10 minutes you run and jump into a frigid pool of water...rinse and repeat. For a more scientific/historical description type Estonian Sauna into Google :)

Let me just summarize by adding, nothing says "Happy New Year" like sitting naked in a very hot closet while having strangers swat you with a stick followed by a self-induced coronary...I wish you all a Happy Holiday! May your New Year's Eve bring you as much magic and mystery as I am sure mine will.

*Pics: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rukansalonki.fi/images/sauna.jpg
&imgrefurl=http://www.rukansalonki.fi/sauna.htm&h=168&w=250&sz=
23&tbnid=6Gq7bQ90o8j8uM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=106&hl=en&start=4&prev=
/images%3Fq%3Dfinland%2Bsauna%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26hs%3DfA0
%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official_s%26sa%3DG, http://www.southtravels.com/europe/estonia/radissonsastallinn/gifs/sauna.jpg

Do they really speak better English than I do?

Hello reader. Today we'll be discussing language yet again, however, it will not be as difficult as Estonian or Chinese (see previous blog about Chinese). Today we'll stick to English, and it's many speakers. English is quickly becoming the most widely spoken language in the world---yay Westernization! Unlike most American's, Europeans begin their foreign language studies while very young. Therefore, they are competent in at least three or four different languages by the time they choose to go abroad, again unlike most American's who cannot understand the family of Mexican immigrants living next door. Apparently, like learning other academic subjects, acquiring a second language is done better by those outside of the U.S. In the same way that the Japanese (as well as many other countries) have surpassed Americans in math and science, students in other countries are now learning English more effectivaley. As was written in my guide book about the desk-clerks at one Estonian hotel, "they will speak better English than you do".........They will what! How did this happen?! At what point did we become second-rate speakers of our own native tongue?

I suppose to solve this potential travesty, we must examine certain aspects of the situation. First, where are they learning English? Most logically, they are learning it in school. We'll examine this later. Estonians also have access to American popular culture; television, movies, music...etc. Television language is very colloquial (except for Dawson's Creek, which I don't think they have), and I know that I speak better English than Britney, Justin, and Lil Bow Wow. Well, sometimes movies can be rather high-brow, but I cannot imagine them learning better English from Harry Potter or the Chronicles of Narnia....or are they?! Let's return to the teachers:

Supposing that there are very few native English speakers teaching in the Estonian school system, we must assume that accredited Estonian -English teachers are leading the classroom. They were probably taught by their teachers, and so on...So how did English come to Estonia? Who were the first English-speakers Estonians had contact with?.........The British! Geographically, they are the first point of contact. In fact, there is a memorial at the Estonian Maritime Museum to British naval officers who died while fighting alongside Estonians.

So Estonians have learned English from the British. Then one can defer by means of this theorem, a=b, and b=c, therefore a=c, that Estonian desk-clerks speak better English than I do because they learned it from the British. So we must infer that British-English is beleived to be superior to our American-English!...If you are a little outraged or concerned, post a response to my blog!

What is going on here?! Who decided this?! Where do I sent my letter of contempt?! Is this a conspiracy?!.........yes! Perhaps this is all a ploy by the British to reclaim America as part of the British-Commonwealth. They are still sore from when we finally kicked them back across the pond in 1783 (see Treaty of Paris, 1783). Lets examine how this might unfold.

Currently our Education system is under the yoke of Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. In this mandate, emphasis is placed on raising math and science scores in our public schools. Time and funding are taken away from other subjects like the arts, physical education, and social sciences so that we can better compete with the Japenese (as well as many other countries). Teachers are finding and importing new ways of teaching math and science in fear of loosing government funding or worse, their jobs. Imagine what will happen when the story breaks that we are behind in our English skills!

Soon, there will be government legislation (again infringing on State's rights to regulate and oversee their own educational policies) forcing schools to put added emphasis on learning the English language. Eventually, teachers will uncover the truth that it is a widespread belief that the British speak better than we speak, and they will begin instructing their classes in British-English. Then, all American students will start speaking with a British-accent.

After this, it is only a matter of time until every American will speak this way, thus wiping out all American dialects. We will no longer stand in "lines", but "queues" (see post about "lines" and "queues"). Girls will no longer be "totally hot", but " bloody fit", and we'll all watch the "Tele" with our "mates" after arriving home from a jaunty ride on the "tube". Once we have begun to speak British, we will start thinking this way as well. Someone will realize just how much we now have in common with our fore-fathers, and mother country. England will extend their tea and crumpet-filled hands of friendship, thus sealing our return to the commonwealth fold...

I implore that you all write your congressmen immediatley. Alert the media of this conspiracy, and for heaven's sake we must stop importing so many British movies and film stars! We are in a national state of emergency. I however, am grounded here in Estonian, therefore it is up to YOU to be like our Paul Revere and get notice to all that indeed it is both "two if by land", and "three if by sea"! I will stay here and continue to speak my American-English, knowing that all around me their lies a deep, dark secret of intrigue and deception.--Cheers!

*Pics: http://members.tripod.com/bobgreiner/1d12c330.jpg

Jessica Fletcher: "Murder She Wrote" or is there MORE to this story?

So I am living in Tallinn, Estonia. I am here conducting research = the someone is paying me to hang out in Europe. I take two classes of which I am neither paying nor do the grades count. I sing in a choir twice a week, see friends, and sleep. I have no job. Oh, and I have a blog = I have plenty of free time. Currently it is December, the temperature outside is below freezing, and there is about 6 hours of light per day (see blog about daylight). Therefore I do what any patriotic, red-blooded American would do: I sit around the house in my most comfortable clothes and watch T.V.

Did I mention that I am living in Estonia. This means that the majority of programming consists of things I do not understand and old shows from the 80's. Occasionally there are more recent programs like "Dr. Phil" and "Queer Eye", as well as every american soap opera. Despite the shortage of "quality television", like any American, I have no problem wasting my time infront of the tube. Most recently, I can be found engrossed in one of Jessica Fletcher's crafty life-mysteries on one of our old favorites: "Murder She Wrote".

This show is broadcast every weekday at 3:30pm on one of the Estonian stations. I can even choose to enhance my language skills by reading the well-translated subtitles. Most importantly, the show stars one of Britain's greatest exports to America, Angela Lansbury. She is probably best known for her role as Mrs. Potts from Beauty in the Beast. If you are like me, which I'm sure you are, a great, big smile erupts on your face everytime you hear (or even think about) her sing "Beauty and the Beast"-- You know the part where the camera sweeps down from the chandelier onto Belle and the Beast dancing amidst a golden ballroom and an enchanting evening sky.

Naturally, finding her on my t.v. screen in Estonia seemed pleasing at first. Every episode, Jessica Fletcher (Lansbury's character) finds herself in a "Clue-like" situation full of murder, intrigue, and conspiracy. Within an hour's time, she helps solve the case and dispense justice to the evil-doers. After watching a few episodes, however, I have developed a few questions and concerns about the suspiciously questionable content of this series and of it's leading lady.

Let's examine the facts:
1. Jessica is the author of murder mysteries, a novelist from Maine.
2. When not working, she travels to visit friends around the country, all of whom find themselves in their own murder mystery.
3. She is always the first person to the scene of the crime.
4. Jessica is a widow, yet we do not know how her husband died.
5. She always seems to know what happened, who did it, why, and how.
6. She is extremely curious and oftentimes finds herself in dangerous situations, yet never comes under any harm.
7. She has no faith in our law enforcement personal as she inevitably decides they need her help solving the case.
8. She has no regard for the law. In the last episode I watched, she convinced the police sheriff to hold off on prossecuting a confessed murderer because the paperwork was too cumbersome. The murderer was an elderly friend who might have died before the trial began, and only Jessica had heard his confession. She told the sheriff that, "she would hardly remember any details of the confession by the time she was on the witness stand". I think this is called obstructing justice and withholding information, as well as harbouring murderers.
9. She has in at least two cases lied about being engaged in order to set-up someone else involved in the mystery.
10. She is never formally suspected of any of the crimes she "uncovers", yet she has an extensive file at the FBI. Is she working for them?!
11. She is friends with people involved with the mob, mafia, and people with childern or family members capable of commiting murder.
12. Someone is always being poisoned.

Eventhough my faith in Lansbury is shaken, I am more distraught by the judgement of our law enforcement agencies. They all know that she is an "amateur crime-solver". Noboy become an "amateur crime solver" without having been involved in a few crimes! What police officers, detectives, and FBI agents allow random novelists to assist them in homocides? You don't see Tom Clancy palling around with the FBI or CIA. Is it because she's an old lady? Does this make her harmless? Is it because she's British? The have a soft spot for the accent? Or is it because they too saw "Beauty and the Beast" and wouldn't mind being poured a cup o' tea from her spout? "In to the cupboard Chip, it's past your bedtime".

Well...I'll let the evidence stand and let posterity be the judge of this t.v. series and it's leading lady. Knowing that "Murder She Wrote" is being broadcast in syndication around the world, we must be aware of the message we are sending about our law enforcement systems as well as the potentially dangerous ex-pat novelists lurking in our midst. If you have any question or comments during this long winter, you know where to find me...in front of the television. I do ask that you not disturb me from 3:00pm-4:00pm because that is when my new favorite show is on.

*Pics: http://www.space-debris.com/spy_lansbury_murder.jpg, http://www.tailslate.net/lsgraphics/tvIMGS/rev/murdershewrote1.jpg

"To Queue or Not to Queue"

In America, we stand in lines. We form lines at registers, to buy tickets, to recieve services, to return services. Pretty much any time we Americans want to do something somebody else is doing, there is a line involved. In british-type nations, this is called "queueing". We agree on the shared meaning of these two concepts, "lines" and "queues", much in the same way we agree on potatoe/potatoe and tomatoe/tomatoe (trust me there's a difference). I have not yet learned the Estonian word for "line" or "queue". I know that "to wait" is ootama, but I do not think there is a universal consenses on how this is done.

Upon traveling half way around the world, I expected to encounter some culture shock; however, the people are very nice, the food is good, hailing a cab is easy, and the weather is manageable. However, I never thought "waiting" for services could be so foreign.

In Estonia, it is customary to engage in what I call, "the wrap". In this procedure, one clumps to the side of wherever you are trying to wait. I have not yet discovered if it is correct to "wrap" to the right or left of the desired destination. I tend to pick the most dense side and hope for strength in numbers. You then play as though you're at the stock exchange and try to get your bid in before the person on the opposing side. Or at least it feels this way. There are a few establishments where "lines" do exist. You will always find a line at the grocery store. The design of the check-out system most easily facilitates the "line" or "queue" formation. Another place it is usually customary to find a line is McDonalds.

Yes, they have McDonalds here. There are, in fact, four in Tallinn, and a slew of others elsewhere in the country. The one I visit is the most popular. It sits right on the edge of Old Town, or Vanalinn, a extremely beautiful part of the city. It is so popular, in fact, that signs point you in the correct direction from as far away as 400m, then 200m, and 50m, so that you can be in full salvitory mode by the time you get there.Westernization has a strong, greasy foothold even here in the Baltics. Now I know you're thinking, "Doesn't going to McDonalds contradict the "experience local culture" and ya-da-ya-da axiom?" Well...yes, but I was going to order the McRoyal which I'd never seen or heard of, so it was still going to be a "foreign experience". I also saw Harry Potter last week.

With symbols of Western culture like these, you would think that Estonians would be familiar with such concepts as "the line" or "the queue". I even remember hearing and reading about soviet inforced bread lines and things like that. Apparently the Estonians missed this day of my seventh grade world history class. This is why I attribute my biggest dose of culture shock to my last visit to McDonalds.

Upon entering, I noticed three well formed lines leading up to the register. the end of the shortest behind a single man, a young couple, and an older woman (who was directly in front of me). After recieving his order, the young man departed, and everyone shifted forward one space as normal. At this point, the old woman faltered and broke "line formation". She threw out the entire rule book and began to "wrI decided to stand atap". Perhaps it was because she is older and has not been as "westernized" as Estonian youths. Perhaps she was being patriotic. I couldn't tell.

Next, however, I did the unthinkable; I panicked. I lost my cool inside McDonalds, the safe-haven of westerners. I do not know if it was because I was being stubborn, or just confused and bewildered, but I held position in "the line". The young couple, old woman, and I had created the never before used "triangle" formation. This is a globally unrecognized waiting pattern as far as I know. Well, after this travesty, things only got worse.

In walked a new group of customers. They had two well-intact "lines" to choose from, and a precariously formed "traingle". Of course they could not choose the "lines". Maybe they were thrill seekers or even anarchists. As they approached, I decided to fold in and join the old woman's "wrap" (remember strength in numbers). The newcomers must have been Estonian, because this did not bother them, and they proceeded to "wrap" themselves near the register. Eventually I recieved my food, and ate my McRoyal in peace, thus ending my dramatic excursion to McDonalds.

I suppose the moral of the story is "be flexible". Or maybe it could be, "when in Rome...". In this case, however, perhaps the moral is, "whether you wrap, queue, or line, it's always McDonald's time".

*Pics: http://www.williamsandclarkexpedition.com/food%20vendor%20line.jpg, http://www.warriorlibrarian.com/HUMOUR/TOUR/lineup.jpg

I know more Chinese than Estonians

Unlike my last entry, there is no truth-streching involved in today's entry. I am "more than aquainted" with four Chinese people, and three Estonians. You are probably asking, "But Andrew, how can that be? Are you not, in fact, living in Estonia?" Well, yes I am indeed living in Estonia, but hear me out:

I take my classes at the Estonian Academy of Music, and for some reason (one which I will expand upon later) over thirty of their fourty or so foreign students this year are from China. Like me, they are taking classes taught in English; however, unlike me, they do not really speak English. This makes learning Estonian quite interesting.

My Estonian teacher Kersti oversees me, Zhu Fong Lin, Haung Lin, Li Huang (took me forever to figure out who was who) and Lili. Kersti and I are the causcasian minority. I think their are two other Chinese boys in the class, but apparently truancy is a global phenomenon. My hat goes off to Kersti, she has made an effort to learn a little Chinese to help this process (it is usually ineffective) (pic:http://php.louisville.edu/news/images/instory/academyestis.jpg)

Basically this is the flow of class: Kersti asks us to read a passage. She's gotten into the habit of starting with either Lili or I, because we know the most english and understand the directions. After reading the estonian passage, we are then supposed to translate into english. Inevitably there is a word the others do not know. Amidst rapid Chinese, and Kersti repeating the word over and over again, I sit in doubt that class will progress beyond this moment. At some point, there is consencus among the Chinese about the meaning of the english word, and I am asked "Please, you put into here". This familiar phrases alerts me that I must type the english word into their electronic dictionarys so that it may forever be defined as whatever they figured out. I am scared to know what they came up with for "porridge".

Then it is the next student's turn to read the same passage. Now, I admit that estonian pronunciation can be difficult, especially if you speak tonally. At these times however, I am ashamed to remember National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation/ The Griswald Christmas, specifically the scene in which the Chinese waiters sing Jingles bells to the family. Politically incorrect, yes; horribly entertaining, yes. The song Jingle Bells will be the topic of a future blog.

When it comes time for their english translation there are two options available. Either the student will remember the previous discusion about the unkown word and speak it triumphantly, or the previous process will repeat. I hope and pray for the former.

It has now been about ten minutes, and it is time for the third person to speak the original estonian sentence. As though just awaking from a coma, they have no clue what is going on, where we are, and what we are doing. The class erupts into Chinese, and the affair is sorted out. Kersti tries to help, but it is futile, and sometimes I think she is as confused as they are. The look on her face reminds me of the feeling you get when you loose your train of thought and forget what you were going to say.

It takes about twenty minutes for the five of us to finish one exercise. During this time, I have heard quite a bit of Chinese, a fair amount of English, and very little Estonian. My fear is that I will leave this course speaking Estonian with a Chinese accent.

So why are there so many Chinese in Estonia? Honestly, I have no clue, and I am not sure they would understand me if I asked...Lili might. Somebody told me that many countries allow Chinese students to study at their universities for free, or close to free. It is like a "get out of China free card". I am not sure of this response, nor do I care much for its sentiment. Whatever the reason, they, like me, are here for the long haul. So to them I say, "Welcome, Bienvenido (i can speak some spanish), and Tere Tulemast (Welcome in Estonian)". And that is all I have to say about that...


(Pics: http://www.terrapinn.com/2006/reiw_cn/Img/china_flag_lg.jpg, http://php.louisville.edu/news/images/instory/academyestis.jpg, http://www.psychiatry.emory.edu/PROGRAMS/GADrug/images/frustrated.jpg)

Why I ate breakfast at noon

Well...it was more like 11:30, but noon sounds more dramatic. Today is friday and I do not have class, or much of anything to do. In fact, my plan was to stay up late last night and sleep in today. Unfortunatley, there were no movies on television, it was really really cold outside, and I can only sit at the computer for so long. Giving up at 11:30pm (that's last night, not to be confused with my breakfast), I got ready for bed, read a chapter in my book, and fell asleep. I suppose we can call the amount of light here "0", assuming that this is the least amount of light I observed over that last twelve hours. Keep reading to follow my train of thought...

Having established our left most end of the light continuim at "0", lets make the far right "10". We'll call it "10" because this is a number we are all comfortable with when dealing with number scales. I could have used "5" but it weakens my upcomming analogy. "100" also works, but I think after "10" people have a hard time conceptualizing degrees of difference, kind of like Americans have a hard time conceptualizing weather in terms of the celcius scale. What does "7C" feel like? Actually, we Americans use Farenheit which goes above "100" and below "0", but I don't think we really know the difference between "65F" and "66F". Nevertheless, this is a discussion for some other time. Most importantly it is bad for my analogy...so lets move on. To summarize, we are calling "0" the least amount of light I observed at 11:30pm Dec.1st 2005, and "10" the highest amount of light I could hypothetically observe on a bright day with the sun overhead (optimal visibility etc...).

Ok, so I woke up at about "0.5" light. I understand this number is not on the scale, though we never specified if I was using integers or not. Continuing on...So I decided that no one should be awake at "0.5" light and went back to sleep. At "1" light, I was no longer tired, but I decided to lay in bed in contempt of the darkness. "1" light decided to stick around, so I got up and went to the bathroom and turned on a few lights in my place. This artificially lighting makes it look like "8" light in my place, but it was still "1" outside. After turing on my computer, doing my daily check up on world news, and catching up on e-mail correspondence, I realized that I was very hungry. Realizing it was about "2" light outside I decided that eventhough it was probably still the middle of the night, I was going to eat breakfast, stay up, and just deal with my sleep schedule being off. After pouring myself a bowl of cereal and peeling an orange I looked at a clock. It was, in fact, 11:30am with "2" light outside.

After sorting through many mixed emotions, I decided that I was relieved to have not ruined my sleep schedule, and that Estonia is a dark dark country in the Winter. It is currently 12:35pm with about "4" light outside. I think this may be our peak for the day, perhaps we will climb to "5" light if the clouds break up.

Because I have a few errands to run, and I prefer to do them during the day (which we have estabilished seems like perpetual dawn), I must end this posting. I am living in a daily race again the sun. Thru Dec. 22 we will loose aproximatley 5min.of light a day. It's wild!

An American...in Tallinn

Gene Kelley eat your heart out. For those of you that get the reference, congratualtions. For those of you that do not...I have nothing left to say to you, except "carry on" and "perhaps you should see more musicals". Even though there are no small Estonian children breaking into song and choreographed dance, like in Grande Paris, the Estonians would like you to believe there were. Estonians are feircely proud of their musical traditions, which is why I am here. That, and hoping that I too can have dream-like halucinations about trampy female dancers while I do bell kicks and tap routines (still following the reference hopefully).

*At this time I would like to apologize to any readers as well a my junior high grammar and spelling teachers, Mr. Tucci and Mrs. Albrecht respectivaley, for suffering my atrocious spelling mistakes and misuse of punctuation. If this does not bother you enough to push the back-arrow button on your browser, or type in a new URL, then read on, and thank you.

I graduated from Northwestern University, June 2005, spent a long summer traveling the states with family, packed up my two bags (totalling almost 60kilos---major fines) and moved halfway around the world to the small nation of Estonia. At little bit of background and explanation:

For some reason you are allowed to be nosey and presumptious when dealing with seniors in college. At no other time in someones life can people evasivley peruse your business like this time. Everybody wants to know your life history, plan, and dreams. Unfortunatley for these busibodys, very rarely do 21 year olds have much to say about any of these. Nevertheless, I carefully crafted a response to rattle off in case of ambush: "I don't know". Realizing this was not the most effective response, as well as a poor testament to my folks' parenting and my own education and social upbringing, I decided to go with, "I applied for this grant thing, but I won't know until May. So I am hoping for that". For some reason, this worked.

And lucky for me, I got the grant thing and here I am in Tallinn, Estonia for the next nine months (I have been here one month already). My official reason for being here is to conduct research into Estonian music education and observe how this education helps promote the Estonian choral tradition. The unofficial reason that I am here is because now when someone asks me, "What are you doing when you get back?", people ask this because they are masochistic, or simply interested, I answer, "I don't know". Yes, I am soulsearching, but back to the Estonians. Turns out, nearly 1/3 of the country sings in a choir, they have huge song festivals every year, and attribute part of their independce to their "Sing Revolution" of the 1980's. In this "revolution" nearly 300,000 people (understand that there are currently about 1.4million in estonia-60-70f which are ethnic Estonians) gathered at the Tallinn song festival grounds for a major singing extravaganza. It worked, they are no longer under the thumb of Russia. These are the facts that drew me here.

Currently, I am taking two classes at the Estonian Academy of Music, Eesti Muusikaakadeemia: Estonian I, and Estonian Music and Culture. I am also singing in the Tallinna Kamerkoor, also know as the Tallinn Chamber Choir, and finding other ways to conduct my research.

*Though I have always been bad at keeping a journal, I will try to stick to this blog-thing. I will post my developments and observation here about Estonia, music, and me (sounds like a nice book title). And for my friend Trudee who I know will read this today and hopefully be a faithful reader as I will be to her blog (smile): "I want to learn to cook, to laugh, and I want to Tap dance".