Estonia, a small but interesting country!

As I do more research on the country where I will spend 3 weeks in, it becomes more and more interesting. Estonia holds such a fascinating history so I wanted to make some notes to remember. It's a tiny country of 1.3 million people but because of it's strategic location to the Baltic Sea, it has been the target of its larger neighbors to dominate and take over - Sweden, Denmark and most recently Germany and Russia. In fact this country has only experienced independence since 1991. Despite spending most of their history under other rule, the people have managed to keep their history and language intact. The people are very proud of their peaceful way. If anyone has the time watch the dvd called The Singing Revolution (in library or in pieces on youtube). The story is so inspiring. It brought me to tears. Over the centuries one of the key way they keep their culture intact is through songs and through singing. All estonians are borne and raised singing traditional folk songs that tells the story of their ancestors and their country. When the Soviet Union took over estonia in 1940 (secret pact of hilter and stalin as they conspire to divide up europe) they set out to wipe out the estonian culture. This was done by shipping estonians to russia and shipping russians into estonia. That's why today about 30% of the population are russian. It's very telling that about 70% of the population speaks estonian and 30% speak russian. What this means is that either sides refuse to learn the other language. As a result, english is the default language - lucky for me! English is taught in school as a second language so most people here can speak english. No communication problems for me! Actually it was a nice break to get some stations in english. I get so tired of watching only CNN whenever I'm on audit!
THe whole country is only 17,000 sqm but that also includes over 1,500 islands in the Baltic Sea! The capital is Tallinn on the northern shore of the country with 30% of the population, this is where I will spend 2 out of the 3 wks. The plant in is Parnu which is on the west coast and only 40,000 people. It's only a 2 hour drive.

The estonian language is quite unique and very difficult to learn. There are so many unique grammar rules so it's almost impossible to figure out unless you grow up with it. At least I learned how to say hello (Tere) and thank you (tainan). Next year the country will go to the euro so we are in the last few weeks of the local currency which is called the krooni. I will have to make sure I spend all my kroonis before leaving!

The food also sounds interesting. In the winter they eat a lot of pickled food. Gotta watch out for the keel which is cow's tongue!