Oct. 6, 2018-Still Tallinn, Estonia
Still raining. My
attitude has adjusted about the weather. I’ve amped up my layers. In addition
to underwear, I wore a tank top, long sleeved turtleneck, sweater, decorative
scarf, and jacket. Augmenting that I had a practical scarf and earmuffs. The
hood on my jacket freed my hands from an umbrella.
Our speaker this morning
was more optimistic than any we’ve heard. She said that Estonians are socially
awkward and private. Their nightmare is having to ride an elevator with someone
else aboard.
The Baltics are
celebrating 100 years of independence which sounds better than 27 years.
They’re skipping over occupations by Germans and Russians and count from the
last time they were free until now. Unlike the other Baltic countries, Estonia
was eager to establish a democracy including their Russian nationals. Efforts
were made to accommodate the differences and rights, so today 80% of Russians
are citizens. One area Estonians forgot about was the amount of propaganda on
TV in Russian that caters to those who only speak that language. The government
is now programming more balanced shows in Russian hoping to counteract other
influences.
The youth were leaders
in the new nation and have held the power. The Estonian parliament’s average
age is 35 as opposed to 60+ in Lithuania and Latvia. Parliament is unicameral
and elected by the people. Representatives are chosen from each region, based
on population, to choose the president. As an incentive to bolster the economy,
corporate taxes were eliminated and IT promoted. Children learn to program from
grade one.
In 2009, the economic
bubble burst here. The government chose belt tightening as a solution. While
salaries plunged there were no demonstrations or riots. Some attribute it to
weak unions. Others say it was patriotic to help out. By 2011, they’d
recovered. In 2004, they were accepted into the EU and joined NATO. Inflation
hit, but they’re tickled to be under the protective psychological umbrella of
NATO.
Education has always
been important. They now have one of the highest literacy rates. As early as
1800, girls had to go to school in order to be eligible to marry. But there is
a downside with high education and low salaries. Their youth go to Finland
where prices are the same and salaries are double.
With the challenges, she
said that Estonians are the happiest of all the Baltics. They treasure their
freedom and are so small they have an inferiority complex so work harder. They
are proud that the Estonian language is used on Game of Thrones even if it is spoken
by the “bad guys.”
We were met by the same
city guide we had yesterday and took a tram ride Estonian style. Waiting
for a tram is similar to a grab bag. There are trams from the Soviet era,
modern trams, and those given to Estonia from Spain for unknown reasons. We
rode a Soviet one.
We got off at a 300-
year old public park built by Peter the Great. I guess his summer palace in St.
Petersburg wasn’t enough, so he built a mini-duplicate here. At the far end of
the park is the KUMU. It is the abbreviation for the Museum of Art. The
building, opened in 2006, is unexpected and strikingly modern in a good way.
Designed by a Finn, the news that he won the architectural contest came to him
on April 1, 1994. He thought it was a joke and didn’t respond. Today, it houses
Estonian art from the 18th century to present including that of the Soviet era.
There are temporary exhibits. At present, Konrad Magi is on view. His and most
of the art seems derivative. Magi, in particular, echoed Van Gogh. Others
clearly reflected Matisse, Monet, etc.
After lunch we walked
around a modern multi-level mall and found nothing new in the material
universe. We did have a bathroom challenge. We needed 20 cents for entry. The
change machine was broken so we inserted 50 cents thinking we’d get change. We
lost the money. I considered I’d already paid, so when a group of women entered
for one payment, I joined them. That left David without change. I had a Euro
and asked some women for change explaining the situation. One gave me the 20
cents and refused repayment saying it was her good deed for the day.
We picked up bread,
cheese, and meat for sandwiches in the room tonight. We have to leave for the
ballet at 6:30 PM. The Estonian Ballet Company is performing The Goblin, the
first Estonian ballet (1943). I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. We have time on
the bus for me to write. We tour a bit more in Estonia then will spend almost 2
hours crossing the border into Russia.
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| Museum of Modern Estonian Art |
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| Candidate for "Me Too" movement |
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