HapCy

one ticket to Germany-Poland-Lithuania-Latvia-Estonia-Latvia-Lithuania-Poland-Germany-England-Cyprus please!

2007-08-23T12:11:00.000+03:00

My best trip ever. (about a month ago)
So I flew from cyprus to germany, cuz my mom lives there. The next day the two crazy ladies (as her neighbours called us) took a car and started a drive-through-the-countries journey. Destination: Estonia.

Poland was the cruelest. Took 12h to pass it. it's huge and so ugly.
(damn, I'm starting with negative stuff...again. it's such a bad habbit. the story will probably end up with people asking "so what was so great about the trip then" like recently I've been getting comments like "why are u still in cyprus then?" ...I talk negatively. baaaaad!!!)anyway... the roads were the worst part,narrow and broken, and full of trucks. most of the time the speed was limited to 50...a village after village. one ended at the same place where the other one started. crazy. and if there was no village then there were road works. grrrrr.... The only nice part of Poland was the capital, beautiful.Polish people seemed poor and kind of stuck in their own worlds, only one out of 10 spoke english, even young people didn't know English.(I dont mean to offend anyone, but unfortunately thats the way it seemed to me)
Youth seemed a bit scary. Once when we stopped at the red light,two guys jumped infront of the car,started washing the windows, and didnt want to let us through. we got scared, they had all this hatred in their eyes, like they were going to break the window or smth.

Dead tired, not willing to stop in Poland, we finally made it to Lithuania. After few hours of sleep, and being sick and tired of driving slowly, my mom hit the gas. With no speedlimit signs we didnt even think about it. So the police stopped us at the 140km/h speed.... we didnt even notice. Damn. So to get away from all the court and license fuzz in a foreign country my mom managed to pribe them, paid 300 euros. Tough.

Lithuania and Latvia were beautiful and simple to pass. And finally, after 32h,there was our Estonia.
niiiiiiiice....felt gooooooood!
I hadnt been home for a year and a half. But we were there for only 6 days and strangely that was more than enough. Dont know why but I wanted to leave. Our road trip was more interesting than spending time in Estonia. I guess that showed that I dont want to go back there yet.

so we returned back to germany the same way we came. Full of fun with my mother. Telling jokes to keep each other awake while driving. Small arguements over who's turn it is to go and ask for directions. So considering the length (ca 5000 km) and the tense driving in Poland (and learning the new polish words on road signs like "vijazd,sjazd, objazd"), we could consider ourselves professional cross-country-drivers ;) , except the getting-cought part in Lithuania ofcourse.

From Germany I flew to London to see my dad, my sis, and to get a satisfaction from shopping. and after 2 days back to Cy.
The roadtrip was a true experience. In just 2 weeks I visited so many countries. And it was great to be in Est after 1,5 years
But it's nice to be back in Cyprus, and (as an answer to some people) I'm not going to leave this place that soon.

And who said I was leaving anyway? ;)

DON'T HIT KIDS. No seriously, they have guns now!

2007-05-29T10:29:00.000+03:00

few days ago, on my way to the office, a bunch of Georgian kids started shooting small stones at me with their toy-guns. I got really pissed of cuz things like that aren't funny. If it's ok for a child to aim at a person and find it funny then what are they gonna do when they grow up?!
No wonder that Cypriots hate Georgians, most of them don't have any manners what so ever. Whenever I pass the street where only Georgians live I always hear whistling and loud commenting from men. I hate that so much!!!! feel like spitting in their faces! in mornings it's quiet there but after 5 when they all come home from work the street starts living like a nest of cockroaches. Just standing outside in groups, drinking and spitting, giving perfect examples to their children! So every day after work I have to go home from another street.
So with those kids....the more I got pissed off the more they started shooting at me. They followed me all the way to the work. I know they are just kids, but I felt like buying some kind of a gun myself. Hey,fathers and mothers of those children! Nice parenting!!! If I had seen the mother and said something then she would have probably just said "good job boys"!!

my bro..

2007-05-24T15:39:00.000+03:00

..came to visit me :) . We hadn't seen each-other for 12 months and he hadn't changed a bit. Still me lil bro. Simple, sneaky, crazy, and sometimes annoying. He's 20...or 21.. not sure ;) damn. And still has a loooong way to go... hope he goes the right way tho. Everyone says that he's the Jalakas no.2 which means he's exactly just like my dad. And who knows my dad, knows what it means.
He went a bit crazy here in Cyprus...but at least he lived it all out,got rid of the Estonian stress.
Luv ya, bro!

Along with my brother came my best friend!!! Couldn't get any better.
I wish I could've showed them around a lot more. But we had problems with renting a car and so they didn't see all those magnificent places here :( .But my bro promised to start earning money for the next trip here, so next time then I hope.

I'm quite used to saying goodbye to the beloved ones...as it happens so many times a year in our family. But still..hugging my brother goodbye made me sad. And when I returned to my apartment after they had left...the place was so empty. And I felt empty as well, like I was left behind :(
But now it's ok again. I like living alone!

Stuck

2007-04-30T10:45:00.000+03:00

I got stuck in an elevator this morning, for the first time in my life. I thought it only happens in movies. I didn't get scared or anything, It's a small 3-story building,so it wouldn't crash or anything else alike to the things in movies. I was only worried about being late for work.
Anyway, the most annoying thing about this being-stuck-in-a-lift adventure was the fact (just like in movies) that there is no phone reception in there (Murphy). And yet they have the number on the wall to call. And also a ring button to get attention but of course none of my neighbors got out of their flats to see what the hell is that annoying ring coming from the lift!!??
I managed to send few messages to some people who might be able to come and rescue me. But again no one noticed the messages in time (Murphy). who was sleeping, who was working, etc. Then I tried to call the nr on wall again, and it worked, I got some reception. Of course they didn't hear me properly but luckily they heard me just enough to understand that someone is stuck in a lift in Paradise Gardens 4. And when they asked for my name, the call ended cuz of no reception. and right after that my phone's battery got empty (again that Murphy).
So after 45 minutes of being stuck in a lift, I was rescued. And then the people I sent messages to, started calling. Nice. At least I'm having an interesting day! Just like in movies.

"Someone's boring me. I think it's me"

2007-04-19T12:23:00.000+03:00

And so we decided not to be boring and bored. We got the best costumes in town, took our good mood and friends with us, and went completely crazy at the parade in Limassol.

I think I have never had that much fun in my life! crowd of people jumping,dancing,singing. Especially our group! we had the funniest costumes, won the first prize!
"he who laughs,lasts!" And we lasted till the end! the distance between the parade's start point and the end was quite long, took us about 1,5 h. And all that way we had to be full of energy...jumping,singing,smiling. So at the end we were feeling completely dead....no energy left, we gave it all away. and it was worth it!

We just fell on the first pavement we found and waited for our transport.

I've never been that tired but yet satisfied

unbelievable

2007-04-12T15:49:00.000+03:00

Guess who caught a cold?! I managed to catch it in a warm 24-degree Cypriot weather. How is that possible? You wanna try and beet me!?
Hope I will get better in the weekend, expecting a bunch of Estonians to come to Cyprus. And everyone knows what that means, CRAZY TIMES!!

A person is just about as big as the things that make them angry.

2007-03-16T11:18:00.000+02:00

One thing I can't stand about these "hot-blooded" people here is how easily they get aggressive.

I witnessed one volleyball game here in Paphos. Things got pretty scary when the fans of the opposite team entered. If you can call it an entering. They just pushed themselves through the securities without paying for the entrance and breaking doors. they were all fighting with bouncers. And as there were not enough security guys, they just couldn't do anything about it. The group of fans were well organized with aggressive, insulting cheers. Some of the guys were calling others from our side to go outside for a fight. Luckily the security from our side weren't letting them out.
The whole game was all about shouting at each-other. No one focused on the game. Everyone were waiting for the end...the aim of the game was to go out and fight! it was really scary.
And the worst thing is....that all Cypriots have to be involved in all fights. I really hate that. Even if it has absolutely nothing to do with him, a Cypriot still has to go and see if anyone needs a hand. So as soon as they noticed that smth was going on at the back..they all started running and pushing through crowd. It was crazy!!!!!! at the end of the game I was relieved when they kept everyone inside until the fans of the other team had left. But still, the next day I saw on the news,that some of our guys had found the buss of those fans somewhere in town and thrown a big rock through the window injuring the driver.
damn I miss Estonians. They don't get involved, they don't care about strangers fighting. They rather laugh at those fighting fools. Ehhh...

paradise

2007-02-06T13:29:00.000+02:00

If this, my friends, is not paradise on earth.....then I don't know what is. :)

I may be a witch

2007-02-05T11:36:00.000+02:00

Remember few entries ago I bragged about having nice weather over here all the time. Well, I think I have cursed it because it has been raining with heavy wind for 3 days now :( .And it's not the first time that it has happened to me. Whenever something is really good and i brag with it, it turns for worse.
once i said to my friend that I'm really lucky with my teeth, that i never had to go to a dentist. After a week my teeth started breaking and aching.
When looking for a job, I always get too excited when I'm on the edge of getting a really good job. And I have this bad habbit of telling about it to my friends and parents with excitment. It has happened to me twice that I have lost a good opportunity of a great job when i bragged about it.
It has also happened with relationships. I tell my friends how good everything is with him and before I know it we have broken up.
And i could go on and on and on...happens all the time. It's quite scary sometimes. I'm afraid to get excited about things. That's also why i have become sceptical. Everything seems too good to be true. And my friends always ask why I'm so negative. This is why!!!

Christmas in Paphos, alias " book vs. coffee"

2007-01-29T11:39:00.000+02:00

Paphos is dead in winter...except the Christmas period, for 2 weeks, when all the students come home from Greece, England, Italy.

Now...
This is how you have to spend your day at christmas time if you are one of those students, or one of those who has been waiting for that hullabaloo of christmas in Paphos.

1. when you wake up, call your friends straight away to arrange the get-together in one of the popular coffeeshops
2. go for a coffee. PS! don't forget to dress up nicely,otherwise you won't mesure up to the crowd in the coffeeshop
3.go home for lunch, at the same time arrange the next coffee time.
4. It's a COFFEE TIME!!!
5.If you don't have much to talk about with your mates, play cards, gamble on a gamemachine or play some table games. That should take few hours.
if you get bored, change the coffee-shop, there are another bunch people to look at.
6. Go home for dinner, your mom is expecting you.
7. Now you can start drinking, go to a bar. PS! don't forget to change your clothes as there sure is someone who has already seen you earlier.
8. change bars
9. go to clubs, all of them.
10. and remember not to get too pissed or stay up too late cuz you have to go for a coffee in the morning!!!

One example: I was reading a book and i got a call from a cypriot: "what are you up to? lets go for a coffee" "naah..cant be bothered..I'm reading a book" "Doing what? a book? " anyway..to my amazement...Cypriots don't read books, it's considered wierd.
So if you don't want to be a wierdo, GO FOR A COFFEE!!!

by the way, I think Cypriots (and Greeks in this case) have coffee running in their veins instead of blood.. that's why they are considered hotblooded

it's a lovely day!

2007-01-26T11:09:00.000+02:00

And it really is...every day! (though i hate the word "lovely" ). I haven't written anything for a while because i couldn't find anything positive to write about. It's so wierd actually...there are so so sooo many critical aspects here. And yet I'm still loving it here. The sun is one of the reasons that keep me here. I wake up, I look out of the window... and I smile :)

2007-01-10T19:16:00.000+02:00

2006-12-06T15:55:00.000+02:00

Talking about how developed Estonia actually is.... i got a great joke about it today..

********************

After having dug to a depth of 100 metres last year,
American scientists found traces of copper wire dating back
400 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors
already had a telephone network more than 400 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Americans, in the weeks that followed,

English scientists dug to a depth of 200 metres and shortly after headlines in the newspapers read;
English archaeologists have found traces of 800 year old fibre-optic cable and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech digital communications network 800 years earlier than the Americans.

One week later, Estonian newspapers reported the following: After digging as deep as 500 Metres in Narva, Estonian scientists have found absolutely nothing. They, therefore, have concluded that 2000 years ago, Estonia's inhabitants were already using wireless technology.

12.30 .. You must be joking!

2006-11-23T20:43:00.000+02:00

At first when i came here i was negatively surprised about so many things... some examples...

1. Banks and postoffices are open monday-friday only till 12.30 ...but i like to sleep long...
Shops up in a town (paphos is devided in 2, kato-paphos and pano-paphos, up and down) are closed on wednesday and saturday afternoons (after 12.30) and closed all sundays ofcourse. So...me stupid...not local... went walking up to the town ( which is like 30 min) to do some shopping on wednesday........ oh i was so angry! what's up with those wednesdays?

2. they don't make money transfers here! you can't pay your bills through transfers. i dont know if they even have internet bank here, as i never needed an account here. normally when you get paid they give you a check and you have to go to a bank with that....and banks are open till 12.30 ONLY, as i already mentioned.... it's like an evil ring against me. and if you wanna pay your electricity bill you have to go up to the town...to a place which a person like me is not likely to find...so you have to get someone local to come with you. anyway....to pay the bill...you have to go to 'where the hell i know' ...and that place is ofcourse open only till 12.30. and as a rule of humanity everybody leave paying their bills to the last minute, right?! so can you imagine...there is only one place to pay that damn bill and there's always too many people who wanna pay it at the same time as me. so can you imagine those cues???!!!! my god!! everytime i'm there i say to myself...'when r u people gonna come out of stone age'?

3.the transportation. there is an inside town busline, the last bus is 8 in the evening...luckily. But to get outside of the town...you have to take travel express. it's like 'marsa' or 'marsruut takso' in tallinn. anyway they are small bus taxis... but you have to call them and book a seat first!!! nice huh?! and they don't go everywhere...only to some closer, bigger towns. for example you can't go to Ayia Napa. And yet it's not so far,only 2 hours of car drive. The only way is to go to some travel agency which organises bus tours.
Basically...if you live in Cyprus , and you don't have a car...you are fucked! (sorry for the choice of words).

so many things that make me wonder how the hell did Cyprus get in EU?!

But when you are here for 7 months..like me...you get used to it...
There's more pros than cons

and so, here i am..

2006-11-16T19:54:00.000+02:00

I finally got out of my lazyness and decided to continue writing...about my views of life...right here, right now...(that is in Cyprus at the moment). And also adding those spectacular views of my camera. And i have to apologise for my language mistakes in future as my English has gone from 'great' to 'not so great'. That's a result of communicating in Cypriot English. Yes that's right..they have their own English here. Especially the written one, they write like they hear. instead of cooking it may be cuking. instead of surprise it's saprise. Come=cam. no is always confused with know. knew can be new. they make the shower..not take. I could go on and on.
Anyway, to make the long intro short ... It's just great here, guys!!!! actually...it's amazing!!!!!! The beauty, oh the beauty. it's limitless. The place on the photo was my first oh-my-god-place. And ofcourse there's much more to come. So...till the next entry!

they call it EU (EU my a**)

2006-02-18T16:44:00.000+02:00

So we are part of European Union huh?! and we are living in the new age, the digital age, where you can organize everything through the network?! Well, I wanna argue with that. I couldn`t simply even book a plane ticket. You find this great deal 2 for the price of 1, then you click on "click here" and start booking. What a surprise, the price is still 2 for 2. I tried to do it in several different ways, and nothing. Finally I just called them, and a surprise again, they didn`t answer. I call an hour later, the nr is busy. I call again in 15 min, still busy. Then every 5 min, busy busy busy. Until the clock hits 5pm and the answermachine says, sorry we`re closed, call again tomorrow. And so I call again the next day, what a surprise, no one answers. and believe me, I didn`t call just once. I felt like hiting something!! fury!!! I don`t know whether it`s a problem of the airline or the Estonian office of that airline.
Anyway, guys, when you want to get a ticket on czech airlines, then simply call estravel agency.
And actually I wanted to make a point here. The point is that I`m leaving from Estonia!! yeehaaa!! I´m getting out of this grey area!!! I got a job in cyprus, and I`m not getting back before October, and then.....then we`ll see what happens next. So I probably won`t be posting anything about Sad Estonia anymore. I will do it in Happy- Cyprus- way ;) . Will create a new blog. and post the new link here later ;)

All the best to you all!!!

course project

2006-01-22T17:01:00.000+02:00

Offtopic! need help! I need to find a theme for my research. The subject must be taken from EStonian media sphere. If anyone has any good ideas, please let me know. I think my brains have frozen in this freekin cold here.

The madness of tv is the madness of human life

2006-01-15T21:58:00.000+02:00

Estonian media culture is really "developing" I`d say! If anyone has seen a programm called "Pimp TV" on the CITV channel then you must know what I`m talking about here. And those of you who haven`t seen it, don`t watch it!
Anyway.. It`s a so called "talkshow" where the leaders of the show attend some party, drink, get pissed, and go public about yellow topics [for example, one of the guests was an ex-boyfriend of Miss Estonia (Laura) telling once again that Laura is a slut, just like her mom...etc]. They offered a real carnival by making fools out of the guests and themselves. Seeing those drunk spitting faces trying to make it interesting was SO disgusting. They crossed all moral limits. I had no idea that Estonians can be so low and yet proud enough to share it with everybody..
Luckily they also play music in between of shows, which is way better than the rest of the content of the channel. But most of the time you can see a logo "Pimp TV" on the upper right corner of your tv. I guess they are trying to make a kind of Estonian MTV here. Believe me guys, it aint working!!! Flush it down the toilet!

lost

2006-01-03T19:06:00.000+02:00

Can`t find enthusiasm, has anyone seen?

Christmas is just the disneyfication of christianity.

2005-12-20T23:09:00.000+02:00

Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce some special day. It is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.

I can see fireworks way too often through my window, even in summertimes. why? I have lost all the excitement about new years eve now. There`s nothing special about it anymore. It used to be the fireworks at midnight that everyone were waiting on new years eve. And even then they start firing too early, you can hear bangs several hours earlier. drives me mad!
And the christmas!!! I`m glad it`s only few days away, so now everone could calm down with this madness. They started it in the end of october!!! christmas songs, christmas shopping, christmas decoration, christmas christmas christmas.....
I´m not really against all that. I just think that the holiest of all days are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart; the secret anniversaries of the heart.

But to all of you who happen to read this - I wish you can spend christmas with the close ones you love, and celebrate the new year`s eve in the greatest way among greatest people!!

(it MIGHT be my last post, as this blog was actually one of the assignments for my "computer assisted journalism" course. It`s over now, and I`m not sure whether I should continue with it or not.)

All the best to you all!!!

Zebra doesn`t help

2005-12-11T17:40:00.000+02:00

From the early childhood a child is taught how to get about in traffic. You must always wait for the green light and follow the zebra! But no-one knows what is right anymore, there are more and more car accidents everyday. Cars are killing people when they try to cross the road following zebra,which is supposed to be the safe way. Even when the green light is on for the pedestrian. Number of accidents involving little children crossing roads has been highly increasing.
Drivers are still not careful enough, and ofcourse many of them don`t really care if a pedestrian wants to cross the road or not. Standing on side of the road, on zebra crossing, you can wait a long time before any car stops to let you through. I`ve had several situations where I was almost hit by a car. Roads with more than one line are especially dangerous, the first-line car notices and stops while the second-line car is questionable and so on. Every day can be the "judgment day". Scary! you have to take your chances by simply crossing roads.

"So many gods, so many creeds...so many paths that wind and wind.."

2005-12-11T16:42:00.000+02:00

Ministry of education is seriously considering to add Religion as a subject to highschools` obligatory programm. Teachers and government approve, students strongly disapprove. Religion is such a fragile subject to discuss. And hence I think it can only be optional but perhaps not obligatory.
I studied in a highschool where it was compulsory to study religion. I have other things to believe in rather than God. So I was quite annoyed because of that. Luckily we had a very neutral teacher and the subject just covered the general beliefs of different religions. We weren`t pushed to believe in anything.
But I still think that a person will study the given subject independently if one is intereseted in it. And a student with a strong belief in some religion can feel very frustrated in class while discussing other ways of beliefs. And everything also depends on the teacher.

Ministry should be really careful with such a decision. (perhaps: "yes to teaching religion, no to religious propaganda")

something positive!

2005-12-11T01:03:00.000+02:00

To be honest I think this blog has somehow influenced me. I´ve become more sad myself. So I will allow myself to add here something positive.

There`s a show on Estonian tv channel called " The glory of Estonia". It`s a show where they honor the people who have voluntarily helped Estonian society. For instance, there are so many of them who are trying to help homeless, who have saved lives, and so on. I`m glad that the channel is doing something like that.
I have a friend who does charity. He supports disabled children. On his birthday he told in advance to all his guests that instead of presents they should put the money (that was meant for presents) on the bank account of two boys in wheelchairs. They each got about 11 thousand krouns thanks to that birthday party. One of the boys could buy a new wheelchair now, which he badly needed.
I´m happy that there really are people, selfless people, who care a lot about others, help them, and don`t want anything in return.

(ignore this post)

2005-12-11T00:31:00.000+02:00

it`s saturday, it`s 1 AM, no it`s not saturday anymore, it`s sunday now, it`s raining, I´m eating potato chips, thinking about the amount of studying I should do, exams, one guy stepped on my foot today and didn`t apologise, I`m stuck in Estonia, I don`t have a job, grrrrr...and the money, my day was pointless, I was wet when I got home, my camera is broken, I lost so many good photos that I wanted to add in my blog( I have to sart adding images from the net), I feel so blue :( , I`ve lost a day....

(huuh, I got it out of myself, I can go on now)

dialogue

2005-12-10T23:40:00.000+02:00

There is one saying in Estonian "lapsesuu ei valeta", meaning that childs mouth doesn`t lie. It`s quite true.
I happend to over hear one interesting conversation. It was between two little russian children, a boy and a girl, both about 6 years old.
* * *
girl: "do you know what `sex´ means?"
boy: "yes"
girl: "it`s the same as fucking, hi-hi-hiii !" (sorry for swearing but that`s what she said)

girl: "have you ever had sex?"
boy: "yes, once in a kindergarten"
* * *

I guess it was just little kids exploring their sexuality and it`s not wrong. But I was just shocked about the words they used. They learn it from people they are surrounded with. And I´ve heard it myself (too many times) how carelessly parents can talk around their children. And that`s sad!

To whose profit???

2005-12-10T22:33:00.000+02:00

Our country is dependant on every following generation. Most of the work has to be done by parents who bring their children up. A child needs parental support in every first step of one`s way. I suppose the saying "a child is a fire to be lit" sounds right, but it seems that our lawmakers took it word by word by giving 12-year-olds the right to train firing from a real gun. Is that wise? Maybe it depends on each specific individual if one is mature enough to take it in his hands, but I think it shouldn`t be generalised for everyone.

Few years ago a 10-year-old accidentaly killed himself from a sports gun.
Children are unstable, especially boys who like fooling around with everything.

If it`s not allowed for a 15-year-old to drive a car not even with assistance, then it`s not rational and not safer to give dangerous guns in the hands of a 12-year-old. They should be enjoying their childhood at that age and get ready for teenage, explore themselves. Are we preparing for somekind of a war? Do we need to enlarge Estonian army on account of children?
I wish they reconsidered..

mathematics isn`t always rational

2005-12-09T03:23:00.000+02:00

I forgot to add to the previous post that apparently there`s been a calculation of an average salary in Estonia. And it`s 7000 krouns. The Government was so pleased to announce that salaries have been increasing this year. Well everyone knows now who`s salaries are increasing and thanks to what they get this higher average...but obviously this higher average salary does not refer to average people.

your job is to be homesick!

2005-12-09T02:18:00.000+02:00

EU has come up with this genious idea how to increase salaries of our ministers. If working outside of country, they pay a compensation for being homesick. That`s no joke. The amount of the compensation is 15% of a salary. So, for instance our vice president of European Commission Siim Kallas gets accordingly to his monthly 300 000 salary 45 thousand krouns extra. It`s not all ofcourse, he also gets 8000 krouns for every member of his family...and some other things. anyway he gets 66 000 extra every month.Well...I guess you all know what I´m thinking right now. They shouldn`t say such things out loud in media. People are gonna feel so low.. this guy can get a new car every month if he wanted, or buy a huge house in a year without any bankloans. Just drives the average person mad.

it`s absurd!

"british stags UNwanted!!! "

2005-12-05T02:57:00.000+02:00

Very popular topic at the moment - more and more places put up that kind of notices on their doors. Seems a bit cruel, but it`s true. Tallinn is a cheap place for brits to celebrate stagparties. I remember when I was working as a waitress. It was unbearable what kind of mess and noise they made. They also think that they can get all the women here. Sorry guys, from where I stand, our local men are far more desired. (With every kind of exceptions ofcourse, sadly)

"To do nothing and get something, formed a boy`s ideal of a manly career" - Benjamin Disraeli

2005-12-05T02:20:00.000+02:00

I was in a nightclub on friday. This brittish guy started talking to me. I tried to avoid him, but couldn`t escape. We started talking and it came out that he was actually a very pleasant person. It was comfortable to talk to him. To my own surprise I told him about my life, about how hard it is to find a proper job, about my goals in life, about what I want to achieve. And you know...with the next sentence he just really pissed me off : "well find yourself a rich man like most young Estonian ladies do". I just laughed, said bye, and walked away.
Is it really that kind of reputation we, Estonian women, have?

Those who stand for nothing, fall for anything..

friends 4ever

2005-12-04T16:18:00.000+02:00

On my way home, through the crowded center town, I saw 2 guys standing against the wall, right next to each-other, talking, laughing, and peeing... like dogs, marking their area. So that few years from now, walking by that place, they could fall into memories "that`s the place where me and my best friend were peeing together" awwww....true friends.
Another childish image created by male representers. I`ve never seen women peeing on streets. Why is that? (no-one should feel offended by that, only if the person is one of those place markers on the streets where I walk everyday). That kind of images also create our reputation in the eyes of foreigners...
pathetic

Andrea: "unhappy the land that has no heroes". Galileo: "No. Unhappy the land that needs heroes".

2005-11-24T22:49:00.000+02:00

I just happend to watch an intriguing Estonian talk show called Kahvel (fork). They had a guest who was a fireman. He told everything about firemen`s lives - things they have to witness everyday, rigths they don`t have (to protest or strike for example), and their low salaries. The numbers are really ridiculous. He earns 4380 krouns (net) a month!!!!! Minus monthly taxes, which leaves less than 3000 for everyday expenses. And he has a wife and 2 children.
He also said that a lot of fire fighters work on two places, mostly as builders and taxidrivers. These men are our rescuers. Where is this country headed???? one day they are just not gonna be there when the fire takes off...

unbelievably unbelievable

2005-11-24T21:18:00.000+02:00

government made a gift to our prime minister, a German Brockhaus`s encyclopedia comprising 30 volumes. The reference book costs 40 000 krouns. It`s meant to help this important man with his speeches and communication scills. The gift also includes over 4000 audio recordings like voices of animals for example.
Well, let me remind you the numbers of salaries of the people working in medical, educational, salvage services, etc. I mentioned them earlier in "can`t bear very much reality". those workers should work about 8 months without expenditure to be able to afford that kind of thing. Doesn`t the government have anything better to do with the money. Whenever some organisation needs governmental support the answer is mostly the same, the state budget doesn`t have enough money.
Does prime minister really have the time for discovering that masterpiece well enough to make him wiser... I believe all that kind of information is also available in internet these days. Some public school would make much more use of that unbelievable encyclopedia.

money doesn`t talk, it swears - Bob Dylan

2005-11-21T23:11:00.000+02:00

Our government is planning to increase tuition fees in universities. The purpose is to bring up the reputation of Estonian educational level and keep students from leaving their home country. Hey, you, men sitting in chairs of power! Have you ever been a student and having to take bank loans? a student maybe, but apparently not in need for loans. And if otherwise, then you should know that it will make even harder for families to educate their children. Oh, banks will be so pleased, they can make the loans higher and get more clients coming in. juhuuu!! I guess there`s not enough families who will be paying their debts for the rest of their lives; there`s not enough poverty in this country; there`s not enough young people who can`t afford higher education. It`s almost equal to study in other Eu countries, don`t you think that higher tuition fees will push even more youth away from home? Anyway, I´m one of those students who has taken loans from a bank and I am planning to leave Estonia. To earn money for school (I can`t watch my parents going crazy when counting those big sums) and also to live normally apart from school,because it`s not possible to earn good money next to studies. All you can count on in this country is you, yourself and your ego. Work, work harder, earn money , pay taxes, but don`t hope do get anything back, no way! oh yeah, sorry, I forgot, there`s gonna be higher educational level!

serial killer wannabe

2005-11-21T22:40:00.000+02:00

last week they arrested a saw maniac. As strange as it seems, a 74-year-old man was apparently sawing in branches on the cemetary so that maybe later they would fall on people. He was doing that for quite a long time. The town offered 10 000 krouns for the one who`s information helps to catch the crazy person (as we know, they can`t do it on their own....so let`s spend a bit money to make people talk).... I should shut up, shouldn`t I.

Can`t bear very much reality

2005-11-09T23:02:00.001+02:00

In this country, the ones who study and work for government and get most important responsibilities, have to face the lowest salaries.For example...I have a friend who graduated from the academy of domestic defence (Sisekaitseakadeemia)..now she`s working as an investigator in a police department and she gets only about 6000 (gross) a month.. so of that she sees about 4500 (net). The last popular news is bribe taking among traffic officers! And government is soooo surprised?!

Did you know that paramedics` ambulance cardrivers get only 3500 krouns a month. Therefore most of them work also as taxidrivers. So there`s always a possibility, that, when you are taken to hospital in an ambulance car, the driver is exhausted from last night`s taxidriving. Better to let your mom to take you to the hospital, or call a taxi...

what about teachers who hold the education of our children in their hands. They get about 5000. It`s almost impossible to find a math, physics,chemistry teacher when the former one retires. it`s especially problematic in smaller towns. And the government is worried about the future of education because there`s less and less young people who are willing to study teaching. so why the hell don`t you do anything about it?

And I`m not gonna even mention the loss of doctors in our country!

I was waitressing for some time..I didn`t have higher education...and I earned much more (plus tips). Where`s the rationality?! the wiser you are the less you get from it? one is sure..I´m never gonna work in civil service!!!

based on true story

2005-11-08T23:58:00.000+02:00

some troublesome facts from an article about Estonian healthcare. Who can read Estonian and is interested: http://www.ettk.ee/et/kommentaarid/2005/09/item21637 . For others a short overview:

deathrate caused by heart- and haemal diseases 3 times higher than EU average;death from cancer, a third higher; number of men dying from exogenous causes- 4 times higher; number of women dying from endocervical- and breast cancer - 3 times higher
from our 5000 doctors every 5th is over-60-year-old
in EU the ideal norm is 1 nurse per 100 people. in Estonia there`s 1 nurse per 225 people.
salary in finnish medical sphare is 7 times higher than in estonia (I wonder where have all the doctors gone)

therefore in Estonia we have the longest waiting times ever just to get to see a doctor - people have to wait for their ear-nose-throat surgeries for 2 years; queues to specialists are several months longer than they were few years ago.

Quite sad, isn`t it!

nock-nock...is anyone home?!

2005-11-08T22:44:00.000+02:00

I just read an article about a survey that was made among Estonian citizens, that also includes non-Estonians. And to be honest, it made me furious.
The main question of the research was "did you like the life in Soviet Union more than now?". And guess what, half of the non-Estonians found the life to be better under Russian power. A THIRD of Estonians agreed with that half. I mean...people...don`t you remember? I´m still very young, but I do remember. I remember standing in a very long line with a food stamp..to get the last bread. I remember my grandma telling me she was in jail...just in case... Don`t you remember that people were deportated to Siberia?
I mean...I`m half Russian and I have nothing against Russia itself...but really...come on people!

I feel insulted.. (and just in the last post I was explaining how desperately you would need help with learning our language... damn)

broaden your world

2005-11-08T19:17:00.000+02:00

I just remembered how I once happend to visit a third biggest town of Estonia - Narva, situated in eastern part, next to Russian boarder. Anyway...I entered one shop and asked for a pack of gum in Estonian language. To my big surprise the salesperson didn`t understand a word of it and asked me to repeat it in Russian...

Estonians who have been to some Lasnamäe`s (city district of Tallinn) little basement stores, visited some wierd looking bar in Kopli (also a part of the town) or visited Narva...they know that you can`t deal there with Estonian language. It`s an everlasting problem of our country.
I´m not blaming them for not knowing the language (ofcourse the younger generation should learn it at school), but it`s also a fault of our government. Studying Estonian has become extremely expensive. it`s a known fact that Russians, who don`t speak EStonian, have very low salaries. So ofcourse they can`t afford any language courses.

there`s 75 000 workers in Tallinn , with Russian background and not speaking Estonian. All of them have to face the same problems - lack of money and fear to fail the exam, because the government is not the one who pays for language courses. And because of that most of them don`t even try to take that step.

I think that we should give the people, who wish to learn our language, a compensation for studies. It will make their life here easier and also help us to keep our official language.In that way Russians will understand us better and perhaps the anger between nations will decrease, because at this point Russians and Estonians are fighting with each-other like white and black people, blaming other in racism. If there`s something we could do about it, then this is something that would work - free language courses.

Limits of one`s language means the limits of one`s world.

Eastside story..

2005-11-06T23:36:00.000+02:00

Oscar Wilde: "We are each our own devil and we make this world our hell"

I spent this weekend in eastern-Estonia. The part of the country, which is populated mostly by russians,where the cruelest crimes happen, where all streets look so miserable. And that is not said in a rassist way, cuz I´m myself half russian,these are just the facts.

The words of O.Wilde are just the right ones to describe that part of Estonia. The only difference is that people living in that hell don`t really see it like that. Even more, it`s absolutely normal to live that way.
Teenage girls giving birth and not graduating from highschools, boyfriends beating them up; looking out of the window you can see little children running around in dirty clothes, spitting everywhere, taking adults as an example; A lot of old dirty and stinking men drinking on streets 24h a day; homeless pets running around everywhere; youth gathering in basements for smoking and taking drugs; third grade boys drinking alcohol during breaks; schoolparties (if they are not forbidden yet) ending with deadly knifewounds.......I can go on and on.....all that is so normal in everyday life in eastern part of towns.

I know all that...because I have lived in it for sometime.... And yet the place I lived in is quite little,with population of about 2500. And people who are not hoping anything from life will stay there till the day they die and while alive... they create hell for themselves and for their offsprings.

dokfilm2

2005-10-16T18:02:00.000+03:00

I forgot to add another documentary that I`ve seen myself and which is really worth watching. "Eve and Dawn" is made by Tarmo Rajaleid, graduate from our school (International University Concordia Audentes). "There is goodness in the world.... human story about two women who are contrary just like eve and dawn"..
Like I already said, I`ve seen the film and highly recommend others to watch it when you get a chance. You can see the free preview of the film by clicking "tasuta eelvade" on https://www.itv.ee/portal/filmid.aspx?id=3205 or if you wish to see the full film it costs you 18 krouns by clicking VAATA 18kr.( it`s with english subtitles) I can assure you, the documentary is amazing, full of unbelievable things.

dokfilm

2005-10-15T22:57:00.000+03:00

Apparently a finnish channel Yle 2 has made a documentary called "Poverty in Estonia". Film`s editor is Andres Raid. As the title says, the film talks about poverty in Estonia. And not only about Estonians who are not coping with their incomes. The main theme is mental poverty. There`s many out-of-the-know(so called " mentaly poor")-people sitting next to authorities holding the power, thanks to who`s wrong desicions the rate of citizens in penury is increasing. Raid himself is in one of the political parties of Estonia now. He`s commentary to that is : "there`s nothing you can do without taking part in politics."
I haven`t seen the film yet, but I will try to find it from somewhere. If any one has already seen it, I`d be glad to hear your commentaries.

Silence...

2005-10-14T15:40:00.000+03:00

A bit off-topic... and on the other hand, not.. depends on the interpretation.

I wanted to take a walk in this beautiful autumn, I headed to old town.

It was quiet, or maybe it`s just me shutting myself off the street noises. It was sad and full of excellence at the same time.

Somehow people manage to see frustration rather than beauty in this time of year. Just put on warm clothes and go out there!And if you have, take a camera with you... then you`ll see.

(When you happen to visit Tallinn, take your time to discover those lonely sreets of the old town. And if you get a chance, enter any of museums.. get the feeling of how Estonians lived through history)

anyway...

I took out my camera and this was what i saw. This beautiful silence.

I like what Georg Elliot said about silence:

"If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it

would be

like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel`s hearts beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."

Poverty on streets

2005-10-12T23:34:00.000+03:00

One can be young and without money but not old and without it. You can see poverty reflecting mostly on elderly people in Estonia. Lets take beggars on the streets of Tallinn for example, only few of them are youngsters, the ones who have given up and need money for drugs. Others mostly old and don`t have enough financial support for buying food.
The woman on the photo was begging for money in front of the shopping center. She noticed me taking pictures with my camera and asked me to take few of her. I did, and she was so exited about it, like no one has ever taken a photo of her. I really like this portrait, she made an effective model.

Life`s not just being alive...

2005-10-11T16:33:00.000+03:00

Being well is what counts... (approximately every 10th person in Estonia is declared disabled)

Older generation of Estonians are so weak and most of them sick. And I think it`s not just the age. It`s also the conditions they had to live in when they were younger. And they were working physically very hard. And now there`s strong consequences. They don`t live half as good as swedes or finnish elderly people for example. And yet they worked so hard. So much labour was put into moving the mountains and a silly little mouse was born. I have 2 grandmothers and I´m really glad that they have all the support of their children, otherwise I couldn`t even imagine how they would get by with this ridiculously small amount of money they get from the government. It`s sad! They deserve better!
Let`s take this man on the photo for example. He`s blind! The support money he get`s from this country is 2100 krouns pension and 600 for disability. And over 1000 krouns goes straightly back to the government for taxes. So he must live with 1500 krouns (100 euros) a month. How can that be possible?!? He had to do something to survive, so he started playing accordion on streets (He had to get permission from the government by the way). It`s considered as his business and according to the law he should pay taxes from this income as well. I mean...WHAT?!?

Not giving up?!

2005-10-10T19:39:00.000+03:00

After regaining independence, estonians started their struggling road through unstable economy. Stratifaction of society strongly increased causing general tensions. Average lifetime decreased. Appearance of unemployment and loss of jobs was inevitable. Level of education was showing strong falling tendencies. The nation weakened. Entire population was constantly decreasing.
After 1995, the state started gradually developing. People were showing much stronger initiative. General state of life was getting better. Life in Estonia stayed relatively stable until 1998, when consequences of economical crisis in Russia declined again the rate of employment. Fortunately the nation was strong enough to get out of that "hole" after 2 years of struggle. Estonians are known as hardworkers.
Now they(we) have joined European Union. It has it`s pros and cons, but I see it as slowly giving up our independence. Differences between social classes have become so big. Expenditure wins over income. Poverty rate is too high, 35% of the population. It`s getting extremely expensive to live here, for some even impossible.

ego trip

2005-10-10T14:51:00.000+03:00

Well..here I am. 22-year-old audiovisual media student from Estonia - trying to figure out what am I doing here.
I´ve tried several times to leave this country and somehow it just doesn`t work that way. Once I made it to england, but returned after half a year. Estonia is beautiful, it`s my home, it`s my family... and yet, in my eyes, the country is still so miserable. I`m going to try to go away again next year. Maybe I can keep myself away from here at least a year, and then, when I come back, perhaps everything here in Estonia will look better and more developed. This is how I see it from here...