Estonia Knows Students

Mondays, Mondays, Monday... R-O-C-K in Estonia.

"So, Colin, when is your earliest class on Mondays?"
"Good question. I would have to respond with 2PM. I'm a fan, not gonna lie."
"What the hell?! When is your earliest class in the week, buttface?!"
"Oh, on Tuesdays (like tomorrow) I have class at 10AM... So I still gets to sleep in. Oooo, yeah."
"How late do your classes go?"
"Well, I do have class twice a week from 4PM-6PM, but that's peak efficiency for college students."

Because I think Estonia gets students... well, international students. There are some 8AM classes for Estonian culture (not a culture I want to hear about at 8 in the morning, in my opinion). But for me, yep, they loves me. hahaha.

But today was packed. I got up at 11AM, and I should have gotten up earlier to avoid packing the day. But I got up, immediately went on my 8 mile run, got back, showered, shaved, then went to the bakery on the square and picked up some pastries. Now, when I say pastries, they're breakfast foods of a "bread" fashion. So I had two "pastries" with a beef and potato filling, and then one "chocolate-bun-thing" to get my sugar up after the run. Mmm...

And had my first "Soviet Experience and Post-Soviet Transformation in Russia". W-O-W. Taught by a historian, but damn, have we got some opinionated people in there. Loaded classroom, clap, clap, clap-clap-clap (old high school cheer sound effect there, if you didn't recognize). At least 1/4 of the class is Georgian, so they have a very bitter contemporary relationship with Russia, not to mention USSR days. Then there's this Ukrainian girl, who I honestly want to punch in the face. Every time she spoke it made it seem as if the Soviet experience was only brutal for Urkaine, so she would talk about the "political repression, especially in Ukraine". Kind of an ass thing to do with Georgians, Poles, and Russians in the classroom. I'm pretty sure the USSR wasn't really nice to anyone, especially in the Stalinist era. So get off the high-horse, nobody had a swell time. Ugh. BUT, we do have a Moldovan, particularly a Transdniestrian. Transdniestria is a breakaway republic on the eastern border of Moldova and on the western border of Ukraine. It's a strange little place, supposedly has a huge part in the manufacturing of illegal weapons, but is arguably the most Soviet-ish place on earth. So she's in the class to get another perpsective on the USSR, other than what's been taught in her schools.

So opinions are huge in the class, and for our first day we just did a "brainstorming" of the good and bad results of the USSR. So a lot was thrown out there, and much of it was "sensitive" in nature due to the emotional presentation. So if you didn't agree that it was a bad thing, you had another thing coming, because your country didn't suffer as much as mine. Whew. Almost fights in class. But the professor is a history professor and is very good at making sure that all sides are represented. He has a very good eye and ear for balance in the classroom, and I am excited about the possibilities of the course, at least for its entertainment/annoyance value.

Then I went to the "advanced" Russian course, and discovered within 15 seconds that I did not belong there... A shame, considering the class was 2 hours long, and I had to eeek through it without drawing attention. This wasn't too hard considering there were 35 people in the class, but damn. I understood the most important 15% of what was said. That being instructions for the class and directions on how to do the exercise. The other 85% - humor, elaboration, explanation, kindness - lost to me. Had no idea. So after a successful trip to the Migration Office, this class brought be straight back to "you have NO idea what you're doing in this language yet, duh!" Yet I had to go to the class to confirm it was too high level for me, and it was. hahaha. But I will go to the "intermediate" Russian class tomorrow, and probably stay there. I have many Russians/Poles to practice my Russian with, and I have people I can write to, so whatever. A lot of independent study will be necessary, but so far, none of my academic classes will be more challenging than Russian language, so it will be priority #1 academically.

Quite the day. Woot, wee, and whoppers. I hope yours was good too!