The First Few Days

So I have finally arrived in Estonia!!! WEEEE!!!! But not without some "fun".

Dad dropped me off at the DFW airport, and I walked up to the United desk and after a small process was informed that I could not fly to Estonia. ... "What?" ... "You don't have a visa, so you can't go." ... "Estonia doesn't require a visa to enter, and I'm filing for residency upon arrival." ... "Well, unless you have a return ticket, we cannot take you there. But we can fly you to Chicago, maybe they can help you there during your 4 hour layover." ... "Just get me to Chicago."

UGH. Called the Estonian consulate, and it was confirmed I was legally allowed to enter the country without a return ticket. Checked the information online at the cost of 8 dollars to confirm everything... then walked past the free internet station. Dammit! Got to Chicago, and Scandinavian Airlines took me to Estonia without a problem. So, United just has a policy and it's stupid. hahaha.

But if you ever get a chance to fly Scandinavian Air (SAS), DO IT!! There's a touchscreen computer on the back of every headrest where the passengers can choose what music stations they want to listen to, and you can even pick between 12 different movies!! And then the flight was really empty, so I got two chairs to myself. It was wonderful... except for the fact that I couldn't sleep.

Then I arrived in Tallinn with all my luggage (number one fear avoided, yes!), and hopped in a "taxi". My "taxi" was actually a student, Marko, whose father owned the taxi company, and by freak occurrences, I was picked up by an incredibly friendly and wonderful student. He was very talkative, all the way into Tartu (1.5 hour drive). And the Estonian countryside is sparse and covered in forests. So I love it. Over 50% of Estonia is forest, so I'm totally happy here. hahaha.

Moved into my room and met my suite mates, which I only have 3. My rooommate, Toomas (Thomas), is from New York and is fluent in Estonian thanks to his family lineage. He's already graduated with bachelor's in English, but is hanging out in Tartu just for fun. He's a quiet guy, and we're not alike whatsoever, but I think we'll get along marginally for 5 months. My suite mates are Timofey and Auda. Timofey is a visiting professor of comparitive politics, Russian by birth, British by education, and German by culture. Seriously, you could not meet a more German man if you tried. Auda is his girlfriend, and she is doing research on the social integration of Russians into Estonian society. So I have TONS in common with Auda and Timofey, but nothing with Toomas. Sad day... hahaha.

But Timofey made me soup for my first two meals here, so he's beyond nice, and I love it. My room has a good view of old wooden and brick houses with the pedestrian bridge and "snail tower" in the background (pictures soon?). The kitchen has hardly any cooking space (two electric stoves), so I'm thinking I will eat out most every meal, which is sad. But awesome. hahaha. There's Nepalese, Turkish, Balkan, Russian, Italian, and Estonian restaurants just to name a few. There's even a restaurant devoted to Oscar Wilde, and it has a bronze statue of him out front. Awesome food here.

But Orientation has been a whirlwind of confusion and ridiculous awesomeness. Over two days we were welcomed and had about 30 powerpoint presentations covering everything from residency and safety to sports and language classes. But the very first thing we were shown is the following youtube video (don't watch around "properly behaved persons") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFJmJupr1RI

And in such a style, our first official night in Tartu, the student network took us on a Pub Crawl. I got to meet and hang out with all the Russian girls: Jane, Kate, and Kate (American version of names). But have made best friends with a girl from Poland, Ania, and good friends with Lucas from Lithuania. So far the Poles and Russians are my favorite, but the Lithanians are really cool (but quiet) and the Americans are of course very easy to get along with. There's 3 Texans, 3 Nebraskans, Alaska, New York, Tennessee, and DC. So it's a varied crew, but surprisingly large this year.

I missed Mexican Fiesta night last night at the Groundpowder Cellar (where I've wanted to go for some time) because I was too tired to go out. And so I slept a lot today, and I should go out tonight. And then I will sleep much on Sunday. Weeeee!!

I'm still trying to find a steady power source (currently bumming power from my roommate's converter), but I got internet, so that's a nice development. Then I will attempt to open a bank account on Monday (please!) and get my residency crap figured out (CONFUSING!!!). But I'm sooo excited. It's been in the teens and 20s, so it's not really that cold. I only got cold when we were in the last 15 minutes of our 2 hour tour, and I feel that's acceptable.

But I will try to write more frequently and less huge later on, but I was just writing to catch up. I love it here, it's going to be wonderful. I have a cell phone that works and friends to call in the registry. I've found friends to travel with, and I'm so excited. WEEEE!!! hahaha. But now I think I will nap before dinner and LATE night outtings. : )

Hope everything is well with you, and I will write again somewhat soon.