The
bulk of this weeks activities have been centred around the language course.
Having not properly attempted to learn a foreign language before, I’m never
really sure how to answer when someone asks if it is difficult, as I don’t
really have anything to compare it to. This article, <http://www.hiiumaa.ee/douglas/keel.htm>,
is on page 5 of our exercise book and provides a humorous yet in places
accurate description of the origins of the Estonian language. Give it a read.
I've just been plugging away at it and seem to be gradually picking up what’s
taught. Probably the trickiest part thus far is the various cases in which each
word can be written, and knowing what letter combinations to affix to the end
of a particular word in a particular context. The teacher says that once you
learn a certain number of words, it all begins to make sense and some patterns
emerge.
After
the language classes finish at 15:30, we do some sort of activity with one of
our tutors. This is the culture component of the course. On Tuesday we watched the
film ‘Singing Revolution’ which tells the story of Estonia’s recent history and
how it was able to emerge from Soviet occupation as an independent nation
without any bloodshed, certainly not the case for most of the other post-Soviet
states. I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in the recent history of
this country.
On
Wednesday we went to the University of Tartu Museum. This is located in what
remains of the Tartu Cathedral, c. 13-14th century. Like most things
in Estonia, this cathedral and the site on which it is located has a long and
complex history. Basically, after the 16th century, the building
gradually full into wrack and ruin, with several wars and a fire hastening this
process. In the 1800’s, one end of the cathedral was renovated and turned into
a library, with improvements taking place to this day. The library is now the
university’s museum. The structure, as it stands today, still has a
cathedral-like atmosphere, with the large open area in its centre used for
concerts. The museum itself was not that interesting, with most of the exhibits
aimed at children. It was nonetheless interesting to see inside the building
itself and the views from towers were great.
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| One of the rooms in the Tartu University Museum |
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| Before medicare existed |
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| A view of the cathedral from above, looking towards the museum |
On
Thursday we went to the Tartu Printing Museum. This museum is located in a block of ex-soviet
factories, gradually being transformed into a “hipster’s paradise”, in the same
style as many other ex-industrial precincts around the world. Once completed,
it will contain the museum, extensive studio space for artists, a café and
fancy offices. The printing museum is home to various pieces of analogue
printing technology, along with all of the associated typefaces. The complexity
of some of these machines is quite astonishing. Our visit was to participate in
a notebook-making workshop. We got to choose from a vast selection of typefaces
and imprints to create a design for the cover of the notebook. The printing
press we used dated from the 1800’s. This was a lot of fun and all the finished
designs looked great.
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| Printing Museum |
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| Some of the finished products |
On
Friday there was no activity scheduled, I returned home to get up to date with
this blog. Throughout the day the town was readying its next festival – Rally
Estonia. This is a major annual European car rally which is based in Tartu. To
open the rally, a street circuit is set up in Tartu itself and is freely open
to the public. So, in the late evening I set out to spectate. I walked all
around the circuit, soaking up the atmosphere and catching fleeting glances of
cars. Eventually I found a good spot on a corner and watched a few cars go past
there.
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| Cars lining up to start |
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| Car |
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| Ooh, a car! |
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| Raekoja plats |
I
must say I’m really enjoying being in Tartu. It’s quite
a small place so it has a more laid back feel compared to Tallinn. Being a
student town gives the place a bit of a different vibe. There always seems to be
interesting things going on. Not to mention it’s a visually attractive place. Further,
the accommodation I’m staying at is fantastic. It’s really nice to be able to
cook your own meals and, being a hostel, there are always interesting people to
talk to. Being on the main square means everything is within an arms reach.
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| Around Tartu |
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| Jaani kirik |
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