A Civil Engineer on a Fulbright to Estonia

Sunrise, Sunset

2010-10-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

On the Summer Solstice, sunset is at 10:45 p.m., and sunrise is at 4:00 a.m. The sun sets about 36 degrees west of north and rises about 36 degrees east of north.

It turns out that a "normal" lens (50mm) on a 35mm film camera has an angle of view of about 39 degrees, so you took a sunset photo with the sun on the left edge of the frame and then a sunrise photo with the sun on the right edge, you could paste the 2 together and have both sunset and sunrise.

I took 3 photos and stitched them together. Sunset is over the shipyard. Sunrise is over St. Olav church. Had to get up at 3:30 and climb Toompea hill for the second shot.

Back in the USA

2010-10-10T19:01:00.001-07:00

I didn't blog like I thought I would, I Facebooked a lot at the expense of writing longer thoughts. Anyway, we're back in the USA.

I find myself missing Tallinn more than I expected. Part of it is going from a European capital of 400,000 people to a midwestern city of 17,000. There was just a lot more to do in Tallinn on any given day. It was also fascinating to explore the thousand years of history.

Off to Russia

2010-06-10T04:49:00.000-07:00

Humana

2010-05-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

Humana is a little like Salvation Army or Goodwill in the USA. Used clothing at a good price, the money goes to charity - in this case African aid. However, here in Estonia I am addicted to Humana more than I ever was to Goodwill back home. First of all, clothing in stores here is really expensive. Estonians like designer duds, and since they aren't the huge market that the US is, you have to pay a premium above the already high prices. Second, Humana has clothes donated from all over Europe (judging from the languages on the labels) so you find high quality interesting stuff. Third, the prices are pretty good 3 weeks out of the month. Not as good as Goodwill; here a men's shirt might be the equivalent of $15, in the USA at a charity store the same shirt would be $7. BUT, every month at Humana they clear out the old to make way for the new. First you get a day of -30%. Then a day of -50%. Then days where nothing costs over 50 kroon (about $4,50), on down to 10 kroon (90 cents). $400 Norwegian Goretex shell - $4; $200 official Audi jacket - $2; designer jeans - $2, and so on.

Here comes the sun

2010-05-27T23:39:00.000-07:00

If nothing else I can write about the sun. I understand that on an annual basis we all get the same hours of day. Here in Estonia they save it up all winter. I think it's light enough to read a newspaper outdoors until at least 10:30, maybe even 11 pm. In the morning you can do the same by 4 am. Crazy.

Ferry - Tallink

2010-05-27T23:29:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to make a reservation for my son to return from Helsinki to Tallinn. Tallink Silja apparently has never, in the hundreds of thousands of trips it must have sold, encountered one person trying to buy a ticket for another person. The website won't allow it. SO, I am on hold with the company on the phone. Lucky for me I have Skype, and I pay the flat rate, so it's free to be on hold to GERMANY(?) for 10 minutes so far. In case I wasn't irritated enough, the customer service line was designed by (fill in your favorite German here). No exaggeration, there is 2 seconds of music, then it says "guten tag! Bitte something something..." (have your customer number ready). In German only, on a customer service line that I was directed to from the English page of an Estonian website. 2 more seconds of music. "Guten tag!...." 2 seconds of music. Repeat ad nauseum.

Meanwhile I am looking for a different ferry line.

Latvia and Lithuania by bus

2010-05-18T06:06:00.001-07:00

We are on the Eurolines luxe bus. Leather recliners, coffee and tea, power outlets, TV, wifi. It's kind of like you imagine first class on an airplane will be like (in reality this is better). It's actually an enjoyable way to travel. We are close to the Baltic Sea, the terrain is flat, with streams, birches and pine trees. If looks like northern Michigan, until I try to read a billboard. Apparently we are now in Latvia, because we have a new flavor of uninterpretable letters and words. It's a 10 hour trip total, split roughly in half by stopping in Riga for 45 minutes and a bus switch. Then on to Vilnius.

Stuff I wish I didn't bring

2010-04-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

I posted a while back that there are things I wish I had, like clothes pins (I found those here eventually). I wish I hadn't brought 2 sport coats. One would have been enough, along with 3 ties, for my time here. I also wish I we hadn't brought blazers for Lucas and Nathan. Sweaters have sufficed for all occasions for them. 5 microphones (that was Nathan). Are we starting a studio?

We also have a lot of heavy clothes that I am really glad we had, but now I wish it would magically go to Missouri so we didn't need to haul it back.

Self portrait

2010-04-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

I've been bitten by the photography bug. More to the point, the film photography bug. I didn't bring a film camera to Estonia, but there are a lot of old cameras in the markets and "antiik" shops. 60's and older cameras have a nice heft to them.

After reading a lot of good reviews of the Soviet copies of Leica cameras I decided to try one myself. I bought a FED 3 (with a bad shutter), and then immediately went out and found a FED 2, which I really like. I've had a manual Praktica SLR since the early 80's, so aperture, f-stop and manual focusing are nothing new. Rangefinders are new, but no big problem.

Lack of an internal light metering system take some getting used to. I ended up with an old selenium based Soviet light meter. It seems to work, unlike some old ones, but I don't have a lot of confidence in it. I carry my digital Lumix as a light meter too. I probably look strange, with my modern digital camera to check the light, then double checking with a light meter, then finally shooting with an early 60's rangefinder. But I am enjoying the deliberate pace of shooting on film.

Spring?

2010-04-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

Sun came up at 5:40 this morning. I hung 2 jackets in the window last night, otherwise I’m up with the sun. I made it until 6:45, better than Sunday when I was up by about 6. When I was younger I could sleep a lot later, but I seem to have gotten to where no matter how late I go to bed, I can only reliably sleep until 7:30 or when the sun comes up, whichever comes first. It was also –1C when I got up. Spring here is different from Missouri. We are used to the cold now. Yesterday at mid day it was +10, all I wore all day was a windbreaker and that seemed a bit warm. Sun goes down a few minutes after 9 pm now.

Photography

2010-04-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

One thing about being away from the routine is I have a chance to do some things I don't get to do so much at home. Lately I have been experimenting with photography. It turns out that after WWII, some of the spoils of war the USSR got were German camera and optical factories. Leica was and is one of the most respected names in cameras. The Soviets copied the early Leica's and then actually improved on them. They produced millions of them. Now, a classic Leica rangefinder might cost $800 or more. A similar (very similar, pretty much the same in terms of performance) FED can be had for $30 at an antique store, or maybe $10 at a flea market. The advantage at the antique store is you can sort through 20 or 30 cameras in one place, and they seem to be cleaner than the ones in the market.

Now that I have this great camera, with wonderful optics, the first thing I did was remove the lens and make a pinhole for it. I used a metal candy box about 2.5 inches square, and a bit of aluminum can for the actual pinhole. I've worked my way down to a hole about 0.25 mm in diameter. The pinhole replaces the lens. It's not as clear of course, but it's f157, so the depth of field is almost infinite, and it shoots photos with a certain quality you can't get with a lens.

So here's one example: St. Catharine's walk in Tallinn, f-157, 6 second exposure.

Dogsledding

2010-04-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

We went dogsledding. North of the Arctic circle. If you are a little fuzzy on where the Arctic Circle is it's the line at which you have 24 hours of darkness on the winter solstice. Above the line you get more days of dark, below the line the sun does come up, however short, each day. It was "mushy" mushing for us. The weather was above freezing, and we were probably one of the last groups to go out this season. We were given boots, snowsuits, gloves and hats to wear, which was good since it was really wet. We got paired up on the sleds: Lucas and I on one, Polly and Nathan on the other. We swapped back and forth several times during the time we were out. We had 6 dogs pulling each sled, Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Huskies, and Malamutes. The dogs all know what to do, so it's pretty easy. Just hang on and let them follow the trail. You do have to stand on the brake once in a while, going downhill or if the sled in front slows down. It was a really great experience.

Overnight to Rovaniemi

2010-04-12T04:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Rovaniemi. It's a 1000 kilometer trip from Helsinki, about due north. We took the 10:30 pm train, and the station is mostly closed at that time of night. And the signs are in Finnish. And our tickets were too for that matter. So I asked a security guard for some information, and he told us which track our train would be on. He also told us this helpful tidbit "the train is only here for about 5 minutes, so get on as soon as it arrives."

SO, the train pulled in. There's nobody official near it, or on it for that matter. We had been told we'd have the upper deck in a double decker train, with our own shower (!), but this train had no double decker cars. We got on the car that we decided was ours (they are numbered) and found our 2 tiny cabins. Pretty soon the train pulled out. By now we were really hoping this was the right train.

About 5 minutes later the conductor came around and punched our tickets. Whew! We were on the right train.

The cabins had 2 bunks, although there is a third that can be folded out. The bunks are not bad, about twin bed width. The cabins are about 30 inches wider than the bunks, and they are the same length as the bunks, about 6' 6". Cozy. There's a little sink in the corner.

We wandered around the train a bit, then slept pretty well. The train stops quite a bit. In the morning I happened to think we might not get off at the right place, especially if we were in a different time zone, so I asked at the lunch counter. We were in the same time zone all the way, and due into Rovaniemi at 10:30 am. We arrived on time and got off at the right place.

Residency Cards

2010-03-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

No visa is required to visit Estonia for up to 90 days, which is great for vacations and business trips. But we are staying longer than that, and since no visa is required, you have to do the paperwork here, under a deadline. The problem we have is that there are 4 of us, only 1 of us is working here, and 1 of us is 19, therefore an adult, but neither working nor a full-time student.

So here's our tale so far (but keep in mind I generally require 2 or 3 trips to renew my drivers license in the USA):

All four of us went to the migration office to do the initial paperwork (1 working, 3 dependents).

The next day, three of us went back to finish up some loose ends.

Then I went on one followup trip to police for more paperwork for my own (working) permit.

Then Nathan and I went once to police to submit different (student) paperwork for Nathan.

I went to the migration office after getting a notice that my card was ready (it wasn't yet, the notice said it would be ready later, not it is ready).

So I had to make another trip to pick it up.

Lucas, Nathan and I went to pickup Lucas's card (the office was closed).

Lucas went back to pickup his card.

Nathan still didn't have the right application filed, so he and I went again to the police station (the "independently wealthy" option).

Polly went to pickup her card and got it on the first try.

I think that's 10 visits to various offices so far, sometimes we all go, sometimes we go individually. We are hoping that with just one more trip to get Nathan's card we'll be done.

Bread

2010-03-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the Estonians have mastered baked goods. Even the most "wonderbread-like" bread is whole wheat and has some body to it. But there's no reason to eat the pre-sliced sandwich loaf anyway. For 7 kroon, about $0.63, you can buy a loaf of whole grain or rye or pumpernickel or something else wonderful. See the photo. It's really good stuff.

A person that is only here a few days might not realize how cheap breads are. Everything is priced by the kilogram. A loaf marked 18kr seems a bit steep. Then you find out that a kilogram is close to 3 loaves.

March 25th, Tallinn Estonia

2010-03-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

On the way home from work I walked through Freedom Square. People were lighting candles. Lots of candles. I went home, got a camera and came back. They were still unloading boxes and boxes of candles. I ask a woman next to me "what's the occasion?" She said 61 years ago the Soviets deported 20,000 Estonians to Siberia.

20,000 candles for 20,000 people.

Speaking Estonian

2010-03-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

Vabandage. I am sorry.
Ma ei räägi eesti keelt. I don't speak Estonian.

But I am trying. Every week I have over 2 full hours of eesti keel. It's enjoyable, but I don't think I'll ever really be able to do much beyond say hello and goodbye, please and thank you, and perhaps use the correct change in the market when the clerk says "kakssada viiskümmend seitse." That's two-hundred fifty-seven. Kaks (2) sada (hundred) viis (5) kümmend (turns the word for 5 into 50) seitse (7).
I struggle mightily to understand the differences between me, you, them (no he or she) in both plural and singular form, and how every verb changes depending on who I am talking about. For example, "I study Estonian language" is:
Ma õpin eesti keelt.
You (singular, specifically you) study Estonian is:
Sa õpib eesti keelt.
They study (specifically them, those people right there):
Ta õpib
and of course, the plurals of the above, in the same order are:
Me õpime
Te õpite
Nad õpivad

So far the verb "study" has 6 forms. Don't even ask about studied or studying. In fact, there is no continuous tense, so you can't say studying exactly.

Another fun fact to know and share: unlike English, the object in an Estonian sentence is a different form. In English, "Tom killed the tiger" is not the same at all as "the tiger killed Tom." However, in Estonian, "Tom tappis tigri" is exactly the same as "tiigri tappis Tom," because tiigri is the object form of the noun for tiger.

Vabandage.

Maritime Museum

2010-03-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

Estonia has a long maritime history. In fact, it's always relied on the sea, so it has a maritime prehistory as well. The Maritime Museum covers the earliest to the most recent history. Almost everything has an explanation in English along with Estonian and Russian, a first among the museums we've been to. It's located in "Fat Margaret," the old cannon tower next to the gate facing the sea.

I really liked the copper deep sea divers claustrophobia inducer. It was never actually used, but it looks like a prop from a horror movie. The home made, open, 13-foot boat that was rowed from one of the islands to Sweden was memorable to say the least.

Museum of the Occupations

2010-03-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

We went to the Museum of the Occupations. I liked it. I think it gives you a feel for life in a Soviet occupied country.

Most of it is everyday life, a phone booth, Soviet automobiles, clothing, kitchen utensils. The descriptions tell about how hard it was to get an auto, and how the owner toweled it dry if it ever got wet. It also tells how the designs for many things like automobiles were "liberated" from factories in East Germany.

There are videos, you

can choose your language to hear a translation and see people talk about the occupation.

There are 2 things that stick out in my mind. The first is a display of prison doors in the middle of the museum. Just a long line of steel doors with peep holes and slots for food. The other is in the basement. Next to the toilets there are 7 or 8 larger than life statues of Soviet heros. Now they just sit in the basement, sort of guarding or perhaps welcoming you to the restrooms.

Independence Day

2010-02-24T11:30:00.001-08:00

We got up early and went to Toompea hill. At 7:33 the flag was raised on Tall Herman. Then we went into the courtyard of parliament and listened to some speeches in Estonian. It was shoulder to shoulder, lots of flags, uniforms, students wearing university caps, young and old. After a nap we went to Vabaduse Valjak, Freedom Square, and saw a lot of soldiers and military vehicles on parade. Two French Mirage jets flew over. A band was playing. More speeches. It was actually a great event.Two college age girls overheard us talking and asked if we

were Americans.

They both go to UConn, doing a semester abroad, one in France, one in Germany. We saw them twice more today; it's a small city for a capital.

Ozymandias

2010-02-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away"

- Percy Bysshe Shelley

In the Museum of the Occupations there are several statues of Soviet leaders and heros. Now they are in the basement, next to the toilets and lockers. There are no exhibits down there. Just these statues and the toilets.

Teaching

2010-02-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

Teaching here is different from teaching in the US in many ways. My classroom was scheduled the week before classes started and I didn't actually teach until the second week. Nobody knew how many students I might have until they showed up for class. Estonians are definitely not tied to a schedule like we are in Rolla. It's OK, just different.

I teach a 4 hour class. In the US, that would mean four hours of teaching, although since an "hour" of class is 50 minutes, it really means 200 minutes per week. If a lab is included, that's 3 hours of lab per one credit, so you might have a 3 hour lab plus 3 of the 50 minute lectures.

Here in Estonia a 4 hour class is different. We meet once a week for 2 hours. The hours are 45 minutes, so I lecture for 90 minutes. After that, we have another 45 minutes of something like recitation. I can give them a quiz, or we can have a discussion, or I can just let them go. In addition to the lecture and recitation I have "contact hours." Contact hours are when I am available in my office. I have 4 hours of that per week associated with this class. Again, it's OK, just different.

City Walls

2010-02-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

Old town was surrounded by over 3 km of masonry walls and 20+ towers. About half the wall and towers remain. Some of the towers are open for visiting, and you can walk on top of the walls. They are of course, not handicap accessible in any sense of the word. The "modern" stairs are in a tight spiral. The original stairs are spiral-ish, the treads are tall and not of even height, and the stone treads are not flat.

It's worth the climb anyway. There are great views, and you can imagine defending the city by shooting arrows out the slit windows. It's interesting to a civil engineer to imagine how the rooms were constructed, how materials were moved, how the roofing must have been put on.

The upper rooms of the towers have fireplaces with chimneys built into the corners. I can't imagine that the uninsulated stone rooms (with no glass in the windows) warmed up much, but maybe it improved the mood of the soldiers on guard duty. My favorite feature in one of the towers is the toilet, kind of a bay window with a hole in the bottom. It's on the outer side of the wall, of course.

Apartment! home sweet home

2010-02-05T05:12:00.000-08:00

We found an apartment pretty quickly. It has everything we were looking for: 3 bedrooms, almost 2 bathrooms (only a stool and sink in the second, it's enough), furnished, and convenient location. It's in old town, which is pretty cool. We have a sauna for those days when we just can't get warmed up. There's a big ceramic tiled fireplace and we buy little bundles of birch for it. The whole thing heats up and continues to radiate heat long after the fire goes out. The walls are a little bare like all new apartments. We've got more closets and drawers than some apartments we looked at. So far it's quiet; the walls are a meter thick masonry and we have double pane windows plus storm windows outside those. The door to the street locks, and there are 2 doors separated by about 16 inches, both with locks, to get into our apartment. It seems pretty secure. We'll see how it is in the summer with thousands of tourists on the streets. We are pretty happy here.

Stuff I wish I had

2010-02-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

I don't think there's anything big that I wish we had. A few spring clothespins for closing chip bags and hanging things up, a handful of rubber bands, a few more pens and pencils. Those things can be bought here I am sure, but the trouble is always finding the things to buy. I forgot a needle and thread, and it took a few days to find the right store so I could get them. I'll probably wish for a roll of duct tape before the trip is over. A ball of string usually comes in handy at some point.

The migration office

2010-02-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

In order to stay for more than 90 days in Estonia we had to apply for a residency and work permit. We brought all kinds of documents proving we have insurance and income, birth certificates, marriage licenses and so forth. There are forms on the web that seem pretty clear, but everyone seems to have a slight difference of opinion as to what is exactly needed. After working with the international affairs office at the university for a while and not getting anywhere, we just went to the migration office. Luckily we had an Estonian speaking friend to help out, but even if we didn't I think that would be the way to go. Just cart all the documents down to the office and get started. The migration people will ask for more if you are missing anything, so there's not much harm in just going there directly. All in all, it was like a trip to the DMV. The people don't mean to not be helpful, they just have to go by the book, and the book is pretty strict. Never mind that in the US you need a birth certificate to get a passport, here in Estonia you need both to apply for a residency permit. That's what the book says, and they have to get a copy of a birth certificate whether it makes sense or not.

Weather

2010-02-02T02:40:00.000-08:00

They tell us that this is unusual weather, but we are pretty far north, so I don't know what to think about that statement. The first 2 weeks were bitter cold, like-25C, sometimes with a wind. The past few days have been just below freezing, with constant snow. It doesn't seem to be accumulating very quickly, but it never stops. I'd guess we are getting from 3 to 6 inches per day. This weather is more like Michigan, not so bitter, with lots of snow in the air.

Language

2010-01-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

Külm valik is a sign in the cafeteria at work. My ipod translator says valik is assorted. My translator has no ü with the 2 dots over it. So I typed kulm. Kulm (no dots) is eyebrow. How wonderful is that? Assorted eyebrows at the cafeteria! OK, külm (with the dots) is actually cold. But to me, it will always be assorted eyebrows.

Day to day

2010-01-23T15:01:00.000-08:00

If I say everything is an ordeal it would be an exaggeration. On the other hand, almost everything takes three times as long as you expect. For example, a short trip to the grocery store is a "learning experience" in more ways than one. The sugar is not near the flour. Even though I know that chicken is kana, Estonian tends to mash words together so if the chicken is cooked (like in a deli) then it's a 16 letter word with kana in it somewhere. The Estonian - English dictionary isn't much use, because of all the variations (14 tenses also) in words.

Of course, it's -20C, so we have to add quite a bit of time for bundling up and unbundling. I don't know how it can feel damp at that far below freezing, but it is a really penetrating cold.

Finally, we walk or take the bus everywhere, so that adds time as well. We are used to jumping in a car and going where we want to go, filling the trunk and going to another store, and so on. Yesterday we bought sheets, towels, blankets and pillows. We each had a huge armload when we got on the bus. Luckily it wasn't a very crowded time of day, because each of us needed 2 seats.

2010-01-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

Apartment hunting can be a bit frustrating. Real estate photography is not well developed (pun intended), If there are 10 photos, one will be the stairs up to the apartment, one the front of the building, 2 will be of toilets (just the stool), 2 will be looking in through doorways into obscure rooms that are mostly blocked from view, one might be from a different apartment, and 3 will show living room from more or less the same angle. So it is a guessing game.

Estonian food, first few hours in Estonia

2010-01-16T15:37:00.000-08:00

We ate at Kompressor our first night in Tallinn. It's a place where you can get pancakes with chicken and feta (Polly had it), smoked cheese and bacon (me), just grilled chicken (both boys), or lots of other options. They come with a sour cream sauce. Really good, and pretty cheap eats. Lucas could barely stay awake, Nathan was a little better off, none of us had much energy after 24 hours traveling. by about 8 pm I think we were all asleep.

We made it

2010-01-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

Thursday we packed like mad all day, until something like 1:30 am. Of course, when you are getting ready to go is when Nathan and Lucas's friends all show up and hang around, picking up interesting things that I had piled neatly to pack - "hey look, an adapter for European sockets" - and setting said things down in random places.

Friday, up at 6 a.m., left for the airport by 8:30. 12:30 flight to Newark, about 2.5 hours later (1 hour delay) we took off on a 7 hour flight bound for Stockholm. Arrived 8:30 a.m. Stockholm time (1:30 Rolla time). At 1:30 p.m. we took a one hour flight to Tallinn, losing another hour. Finally go to the hotel about 5:15 p.m. local time, or 9:15 am US Central time. Went out for pancakes, in bed about 7:30. Whew!

Stuff to pack

2009-12-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

These are some thoughts before we go. Later I'll post what we ended up needing. Duffle bags. Sure, we have some, but not enough for all 4 of us to be gone for an extended period. We got some rollers and some plain duffles.

Warm: jackets, pants, boots, hats, gloves. Being from Michigan I have a pretty good idea what's warm. Outfitting the family is getting pricey though.

Inverter from 220v 50 Hz to 120v 60 Hz, we have to plug in a few things.

Laptops (2), the computer will be our phone (Skype), music source, movie source (iTunes), and oh incidentally used for work. Two is the bare minimum for us.

New Garmin GPS with a map of Europe - we'll get lost anyway I am sure, but this will help.

Zipped portfolio for all the documents we have to carry along to Estonia. Later it will help organize all the receipts we'll end up trying to keep track of for tax purposes. - Can you imagine how much fun it will be explaining rent in Kroon during an audit?

That's all for now. Less than 3 weeks until we depart.

Flying to Tallinn

2009-11-26T22:07:00.000-08:00

We have to Fly America, and that's OK with me. It's a bit tricky though. If you use Expedia for example, you can get from St. Louis to Tallinn for ~$1,000, or maybe to Helsinki for $800 (the ferry is about $60 round trip). But that's on SAS or Lufthansa and I need an American flagged carrier. American, Delta, United all list fares of about $2,000 to Tallinn, or higher. Continental says $900 to Helsinki or Stockholm, but you can't get a fare all the way to Tallinn. SO, I bought 4 round trip tickets to Stockholm on Continental for $900 each. It's only $200 each for round trip airfare to Tallinn from Stockholm. So for the minor inconvenience of picking up our baggage and checking right back in on another airline, we save about $900 each. Since we go through customs in Stockholm anyway, it's not a big deal. Why is it so difficult to work out travel?

Tickets purchased, don't use onetravel.com

2009-11-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

I bought the tickets, we're leaving St. Louis on Friday the 15th of January. I won't ever try to use onetravel.com again. Yesterday I booked 4 tickets on Continental, through Copenhagen, to Tallinn. In the middle of the night I got an e-mail stating that because of the short connection times they had to change the flights to Lufthansa, and it would be $700 more. Never mind that they had advertised the flights, now it's too short. On the phone I told them it wasn't too short, if I went to the Continental website I could pull up the identical itinerary as far as Copenhagen. Then they said it was the high season, all sold out. I said "expletive! It's 2 weeks after the holidays, that's not the high season, and I can see available tickets on the Continental website." The biggest issue of all is that I went from an American flagged carrier to a German one, so it was not acceptable. Finally they agreed to cancel the tickets without any cost to me. No confirmation yet, but they have not tried to charge anything to my credit card, and I called the credit card company and told them I'd be disputing any charges from onetravel, so I think I am safe. I'll post the actual ticketing process in later.

Finnish countryside

2009-10-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

There are a lot on Finnish people in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I think that the U.P. does look a bit like Finland. Lots of lakes, birches and other mixed hardwood trees, and it is also cold.

Coffee

2009-10-15T04:17:00.000-07:00

Finns love coffee. It's a fact that they drink the most per capita. My anecdotal evidence:

Today I had breakfast with coffee followed immediately by registration with coffee. Opening session for 1 hour followed by coffee. That takes us up to 10:30. My session lasted until noon, then lunch. Coffee anyone? Another session from 1 to 2, then coffee, a technical tour and finally the city reception (will there be coffee?)

Wired in Finland,

Eric

Speaking English "over there"

2009-10-15T04:09:00.000-07:00

I always feel bad that I don't speak a second language. There is something very surreal about going to a conference and giving a paper, in English, to an audience where English the second (or third) language of everyone else in the room. I kept thinking either "I'd better speak really well since it's my language" or "I don't have to worry about my language skills, they are the best in the room." OK, that second one is an ugly American point of view, and I really did make an effort to speak slowly, clearly and enunciate as well as I possibly can.

Crossing the Gulf of Finland in a storm

2009-10-15T04:05:00.000-07:00

Oof. Even on a large cruise ship size ferry it was rough crossing yesterday. The spray was hitting the windows on the front of the ship on deck 8. Up and down, up and down. It was hard to walk. The vikings must be naturals at sailing though. I saw hundreds of people eating pizza, drinking beer and generally enjoying themselves. Nobody got sick that I saw.

Dinner

2009-10-14T06:22:00.000-07:00

The food is great. I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to eating, so I'd probably order by pointing at unknown words if I had to. Menus always have translations in the touristy areas, so no problem anyway. I had grilled salmon and rice last night, and for appetizers we had a selection of eel, herring, dried-salted-raw beef (a Georgian dish), pickles and other stuff. All good to me. I did pass when the dean of my college suggested vodka with the pickles, opting for a local beer instead.

Ferry

2009-10-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

The smaller ferry is a bit faster and runs more often. When it runs. Today the Gulf is choppy and I was not looking forward to the ride in the small ship. My wishes were granted, it was cancelled until tomorrow. However, tomorrow morning I am to give my paper in Helsinki. I was able to switch to a larger ship on a different line. The small ferry is not in an area where taxis (takso) are available, but the helpful woman at the desk said "no problem, you can walk in 20 minutes" (I had 3 hours to kill). The reason the first ferry canceled is the waves, driven by a fierce north wind. walking around the end of the harbor in the wind at about 4C was a brisk adventure. At any rate I did arrive and am waiting for the ship to leave. Have I mentioned that wifi is free all over the place, including ferry terminals where you are a captive audience? In the US at an airport this post would cost $10 (and therefore not exist).

Breakfast in Tallin

2009-10-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

I hate to take time to blog; I am having such an amazing time here. This morning I had pickled eel, among other things, for breakfast. Sort of like pickled herring in my opinion, which was also on the buffet. Other than that, the breads here are wonderful, the yogurt, cheese and dairy in general is terrific, and all in all I can't complain about the food.

Getting to Estonia

2009-10-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

I left Rolla at about 7 am Saturday and Polly drove me to St. Louis. I got on the first plane of the trip at 10:20 and flew to Chicago, then to JFK. From JFK I flew over night to Helsinki, arriving at about 8:30 am local time. I also lost 8 hours in the process, so it was actually 12:30 am in Rolla where I started. Bedtime. It's hard to sleep on a plane, and it's even harder when you are trying to go to sleep at 7 pm, so I only managed about 2 hours over the course of the flight. It did not help that Finnair has these nifty screens in the back of the headrest and you GET TO CHOOSE A MOVIE. There were probably 40 movies, as many TV shows, music radio channels, albums by specific artists, games, and, 2 cameras to choose from, one pointing down and one pointing out the front of the plane. The latter was interesting on take off and landing.

Anyway, from the airport I took a bus to the center of Helsinki. I don't speak or read Finnish, but somehow I got to where I wanted to be. Just in time to watch the boat pull away from the harbor. It was OK, I hadn't planned to catch that one anyway. I walked around the harbor area a bit and then caught the noon ferry to Tallinn. It was a bit rough, but I was asleep most of the 1.5 hour trip anyway.

Note to fellow travelers following in my footsteps: If you take the Linda Line, when you get to Tallinn you are not near anything, and they will only change Euros to Estonian kroon. I only had a few Euros, not enough to exchange to get enough kroon for a takso (taxi), so I had to bargain with a taxi driver to accept dollars instead. She wanted $20 but I talked her into $10.

Tallinn here I come

2009-09-18T09:36:00.001-07:00

Great news, I have a paper accepted at a conference in Helsinki, and I got approval to travel. Since I'll be "in the neighborhood," I'm going to Tallinn for a few days, then back to Helsinki to EuroInfra 2009. On October 10 I fly St. Louis - O'Hare - JFK - Helsinki (arrive the 11th), then take the 2 hour ferry to Tallinn. That will be quite the trip. I have 2.5 days in Tallinn, then 2.5 days in Helsinki, then back to the USA.

My background - work

2009-09-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

I realize my prior posts don't give any background on myself. I currently am in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CArE) at Missouri University of Science and Technology, located in Rolla MO. I have been here since the Fall Semester of 2000. I currently teach several classes, all senior level. Every semester I teach CArE 298, senior design, to all the graduating Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineers. I alternate between CE/ArchE 348, which is Green Construction, and CE/ArchE 346, which is Cost Control (estimating and scheduling). I have also taught CE 345, construction means and methods, CArE 210, senior seminar and CE 241, engineering economics.

When there was or is enough demand I teach CE 442, a graduate class in construction administration, and CE 445, a graduate class in advanced construction methods.

I have been the advisor to the Solar Decathlon team at S&T; currently I am the advisor to the Blacksmithing Club. At a previous university I advised the concrete canoe team.

I am the academic advisor to about 40 freshmen every year, and another 40 in Civil and Architectural Engineering. Most of the incoming transfer students see me at least to select their first semesters classes. I also advise incoming freshmen during their orientation. Whew!

Where is Estonia?

2009-08-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Estonia is south of Finland (across the gulf of Finland). It is also north of Latvia, west of Russia and east of Sweden (across the Baltic sea). Tallinn sits at about 60 degrees north latitude. For contrast, Churchill Manitoba, on Hudson's Bay, and Anchorage Alaska are both around 60 degrees latitude.

What time is it in Tallinn?

2009-08-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Tallinn is usually 8 hours later than Rolla MO (USA Central Time). The US and Estonia don't switch to daylight savings on the same date, so sometimes we are 7 hours different.
Today, August 13, sunrise was 5:33 a.m. and sunset will be at 9:16 p.m. For the surveyors out there, the sun came up at 59 degrees northeast by east and sets at 301 degrees northwest by west. The sun is not too far below the horizon yet, so "civil twilight"adds another 2 hours to the day.

2009-08-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

The only word I can think of for old town is "picturesque," although that seems lacking. Search the web for Tallinn and you'll find a many beatuiful photos. I'll be adding some of my own come January.

2009-08-13T07:39:00.001-07:00

Thanks to LabPixies for fixing my Tallinn weather gadget to actually read Tallinn. Great support!

2009-08-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

If you want to visit the website of the University where I will be working, it is http://www.ttu.ee/. It is in Estonian, which is interesting to see, but hard to read.

On the other hand, there are pages in English. You can click the little British flag on the homepage or go directly to http://www.ttu.ee/?lang=en.

Why Estonia

2009-07-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

I am often asked "why did I choose to go to Estonia?" I don't have any Estonian roots. The easy answer is Estonia chose me. There was this great "construction engineering" -specific opportunity on the CIES website. That's my area of experience, education and teaching. Their interest in green construction fits with my interest in teaching green construction. So it is a good fit. At that point I didn't really know much about Estonia. I started to learn about the history and culture of Estonia and I knew it would be a great experience for me and my family. I have heard nothing but good things about Estonia and Tallinn.

What will I do in Estonia?

2009-07-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

Professionally / academically:
Teach a green construction course.
Develop curriculum in advanced building technology.
Write a conference paper comparing some aspect of Estonian construction industry to that in the USA.
Take part in other academic work in the department.

I understand there is some flexibility as to what I will do exactly, but this is the general idea.

Personally / socially / family-wise:
Learn about Estonia and the people. See the old town of Tallinn, the parks, other cities in Estonia.
See Eastern Europe.
Visit neighboring countries.
Enjoy the cultural opportunities of opera, symphony, other music, food....

Interesting things I have learned about Estonia:

2009-07-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

Even though it is cold, dark and damp for much of the winter (like Houghton Michigan, where I spent 6 winters) apartments don't typically have dryers. I guess we'll send towels to the laundry(?)
The seafood is reported to be excellent.
I can't seem to find a craigslist for Estonia. Maybe I should start one. I'm told they don't have anything like Goodwill or Salvation Army either. What will we do for cheap dishes?
The currency is the kroon, pegged to the Euro. right now $1 US is about 11 ro 12 Kr. They hope to go to the Euro soon.
Estonian language is extremely difficult. I have a "teach yourself" CD, and it sounds like nothing else I have ever heard. On the other hand, the people reportedly speak english well, and appreciate any attempts by Americans to speak Estonian. Tere! is hello, and I can say please and thank you, but I don't think I'll be conversing in the native tongue.

2009-07-31T09:40:00.001-07:00

Welcome, here is my blog for the trip to Estonia. OK, so maybe Dr. Construction isn't the most inspired name, but I was put on the spot.