My amazing 13 days in Estonia
Estonia
is located just south from Finland. Formerly part of the Soviet Union, nowadays independent and member of EU, this land is full of Finnish tourists attracted there by the remarkably cheap prices. Since Estonian and Finnish languages are very close relatives, it's easy for us to understand each other, especially when many Estonians speak English and/or Finnish.
My fellow travellers
were 4 scout friends of mine. Ellu (20, a very good friend of mine), Joonas (17, the only boy), Sara (16, smart and funny girl) and Reetta (15, the best friend of my sister M, a nice and energetic girl). We're all good friends with each other despite the age difference (that's what you get after spending too many weekends together), quite equal and able to have lots of fun together.
This happened many times:
RANDOM GUY: You're a lucky one, travelling with all those girls!
JOONAS: Not too sure about that...
RG: Are they all your sisters?
J: *blinks* Naturally.
GIRLS: *snigger*
The scout camp
or jamboree, as is the correct term, was quite small for an international jamboree. There were only almost 1,000 participants. The number of foreign participants was remarkable, as it was approximately 1/3.
The program
wasn't what we're used to. Very un-scoutlike (like paintball, tai chi, massage, making straw hats etc.), but fun. I didn't even use my knife once! *shakes head* Actually, the only traditional program (for us) was the hike. Sometimes it felt like there could have been more program, we had a lot of free time. Estonian scouts really like partying, too. Playbox disco, the night dance (öötantsupidu in Estonian, it sounds hilarious at least to us Finnish speakers!), and final party. Not that I'm complaining, it was a lot of fun :)
The timetables
were more like guidelines, anyway :D No program started when it was told to, the best was one hour late. For punctual Finns it was strange, but after you got used to it, it didn't matter so much. The camp didn't go into chaos because of this ;)
The other scouts
were the best. Estonians were very friendly. Everyone was eager to make new acquaintances. I should also mention the other Finns. We lived in the same "village" with 8 scouts from the same city. I didn't know them too well, but now I do. We had a lot of fun with them :)
My birthday
was on 30th of July, so it was during my stay there. Can you believe that my parents forgot it? There's an explanation, though: They were on a holiday and lost track of days. Still. But, my fellow travellers remembered it, and even bought me a cake!
The prices
were unbelievable. Most notable in food prices, but existent everywhere. Some examples: half a litre of juice, 7 EEK = 0,45 €. Here I'd be prepared to pay ~1,5 €. A bun, 4 EEK = 0,26 €. Here: ~1,5 €. A cappuccino: 15 EEK = 1 €. Here, ~2,5 €. This hasn't gone unnoticed by Finns - Tallinn is full of Finns, who visit it just to buy alcohol. We go there by ship, and every return ship is full of people with boxes full of alcohol cans.
Saaremaa
is a region consisting of couple of islands in western Estonia. We visited it for three days after the camp. There we visited a castle, made food in parks, went bowling, got wet because of the rain, hitchhiked and did all kinds of silly things.
I had a lot of fun.
Possibly I'll post some pictures once I get them from Joonas, whose camera we used.
Unfortunately, tomorrow I'm leaving to another scout camp, which means this day must be spent unpacking and packing, washing clothes and resting. And of course, catching up with my e-mail ;)
is located just south from Finland. Formerly part of the Soviet Union, nowadays independent and member of EU, this land is full of Finnish tourists attracted there by the remarkably cheap prices. Since Estonian and Finnish languages are very close relatives, it's easy for us to understand each other, especially when many Estonians speak English and/or Finnish.
My fellow travellers
were 4 scout friends of mine. Ellu (20, a very good friend of mine), Joonas (17, the only boy), Sara (16, smart and funny girl) and Reetta (15, the best friend of my sister M, a nice and energetic girl). We're all good friends with each other despite the age difference (that's what you get after spending too many weekends together), quite equal and able to have lots of fun together.
This happened many times:
RANDOM GUY: You're a lucky one, travelling with all those girls!
JOONAS: Not too sure about that...
RG: Are they all your sisters?
J: *blinks* Naturally.
GIRLS: *snigger*
The scout camp
or jamboree, as is the correct term, was quite small for an international jamboree. There were only almost 1,000 participants. The number of foreign participants was remarkable, as it was approximately 1/3.
The program
wasn't what we're used to. Very un-scoutlike (like paintball, tai chi, massage, making straw hats etc.), but fun. I didn't even use my knife once! *shakes head* Actually, the only traditional program (for us) was the hike. Sometimes it felt like there could have been more program, we had a lot of free time. Estonian scouts really like partying, too. Playbox disco, the night dance (öötantsupidu in Estonian, it sounds hilarious at least to us Finnish speakers!), and final party. Not that I'm complaining, it was a lot of fun :)
The timetables
were more like guidelines, anyway :D No program started when it was told to, the best was one hour late. For punctual Finns it was strange, but after you got used to it, it didn't matter so much. The camp didn't go into chaos because of this ;)
The other scouts
were the best. Estonians were very friendly. Everyone was eager to make new acquaintances. I should also mention the other Finns. We lived in the same "village" with 8 scouts from the same city. I didn't know them too well, but now I do. We had a lot of fun with them :)
My birthday
was on 30th of July, so it was during my stay there. Can you believe that my parents forgot it? There's an explanation, though: They were on a holiday and lost track of days. Still. But, my fellow travellers remembered it, and even bought me a cake!
The prices
were unbelievable. Most notable in food prices, but existent everywhere. Some examples: half a litre of juice, 7 EEK = 0,45 €. Here I'd be prepared to pay ~1,5 €. A bun, 4 EEK = 0,26 €. Here: ~1,5 €. A cappuccino: 15 EEK = 1 €. Here, ~2,5 €. This hasn't gone unnoticed by Finns - Tallinn is full of Finns, who visit it just to buy alcohol. We go there by ship, and every return ship is full of people with boxes full of alcohol cans.
Saaremaa
is a region consisting of couple of islands in western Estonia. We visited it for three days after the camp. There we visited a castle, made food in parks, went bowling, got wet because of the rain, hitchhiked and did all kinds of silly things.
I had a lot of fun.
Possibly I'll post some pictures once I get them from Joonas, whose camera we used.
Unfortunately, tomorrow I'm leaving to another scout camp, which means this day must be spent unpacking and packing, washing clothes and resting. And of course, catching up with my e-mail ;)