Quick Update

I've been back in Toronto for 1 week. Liisa arrived safely on Wednesday. We're slowly trying to settle in. Looking for an apartment is a pain in the ass but we're confident we'll find something within a couple of weeks. Starting slowly to work and look for work again. Will update more in the coming weeks as I settle in.

(Also, I will probably have to change the title of this blog at somepoint)

Bye!

Well, today is my last day in Tallinn. Tomorrow morning I'm off to Toronto, Liisa will join me on Wednesday there. When I moved here almost 2 years ago I did it without much of a plan and ensure of whether I really wanted to come. I can say that it was the right decision and the time I've had here has been more fun and interesting than I could have ever imagined. The people I've met here and experiences I've had will last a lifetime.

The main question people keep asking me is whether I'll be back. It's a really tough question to answer. I really would love to come back to live here at some point, I can't quite figure out where I belong but at least I'll know that I can always come back to Eesti and it wouldn't be too bad.

ciao!

"I know that human being and fish can coexist peacefully!"

A pretty good collection of Bushisms, I know it's an easy target but it's still funny.

Things I'll miss (and won't miss)...

I'm leaving Eesti on Sunday, here are some things I'll miss and some I won't:

Things I'll miss:
- Skype
- Estonian milk products (except cheese), ice cream is so good here.
- Gin Long
- Hell Hunt
- Long summer days
- Those crunchy peanut snacks
- Saaremaa and Hiiumaa
- Pronkssõdur guard, it's amusing to see 5 cops protect a statue 24/7.
- Quick trips to London, Stockholm, etc
- Kompressor pancakes
- WiFi everywhere
- A relaxed work atmosphere (compared to North America).
- Saun, everywhere, all the time.
- Dark, estonian bread.

Things I won't miss:
- British Stag parties
- Drunken people all over the place anytime of the day.
- Estonian Air (motto: We're never on time)
- Long winter nights
- Saaremaa Laevakompanii and their ferries
- Bank machines that don't give you your card back before giving you your money.
- Estonian driving habits
- Troll #3 (and to a lesser extent #1).
- No washing maching in my apartment.
- Lack of decent english language books.
- Estonian radio - who programs this stuff?
- Girls trying to sell me postcards everytime I step out of my apartment.
- Lack of proper recycling.
- Living next to a construction site for 2 years.

Hiiumaa

Liisa and I spent the weekend at Hiiumaa where my family has a piece of land that was my grandmothers family farm before they we're forced to leave in the 40's. The land is quite large and what used to be pasture is now overgrown with a thick forest. We spent the night on the sand beach which was really amazing. Enjoy the pics.

Hiiumaa

Aug 5, 2006 - 95 Photos

"What a silly person you are..."

Interesting video. Don't say I agree with everything said but you've got to love the energy that British news has compared to US news.

Vacation

I've sort of moved on from Skype now, I had my last day a couple of weeks ago but am still employed there for awhile while I finish up some projects for them.

In the meantime I've spent a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the amazing weather we've had here. I know that T.O. is experiencing insane temperatures, Estonia has also been quite hot but thankfully we don't have the humidity and it always seems to cool off enough at night to sleep well.
I spent a bunch of time last week in Sweden mostly in the Swedish Archipelago which is a series of thousands of islands on the coast. It's amazingly pretty. Have a look at the pics.






Only 2.5 weeks and I'll be back in Toronto, see you then.