Job Discussion Forums

[The_Northerner]

I'm sure I have a lot to learn, and maybe I'm wrong about some things, but here are some thoughts...

*There is a palpable difference between the Russian and Estonian ethnicities. I can (with some accuracy) "spot" a Russian in a crowd. They seem, well, a bit more miserable and worse-off than your average Estonian.

*Anywhere there is a commotion or some uncivil public drunkeness, you can bet one of Brezhnev's eyebrows that it is pack of Russians.

*If I see a person drinking a liter of Double Bock 6% beer in the morning, he is undoubtedly of the Slavic underclass.

*Estonians are a quiet species. Many have a look in their face like, "why the f**k are you talking?"

*Every young woman is required to wear Jedi knight boots and tight jeans. And some kind of fur lining on her coat or said boots.

*Sales service is fairly bad, but the stunning woman giving you bad service makes up for it.

*Despite all expectations, the little cakes here are quite...unexceptional. But the coffee is good, however.

*All of the corner casinos in this town give it a tawdry feeling. And the fact that many of them are in the Russian neighborhoods gives you further proof that the Russians are destined to kill themselves off, without any help from American nukes.

*The babushkas all wear the same style of winter hat.

*For some reason, this is the only northern European country that doesn't care about ice hockey.

[Zorba]

* And place here every other stereotype you can think of about Russians and the "Slavic ethnicity".... YAWN...

[jonniboy]

[adavidwatson]

Here's another clue to pick out the Russians in the crowds. If they aren't blonde, they're probably at least part Russian. Tallinn is about half Russian so expect them to be well represented.

Russians are also usually at the center of a lot of the fun and interesting things in Tallinn, so I was grateful for their presence there. I will admit that when a couple of teenagers threw a couple of punches at me in the Old Town I went straight to the Russian language.

The Eesti are reserved culturally, the Soviet theory sounds pretty lame to me. Even other the other Baltic peoples aren't like that.

Watch out for the drunk Finns on the weekends. They're mostly harmless but if you ever decide to tag along bear in mind most of them are looking for hired love.

[GF]

These days you have to watch out more for drunk Brits. And Estonians like to party too. My Estonian friends are out and about almost every weekend.

[adavidwatson]

Oh yeah the Estonians can party. I just noticed the Finns seemed to use Tallinn the way Americans use Mexican border towns like Tiajuana and Jaurez. (If anyone notices I misspelled those, sorry) A lot of the Estonians I knew told me "Finns are actually really decent people. Don't judge them by the Finns you see here.

I love Tallinn, if I could just find a way to live there and make a decent living.

[GF]