Day 6: Disconcerting Statues and Estonian Independence

Tartu is much like my own college down, except with older buildings, cobblestone streets, and a disconcerting amount of statues. With all the cafes and bookstores and general college atmosphere, it also brings Ann Arbor to mind. I like it better than the more closed in streets and tall industrial buildings of Tallinn.

There is also no way to get lost in this town. Sooner or later you'll make it back to the city square, no matter what wooded path you might take. I had a fun time wandering about for an hour between lectures, encountering monuments and statues aplenty, a boy and his dog, two lovers on the Dome Hill (I think i was interrupting), and the structures of a bombed semi-reconstructed cathedral. It has a nice quiet atmosphere that you don't get in Tallinn...that, and I believe that most of the potential tourists were at the Song Festival.

The lectures opened up new doors to Estonian culture. First was the talk on economics, that went pretty in depth on all the aspects of the rise and now decline of the Estonian finacial climate. Estonia, of course, had huge increases in the economy since the fall of the Soviet Union when they gained independence. The only question is how far they could go until their highly liberal tactics came back to haunt them. What effect will being partnered with the EU have? Where do they go from here? Where they are right now remains undisturbed grown and the future is a huge question mark.

The second lecture explained some of the chances they took in forming their economy. Dr, Marju Lauristin gave us the sociology perspective of Estonia during and after the fall of the Soviet control. Before they gained independence, they had a better view of how a free country worked through watching Finnish television. That was the only link to the outside world that they had. So when they were released, part of them already leaned towards a more Scandinavian policy. In the end, they just tried to be as different than the Soviet system that they could. It was a younger country run by a young generation who made many new and radial policies to get the country up and running. Now, after the transition, the same question mark appears. Where does Estonia go now that the economy is tapering off? What is their position in Europe? The trail goes forth into a haze.