In 1982 when I was doing "roots" research in Estonia, I tried to find the elusive copying machine in the only hotel in Tallinn that allowed foreigners. The clerk in the manager's office looked at me as if to say, "Why do you bother me, you insignificant fly? I am busy polishing my fingernails.” On recent trips to Kambja and Puurmani town halls, however, I found the clerks exceedingly friendly even though I must have distracted them from their duties.
Tallinn now has many excellent hotels with courteous service. When I asked for travel directions, invariably people were helpful. On one occasion a stranger allowed me to use her cellular telephone when I needed to inform a friend that I was lost and would be late.
But Estonians do not like friendliness or help imposed upon them. Once, in Portland, Oregon, when a store clerk approached a visitor from Saaremaa with “May I help you?” as is the custom in the United States, our visitor complained to me, “What does she want of me?”
I noticed that people in Tallinn, especially the young women, are much slimmer than Texans, (and also, in an European comparison, in better shape than their neighbors, the Swedes.) Estonians seemed very energetic. But as a nonsmoker, I was aware of the prevalence of smokers. The cigarette packages have warning labels, but people ignore health effects. Alcoholic beverages are widely available, and drinking is a major problem.
Within Tallinn’s city limits are at least a hundred places where alcohol is sold: gas stations, convenience stores and the like. I learned of a new city ordinance that prohibits sale of alcohol from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. in the morning. This would require the drunkards to plan their alcohol requirements a couple hours in advance. Even at midday young people are on the street drinking beer. They appeared not to be homeless people. At one time riding on a bus I saw two young men quite drunk. One of them bothered a middle-aged lady by reading her newspaper over her shoulder and commenting loudly on the news. The lady told the youth sharply that his behavior was lacking. In America people just try to move away to avoid trouble.
The arts are valued in Estonia. A great number of people attended the countrywide songfest I participated in last summer. I have toured the country several times as a member of folkdance groups and choirs. We always performed in halls, churches or parks filled to capacity. Often the local choir greeted us with reciprocal singing. Such traditions are sadly missing in America.
Still, Western influences have penetrated Estonia in many ways. I heard rock music on the radio and at beer festivals. Often Estonian words are grafted onto them, but I would have preferred not to hear it at all. Estonia has plenty of its own unique music, to meet the needs of listening or public drinking. In warm weather, Estonians wear T-shirts with logos advertising American products, never Russian products, and they wear caps with logos of U.S. sport teams or universities.
A tourist can't observe directly how industrious people are, but I had the impression that the country is blossoming economically and progress is real. Estonians have left behind attitudes held during of the Soviet occupation. My cousin said of the past mentality: “The duty of a Soviet citizen was to set up hurdles for himself, so he would have something to overcome!” In the Estonian fairy tale "Kaval Ants ja Vanapagan," a peasant youth gets the better of his dumb and clumsy powerful adversary through cleverness and cunning.
This must have been the model of Estonian managers dealing with the Soviet central government. It was normal to bribe officials and gamble on getting caught. But they were successful in getting needed resources to meet their needs and more. The system was inefficient and wasteful. Today the economic rules are much simpler: the monetary value of goods and services determines how resources are allocated, and the Estonian economy has become the leader among the countiries once occupied by the Soviets. Still, I heard some people grumbling that so-and-so is only “after money.” However, monetary reward is the key element in a free-market economy, and is the motivator for creativity and innovation from which the entire country ultimately benefits.
A few people complained about the “apparatchiks,” former Soviet-era managers and party members, who were able to retain power or acquire state properties cheaply during privatization. Estonians feel they will only be rid of them in time, when they die out naturally.
(To be continued)
Impressions of present day Estonia (2)
Archived Articles | 15 Apr 2005 | Arved PlaksEWR
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