More fun in Estonia

So I suppose I've gotten "settled in" and totally used to the fact that Tartu is my new home for the next few months. It's still a bit surreal, and in many ways I still feel like a fish out of water, but it's also quite exciting. Classes officially started today, and while my cultural semiotics class was very dry I think my history of the baltic region should be a really neat class. Plus I finally put a face to the name Heiko Pääbo, the director of the ATLANTIS program at Tartu and the director of the Baltic Studies Program there.

The fourth WVU student in our group, Jess, made it in today, so hopefully we'll be able to celebrate soon. Today I ended up eating dinner at the Hesburger, located literally next to the walking bridge (really great location). I wasn't overly impressed. But I also went to a Tartu/Estonia souvenir shop, which was so impressive I took pictures (aren't you glad)!

My Walk Along the Emajõgi (Mother River)

After spending most of the day enjoying my new high-speed internet connection and skyping with my mom, nephew Rylan, and dog Tank (with Zane in the background sleeping) I decided I needed to get out of the dorm considering how beautiful of a day it is in Tartu. 

My little walk took me from my dorm room down across the walking bridge on Raatuse and along a very nice river trail and park where there are quite a few historical monuments.

I Finally Have Internet!

It's been a long time since I last posted in here, but I am finally settled into my new home at Tartu and I have wired internet, so now I can blog to my heart's content! The trip from Pittsburgh to Tartu was very long and arduous, and I think I experienced multiple culture shocks of various kinds and degrees. All in all it was a valuable experience and after the blisters and foot pains have completely subsided I may even decide that I enjoyed it. It's hard to fathom how helpless one can feel in a foreign land without a phone, internet, knowledge of the local language, or any idea of how to get around. It's been a trip where I have learned a great deal very fast, but it's been stimulating to say the least.

I'm staying in a room with one of my friends from the Atlantis program, Steve, and we are currently sharing a suite with a Georgian and a Latvian who just moved in. We are likely expecting two more, but we don't have much of an idea when they'll be moving in. Tartu is a lovely city, and I'm sure you've seen the pictures on Facebook so I won't repost them here. Orientation has been a bit of a bore, but some things about it were actually pretty helpful so I won't complain. It's been great to be here extra early and get to know my way around. Tartu is a very pretty city and everything is very centrally located. It's a fair amount of walking, but at least it's flat. Once the snow comes it might be a chore.

A lot of you have been asking about my class schedule and various other things of that nature, so I thought rather than mass email it I'd post it here and hopefully anyone who's interested can just check this blog periodically for updates. If you would like to know anything else please leave a comment and hopefully I'll cover it in a future update.

Apparently Tartu's web site for registration doesn't want to make it easy for me to share my schedule, so I'll give it to you day by day here
M: Estonian for Beginners, 12:15-2:00
T: Cultural Semiotics and Theories of Culture, 10:15-12:00, History of the Baltic Sea Region, 2:00-4:15
W: Estonian for Beginners, 12:15-2:00
TR: Russian Foreign Policy, 10:15-12:00, Political Developments in the Baltic Sea Region, 12:15-2:00

First Post!

I figure I'd better get this thing off the ground and running. The next few weeks will be an absolute mess and almost certainly will entail some degree of culture shock. Since I'll have to get back into the swing of writing and will actually be expected to give occasional updates for official purposes I thought I should get a blog. I have now officially added my insignificant voice to the large, mostly vacuous blogosphere, although you won't find much philosophy or advice-giving going on here. This is ideally going to be a travel log and place for me to keep family and friends informed on my activities. I've always been bad about updating these things, but hopefully that will change. 


In case anyone is still wondering, I will be traveling to Estonia and then Poland to study for a dual master's degree in international relations and history (the history degree is from WVU). This is part of the ATLANTIS program, which I believe was chartered by the EU and may be the only program of its kind within the humanities. There will be more to come and I'd like to enjoy my last hours at home, so I'm going to end here. Hopefully there will be many (at least somewhat) interesting posts to come!