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
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