You're right. Defaulting to russian language can be a slippery slope sometimes. There are people who have lived here for a long time without giving an effort to learn the language. Younger russians can usually speak estonian, but the older people can still be stuck in their soviet fantasy land. Speaking english or even broken estonian should be fine. Ah yes, the Kristiine intersection. I live near there so it isn't really annoying as I'm used to the timings. There are many ways the cars can go so that's why the pedestrian lights aren't in sync. The one at Hobujaama is nice, because all the pedestrian lights turn on at the same time so you can go diagonally across the intersection. The problem with the ugly commie blocks is that they were privatised after Estonia got their independence back and now there is little the government can do to tear them down and rebuild. They would need to get approval from all the residents as far as I'm aware. They just get renovated and repaired a little bit from time to time.
That is a very disturbing thought (about communist blocks). It gets me sad when I think that these buildings can end up being there for at least half a century more until they fall apart :(
Targutan: mitte "veneaja" vaid "Nõuka" - suurim häiritus selle vahe mittetegemisest näib põlvnevatki. Ta tõstatas ka teise kiiksu ühiskonnas: ilmselt mõni meil ei suuda siiani tajuda, et kuidas peaks inimene üldse keele selgeks õpima, kui ühtegi viga (ka tillukest) teha ei tohi. Minule paistab see nii lühinägelik ning lausa lapsikult mõtlematu ja enesekeskne. Nii ongi meie oma rahva seas need kes ise peletavad teisi õppimise eest. Nüüd omakorda, sama suhtumine riiki uute tulijate puhul - mitte et selline käitumine teiste suhtes muidu küllalt salvav poleks. Muuseas nende käest saavad oma osa ka meie murrete rääkijad. Olen täheldanud, et sageli need samad isikud ise ei pööra oma enese keele kasutusele põrmugi tähelepanu (näiteks: släng; võõrsõnad; englonian). Esimesl puhul olen vahele sekkunud ja teist tean omast käest. Aga mis sa teed, kui mõnel inimesel lihtsalt on see "ma võin ju eksida, aga õigus on mul ikkagi"... Kahjuks pole see ainult Eesti eripära. Õnneks on vähemasti kaasmaalaste seas säärast käitumist näha üha vähem.
1:15 just say you are new into country and they'll accept it. Offense-taking comes from the simple truth that we have 25% of Russians from USSR who dont give a shit about our language or even think its inferior. And pointedly refuse it. Once they realize you are studying Estonian they will accept you just fine. Except for some bonehead bully perhaps.
Thank you for the advice! :) Coming here and seeing the situation, I actually started to feel shame that I don't speak Kazakh. Back in Kazakhstan where I'm from, everything is bilingual and there is rarely a need to speak Kazakh. But now I realize that it's not about need but about respect for your own country and its culture. I started to learn Estonian to feel more comfortable here, but I would have started learning it even just for the fact that is it very beautiful!
01:43 Russian in Estonia have differend schools where they teaching estonian language 1,100 academic hours. = 33.000 euros for each russian children taxpayer money. Many to not speak . They and they parents want back Soviet Union.
I am Estonian myself and I agree with points 2 and 3. Of course they are explainable. For 1first point, I dare to say that Estonians will greet you more warmly than their friends if you even try to speak Estonian. However, if you communicate in such a way that everyone should be able to speak your language, then there is no point in expecting warm communication. ;) :)
In general, people learn 2 foreign languages at school here - in Soviet time, it was Russian and most often English, and for the last 30 years, English and one more language (and, Russian is not the most common choice). So, the younger generations of Estonians mostly do not know Russian. And, many people from the older generations, even if they still can understand it, may have difficulties with speaking as they often had very little practice in the last decades. So, expectations to be able to use Russian everywhere in here are on the wrong ground.
Did not the German language compete well with English in Soviet times? It seems that especially so in southern and eastern regions. Two foreign languages are, or at least were, an obligatory part of the basic school curriculum. As many smaller schools had a harder time providing any choices, students were required to learn exactly two provided foreign languages. Typically Russian and English or German languages. No choices weren't available in those smaller schools. Just two decades ago, even failing in a given language, or any other subject in that matter, meant to repeat the "school year". Failing with the language could have meant failing to graduate from basic school altogether. Even if all other subjects were studied for high grades. This was a Soviet legacy. Nowadays, especially the German language, seems to retreat, while English has basically become the default - solely due to practicality. For example, programming languages are based on English. Estonians also seem advantaged towards Germanic languages, especially German. That is, that these are a bit easier to learn due to some shared vocabulary and few grammatical features. This in turn may explain a higher failure and/or lesser popularity of the Russian language among Estonian students (it is harder). One more thing. It is one thing how many languages and how well are those learned in the school. It is whole other what's left of that learning after a decade or a few. That involves English too. Monolingualism is a real thing. Just as multilingualism of near-fluent speakers of 3-5 languages.
About language, yeah, apparently you sadly have met one of the reasons why Baltics say WW2 only ended '91 in the area. In short: The soviets used the Russian language - Russian speakers inherited the legacy. Name: it's also quite a typical orthodox name, I mean people who aren't Russian carry the name too - this includes some Estonians themselves. Everyone does not have this problem with the language - typically people who have problems tend to have shallow knowledge about history and cultures. It appears to be mainly generational - certain age groups in between ages typically seem to have the issue more usually than elders and youth. From my own perspective, people aren't often annoyed by meeting the Russian language, rather than bothered by meeting situations that they themselves do not know the language. For example, I meet a Russian or Spanish speaker on the street who asks directions, I'm annoyed at myself/situation that I don't have a common tool for even basic communication - being bothered like this might show. But what I'm bothered about in this situation is that I can't help - I've experienced that this may get misinterpreted. Streets for walkers, I agree: it really does feel architects should take a bit more time walking around. The situation isn't unique to Tallinn. I'd see bridges or tunnels at some locations. On the brighter side: I see the situation being improved over time actually. Locals themselves are bothered by those buildings - that certain alien appearance alone... . There's sooo many of them to deal with. We have few people who try to avoid even passing through these regions solely because of architecture, and so since those were built in the first place. And there are various reasons why it is challenging to deal with those - legal and economic being two major ones. The major reason why I sold my apartment was "problematic owners" who didn't let nor had any will for renovations - those owners mostly even didn't live in those apartments. Actually, many of them are and will be renovated/modernized - renovation means a new facade too. Some others are torn down -- usually, those are abandoned, perspectiveless, or in decay beyond recovery. Later is especially true in rural areas. Eg: (single-)one that was in my parent's village, were abandoned entirely just a decade after SU, most abandoned it almost immediately - over time it started to pose dangers due to decay, and today it makes good road cover. Some of us have bigger dreams with those too: th-cam.com/video/eBExW-ZBmBc/w-d-xo.html - even if the project is long-term. On another hand, I've heard that some silently play with the idea of "Sillamäe" as the exemplary preserver of Soviet architecture and potentially prime tourism attraction on given reason.
@@HappyLifeAbroad About that legacy element, it sometimes helps if you can kindly offer that: "put yourself in mine shoes" ~ "Immagine that Your language would have taken as lingua franca of SU"
Nature 😍 ... Lovely view About the language it's common everywhere and when you get it still some won't be happy 😂 The crosspath gave me headache xD Omg when you said they are so ugly that's so funny haha I believe you shouldn't hold on bad memories it can bring bad luck
I think there's a small and decreasing minority of people who feel strongly about Russian language, because of Soviet era experiences. Most people probably don't care at all at this point. Russian isn't a threat to the Estonian language anymore, if anything it's English. The crossings situation is a bit wacky because due to its bowtie shape, Old Town in the middle, and the railway too, there's a shortage of east-west trafficways in Tallinn. So the traffic there is largely optimised for vehicles. I feel your pain with regards to the Endla-Tulika-Sõpruse crossing. Personally I really hate the graffiti that's all over the place and doesn't get cleaned up. I'm sure many European capitals are even worse, but somehow Helsinki and Stockholm can manage without, at least in the city centers.
The graffitis are everywhere... I love vibrant murals that look like art pieces but hate random ugly tags (I would cut hands to people who piss on buildings like that).
Apparently, you do not know about: fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paskakaupunni On one hand, they are forms of art, some of them have their history On another hand, random scribbles are just plain ugly
Don't know about people getting offended when you start speaking Russian. Usually, we start politely telling you that we don't understand Russian. But I can understand where you are coming from.
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Well as long as locals don`t see it as a probleem they won't change anything :) I'm used to all of this and If you have lived your whole life like this it is not rlly annoying tbh some new buildings just look bad Also those problems Are not in all of the City's that major OK YEA- speak estonian or english (School systems failed to teach us russian soo we pefer english) and arhitecture is honestly kind of nostalgic, yea it might feel Boring but there Are some cooler examples like Stroomi Beach in northern Tallinn. If arhitecture bothers you I rocemend visiting Haapsalu, Pärnu, Viljandi, Võru or Kuressaare In Tartu is also less of those buildings but there still is a part of the town that has those buildings. Idk aboud Kärdla cuz I havent been there yet I also rocemend smaller Islands like Prangli, Kihnu, Naissaare etc. (Sorry for my spelling)
There is written laws how to walk but there are no signs to explain it to new people, you need to have Estonian show and explain them (there still are some Estonians who do not know). Also Tallinn's traffic is annoying to every Estonian too.
01:16 , Russian ocupated first a Czar time 198 years Estonian and Soviet time 50 Years too. + they send GULAG work - and prison camp ca 50.000 estonians and bring here ca 200.000 russians who ocupated and take they homes who sended on Siberian prison abnd work camps. They but learning my 2nd grade russian language and at 6 th grade communism ideologia. They but jail who was against sotsialim and communism and who want Estonian falg and culture restore.
Vene ajal pidid sa õppima Vene keelt ,sulle ei antud teist võimalust. Kõik pidi välja nägema ühte moodi. Inimeste arvamus ei lugenud . Kui käsk tuli pidid seda täitma ja kõik. Selle pärast paljudele ei meeldi ka need vene rahvusest inimesed ,kes on jäänud siia elama aga pole ära õppinud meie keelt. Kõik meie Eesti kultuurilised asjad olid ju keelatud.
I’m thinking of moving to Estonia for a year or so as I’ve heard is a good place for remote working. I’m not even Russian but I’m concerned that having a “Russian sounding” name might be an issue. How do they look at Slavs/Eastern Europeans who are not Russian?
Normally to everyone. But you have to learn an Estonian language when you are living here. And if you cannot speak in the beginning in Estonian, use English language.
Well, I think the Russian-sounding name alone is not so bad. But a Russian speech/accent (no Estonian-language skills) in a combination with a name may be more problematic. But, you shouldn't worry! I mentioned that in the video as a minor thing. Besides one occasion at the very beginning when a cashier at a supermarket was openly rude to me because of the language, nobody has ever insulted me or refused a service/help because I'm Russian. People here are generally nice to everyone. Good luck with the relocation!
@@Merike7173 You’re government is trying to market Estonia as a destination for digital nomads and yet you’re expecting people who are thinking of staying there for a year to learn your language? Lol, I really wanted to give some less popular destination for expats a try but it seems that I might stick to Western Europe if that’s the mentally your people have 🙂
I agree, pertaining to the Soviet style apartment blocks.. Depressing! I would never want to live there.. No balcony and enclosed in that ugly box.. Nevertheless, it is reality for many in Estonia.. Possibly, they don't mind it.. I guess, if you're used to living like that your entire life, you wouldn't know any better.. I've lived in a free standing house with a large garden for 25 years, so it would be very hard for me to live in these types of apartments. Keep up doing your great videos.. I will be returning to the U.S. in a couple of day's, but my eye will be on your videos.. You can enlighten me on your discoveries within the country..
1/4 of the Estonian population is Russians. So if we see young people try to ask something from us in Russian then you can expect this type of attitude. It's really annoying for me that i need to speak in Russian in my home country and it's not written in your forehead that your tourist. It's basically same annoying thing like if you get bullied in school and the one who is bullying you then you have no respect towards him and pretty much hate him. We were under soviet union not by choice. The history you learn from Russia is not the history we know or accept. We know that after WW2 your people took 100.000 or more people to Siberia by force in gulags and then bombed most of our cities to the ground. We were forced to learn your language as Russia wanted to make Estonia as Russia so everyone speak Russian. The moving people and replacing people from Russia was the plan to make it work like this, so you should understand why Estonias dont like to speak in Russian.
I understand and respect your perspective. But you should also understand that "YOUR" people/language is not a nice/correct way of referring, especially in my case. Firstly, I come from Kazakhstan. Even though I have Russian blood in my veins and the Russian language as my mother tongue, it doesn't mean that I am a proponent of the same mindset. I grew up in a different environment. Secondly, (initially) it is not so much about the people but about the ruling top. Average Russian people themselves were not the cause why Estonians were sent out to gulags. Plus, many Russians and people of other nationalities were sent out too. Thirdly, personally, I never agreed with the soviet politics and vision. I despise that system and regret that so many cultures have taken a horrible hit from it. Lastly, I understand your pain and anger. I understand your frustration that even after regaining independence you still don't fully feel free of soviet occupation because of Russians who do not accept the reality and refuse to learn Estonian. But having such speech as yours does not do any good and simply keeps perpetuating hate.
Soovitus: ära aja segi rahvust ja ideolooge! Suur osa, kui mitte koguni enamus punaseid polnud isegi mitte venelased ju. Väike mõtte harjutus: Nõukogudel liit võttis üleliiduliseks keeleks Eesti keele - kuidas maailm täna sinupeale vaataks puhtalt sinu emakeele arvelt?
@@HappyLifeAbroad And I must add something, city of Narva , in nothing what it were before soviet bombarding which leveling once Beautyful town of Estonia, nowdays its look like any other misribile city of russia with soviet architecture ,we still have a deep Soviet legacy, this scum will be washed away, for a long time
@@HappyLifeAbroad average russians didnt send people to gulag indeed. but that is not the reason for the aversion against russian language. hundreds of thousands of local russians are the result colonization by ussr. sure the people just wanted to have better lives but they did participate in the plans to wipe out the estonian nation and culture. today tallinn is 50% russian, it was almost entirely estonian in the 30s and before. overall there were clearly less than 10% (most of them lived in the territories that are part of russia now, pechory and ivangorod). those responses are due to the scars of that and people assuming you are a local. many of the younger generation are different but the middle aged and older think that estonia should cater to them and they dont acknowledge how and why they are even here (ofc there are exceptions). only time will heal those scars, it wont go away until soviet era generations are gone (from both sides).
There are Russians that still very much believe in soviet ideals and call Estonians "Nazis." I've never even been there but saw it first hand when I asked a Russian that at one time lived in Estonia to translate my grandfather's letters from the 1960s. He didn't know a word of Estonian, was no help and said just those negative things. I learned from the letters many years later with help that after my grandfather left in 1939 my grandfather's brothers did indeed go to the gulag with only one surviving and coming back after 10 years. 10 years seemed to be the typical sentence to one of those camps if you could survive. I don't think you're going to find one family not affected by what the soviets did there. I've even seen flat out denials of the deportations online or people trying to justify it. I can totally understand why it would be massively frustrating to hear Russian spoke there. I think you're wrong about those "scars healing" because kids are being told things like what I just wrote above.
How do you feel about a Russian doing evil or stern in our homeland Estonia, to our young people who do not speak Russian. Do you also expect thislanguage from Finnish or Italian or Spanish schoolchildren? This is arrogance characteristic only of Russian people. Apart from that, we have not forgotten Russia's crimes in Estonia. We are also aware of the Soviets' wish and longing for Putin take back Estonia to Russia. Too often we hear from Russians that they do not want to learn our national language. There are a lot of Russian citizens of Narva, Sillamäe and Lasnamäe in Tallinn who do not want to integrate and want to create their own little Russian country here. They fight against change in every way. Lasnamäe is ugly precisely because "Russian culture" reigns there. Every Estonian who has bought a home there tries to leave there as soon as possible. Now think about it, is it still weird to assume that we expect a Russian person to learn the language in their country of residence? When you arrive here , is it hard to say or mention that you've started your studies? In my opinion, Estonians are very supportive of those who try to speak. Crossing the road in many respects is by no means unique to Estonia. I've seen it all over the world. Even in Moscow. I just came from Spain via Finland and there were also such road crossings in both.
Привет. Я родилась в Таллинне, в русскоязычной семье. Я знаю эстонский, но поверь, мне это не гарантирует нормальное равное отношение 😂 это типа тут клеймо. Даже при устройстве на работу лучше возьмут эстонца, чем местного русского со знанием языка. Вот такая демократия 😊
Unfortunately, all three things are the legacy of the Soviet Union. I think that sooner or later Estonia will sort it out.
You're right. Defaulting to russian language can be a slippery slope sometimes. There are people who have lived here for a long time without giving an effort to learn the language. Younger russians can usually speak estonian, but the older people can still be stuck in their soviet fantasy land. Speaking english or even broken estonian should be fine.
Ah yes, the Kristiine intersection. I live near there so it isn't really annoying as I'm used to the timings. There are many ways the cars can go so that's why the pedestrian lights aren't in sync. The one at Hobujaama is nice, because all the pedestrian lights turn on at the same time so you can go diagonally across the intersection.
The problem with the ugly commie blocks is that they were privatised after Estonia got their independence back and now there is little the government can do to tear them down and rebuild. They would need to get approval from all the residents as far as I'm aware. They just get renovated and repaired a little bit from time to time.
That is a very disturbing thought (about communist blocks). It gets me sad when I think that these buildings can end up being there for at least half a century more until they fall apart :(
Lol, everybody hates the Kristiine intersection. :D
@@eksiarvamus 😝😄
All three things you mentioned seem to be Russian-era problems which will take long time to change.
Targutan: mitte "veneaja" vaid "Nõuka" - suurim häiritus selle vahe mittetegemisest näib põlvnevatki.
Ta tõstatas ka teise kiiksu ühiskonnas: ilmselt mõni meil ei suuda siiani tajuda, et kuidas peaks inimene üldse keele selgeks õpima, kui ühtegi viga (ka tillukest) teha ei tohi. Minule paistab see nii lühinägelik ning lausa lapsikult mõtlematu ja enesekeskne. Nii ongi meie oma rahva seas need kes ise peletavad teisi õppimise eest. Nüüd omakorda, sama suhtumine riiki uute tulijate puhul - mitte et selline käitumine teiste suhtes muidu küllalt salvav poleks. Muuseas nende käest saavad oma osa ka meie murrete rääkijad. Olen täheldanud, et sageli need samad isikud ise ei pööra oma enese keele kasutusele põrmugi tähelepanu (näiteks: släng; võõrsõnad; englonian). Esimesl puhul olen vahele sekkunud ja teist tean omast käest. Aga mis sa teed, kui mõnel inimesel lihtsalt on see "ma võin ju eksida, aga õigus on mul ikkagi"...
Kahjuks pole see ainult Eesti eripära. Õnneks on vähemasti kaasmaalaste seas säärast käitumist näha üha vähem.
@@KohaAlbert Väga vahet pole, kas „impeeriumi”, „nõukogude” või „puutini” aeg Venemaal on, ikka ja jälle eestivaenulik on see naaberriik.
1:15 just say you are new into country and they'll accept it. Offense-taking comes from the simple truth that we have 25% of Russians from USSR who dont give a shit about our language or even think its inferior. And pointedly refuse it.
Once they realize you are studying Estonian they will accept you just fine. Except for some bonehead bully perhaps.
Thank you for the advice! :)
Coming here and seeing the situation, I actually started to feel shame that I don't speak Kazakh. Back in Kazakhstan where I'm from, everything is bilingual and there is rarely a need to speak Kazakh. But now I realize that it's not about need but about respect for your own country and its culture.
I started to learn Estonian to feel more comfortable here, but I would have started learning it even just for the fact that is it very beautiful!
01:43 Russian in Estonia have differend schools where they teaching estonian language 1,100 academic hours. = 33.000 euros for each russian children taxpayer money. Many to not speak . They and they parents want back Soviet Union.
I am Estonian myself and I agree with points 2 and 3. Of course they are explainable.
For 1first point, I dare to say that Estonians will greet you more warmly than their friends if you even try to speak Estonian. However, if you communicate in such a way that everyone should be able to speak your language, then there is no point in expecting warm communication. ;) :)
In general, people learn 2 foreign languages at school here - in Soviet time, it was Russian and most often English, and for the last 30 years, English and one more language (and, Russian is not the most common choice). So, the younger generations of Estonians mostly do not know Russian. And, many people from the older generations, even if they still can understand it, may have difficulties with speaking as they often had very little practice in the last decades. So, expectations to be able to use Russian everywhere in here are on the wrong ground.
Did not the German language compete well with English in Soviet times? It seems that especially so in southern and eastern regions.
Two foreign languages are, or at least were, an obligatory part of the basic school curriculum.
As many smaller schools had a harder time providing any choices, students were required to learn exactly two provided foreign languages. Typically Russian and English or German languages. No choices weren't available in those smaller schools. Just two decades ago, even failing in a given language, or any other subject in that matter, meant to repeat the "school year". Failing with the language could have meant failing to graduate from basic school altogether. Even if all other subjects were studied for high grades. This was a Soviet legacy.
Nowadays, especially the German language, seems to retreat, while English has basically become the default - solely due to practicality. For example, programming languages are based on English.
Estonians also seem advantaged towards Germanic languages, especially German. That is, that these are a bit easier to learn due to some shared vocabulary and few grammatical features. This in turn may explain a higher failure and/or lesser popularity of the Russian language among Estonian students (it is harder).
One more thing. It is one thing how many languages and how well are those learned in the school. It is whole other what's left of that learning after a decade or a few. That involves English too. Monolingualism is a real thing. Just as multilingualism of near-fluent speakers of 3-5 languages.
Where is the "Like Estonia" videothat you described ? 😲
About language, yeah, apparently you sadly have met one of the reasons why Baltics say WW2 only ended '91 in the area. In short: The soviets used the Russian language - Russian speakers inherited the legacy. Name: it's also quite a typical orthodox name, I mean people who aren't Russian carry the name too - this includes some Estonians themselves. Everyone does not have this problem with the language - typically people who have problems tend to have shallow knowledge about history and cultures. It appears to be mainly generational - certain age groups in between ages typically seem to have the issue more usually than elders and youth. From my own perspective, people aren't often annoyed by meeting the Russian language, rather than bothered by meeting situations that they themselves do not know the language. For example, I meet a Russian or Spanish speaker on the street who asks directions, I'm annoyed at myself/situation that I don't have a common tool for even basic communication - being bothered like this might show. But what I'm bothered about in this situation is that I can't help - I've experienced that this may get misinterpreted.
Streets for walkers, I agree: it really does feel architects should take a bit more time walking around. The situation isn't unique to Tallinn. I'd see bridges or tunnels at some locations. On the brighter side: I see the situation being improved over time actually.
Locals themselves are bothered by those buildings - that certain alien appearance alone... . There's sooo many of them to deal with. We have few people who try to avoid even passing through these regions solely because of architecture, and so since those were built in the first place. And there are various reasons why it is challenging to deal with those - legal and economic being two major ones. The major reason why I sold my apartment was "problematic owners" who didn't let nor had any will for renovations - those owners mostly even didn't live in those apartments. Actually, many of them are and will be renovated/modernized - renovation means a new facade too. Some others are torn down -- usually, those are abandoned, perspectiveless, or in decay beyond recovery. Later is especially true in rural areas. Eg: (single-)one that was in my parent's village, were abandoned entirely just a decade after SU, most abandoned it almost immediately - over time it started to pose dangers due to decay, and today it makes good road cover.
Some of us have bigger dreams with those too: th-cam.com/video/eBExW-ZBmBc/w-d-xo.html - even if the project is long-term.
On another hand, I've heard that some silently play with the idea of "Sillamäe" as the exemplary preserver of Soviet architecture and potentially prime tourism attraction on given reason.
Interesting perspective about the language! 🤔
@@HappyLifeAbroad About that legacy element, it sometimes helps if you can kindly offer that: "put yourself in mine shoes" ~ "Immagine that Your language would have taken as lingua franca of SU"
Nature 😍 ... Lovely view
About the language it's common everywhere and when you get it still some won't be happy 😂
The crosspath gave me headache xD
Omg when you said they are so ugly that's so funny haha
I believe you shouldn't hold on bad memories it can bring bad luck
You're right, I have this bad impression because of some bad memories, but it is hard to get rid of them.
04:08 that only big cities like Tallinn, Tartu and some centrums like Pärnu and Narva. Go find county towns too !
I think there's a small and decreasing minority of people who feel strongly about Russian language, because of Soviet era experiences. Most people probably don't care at all at this point. Russian isn't a threat to the Estonian language anymore, if anything it's English.
The crossings situation is a bit wacky because due to its bowtie shape, Old Town in the middle, and the railway too, there's a shortage of east-west trafficways in Tallinn. So the traffic there is largely optimised for vehicles. I feel your pain with regards to the Endla-Tulika-Sõpruse crossing.
Personally I really hate the graffiti that's all over the place and doesn't get cleaned up. I'm sure many European capitals are even worse, but somehow Helsinki and Stockholm can manage without, at least in the city centers.
The graffitis are everywhere... I love vibrant murals that look like art pieces but hate random ugly tags (I would cut hands to people who piss on buildings like that).
Apparently, you do not know about: fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paskakaupunni
On one hand, they are forms of art, some of them have their history
On another hand, random scribbles are just plain ugly
Don't know about people getting offended when you start speaking Russian. Usually, we start politely telling you that we don't understand Russian. But I can understand where you are coming from.
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Well as long as locals don`t see it as a probleem they won't change anything :)
I'm used to all of this and If you have lived your whole life like this it is not rlly annoying tbh some new buildings just look bad
Also those problems Are not in all of the City's that major OK YEA- speak estonian or english (School systems failed to teach us russian soo we pefer english) and arhitecture is honestly kind of nostalgic, yea it might feel Boring but there Are some cooler examples like Stroomi Beach in northern Tallinn. If arhitecture bothers you I rocemend visiting Haapsalu, Pärnu, Viljandi, Võru or Kuressaare In Tartu is also less of those buildings but there still is a part of the town that has those buildings.
Idk aboud Kärdla cuz I havent been there yet
I also rocemend smaller Islands like Prangli, Kihnu, Naissaare etc.
(Sorry for my spelling)
There is written laws how to walk but there are no signs to explain it to new people, you need to have Estonian show and explain them (there still are some Estonians who do not know).
Also Tallinn's traffic is annoying to every Estonian too.
02:31 roads builded in Soviet time nort "greenpeace" programm world time.
Eh? You serious? And you chose the biggest crossroads in Estonia as an example...
And Soviet era outskirt as an example of architecture....
I sugest you visit/go somewhere else than only Tallinn.
If you tell then you are from Kazahstan, the Estonians are not offended for you using Russian language.
01:16 , Russian ocupated first a Czar time 198 years Estonian and Soviet time 50 Years too. + they send GULAG work - and prison camp ca 50.000 estonians and bring here ca 200.000 russians who ocupated and take they homes who sended on Siberian prison abnd work camps. They but learning my 2nd grade russian language and at 6 th grade communism ideologia. They but jail who was against sotsialim and communism and who want Estonian falg and culture restore.
Vene ajal pidid sa õppima Vene keelt ,sulle ei antud teist võimalust. Kõik pidi välja nägema ühte moodi. Inimeste arvamus ei lugenud . Kui käsk tuli pidid seda täitma ja kõik. Selle pärast paljudele ei meeldi ka need vene rahvusest inimesed ,kes on jäänud siia elama aga pole ära õppinud meie keelt. Kõik meie Eesti kultuurilised asjad olid ju keelatud.
You've explained a typical foreigner perspective, limited to the context of Tallinn.
I like Estonia. I'm here 3 months. I like that here many people know Russian language.
Very nice video
Thank you :)
I’m thinking of moving to Estonia for a year or so as I’ve heard is a good place for remote working. I’m not even Russian but I’m concerned that having a “Russian sounding” name might be an issue. How do they look at Slavs/Eastern Europeans who are not Russian?
Normally to everyone. But you have to learn an Estonian language when you are living here. And if you cannot speak in the beginning in Estonian, use English language.
Well, I think the Russian-sounding name alone is not so bad. But a Russian speech/accent (no Estonian-language skills) in a combination with a name may be more problematic.
But, you shouldn't worry! I mentioned that in the video as a minor thing. Besides one occasion at the very beginning when a cashier at a supermarket was openly rude to me because of the language, nobody has ever insulted me or refused a service/help because I'm Russian. People here are generally nice to everyone.
Good luck with the relocation!
@@HappyLifeAbroad That’s good to hear, thanks for the reply 😌
@@milaenlommer9732 You are welcome :)
@@Merike7173 You’re government is trying to market Estonia as a destination for digital nomads and yet you’re expecting people who are thinking of staying there for a year to learn your language? Lol, I really wanted to give some less popular destination for expats a try but it seems that I might stick to Western Europe if that’s the mentally your people have 🙂
If there no cars going by just cross the road that how I have been doing it forever
Sure, but this is still not the safest way of doing things... It shouldn't be like this
the houses are very beutifuli you dislike ESTONIA SAAD KOLKI KOHE TRA
Very informative
Thank you
I agree, pertaining to the Soviet style apartment blocks.. Depressing! I would never want to live there.. No balcony and enclosed in that ugly box.. Nevertheless, it is reality for many in Estonia.. Possibly, they don't mind it.. I guess, if you're used to living like that your entire life, you wouldn't know any better.. I've lived in a free standing house with a large garden for 25 years, so it would be very hard for me to live in these types of apartments. Keep up doing your great videos.. I will be returning to the U.S. in a couple of day's, but my eye will be on your videos.. You can enlighten me on your discoveries within the country..
Thank you :) Will do.
Have a safe trip!
I hate the roads near the Kristiine keskus. just terrible for pedestrians.
Same!
1/4 of the Estonian population is Russians. So if we see young people try to ask something from us in Russian then you can expect this type of attitude. It's really annoying for me that i need to speak in Russian in my home country and it's not written in your forehead that your tourist. It's basically same annoying thing like if you get bullied in school and the one who is bullying you then you have no respect towards him and pretty much hate him. We were under soviet union not by choice. The history you learn from Russia is not the history we know or accept. We know that after WW2 your people took 100.000 or more people to Siberia by force in gulags and then bombed most of our cities to the ground. We were forced to learn your language as Russia wanted to make Estonia as Russia so everyone speak Russian. The moving people and replacing people from Russia was the plan to make it work like this, so you should understand why Estonias dont like to speak in Russian.
I understand and respect your perspective. But you should also understand that "YOUR" people/language is not a nice/correct way of referring, especially in my case.
Firstly, I come from Kazakhstan. Even though I have Russian blood in my veins and the Russian language as my mother tongue, it doesn't mean that I am a proponent of the same mindset. I grew up in a different environment.
Secondly, (initially) it is not so much about the people but about the ruling top. Average Russian people themselves were not the cause why Estonians were sent out to gulags. Plus, many Russians and people of other nationalities were sent out too.
Thirdly, personally, I never agreed with the soviet politics and vision. I despise that system and regret that so many cultures have taken a horrible hit from it.
Lastly, I understand your pain and anger. I understand your frustration that even after regaining independence you still don't fully feel free of soviet occupation because of Russians who do not accept the reality and refuse to learn Estonian. But having such speech as yours does not do any good and simply keeps perpetuating hate.
Soovitus: ära aja segi rahvust ja ideolooge!
Suur osa, kui mitte koguni enamus punaseid polnud isegi mitte venelased ju.
Väike mõtte harjutus: Nõukogudel liit võttis üleliiduliseks keeleks Eesti keele - kuidas maailm täna sinupeale vaataks puhtalt sinu emakeele arvelt?
@@HappyLifeAbroad And I must add something, city of Narva , in nothing what it were before soviet bombarding which leveling once Beautyful town of Estonia, nowdays its look like any other misribile city of russia with soviet architecture ,we still have a deep Soviet legacy, this scum will be washed away, for a long time
@@HappyLifeAbroad average russians didnt send people to gulag indeed. but that is not the reason for the aversion against russian language. hundreds of thousands of local russians are the result colonization by ussr. sure the people just wanted to have better lives but they did participate in the plans to wipe out the estonian nation and culture. today tallinn is 50% russian, it was almost entirely estonian in the 30s and before. overall there were clearly less than 10% (most of them lived in the territories that are part of russia now, pechory and ivangorod). those responses are due to the scars of that and people assuming you are a local. many of the younger generation are different but the middle aged and older think that estonia should cater to them and they dont acknowledge how and why they are even here (ofc there are exceptions). only time will heal those scars, it wont go away until soviet era generations are gone (from both sides).
There are Russians that still very much believe in soviet ideals and call Estonians "Nazis." I've never even been there but saw it first hand when I asked a Russian that at one time lived in Estonia to translate my grandfather's letters from the 1960s. He didn't know a word of Estonian, was no help and said just those negative things. I learned from the letters many years later with help that after my grandfather left in 1939 my grandfather's brothers did indeed go to the gulag with only one surviving and coming back after 10 years. 10 years seemed to be the typical sentence to one of those camps if you could survive. I don't think you're going to find one family not affected by what the soviets did there. I've even seen flat out denials of the deportations online or people trying to justify it. I can totally understand why it would be massively frustrating to hear Russian spoke there. I think you're wrong about those "scars healing" because kids are being told things like what I just wrote above.
How do you feel about a Russian doing evil or stern in our homeland Estonia, to our young people who do not speak Russian. Do you also expect thislanguage from Finnish or Italian or Spanish schoolchildren? This is arrogance characteristic only of Russian people.
Apart from that, we have not forgotten Russia's crimes in Estonia.
We are also aware of the Soviets' wish and longing for Putin take back Estonia to Russia. Too often we hear from Russians that they do not want to learn our national language. There are a lot of Russian citizens of Narva, Sillamäe and Lasnamäe in Tallinn who do not want to integrate and want to create their own little Russian country here. They fight against change in every way. Lasnamäe is ugly precisely because "Russian culture" reigns there. Every Estonian who has bought a home there tries to leave there as soon as possible.
Now think about it, is it still weird to assume that we expect a Russian person to learn the language in their country of residence?
When you arrive here , is it hard to say or mention that you've started your studies? In my opinion, Estonians are very supportive of those who try to speak.
Crossing the road in many respects is by no means unique to Estonia. I've seen it all over the world. Even in Moscow. I just came from Spain via Finland and there were also such road crossings in both.
U are not selfish, good talk dear 😘
Привет. Я родилась в Таллинне, в русскоязычной семье. Я знаю эстонский, но поверь, мне это не гарантирует нормальное равное отношение 😂 это типа тут клеймо. Даже при устройстве на работу лучше возьмут эстонца, чем местного русского со знанием языка. Вот такая демократия 😊
Now You maked me cry because im from estonia😢😔😥
Sorry, I never meant to offend anyone, especially amazing Estonian people :) I just wanted to be open and objective.
Nice one 🌷👍
Thanks
Kristiine intersection. Horrible.
The problem w estonia is, divison. People are diveded to pro mask and anti mask and that war is intensified because politisans cant justify the masks