These are mostly so true! Loved how you explained how food is a form of entertainment in South Asia - I couldn’t have explained it better! The culture shocks make Estonia such a beautiful and unique place to be in. Enjoying my stay here ❤
Sauna is a sacred space for Estonians, as for many other Uralian peoples. As usually the only sanitary place in a farmhouse, women gave birth in a sauna, and dead bodies were ritually washed there as well. So you can say that life literally began and ended in sauna. There are many taboos involved, too: in order not to offend the spirits of the sauna one must not fart in there, or relieve oneself in any other way; swearing and foul language is prohibited, as is sexual activity.
@@MananAnwar Surely it must have been. I bet a lot of singing must have been involved. Gifts given to a newborn, his limbs touched by the branches of the sacred trees; wailing women in lamentation mourning their father, their husband, their brother, their son, bestowing his riches and weapons on him for his final journey.
@@MananAnwar I am curious to know How much of what pakistanis call "pagan" is left in Pakistan. I mean how much % of religious minority left since independence..what is the current% vs what was in when it gained independence? Are Ahmedias [i dont know if it is current spelling] counted as muslims in Pakistan?
For me the weird thing is no hugging or handshaking when saying goodbye. I'm British, a nation not know for their warmth and physical displays of affection but even I was surprised at the coldness of an Estonian goodbye.
Depends on who you know. In my circle of people it is very common to hug every time when we say goodbye and males do that as well, no shaming or childish laughing about it. Of course, this mostly happens when you don't meet every day or maybe even every week, I am not hugging my co-workers each time I go home :)
Really nice and humble overview; really well done! Most young Estonians like foreign cuisines, but secretly they adore their mom's cutlets or grandma's curd cake. Right on point with the temps too, luckily, there's just a week or two of those 30+ degree days per year. But what sets the mood are those months from October to March when you have +4 and slow, shallow rain, and mud, and everything looks like the Eurotrip's depiction of Eastern Europe.
Hi! It's fun to find out what non natives think about life in Estonia 😀. I was listening to you today and the first impression was that you sound and behave like an Estonian, really 😀. I guess the 8 years here have been good on you 😁👍
Thank you Manan for all of your videos...super helpful as I prepare to make my final move to Tallinn in August. Although I am moving with my company, and I have a relocation company helping me. And I spent 2 months there last year. But I am moving from Minnesota in the USA much colder here than there. And the people here are primarily Norwegian or Swedish or Dutch so similar conservative until you get liquor into them. :) Keep the videos coming and let's meet up for a drink or coffee when I arrive if you have time.
Hey! Thank you for such a nice video. I am Estonian. Food...is so important for us - we are a potatoe country. Our family gatherings are a foodfest but if you come out with us to a simple lunch or Friday night drink fest, it might seem boring for you because then we use the food just to get full or for the "sakuska" (snack beside alcohol). Estonia is perfect for celebrities..we notice them, maybe say hi but thats it, stalking and screaming is impolite and annoying. We are private people. And yes...alcohol makes us extroverts..for few hours but thats it 😂
The thing about food is.. We do enjoy our food. It's not like we think of ourselves as simple machines that need fuel. It's simply that what we enjoy is not drowned in spices. Now I don't know about those Estonians up there, but people in Latvia value good food and good alcohol equally. Like if you must choose with place with good booze and bad food vs place that has both good selection of alcohol and good food, most will choose latter. That's exactly why cafe/bar chain "Ezītis miglā" became so popular in Riga. It has good, filling meals on top of wide selection of alcohol, pure or coctails.
It’s not just about the spices. It’s about the care you’d take to eat something. When we eat rice we have a side dish, then we have a sauce (mint), then we had salad, then we have something to drink, like a lassi (milk drink). There is a reason why Indian and Pakistani food is universally popular. It agrees with palate of people.
Very good video ;) but i can say that food thing has changed in recent years me and almost all my friends are foodies these days :D good luck making videos , you definetly got a subscriber , I love how respectful you are
Point 7 is indeed super Cool ! These "famous" people are even more easy to meet inside a basic plane from/to TLL airport . No tralala private Jet or military transport for officials .. Funniest part is for Members of European Parlement or European Commision. They make queue like everybody at TLL for begining of the journey and then when they land at BRU , it is completely different universe with special VIP service and top security 😲
Umm, *my estonian opinion about that* is that we dont bother celebrities since we arent that open people, there for we don't want to take up anyone's time, especially since we wouldn't *maybe* want it to be done to us.
@@MananAnwar Indeed there is VIP lounge and private transfer in Porsche Panamera to the plane . I've the impression it is used only by diplomatic missions or international rock bands. More classical politician or local star are really taking relax plane like normal passengers. Perhaps only difference is that they have acces to business lounge but this is also the case for thousands of frequent flyers :-)
One of the reasons for not going crazy about celebs, is that we are a small nation. Erveryone has at least one celeb or historic figure in their circle - friends, family & workplace. So seeing them is quite normal. Also, we consider it quite rude to go bother people when they are trying to live their life and have a private moment.
Seems you havent noticed yet that from spring to autumn large part of estonians vanish from capital, you cant see them in clubs or bars...they go to country side to their countryhomes. What they do there? Work, hard physical labor. Take care of carden, build, fix, mow grass, trim trees, water plants, paint, go forest to cather berries and muschrooms, fish...and yes at evening they go to sauna. After 2 days sweating and working hard they go back to city bc work week starts. Parting every weekend is more office people and kind of new thing brought here from west.... not very estonian thing.
I think the true cold for us is the one that will lead to hypothermia. I believe most of us know that feeling. For me that happened as a child, when you’re either underdressed for winter or stay outside for too long. Once you get inside you can feel your body radiate cold and it won’t get warm for awhile. It might take hours before you body fully recovers it’s normal body temperature. It’s that kind of cold that goes though your fat and muscle mass and into organs and bone. That’s my understanding what is a cold. Rest of the colds are just something that is a nuisance but won’t kill you.
One of the cool things about Estonia is also how babies are given cold exposure. I see moms walking with babies in the coldest weather. That has to result is some kind of resistance to cold.
Yeah, quite possible. I like to call it, “it breeds character” both mental and physical character. Makes you more resilient against external influences.
There are differences when it comes to cold. For instance, -40C with minimal humidity and wind is no big deal. -15 with 70% humidity and high wind is a BIG problem!
@@FinUgShiet Not at all my friend! Number 1 factor when it comes to humidity is nearby sea. It will take very cold weather and clear skies for prolonged period of time to get rid of humidity. Also, what needs to happen is for the sea to freeze over and get a slight coating of snow to reflect sunlight. If all the boxes are ticked it can get very cold BUT, it also lowers the humidity enough so it doesnt feel too cold. Coldest weather i personally remember around here was during the millennium change 2000/2001. It was -32C at the coast and i presume it was much colder inland!
I would say that it has changed in recent decade...before yes estonians werent huge foodies cause Soviet times sucked...but now almost all my friends are foodies...my boyfriend loves to cook and is making craft beers , there are some amazing restaurants in Estonia aswell
@@MananAnwar oh we love our food and actually we are very proud of it 😊... We just have different taste compared to meny others 😊 I am allso Estonian 😉
All true... the only one I see missing is safety / Kids-teens running around everywhere. I find myself thinking 'where are your parents?' quite often! Forgot one more... Dog culture. Its great! (dogs in restaurants, etc..).
like 25-30C is boiling hot for me, even 10C is already hot for me, im very much a cold weather type of person, thats exactly why im not happy that summer is coming
While watching this video I am currently enjoying my plate of pan fried potatoes (you know the ones that were boiled 3 days ago) with just salt and a slice of buttered bread. 😅 So freaking good! Nor bland or boring.
As an estonian myself you havent seen the beauty of drunk people yet. In the poorer parts of tallinn there arent just guys hugging you. They get angry and fight wich usually ends in the police station or hospital. One place is lasnamäe (not the new buildings or places next to bigger roads). Also i can confirm our food is bland.
Have you tried outdoor swimming in winter yet? When you do, you see that being in the cold water for the right amount of time will actually make you very energised and feeling all hot. Goes together with a sauna most of the time!
@@MananAnwar And it's perfectly fine in public Sauna to start discussing business or sports or whatever with complete stranger whom you will never see again in your life.
Hey hey, good video I must consider. Wanted to tell you about the hot weather, when it comes to Estonian summer and + degrees, it is somehow very humid air around you and it feels different from southern + degrees. I am born and grown up in Estonia, then on 2003 we were at southern France where local people even died because of the hot weather (+40C) but nothing was matter with us, at the same time, we really suffer in Estonia when it comes to more than +25 C.
@@MananAnwar not really, there were days also when thermometer was showing + 53 in the shadow, then only one trouble appeared - pale white skin burned out under the sun :D in northen sauna sometimes is +100 C ;) and all enjoy it
@@MananAnwar Yeah estonia is very humid and +25 celsius hit you very hard, its way worse than like 38 celsius at lets say egypt, thats tolerable, in estonia it would be near death.
Being Estonian myself, part where Estonians are 2 different people when sober and drunk, is so true and it has always pothered me. I actually stopped going to parties and drinking mostly because of that. For me they seemed to be fake when drunk and I did not like to be with fake acting people anymore.
I have been with an Estonian women for 4 1/2 years now. When she drinks, she’s all over me with the I love you. When she is sober she is a completely different person. Almost bland. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out which personality was really her. So I’ve learnt over the years whenever she comes to my place. I always have a bottle of red wine. And after 2 drinks. She completely opened up and changes her personality. What you said is absolutely true!!
@@MananAnwar She’s a bit older. We’re both going into our 50’s. She’s old school. From Tallinn. I’ve even seen her photo album from when she was younger in the saunas. It was wild!! So yes!! You hit all the nails on the head.
@@alkukhta Maybe, but weed is not for everyone. I smoked weed for 12 years and had to quit. I used to be depressed, anxious, scared to ride the underground, etc. Some people can cause serious psychological problems by using THC.
Haha as a finnish it wasnt even weird when I went to a public sauna by myself in Tallinn couple weeks ago, it was full of people of all ages, mostly 40-55, more than half of 'em totally naked so why should I be ashamed? And who the hell brings a towel to a sauna anyways? I bet people from the US think this would be weird, go to sweat to a room full of totally unknown naked men :D
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj Yeah and what I've heard n seen on travel shows they got sum in asia in indochina, dont remember which country but used by some indigenous tribe, found in the mountains-type sauna. E: Just now read your comment all the way... How the hell do you end up with that conclusion, since "Russians" weren't a thing when sauna was invented...? The Siberian peoples themselves aren't "russian" they were colonized by the russians and had to submit since the Czarz were on a mission.
@@MananAnwar definitely not weird in Latvia, atleast if it's not a mixed sauna. Then people tend to cover themselves up, be it towels or swimsuits. I would actually say naked sauna and swimsuit sauna feel like two clearly distinct things even though they aren't really. Both good, but different
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj Obviously I have no proof but I suspect it's way older than 4000 years. American natives have saunas. I´m not sure which tribe though, I went to a camp as a kid and we built sauna like that. You make a hole in the ground and make a fire in it and throw a bunch of rock in it. Then you roll the rocks into another hole in a tent. It gets as hot as a modern sauna and lasts for quite some time assuming you get enough rocks of sufficient size.
Nice video ! Something that happened to me when I arrived to Estonia is that I noted there’s no elevator music haha. I know it’s weird but shops, elevators or many public spaces don’t have background sound
Yeah... we like our alcohol. There is a saying, I'm not sure if it's estonian or not: "drunken words are sober thoughts". That describes the drunk/sober personalities really well. With alcohol we just are open enough to say things we think
The celebrity one is so true lmao. I've met one actor in a sports shop but didnt say nun to her cuz didnt wanna bother her. I've also walked by tanel padar several times cuz he lives close by(ik exact house lol). Met variety of diffrent famous ppl mainly in grocery stores 😂
Friday/Saturday and sometimes Sunday is a party time in every Eastern European country. Shock 3/4 you described Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Poland, Czech, Slovakians are probably the same.
@@MananAnwar haha, you mention the Estonian style 😉, I'm looking for places to dance swing in Tallinn and I noticed that everyone is sharped dressed as in the 20s! In Europe dancers don't dress so good
I think it was F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen, who once said that he loves how he can walk around here like regular person. Oh baby, we know who you are, but there is place and time for pictures.
Funny, for me it feels like the Estonians are deeply anchored into old gender roles, compared to my experience in France and especially the USA. So I had the opposite shock there. I kinda feel the same with everything else. Loved your description of the sauna.
You're so right about food being only for sustenance, as a kid I used to watch Australian and American etc cooking shows every day after school, so I memorized such a wide variety of delicious-looking dishes and ingredients but then I would eat boiled potatoes, cottage cheese and herring for dinner haha. Don't get me wrong, I've always been grateful to have food on my table, but seeing boiled potatoes sometimes makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Boiled potatoes and Estonian culture just seem to be inseparable. I don't go to restaurants much, either, because the food costs a ton but is rarely better than okay, even if it's some place that everyone always recommends:( and yeah I remember maybe 5 or 6 years ago walking to school in -29.5 degree weather without even blinking an eye, in the same clothes that I wore when it was 0 degrees out, you just grit your teeth and learn to live with it:)
it seems you have never been invited by our grandmas and moms. the food is also a part of the love. not maybe the taste but the amount our females are trying to stuff in the people they consider as loved ones or potential family members. also, if you are invited to family gatherings in estonian household you will see how much effort actually there has been put in, the table must be overfilled by the different food we think as party food. especially outside of tallinn. be aware. bakings, salads, rolls, pirochki, meat etc. and all the time women of the household are forcing you to eat as they are worried about you being not full enough :D btw, as an estonian, i think potatoes cooked in a hundred million different ways in estonia are the best food on earth :D also, estonian culture is called potato culture as when russian empress Cathrine II introduced this vegetable in the russian province estonia, we discovered that this stuff is brilliant, last well over the harsh winter and keeps until the first crops its nutritious qualities like vitamins and carbs. also, pork is our preferred meat for very rational reasons as you can't kill your chicken which lays the eggs, you cannot kill your cow which provides the milk, you can't kill your horse which works on the field, you can't kill your sheep which gives you the wool, but the pig is the only resourceful meat, gaining so much needed fat while feeding over the summer season with ease, get lots of fat and you can distribute the meat over the hard time when nothing edible is available. all come from the short period of the summer season. see, the climate often defines what we eat and drink. :P what kind of taste pleasures do you expect from nature and winter as we have? :D be kind to the potatoes, they are foreigners too, actually.
I am from Nigeria. I didn't know 20 degrees will feel this hot. Watching you say 29/30 scares me. It's strange for me especially considering I've lived in the tropics my whole prior to last year
If you go just one step away from the most crowded public beach, seeing full naked swimmers is nothing extraordinary as well. And talking about the drunk people - as you missed the times when vodka was much cheaper in here than in Finland so that we got a lot of vodka tourists, you really haven't seen or heard a thing.
I have witnessed some Finnish phenomenon. They are memorable. Speaking of Finnish people I actually feel more for the staff at bars and clubs who have to deal with them. I have heard many stories from my friends who worked there.
Yah that is a bit strange for the sauna, esp. given that these were your professor and classmates, really strange actually. I think if they were strangers it might be a bit easier. Ive seen FKK beaches in some other parts of europe and normally people tend to sit pretty far away from each other, so theres not really any invasion of each others privacy.
a norwegian currently on vacation in Tallinn here🇳🇴 staying for a few days, and so far i have been enjoying my stay. I must say this is such a cool channel to get a better idea of the country i am visiting🇪🇪
This is fascinating content. It's like the modern day equivalent of Ibn Battuta leaving Morocco in the 1300's to visit China. In no way am I impuning Pakistan in saying this, but I can't think of 2 societies so diametrically opposed. Well.done Manan, for exploring this culture openly and without any preconceived hang-ups on how things should or shouldn't be. I married a Dutch girl, so I can relate to the nudity thing. Nothing prepared me for seeing my in-laws in the buff 😂
That bar hopping and then night club routine is more like "teens" habit ... adults can't be bothered. Adults prefer to sit in nice restaurant or pub and eat, drink, talk and have good time. Also we do enjoy good food, just our food tratitions are different and most of ouf foods are not spicy and trying to hide real tastes of products, because it's not required (the climate is cold and food is better preserved). Most prefer subtle party of different flavours instead of fire in their mouths. :D
@@MananAnwar Depends on season. On a hot summer day, a cold kama drink is super! Christmas time blood sausage with potatoes, pumpkin salad and cranberry jam. Different seasons, different traditional foods. But my main favorite is fish, not salmon or trout, but proper local fish from sea. Fried, baked, smoked, grilled etc
Nice video. Good job, Manan. I dont think going out 2am to Old Town is quite what you described. Personal experience says you might see what you talked about but moreover you'll see fights, puking and degradation that makes you (read: made me) think about your role in party culture.
Sauna is the equaliser here. Kings and peasants are the same in the sauna. THE best deals are landed in a sauna. If you think about it you see quickly why that is. The facades are down, it's only facts and personalities in there.
As an American that’s been wanting to visit Estonia 🇪🇪 for the last 30 years I really enjoy these videos and will be there next July, can’t wait. See y’all next summer. 💪❤️🇪🇪
Yep, i have several friends form every field, Top officials(ministers), top models, biggest musicians/stars, tv and movie stars (heck my dog until she was stolen was in several movies, the only proffessional dog in Estonia hired to take part in movies). Yes it is normal
@@MananAnwar Most yeah if it's over 21 it's like, "theres no air" for me under 23 in room is chilli but outside with propper wares -15 is totaly fine and for most somewhere -10 most say it is getting cold.
Well. if estonians are like talking to you, it means you have very, very good people skills. It is not unusual for people to take a month or two in new workplace, to start to talk to you. Pretty common. We give a lot of personal space for everyone as by default.
This was very imformative and interesting. I come from Saudi Arabia and when I first went to UK to live and study, I also experienced a culture shock similar to the one you experienced.
At least like 90% of Estonians when confronted with the stereotypes will go "haha yeah". The only things people get angry about are things that are blatantly not true - being confused with r*ssians, saying "Estonians aren't that introverted really"... yeah can't actually think of anything else.
I made that mistake only once: confusing Russians with Estonians, I had never been to Estonia and I was playing online and there was an Estonian player, this was my first impression. He politely corrected me and we had a good time together.
As an Estonian i can confirm that everything said in this video is true, but very funny to hear from someone else's perspective. Also about the famous people thing, a kid of very famous TV personality went to same kindergarten as my kid - i saw her every day and it didnt feel strange at all.
Well the difference in cold and heat is that we have light skin to protect us from the cold while you have darker skin to protect you from the heat. And as we live in the bad weather all around the year when we have a saying as "Sitt suusa ilm" in translation sh*t ski weather. Also i would not mind to eat good food as entertainment every day. It's just that someone needs to cook that good food as you need to be skilled for that. And we probably are just lazy to make good food only. I bet that if you have a cook in your family who really love to cook then there be entertaining every day. Also we go out to eat to have this luxury food as then it become entertainment as we dont do it every day. As what be the point to go out to eat if we would eat the same we do it daily ?
I am from Latvia and everything you described is pretty much the same here. I don’t know about the hugging thing - where I live men rarely hug , but women hug if they are friends.
@@MananAnwar I think here it depends on the company of people. I have heard a family going to sauna naked , or seen some people do that, but for example me and my friends we are not doing that because I think people who live in the capital of the city are maybe more shy or something like that. My cousin had friends outside of Riga and they were going butt naked with no worries. If you live in the capital here then most likely no one will be naked in the sauna. Sometimes in a public sauna someone like a stranger, but I doubt that a professor with go naked with his students. People would think it is weird in a way, but make it seem like it is ok.
@@MananAnwar I think in Latvia there are 2 separate sauna cultures, one is more like ''party'' sauna culture and other is like bathhouse/old tradition thing, like in Turkey when you have the bath houses. In the party setting, like your example with professor and students after a day of seminars/sessions, I do not think anyone would get butt naked. But there are still saunas in smaller towns and areas and even in Riga where people come just to have the bathing/sauna ritual and then it absolutely happens that people go naked, or in the countryside with family members, like men and women going separately but all getting naked. I myself did not know much about the communal/municipality saunas as I did not experience them growing up but I had a girlfriend from smaller town and they still have this communal sauna there and most places I guess still do have them just that now people have access to showers and baths and their own saunas, so it is not as popular anymore. But I would say getting butt naked in Latvia today is more of a CLOSE FAMILY thing, I haven't done that even with my cousins in extended family gatherings. Also I have to say that in Latvia there is both Lutheran and Catholic tradition when it comes to ethnic Latvians so it is perhaps a bit different than in Estonia where historically people have been Lutheran. I am from the Catholic part of Latvia, so maybe here the Catholic church has just been much better at eradicating ''indecency'' or stuff like that, pagan traditions, more than in the Lutheran part
Your Pakistani origin should have come before your first culture shock. We need to understand the original culture to understand the perspective shock. Women drivers are normal in the entire western world.
i think your estonian friends were messing with you... a bit. did you learn about estonian kind of jokes and humor? it is bit like british upper class joking, i guess. first to laugh is loser. ideal is to tell complete bullshit or jokes with completely deadpan face. or other ways to mess with foreigner. sauna seems like this bit, but is not, actually. it is dead serious. but thing about estonians never being cold... not true. just acting. food...true. everyday food is just to keep you alive. but going to grandma's for christmas or having birthday, then it's all out. still maybe blandish, but we see clear difference. esp in cake territory. problem with boiled potatos - i loved them when child but they were different then. home grown, well stored, good breed, meant for eating and not for storage and transport purposes. tougher potato is, less taste it has. olden times - just add salt and butter and boiled potato or smashed potato is the best. esp very first, new potatoes, just ripe. modern varieties not so much. but the best were, of course, oven baked potatoes.
Mate, no3 pretty much describes socialising in pretty much every European / Western county. When I was in my 20's here in Australia, we wouldn't begin going out until around midnight and in summer we made sure to bring our sunglasses with us for the morning. I am sooo glad I wasn't born in a conservative culture. Your cultural shocks are just you adjusting from a conservative to a more liberal culture and most aren't really that specific to Estonia.
This food thing is really funny😅. I visited a finnish mate in Estonia and he offered me rice. I'm like, great! I love rice. Only that he gave sliced raw tomatoes to eat the rice🤣🤣. I just told him naaaa. Let's make sauce. Food is just a necessity(sweet or tasteless).
I am Western (originally from Brazil with European origin) and many Western cultures value food for entertainment. It seems that Europeans from colder countries have this difference and their food is usually clearly boring, based on vegetables and starches and cheap ingredients and clearly designed for survival. Coming from a poor country I expected the opposite, to be honest, but I guess the good food stops at France. Sorry for being honest.
It feels like Estonia's is a mix of Slavic and Scandinavian culture, among others. The last point also happens in Iceland. The lack of food culture is surprising thou. Many countries have national dishes and like to brag about it. Poland certainly has A LOT OF SPECIFIC FOOD, that we celebrate. Because of that, we also like to try other kind of foods, like Italian, Asian and more. Food is entertainment, but so is the alcohol. I never liked the party culture, thou, and never joined it. Even when I went out with my work colleges, it was only for a short while to a bar to talk (if drink, only moderately, I don't like or maybe even can't really get drunk). Later all go to dance and I just go home. I don't like the music, and it's not fun for me, so the idea to pay to enter the club and suffer the horrible music there is just repulsive. So partying depends on personality, and not all like it. Getting naked in a sauna, maybe pool, is more common in Scandinavian countries and in Germany, so for Poles, this would be awkward as well, and I assume, other Slavic countries probably too, although I can't be certain. As to the weather, it all depends on the season. In winter, it's cold in Poland when it's over -10, very cold over -25. In the spring, when we have 6-8, we say it's cold and expect to 14-16, sometimes 18. In the summer, all below 20 is cold. 20-24 is optimal, above is hot. For me, 30-34 is still very hot, but I love it - this is a sign of summer and I would wish that most days were so hot, unfortunately there are only few days like that. Can't imagine +40 thou. Never experienced it and probably it would be too much.
Why You are mixing Slavic and Scandinavian culture to get Estonian? This is totally wrong! If You are looking for Slavic neghbors for Estonians You can not find them. Perhaps the closest Slavic neighbors for Estonia are the Poles! But northen Poles are not so Slavic... they are mixture of Slavic and Baltic tribes, same thing with Belarusians. Russians are different story, they are not Slavic, they are a mixture of Finno-Ugric and everything else that has gone through history, Tatars, Turkic tribes and Slavs. Note... The army of the Russian Empire under Peter I used Uyghur as the official language. That was only 300 Years ago!!! Do You know where are living Uyghurs?
#3 & #4 blow my mind too (not in a good way). I was born and raised in Estonia, but I don't feel like fitting in at all. #5 food is entertaining for me. :D And people are generally closed, cold, with stone faces, never hugging (unless friends, especially female), and all that seems strange even though I have always lived in Tallinn, I don't get used to this culture...
I'd like to eat tastier food but oh the calories-calories! Tasty food most of the time means lots of fat, sugar and/or salt. I't not like we just sweat it off just by being in the 40 degree weather ;)
In Soviet times, nearly 100% of tram and trolleybus drivers were women and 100% bus drivers were men. Now percentages have shifted a bit. Minimum wage for Tallinn transport driver is 1300€.
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These are mostly so true! Loved how you explained how food is a form of entertainment in South Asia - I couldn’t have explained it better!
The culture shocks make Estonia such a beautiful and unique place to be in. Enjoying my stay here ❤
Glad you enjoyed it.
Sauna is a sacred space for Estonians, as for many other Uralian peoples. As usually the only sanitary place in a farmhouse, women gave birth in a sauna, and dead bodies were ritually washed there as well. So you can say that life literally began and ended in sauna. There are many taboos involved, too: in order not to offend the spirits of the sauna one must not fart in there, or relieve oneself in any other way; swearing and foul language is prohibited, as is sexual activity.
I wish I could see Estonia in pagan times. It must have been such a spiritually connected place.
@@MananAnwar Surely it must have been. I bet a lot of singing must have been involved. Gifts given to a newborn, his limbs touched by the branches of the sacred trees; wailing women in lamentation mourning their father, their husband, their brother, their son, bestowing his riches and weapons on him for his final journey.
My grandmother was born in sauna in 1920.
@@MananAnwar I am curious to know How much of what pakistanis call "pagan" is left in Pakistan. I mean how much % of religious minority left since independence..what is the current% vs what was in when it gained independence? Are Ahmedias [i dont know if it is current spelling] counted as muslims in Pakistan?
In Austria saunas are textile free areas too
For us Estonians, temperatures below -20°C aren't considered cold, but anything above +30°C is too hot. At least for me.😀
Oh, in the Philippines, we get accustomed to 36 degrees.
But yes, 29 degrees is normal, not 36.
I wanted something a cold weather. 😁
For me the weird thing is no hugging or handshaking when saying goodbye. I'm British, a nation not know for their warmth and physical displays of affection but even I was surprised at the coldness of an Estonian goodbye.
Took me a year to get used to it. Even now I force my hand to not rise up for a handshake everytime.
Depends on who you know. In my circle of people it is very common to hug every time when we say goodbye and males do that as well, no shaming or childish laughing about it. Of course, this mostly happens when you don't meet every day or maybe even every week, I am not hugging my co-workers each time I go home :)
I and my family/many friends hug often. Not so rare in Estonia.
Really nice and humble overview; really well done! Most young Estonians like foreign cuisines, but secretly they adore their mom's cutlets or grandma's curd cake. Right on point with the temps too, luckily, there's just a week or two of those 30+ degree days per year. But what sets the mood are those months from October to March when you have +4 and slow, shallow rain, and mud, and everything looks like the Eurotrip's depiction of Eastern Europe.
Thank you for your comments. Appreciate that.
Hi! It's fun to find out what non natives think about life in Estonia 😀. I was listening to you today and the first impression was that you sound and behave like an Estonian, really 😀. I guess the 8 years here have been good on you 😁👍
Yes I have Estonian accent now. 😶
@@MananAnwar you really do! I noticed it when I first saw a video of yours and thought to myself, hmm, that's peculiar. It's very endearing though! :)
Thank you Manan for all of your videos...super helpful as I prepare to make my final move to Tallinn in August. Although I am moving with my company, and I have a relocation company helping me. And I spent 2 months there last year. But I am moving from Minnesota in the USA much colder here than there. And the people here are primarily Norwegian or Swedish or Dutch so similar conservative until you get liquor into them. :) Keep the videos coming and let's meet up for a drink or coffee when I arrive if you have time.
Glad to have you here Brent. Hit me up on IG and we can talk when you’re here.
Hey! Thank you for such a nice video. I am Estonian. Food...is so important for us - we are a potatoe country. Our family gatherings are a foodfest but if you come out with us to a simple lunch or Friday night drink fest, it might seem boring for you because then we use the food just to get full or for the "sakuska" (snack beside alcohol). Estonia is perfect for celebrities..we notice them, maybe say hi but thats it, stalking and screaming is impolite and annoying. We are private people. And yes...alcohol makes us extroverts..for few hours but thats it 😂
Alcohol and sauna 🙌🏽🇪🇪♥️
@@MananAnwar yep, you are getting the whole picture alright. But simple is usually better and if it works it ain't stupid :)
The thing about food is.. We do enjoy our food. It's not like we think of ourselves as simple machines that need fuel. It's simply that what we enjoy is not drowned in spices. Now I don't know about those Estonians up there, but people in Latvia value good food and good alcohol equally. Like if you must choose with place with good booze and bad food vs place that has both good selection of alcohol and good food, most will choose latter. That's exactly why cafe/bar chain "Ezītis miglā" became so popular in Riga. It has good, filling meals on top of wide selection of alcohol, pure or coctails.
It’s not just about the spices. It’s about the care you’d take to eat something. When we eat rice we have a side dish, then we have a sauce (mint), then we had salad, then we have something to drink, like a lassi (milk drink). There is a reason why Indian and Pakistani food is universally popular. It agrees with palate of people.
Very good video ;) but i can say that food thing has changed in recent years me and almost all my friends are foodies these days :D good luck making videos , you definetly got a subscriber , I love how respectful you are
Great to have you
Point 7 is indeed super Cool !
These "famous" people are even more easy to meet inside a basic plane from/to TLL airport .
No tralala private Jet or military transport for officials ..
Funniest part is for Members of European Parlement or European Commision. They make queue like everybody at TLL for begining of the journey and then when they land at BRU , it is completely different universe with special VIP service and top security 😲
Surprisingly I have never met anyone famous at the airport. I guess there are special lounges there for them.
Umm, *my estonian opinion about that* is that we dont bother celebrities since we arent that open people, there for we don't want to take up anyone's time, especially since we wouldn't *maybe* want it to be done to us.
@@MananAnwar Indeed there is VIP lounge and private transfer in Porsche Panamera to the plane . I've the impression it is used only by diplomatic missions or international rock bands. More classical politician or local star are really taking relax plane like normal passengers. Perhaps only difference is that they have acces to business lounge but this is also the case for thousands of frequent flyers :-)
One of the reasons for not going crazy about celebs, is that we are a small nation. Erveryone has at least one celeb or historic figure in their circle - friends, family & workplace. So seeing them is quite normal. Also, we consider it quite rude to go bother people when they are trying to live their life and have a private moment.
Seems you havent noticed yet that from spring to autumn large part of estonians vanish from capital, you cant see them in clubs or bars...they go to country side to their countryhomes. What they do there? Work, hard physical labor. Take care of carden, build, fix, mow grass, trim trees, water plants, paint, go forest to cather berries and muschrooms, fish...and yes at evening they go to sauna. After 2 days sweating and working hard they go back to city bc work week starts. Parting every weekend is more office people and kind of new thing brought here from west.... not very estonian thing.
I think the true cold for us is the one that will lead to hypothermia. I believe most of us know that feeling. For me that happened as a child, when you’re either underdressed for winter or stay outside for too long. Once you get inside you can feel your body radiate cold and it won’t get warm for awhile. It might take hours before you body fully recovers it’s normal body temperature. It’s that kind of cold that goes though your fat and muscle mass and into organs and bone. That’s my understanding what is a cold. Rest of the colds are just something that is a nuisance but won’t kill you.
One of the cool things about Estonia is also how babies are given cold exposure. I see moms walking with babies in the coldest weather. That has to result is some kind of resistance to cold.
Yeah, quite possible. I like to call it, “it breeds character” both mental and physical character. Makes you more resilient against external influences.
There are differences when it comes to cold. For instance, -40C with minimal humidity and wind is no big deal. -15 with 70% humidity and high wind is a BIG problem!
@@rockmcdwayne1710 yeah bcoz humidity = snow
@@FinUgShiet Not at all my friend! Number 1 factor when it comes to humidity is nearby sea. It will take very cold weather and clear skies for prolonged period of time to get rid of humidity. Also, what needs to happen is for the sea to freeze over and get a slight coating of snow to reflect sunlight. If all the boxes are ticked it can get very cold BUT, it also lowers the humidity enough so it doesnt feel too cold.
Coldest weather i personally remember around here was during the millennium change 2000/2001. It was -32C at the coast and i presume it was much colder inland!
I really nice summary! But I doubt that Estonians don't enjoy their food. It's just that the food we enjoy tastes bland to you.
Are you Estonian? Your name seems very different. Glad to have you here and thank you for your comments.
yea, I am Estonian, and I like our food. It's good, especially when done by my granny yummm
I would say that it has changed in recent decade...before yes estonians werent huge foodies cause Soviet times sucked...but now almost all my friends are foodies...my boyfriend loves to cook and is making craft beers , there are some amazing restaurants in Estonia aswell
@@MananAnwar Well, i dont know what food did you eat but Estonian food is delicious.
@@MananAnwar oh we love our food and actually we are very proud of it 😊... We just have different taste compared to meny others 😊 I am allso Estonian 😉
All true... the only one I see missing is safety / Kids-teens running around everywhere. I find myself thinking 'where are your parents?' quite often! Forgot one more... Dog culture. Its great! (dogs in restaurants, etc..).
Is dog culture not a big part in the US ?
@@MananAnwar depends on the part of the country, but in general letting dogs go everywhere is not part of US dog culture.
like 25-30C is boiling hot for me, even 10C is already hot for me, im very much a cold weather type of person, thats exactly why im not happy that summer is coming
😂😂😂
You're lowkey a vampire....no offense. They are the only ones that hate the sun and summer.
While watching this video I am currently enjoying my plate of pan fried potatoes (you know the ones that were boiled 3 days ago) with just salt and a slice of buttered bread. 😅 So freaking good! Nor bland or boring.
As an estonian myself you havent seen the beauty of drunk people yet. In the poorer parts of tallinn there arent just guys hugging you. They get angry and fight wich usually ends in the police station or hospital. One place is lasnamäe (not the new buildings or places next to bigger roads). Also i can confirm our food is bland.
There are 5 minutes of loving before fighting.
Have you tried outdoor swimming in winter yet? When you do, you see that being in the cold water for the right amount of time will actually make you very energised and feeling all hot. Goes together with a sauna most of the time!
It’s the best feeling.
I've never been to Estonia (it's on my list). Great channel Mister!!!
Fun fact: if you go to any public pool in Estonia you always will find a sauna there. They are mostly near the showers
🤔 never knew. Thank you
@@MananAnwar And it's perfectly fine in public Sauna to start discussing business or sports or whatever with complete stranger whom you will never see again in your life.
women driving is normal in nordics too i think as im finnish! nice video!. also sauna thing is also true in finland
What an amusing and interesting video! 😊❤
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey hey, good video I must consider. Wanted to tell you about the hot weather, when it comes to Estonian summer and + degrees, it is somehow very humid air around you and it feels different from southern + degrees. I am born and grown up in Estonia, then on 2003 we were at southern France where local people even died because of the hot weather (+40C) but nothing was matter with us, at the same time, we really suffer in Estonia when it comes to more than +25 C.
What’s the hottest weather you have been to ?
@@MananAnwar not really, there were days also when thermometer was showing + 53 in the shadow, then only one trouble appeared - pale white skin burned out under the sun :D in northen sauna sometimes is +100 C ;) and all enjoy it
@@MananAnwar Yeah estonia is very humid and +25 celsius hit you very hard, its way worse than like 38 celsius at lets say egypt, thats tolerable, in estonia it would be near death.
Being Estonian myself, part where Estonians are 2 different people when sober and drunk, is so true and it has always pothered me. I actually stopped going to parties and drinking mostly because of that. For me they seemed to be fake when drunk and I did not like to be with fake acting people anymore.
Another good video, thanks. Aitäh
Yep its all true, except id say that we do eat for enjoyment sometimes
I have been with an Estonian women for 4 1/2 years now. When she drinks, she’s all over me with the I love you. When she is sober she is a completely different person. Almost bland. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out which personality was really her. So I’ve learnt over the years whenever she comes to my place. I always have a bottle of red wine. And after 2 drinks. She completely opened up and changes her personality. What you said is absolutely true!!
Thank you for your comment. I think this is changing with the newer generation who are more social without alcohol.
@@MananAnwar She’s a bit older. We’re both going into our 50’s. She’s old school. From Tallinn. I’ve even seen her photo album from when she was younger in the saunas. It was wild!! So yes!! You hit all the nails on the head.
Try to smoke weed together and you will discover a lot more in her caracter.
@@alkukhta Maybe, but weed is not for everyone. I smoked weed for 12 years and had to quit. I used to be depressed, anxious, scared to ride the underground, etc. Some people can cause serious psychological problems by using THC.
Haha as a finnish it wasnt even weird when I went to a public sauna by myself in Tallinn couple weeks ago, it was full of people of all ages, mostly 40-55, more than half of 'em totally naked so why should I be ashamed? And who the hell brings a towel to a sauna anyways?
I bet people from the US think this would be weird, go to sweat to a room full of totally unknown naked men :D
It’s actually weird for majority of the world. (Except for Finland or maybe even Russia).
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj Yeah and what I've heard n seen on travel shows they got sum in asia in indochina, dont remember which country but used by some indigenous tribe, found in the mountains-type sauna.
E: Just now read your comment all the way... How the hell do you end up with that conclusion, since "Russians" weren't a thing when sauna was invented...? The Siberian peoples themselves aren't "russian" they were colonized by the russians and had to submit since the Czarz were on a mission.
@@MananAnwar definitely not weird in Latvia, atleast if it's not a mixed sauna. Then people tend to cover themselves up, be it towels or swimsuits. I would actually say naked sauna and swimsuit sauna feel like two clearly distinct things even though they aren't really. Both good, but different
@@Microphunktv-jb3kj Obviously I have no proof but I suspect it's way older than 4000 years. American natives have saunas. I´m not sure which tribe though, I went to a camp as a kid and we built sauna like that. You make a hole in the ground and make a fire in it and throw a bunch of rock in it. Then you roll the rocks into another hole in a tent. It gets as hot as a modern sauna and lasts for quite some time assuming you get enough rocks of sufficient size.
Nice video ! Something that happened to me when I arrived to Estonia is that I noted there’s no elevator music haha. I know it’s weird but shops, elevators or many public spaces don’t have background sound
Yeah weird. Only noticed it now when you said.
So in other parts of the world elevator actually have a background music? It's not just a hollywood movies thing?
O haha , i just realised it after reading your comment 😂
Yeah... we like our alcohol. There is a saying, I'm not sure if it's estonian or not: "drunken words are sober thoughts". That describes the drunk/sober personalities really well. With alcohol we just are open enough to say things we think
The celebrity one is so true lmao. I've met one actor in a sports shop but didnt say nun to her cuz didnt wanna bother her. I've also walked by tanel padar several times cuz he lives close by(ik exact house lol). Met variety of diffrent famous ppl mainly in grocery stores 😂
Estonia is the best place if you are famous and don't want to be bothered.
I was born here and yeah, it’s country cold for me too
Friday/Saturday and sometimes Sunday is a party time in every Eastern European country. Shock 3/4 you described Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Poland, Czech, Slovakians are probably the same.
Hi Manan! I'm migrating to Tallinn in 2 weeks! Should I arrive dressed?
Just wear a tie.
@@MananAnwar haha, you mention the Estonian style 😉, I'm looking for places to dance swing in Tallinn and I noticed that everyone is sharped dressed as in the 20s! In Europe dancers don't dress so good
@@MananAnwar point for good humour 👍
I think it was F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen, who once said that he loves how he can walk around here like regular person. Oh baby, we know who you are, but there is place and time for pictures.
Same thing was said by another Hollywood actor who was just here (I’m forgetting the name)
Boiled potatoes is as Estonian as you can get and yes, it is almost never cold.
Maitsev mmmmmm
Funny, for me it feels like the Estonians are deeply anchored into old gender roles, compared to my experience in France and especially the USA. So I had the opposite shock there.
I kinda feel the same with everything else. Loved your description of the sauna.
Thank you. Great to have you here.
You're so right about food being only for sustenance, as a kid I used to watch Australian and American etc cooking shows every day after school, so I memorized such a wide variety of delicious-looking dishes and ingredients but then I would eat boiled potatoes, cottage cheese and herring for dinner haha.
Don't get me wrong, I've always been grateful to have food on my table, but seeing boiled potatoes sometimes makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Boiled potatoes and Estonian culture just seem to be inseparable.
I don't go to restaurants much, either, because the food costs a ton but is rarely better than okay, even if it's some place that everyone always recommends:(
and yeah I remember maybe 5 or 6 years ago walking to school in -29.5 degree weather without even blinking an eye, in the same clothes that I wore when it was 0 degrees out, you just grit your teeth and learn to live with it:)
I salute your winter courage.
The part about winter sounds eerily similar to what we do in Finland 😅
it seems you have never been invited by our grandmas and moms. the food is also a part of the love. not maybe the taste but the amount our females are trying to stuff in the people they consider as loved ones or potential family members. also, if you are invited to family gatherings in estonian household you will see how much effort actually there has been put in, the table must be overfilled by the different food we think as party food. especially outside of tallinn. be aware. bakings, salads, rolls, pirochki, meat etc. and all the time women of the household are forcing you to eat as they are worried about you being not full enough :D btw, as an estonian, i think potatoes cooked in a hundred million different ways in estonia are the best food on earth :D also, estonian culture is called potato culture as when russian empress Cathrine II introduced this vegetable in the russian province estonia, we discovered that this stuff is brilliant, last well over the harsh winter and keeps until the first crops its nutritious qualities like vitamins and carbs. also, pork is our preferred meat for very rational reasons as you can't kill your chicken which lays the eggs, you cannot kill your cow which provides the milk, you can't kill your horse which works on the field, you can't kill your sheep which gives you the wool, but the pig is the only resourceful meat, gaining so much needed fat while feeding over the summer season with ease, get lots of fat and you can distribute the meat over the hard time when nothing edible is available. all come from the short period of the summer season. see, the climate often defines what we eat and drink. :P what kind of taste pleasures do you expect from nature and winter as we have? :D be kind to the potatoes, they are foreigners too, actually.
Your description is "The story of my Life" by One Direction :D
My dude... Boiled potatoes making up for 70% of meals is the bane of all three Baltic states
I think Estonia is pretty simular to the scandinavian culture. Exept they have hotter climate than we have up north :D
You’d be surprised how cold is it.
I am from Nigeria. I didn't know 20 degrees will feel this hot. Watching you say 29/30 scares me. It's strange for me especially considering I've lived in the tropics my whole prior to last year
I’m just about to have fun.
If you go just one step away from the most crowded public beach, seeing full naked swimmers is nothing extraordinary as well.
And talking about the drunk people - as you missed the times when vodka was much cheaper in here than in Finland so that we got a lot of vodka tourists, you really haven't seen or heard a thing.
I have witnessed some Finnish phenomenon. They are memorable.
Speaking of Finnish people I actually feel more for the staff at bars and clubs who have to deal with them. I have heard many stories from my friends who worked there.
Yah that is a bit strange for the sauna, esp. given that these were your professor and classmates, really strange actually. I think if they were strangers it might be a bit easier. Ive seen FKK beaches in some other parts of europe and normally people tend to sit pretty far away from each other, so theres not really any invasion of each others privacy.
a norwegian currently on vacation in Tallinn here🇳🇴 staying for a few days, and so far i have been enjoying my stay. I must say this is such a cool channel to get a better idea of the country i am visiting🇪🇪
Appreciate that.
This is fascinating content. It's like the modern day equivalent of Ibn Battuta leaving Morocco in the 1300's to visit China. In no way am I impuning Pakistan in saying this, but I can't think of 2 societies so diametrically opposed. Well.done Manan, for exploring this culture openly and without any preconceived hang-ups on how things should or shouldn't be. I married a Dutch girl, so I can relate to the nudity thing. Nothing prepared me for seeing my in-laws in the buff 😂
Appreciate that.
That bar hopping and then night club routine is more like "teens" habit ... adults can't be bothered. Adults prefer to sit in nice restaurant or pub and eat, drink, talk and have good time.
Also we do enjoy good food, just our food tratitions are different and most of ouf foods are not spicy and trying to hide real tastes of products, because it's not required (the climate is cold and food is better preserved). Most prefer subtle party of different flavours instead of fire in their mouths. :D
What is your favourite Estonian food ?
@@MananAnwar Depends on season. On a hot summer day, a cold kama drink is super! Christmas time blood sausage with potatoes, pumpkin salad and cranberry jam. Different seasons, different traditional foods. But my main favorite is fish, not salmon or trout, but proper local fish from sea. Fried, baked, smoked, grilled etc
Nice video. Good job, Manan.
I dont think going out 2am to Old Town is quite what you described. Personal experience says you might see what you talked about but moreover you'll see fights, puking and degradation that makes you (read: made me) think about your role in party culture.
All of this happens at 2:05. For 5 minutes it’s amazing.
Sauna is the equaliser here. Kings and peasants are the same in the sauna. THE best deals are landed in a sauna. If you think about it you see quickly why that is. The facades are down, it's only facts and personalities in there.
Yep. That’s why I think it’s the complete opposite of the outside. Sauna is the balance for Estonian culture.
As an American that’s been wanting to visit Estonia 🇪🇪 for the last 30 years I really enjoy these videos and will be there next July, can’t wait. See y’all next summer. 💪❤️🇪🇪
Hit me up when you’re there.
@@MananAnwar I will do that my friend!!! And thanks again for the interesting videos.
35 for me is nice, and -15 if also fine.
Estonian 🇪🇪
You’re a rare person.
Yep, i have several friends form every field, Top officials(ministers), top models, biggest musicians/stars, tv and movie stars (heck my dog until she was stolen was in several movies, the only proffessional dog in Estonia hired to take part in movies).
Yes it is normal
@@MananAnwar Most yeah if it's over 21 it's like, "theres no air" for me under 23 in room is chilli but outside with propper wares -15 is totaly fine and for most somewhere -10 most say it is getting cold.
Well. if estonians are like talking to you, it means you have very, very good people skills. It is not unusual for people to take a month or two in new workplace, to start to talk to you. Pretty common. We give a lot of personal space for everyone as by default.
Too much personal space.
This was very imformative and interesting. I come from Saudi Arabia and when I first went to UK to live and study, I also experienced a culture shock similar to the one you experienced.
Good job,Manan.Nice video.
At least like 90% of Estonians when confronted with the stereotypes will go "haha yeah".
The only things people get angry about are things that are blatantly not true - being confused with r*ssians, saying "Estonians aren't that introverted really"... yeah can't actually think of anything else.
I made that mistake only once: confusing Russians with Estonians, I had never been to Estonia and I was playing online and there was an Estonian player, this was my first impression. He politely corrected me and we had a good time together.
Thank you!
Dear Manan sahib
Women driving public transport in all over Europe
The thing I say to people that complain about Estonian food. “Hey you have a perfect business opportunity”. “Get rich selling Estonians tasty food”.
Many people are doing it. It is a great opportunity if you like business + making food.
As an Estonian i can confirm that everything said in this video is true, but very funny to hear from someone else's perspective. Also about the famous people thing, a kid of very famous TV personality went to same kindergarten as my kid - i saw her every day and it didnt feel strange at all.
Well the difference in cold and heat is that we have light skin to protect us from the cold while you have darker skin to protect you from the heat.
And as we live in the bad weather all around the year when we have a saying as "Sitt suusa ilm" in translation sh*t ski weather.
Also i would not mind to eat good food as entertainment every day. It's just that someone needs to cook that good food as you need to be skilled for that.
And we probably are just lazy to make good food only. I bet that if you have a cook in your family who really love to cook then there be entertaining every day.
Also we go out to eat to have this luxury food as then it become entertainment as we dont do it every day.
As what be the point to go out to eat if we would eat the same we do it daily ?
I liked your video, hilarious but spot on :)
You are from Pakistan?
It is cold and harsh in here 9 month of year. Food is survival.
Hello Manan, enjoy your stay.
Thank you
I am from Latvia and everything you described is pretty much the same here. I don’t know about the hugging thing - where I live men rarely hug , but women hug if they are friends.
Is the sauna culture the same ?
@@MananAnwar I think here it depends on the company of people. I have heard a family going to sauna naked , or seen some people do that, but for example me and my friends we are not doing that because I think people who live in the capital of the city are maybe more shy or something like that. My cousin had friends outside of Riga and they were going butt naked with no worries. If you live in the capital here then most likely no one will be naked in the sauna. Sometimes in a public sauna someone like a stranger, but I doubt that a professor with go naked with his students. People would think it is weird in a way, but make it seem like it is ok.
@@MananAnwar I think in Latvia there are 2 separate sauna cultures, one is more like ''party'' sauna culture and other is like bathhouse/old tradition thing, like in Turkey when you have the bath houses. In the party setting, like your example with professor and students after a day of seminars/sessions, I do not think anyone would get butt naked. But there are still saunas in smaller towns and areas and even in Riga where people come just to have the bathing/sauna ritual and then it absolutely happens that people go naked, or in the countryside with family members, like men and women going separately but all getting naked.
I myself did not know much about the communal/municipality saunas as I did not experience them growing up but I had a girlfriend from smaller town and they still have this communal sauna there and most places I guess still do have them just that now people have access to showers and baths and their own saunas, so it is not as popular anymore. But I would say getting butt naked in Latvia today is more of a CLOSE FAMILY thing, I haven't done that even with my cousins in extended family gatherings.
Also I have to say that in Latvia there is both Lutheran and Catholic tradition when it comes to ethnic Latvians so it is perhaps a bit different than in Estonia where historically people have been Lutheran. I am from the Catholic part of Latvia, so maybe here the Catholic church has just been much better at eradicating ''indecency'' or stuff like that, pagan traditions, more than in the Lutheran part
number 4 is universal everywhere... people get drunk and then act crazy
man i take out garbage in shorts when it is -20 in estonia
So you’re that guy in shorts I keep seeing everywhere.
@@MananAnwar wait what ?
I thought the president walks with bodyguards, but now I got know from You it was secret service 😊
I like this guy. I Hope Estonia treats you well.
I am a estonian and think that 20C is hot
we have saying in Estonian: pole olemas sitta ilma, lihtsalt sitt riietus :) there is no shitti weather just bad clothing :D
in north-Pakistan mountains there is also cold, like estonian winter
Yes very much winter.
Bro 20⁰ and i am crying legit its no even june and i am already dying and going insane about the heat
My condolences.
Estonia sounds like my kind of place.
Who eats just boiled potatoes or rice?
As an estonian, all true
22 °C degrees is too hot 😑
😂
I don't even like 15° lol..
The drunk versus sober observation reminds me of Finland’s Eurovision song for this year 😂
Same case in Japan, totally different person in the morning after a night out!
Hi good afternoon. Am so in love with your programs, I will love to migrate to Estonia, I am a Nigeria.
Welcome!
😂❤
Yes 👍🏻
So in love with 🇪🇪 🇩🇴
Your Pakistani origin should have come before your first culture shock. We need to understand the original culture to understand the perspective shock. Women drivers are normal in the entire western world.
I have always failed at being a white person because I don't drink alcohol. The same is true when I am in Estonia.
I feel you.
"what is cold?" - coldest was -35C in Tallinn.. that was pretty cold...
For me cold is anything below 18.
i think your estonian friends were messing with you... a bit. did you learn about estonian kind of jokes and humor? it is bit like british upper class joking, i guess. first to laugh is loser. ideal is to tell complete bullshit or jokes with completely deadpan face. or other ways to mess with foreigner. sauna seems like this bit, but is not, actually. it is dead serious. but thing about estonians never being cold... not true. just acting. food...true. everyday food is just to keep you alive. but going to grandma's for christmas or having birthday, then it's all out. still maybe blandish, but we see clear difference. esp in cake territory. problem with boiled potatos - i loved them when child but they were different then. home grown, well stored, good breed, meant for eating and not for storage and transport purposes. tougher potato is, less taste it has. olden times - just add salt and butter and boiled potato or smashed potato is the best. esp very first, new potatoes, just ripe. modern varieties not so much. but the best were, of course, oven baked potatoes.
Thank you for your comment.
Mate, no3 pretty much describes socialising in pretty much every European / Western county. When I was in my 20's here in Australia, we wouldn't begin going out until around midnight and in summer we made sure to bring our sunglasses with us for the morning.
I am sooo glad I wasn't born in a conservative culture. Your cultural shocks are just you adjusting from a conservative to a more liberal culture and most aren't really that specific to Estonia.
Thank you for commenting. But this is my channel. So it’s specific to me and Estonia.
But glad so many other people can relate to it.
youare th best
This food thing is really funny😅. I visited a finnish mate in Estonia and he offered me rice. I'm like, great! I love rice. Only that he gave sliced raw tomatoes to eat the rice🤣🤣. I just told him naaaa. Let's make sauce. Food is just a necessity(sweet or tasteless).
I am Western (originally from Brazil with European origin) and many Western cultures value food for entertainment. It seems that Europeans from colder countries have this difference and their food is usually clearly boring, based on vegetables and starches and cheap ingredients and clearly designed for survival. Coming from a poor country I expected the opposite, to be honest, but I guess the good food stops at France. Sorry for being honest.
It feels like Estonia's is a mix of Slavic and Scandinavian culture, among others. The last point also happens in Iceland.
The lack of food culture is surprising thou. Many countries have national dishes and like to brag about it. Poland certainly has A LOT OF SPECIFIC FOOD, that we celebrate. Because of that, we also like to try other kind of foods, like Italian, Asian and more. Food is entertainment, but so is the alcohol.
I never liked the party culture, thou, and never joined it. Even when I went out with my work colleges, it was only for a short while to a bar to talk (if drink, only moderately, I don't like or maybe even can't really get drunk). Later all go to dance and I just go home. I don't like the music, and it's not fun for me, so the idea to pay to enter the club and suffer the horrible music there is just repulsive. So partying depends on personality, and not all like it.
Getting naked in a sauna, maybe pool, is more common in Scandinavian countries and in Germany, so for Poles, this would be awkward as well, and I assume, other Slavic countries probably too, although I can't be certain.
As to the weather, it all depends on the season. In winter, it's cold in Poland when it's over -10, very cold over -25. In the spring, when we have 6-8, we say it's cold and expect to 14-16, sometimes 18. In the summer, all below 20 is cold. 20-24 is optimal, above is hot. For me, 30-34 is still very hot, but I love it - this is a sign of summer and I would wish that most days were so hot, unfortunately there are only few days like that. Can't imagine +40 thou. Never experienced it and probably it would be too much.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Michał. Really enjoying your insights.
Why You are mixing Slavic and Scandinavian culture to get Estonian? This is totally wrong! If You are looking for Slavic neghbors for Estonians You can not find them. Perhaps the closest Slavic neighbors for Estonia are the Poles! But northen Poles are not so Slavic... they are mixture of Slavic and Baltic tribes, same thing with Belarusians. Russians are different story, they are not Slavic, they are a mixture of Finno-Ugric and everything else that has gone through history, Tatars, Turkic tribes and Slavs. Note... The army of the Russian Empire under Peter I used Uyghur as the official language. That was only 300 Years ago!!! Do You know where are living Uyghurs?
NEVER EVER call Estonians Slavic! It's wrong and it hurts, big time. Russians living in Estonia are Slavic, but Estonians and their culture is not!
Who stole the keishka?
#3 & #4 blow my mind too (not in a good way). I was born and raised in Estonia, but I don't feel like fitting in at all. #5 food is entertaining for me. :D And people are generally closed, cold, with stone faces, never hugging (unless friends, especially female), and all that seems strange even though I have always lived in Tallinn, I don't get used to this culture...
Have you lived abroad ?
Unfaaaiiirrr i wanna meet kelly sildaru 😭
I'd like to eat tastier food but oh the calories-calories! Tasty food most of the time means lots of fat, sugar and/or salt. I't not like we just sweat it off just by being in the 40 degree weather ;)
be 50 years under soviet occupation, see how it develops your taste for food!
How was it before the occupation?
@@MananAnwar Before the occupation Estonia was wealthier than Finland. So I'm prreeeety sure we had finer tastes around.
Public transport sallaries are so low, that men usualy dont work for that little money. Thats why women drives busses.
Interesting point. I also see women leading in service sectors.
In Soviet times, nearly 100% of tram and trolleybus drivers were women and 100% bus drivers were men. Now percentages have shifted a bit.
Minimum wage for Tallinn transport driver is 1300€.
päris huvitav kuulamine 👍
l live in narva estonia
Tere
Bro how much it cost to go to Estonia from Pakistan on work visa
DM
Manan sahib
What’s the food like for Muslims
Actually, I see most of what you said as advantages.
Very funny video, i laughed so much when you almost said estonians look like they’re posessed by a jinn when they got drunk😂