Estonian Day No. 131.

Häid Jõule kõigile!!! ♥

Estonian Day No. 119.

And again: I didn't write for a long time. Argh.

The sun started to set very early. Some days, when I don't have school at that time, I enjoy the amazing evening sun - around 2.45pm! And at the same time, the moon is already standing high and is to be seen very clearly. And it's still getting darker every day...

My daily schedules have somehow become seriously full. 

- Friday: folkdancing evening and then movie night at Leonie's. 

- Saturday: going to Tartu from Leonie's home (while listening to some Latin-American tango music with Estonian lyrics on the radio...) and shopping loads of Christmas presents. 

- Sunday: again shopping but also planning everything. 

- Monday: actually school plus choir plus training until 7.30pm, but feeling horrible in choir and going home "already" at 4pm and lying in bed all afternoon. 

- Tuesday: Tartu, some walking around, then "One Day" in cinema with Leonie, Mirjam, and salty popcorn, then meeting Monique in her school and practicing our duet plus some new song for the YFU students' Christmas concert. 

- Wednesday: writing an essay for füüsika about Einstein's and Newton's view of the world and shopping all that stuff for my birthday party with my parents in Tartu. 

- Thursday: school plus choir plus workshop and spontaneously (because somehow me and the others didn't manage to do it before) organizing everything important for "Open Stage" on next Tuesday, including me spending five hours to create five posters in A1 (!!!) and going to bed around 0.30am. 

- Friday: school, hanging up the posters, tidying my room, taking Leonie from the bus station, baking her cake, taking Isabell from Lähte, baking and mixing and preparing and arranging all the rest until 9pm, having all the guests arrive, celebrating my birthday party until... 

- Saturday: tidying up, having breakfast, going via Tartu to Tallinn, running through the whole city trying to find the others, finding the others, waiting for Elisa, praciticing "Time Of Your Life" by Green Day in her flat, realizing that it somehow will have to be a bit spontaneous and imperfect, trying to meet the exchange students from YFU Suomi, failing, going over the Tallina Jõuluturg, buying two bottles of non-alcoholic sparkling wine, cooking at Kahm's, recelebrating my birthday with Thai food and "Slumdog Millionaire".

- Sunday: trying to meet the exchange students from YFU Suomi, failing, trying again, failing, trying again, meeting them, walking over the Tallinna Jõuluturg again and drinking another bottle of sparkling wine there with the Fins, eating in the "Peppersack" with the Fins, running to the tram station, going by tram to the Tallinna Bussijaam, missing the Noorteekspress because we didn't buy the tickets for it the day before (as I proposed to do) and all the tickets were sold out, taking another bus, paying 80% more and going 30mins later, eating and laughing in the bus station, eating and laughing in the bus (until an old woman watched us awkwardly and when we wouldn't stop, she wound her scarf around her head which made us laugh even more), sleeping in the bus, nearly missing my only bus home, getting it, going home.

- Monday: being ill.

Still to come:

- Tuesday: Open Stage.

- Wednesday: YFU Christmas concert in Tallinn.

- Thursday: YFU Christmas concert in Lähte (yay!).

- Friday: finally being able to breathe, using this ability to go to Tartu, meet Leonie and Mirjam (for probably the last time), and shopping loads of Christmas presents which will all arrive horribly late once I sent them.

- Afterwards: sleep. Until June.

Details when I'm awake again. After June.

Estonian Day No. 110.

Go forwards, understand backwards. Thank you, Mum.

Estonian Day No. 108.

Always exactly then, when you don't expect anything bad, it happens: suddenly it is December.

This morning, we had some discussion competition. It was - well - too Estonian for me to keep my attention on it all the time. Luckily it last for the first three lessons. ;) 

After noortekoor, I went to the workshop. I arrived even before Jakub, Miri, and Medeea. When they came, we prepared the room together and waited for the others. But somehow, half an hour later I was still the only one. I showed them which website to check for earlier busses back to Tartu and they decided on one. We still had some time until they would have to go, so Miri and I went through the school building to look for a piano because she hadn't played one for over one month. We found one and both played a bit. She was really good. Like - really good. When we came back to Medeea and Jakub, Kristjan had arrived. Still, the five others of our group were absent, so we chatted for some more minutes and then Kirstjan and me brought Miri, Medeea, and Jakub to the bus station and Ilona took me home.

In the car, Ilona told me that she had talked to Diina. She had said that the YFU students' Christmas concert would be on the 15th Dec as we were told - but the one for the South Estonians would not be in Tartu. I was absolutely shocked. Why not? And how would I ever manage to get Miri and others who might be interested to somewhere else? She saw my expression and explained why, sounding like she was pitying me. Then she broke out the news: it would be at 6pm - in Lähte! In our school! In our assembly hall! In Lähte!!! That made me happy.

Back home, I played the guitar. What else? I edited my blog, played some more, and again wrote my blog. That's now. I am pretty likely to play some more later... ;) Laura, you made me happy! Suuuuuuur aitäh!

Estonian Day No. 107.

Today, I used the first four lessons (remember: Wednesdays...) for writing a loooong letter to my mother. 

In matemaatika, I nearly started to cry. Somehow people still seem to think that I don't understand a single word Estonian, just because I don't talk that much Estonian in public. Or at least they don't seem to care whether I understand what they say or not. So in matemaatika, my class teacher and those, who knew Isabelle (the German girl who stayed in my host family four years ago), started talking about how soon and well she spoke Estonian. 

That hurt. People keep comparing me to Tayla, and Isabelle, and sometimes even Eva. My German teacher still calls me Isabelle from time to time! That sucks. Because it hurts so much. I am individual. I am unique. I am myself and nobody else.

After school, I went to Tartu and met Laura. We had a long chat in Ränduri pub - all in Estonian! (Well, except some phrases of mine, but really only a few!) And then I finally got her guitar!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

Afterwards, I posted the letter to my mother and walked along the Emajõgi and across the Raekoja plats to take some photos of all the lights in this beautiful night. (I say night - it was around 5pm.) Then I took my bus home, went straight to my room and started playing the guitar. Sissu kinda hated it - she came along, meowing and longing for a looooong cuddle - and then she was disappointed. She really tried everything: rubbing her pretty head against every part of my body, especially against my ellbow because she soon found out that this disturbed me most, softly biting me to tell me that she was seriously in the need for cuddling, trying to crawl between the guitar and me, then she even climbed onto my left arm, which still didn't keep me from playing. She started scratching at old plastic bags in my room and kicking a pen around, but only when she started biting the Christmas package I received from my mother, I would stop playing, cuddle with her for some minutes, and then throw her out of my room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Estonian Day No. 106.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, I stayed at home. I didn't feel well at all and knew that it would make more sense to stay and rest and gather energy for the rest of the week (and the year) than go to school and somehow get through the day. That was good. I slept a lot and that alone already helped. When I had drunk more tea that a single person should do, I went outside to get some sun and fresh air (and photos - see above...).

At 3pm, Miri arrived by bus. I showed her our plot of land and the house. Then we went to collect some branches because she wanted to make an Advent wreath for me. Back inside, we first did some muffins and while they were baking in the oven, I helped her making the wreath. We didn't have much to decorate it with, so we used some ribbon that I still had from Germany and some wrapping paper. Now it is standing on our living room table.

After having eaten some muffins, we managed to miss Miri's bus. Well, we stood outside in time, and we would've caught the bus if it hadn't arrived on the opposite bus stop. That sucked. But we just waited for the other bus 20min later, Miri took it and had to change to another bus in Lähte.

My Christmas package from my mother finally arrived. Now everybody is happily eating the cookies she sent. The rest is upstairs on my bed. :)