Ever wonder how the world sees you?

You may just be too frightened to recover once you've answered this question. See some of the action shots taken while I was giving a presentation last week, below. Captured as a still life, I am not sure how attractive my expressions are... What exactly was I saying? I'll let you be the judge (I just can't remember and am too shocked to comment further).

A Finnish Thanksgiving

This year I spent turkey day stuffing myself with good food and great company! I celebrated in Finland this year. It was an excuse to visit Vaasa, catch up with a good friend, and, even more so, to share an important American holiday.

Don't be mistaken -- Thanksgiving is not a Finnish holiday; if you want to know more about the day, visit The History of Thanksgiving to watch an illustrative video and read more.


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Taking the duty of being good American cultural ambassadors while abroad quite seriously, we initiated a large group of Finns, Estonians, and Germans to the rites of Thanksgiving by preparing and eating loads of traditional foods: Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, scalloped corn, cranberry relish, cranberry bread, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, squash rolls... It was a really cozy and fulfilling (or rather filling) cultural exchange. Take a look at the resulting pictures, below!





Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Popsid goes global

The wind band I play in was featured in a brass band podcast yesterday. Check out Popsid, including three of our songs and an interview, at Brasscast. You can either listen or download the podcast for November 18, 2007 here.

Enjoy the music!

Talgud

I had a chance to take part in something especially Estonian, a Talgud or collective work day. An Estonian friend who lives out in the countryside near Tartu invited friends, students, and family for a day of work at his rural home. The idea is that the more hands, the quicker and more fun the work to follow. Our group of eight worked to pull down three trees, strip them down, move them, and clean the area by burning the extra wood. (Estonia is in no danger of running out of firewood and forest fires are of little concern in this area of bogs and wetlands.) Not too much work with so many to help out. We enjoyed a crisp day of team work and fresh wintry air followed by time in the sauna, beer, and plenty of feasting in the evening.



In tandem with this festivity of work was the celebration of St. Martin's Day or Madripäev in Estonian. Marking the end of fall and beginnings of darker wintry times ahead, Madripäev is preceded by St. Martin's Eve when children dress up in dark costumes and go door-to-door to perform a song or dance and ask for treats or money. The day of Madripäev is a feast day that happened to fall on our Talgud. Together with a few families and our Talgud workgroup, we enjoyed a special beet-based salad and tasty hani, cooked geese filled with cabbage, apples, and prunes. I was so distracted by the delicacy that I lost interest in pictoral documentation after the salad... you can imagine how mouth-watering it must have been.



All together, it was a fantastic day demonstrating the incredibly warm collaborative and celebratory faces of Estonians and Estonia. In the face of the country's grayest month with days diminishing quickly to an almost constant enveloping darkness, I felt surprisingly warm and bright. It's a tradition that I may have to keep once I leave this place. A talgud and feast should perhaps be a part of my own collected fall traditions.

Just another piece of paper?

This week I went to a thank you party for all of those involved in the University of Tartu's 375th Anniversary celebrations. Much to my surprise, I received a certificate of participation. As a teacher, I often give certificates and am surprised by how much adults enjoy getting them. I guess that I now better understand (I guess we don't really get certificates so often), and I must say I am rather proud of my certificate as a symbol of my involvement in a local group and participation in the Tartu community. Rather than tossing it in with other papers and odd items, I have decided this one definitely isn't just another piece of paper. Cool, isn't it?

Motorcyclists rev up Tartu

Last Sunday I was lazing around when suddenly I heard an approaching rumble coming from outside. Sticking my head out of the window, I discovered a motorcycle run in progress. The throaty sound of pipes made me homesick for my own wheels... For your enjoyment, here are the captured moments!