I've enrolled in an Estonian culture and history class for faculty and staff at the university, mostly because I am enticed by some guided tours to otherwise less linguistically accessible sites such as
the Estonian National Museum,
A. Le Coq Brewery, and
a ballet based on Luts' Kevade. As we've met now twice, I wanted to share some insights from the course as a means of also making you as readers Estonian insiders of a sort.
"We will discuss the peculiarities of Estonia and Estonians" was the opening line of the course meeting. As a group of foreigners, we were then encouraged to stereotype our Estonian expereince with qualities and characteristics of Estonians (our list included some of the following adjectives: earthy, honest, musical, poetic, individualistic, quiet, reflective, etc.). We then launched into a review of Estonian history starting from the 14th century, our teacher pinning those characteristics from our list to historical events which may have embodied or encouraged such qualities in the Estonian person. It was an interesting, if unscientific, way to review history/culture, and I was left pondering stereotypes and self-labeling. Somehow these labels seems so acceptable when it comes from a small, unknown nation.
I cannot imagine presenting my own country in the same way without offense or animosity. Earlier this summer at a conference I attended in August, a presenter focusing, ironically, on intercultural competence and language learning repeatedly stereotyped the gregarious American (thanks to the presence of another Amerian and I in the crowd) and the introverted Estonian. At one point she declared that Americans are "daunted" by Estonian silence, a statement and interpretation that does not sit entirely well with me. However, I suppose it is a sort of identity-seeking that is more comforting when thoes qualities are perceived positively and you are from a rather small group (app. 900,000 Estonians!). I cannot imagine being at all accepting of any sweeping generalizations about English speakers or Americans (or not even necessarily the gun-toting, independence seeking Wyomingites -- and we are only 500,000 in number) because there is so much pluralism and variation. For the record, there are also quite a few contraditions in the Estonian persona that I have noted, and I am not exactly "daunted" by their silence at all.
This last week, we discussed the Estonian national language day (Emakeele päev, March 14) during which there is a nation-wide dictation. With elongated vowels or consonants in words like töööö (worknight), jäääärel (the edge of ice), and kukkki (rooster) there's no doubt that it could be a tough test. I got to thinking about what a national dictation might look like back home -- wot a deesaster dat cud be for da averedge jo.
For our housewarming party a couple of weeks ago, we received an enormous jar (a gallon?) of pickled mushrooms, a delicacy that I mentioned to a friend casually. She responded that she could not imagine them as a snack accompanying a casual beer. Yes, that is exactly what they are meant for and we tested out the hypothesis on a recent sauna evening. The mushrooms were one of the most popular beer snacks (next to smoked meat, of course).
