On Thursday, September 1 at 12:15pm, I depart from San Francisco International airport and will not be returning to the United States until July 2006 at the earliest. This proposition is intimidating, though I am also very excited.
Laura and I have been putting together our trip to London, and some of the highlights will include Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, the National Gallery, Stonehenge and Oxford, though we may tweak these plans a little as our schedule becomes more definite. We have also arranged to meet up with two British friends of mine that I met while on a semester abroad in Australia in 2004, so that will be a blast to see them again.
After a week in London, I head to Estonia! I have continued to be in touch with Veljo and Ivar, who are preparing for my arrival. Last I wrote, Veljo was helping me secure an apartment in Tallinn, and I am glad to say that I now have an apartment! Veljo had been helping me primarily in my search, and after hearing what I wanted in an apartment, Veljo mentioned to me that someone had just moved out of his apartment, and asked me if I would like to live with him, at least until I find a place of my own (as it is much easier to find a place for me when I am in country). I of course said yes, and will be paying only $200/month. More importantly, I have a place to rest my head now, and I have one of Estonia's Internet gurus at my fingertips as my roommate! It will be fascinating to pick Veljo's brain and this assures me that I will have access to him for whatever research I am doing. It's all quite exciting to me.
Attached are some photos of the outside of Veljo's house in Tallinn. It is only about a 5-10 minute walk from the old city of Tallinn and is very close to the public transportation tram system that I will use to get to eGA in the wintertime. Also, as Veljo is the founder and main proponent of the movement for free wifi Internet access in Estonia, his apartment is completely wifi enabled.
The last thing I should mention that recently set myself up with a program on my computer called Skype, that allows me to use the Internet to make and receive phone calls, even internationally, for a very low rate. Without getting into the specifics of the technology, I wanted to let you all know that now have a (510) telephone number that will reach me even when I am in Estonia, so you all can call me for no more than it would cost to call me if I was here in the States. The number is 510-962-3181, and I would love to hear from everyone.
Check out where I'll be living (our place is on the second floor):
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The Lair of the Bear was a blast, but I'm ready to head off to Europe. I miss you all and look forward to talking with you soon!
Cheers,
John
