Same Spot, Different Day

Once again I come to you live from the 3rd/4th floor balcony on Kentmanni 22, though today is a little cooler than the last few days (at the moment at least), and it's not yet sunset. But nevertheless, I'm outside and I'm wearing the 3 S's: Shorts, Sandals and Sunglasses.

The constant techno music from the apartment below mine booms, but as usual, I can't make out a melody, just pulsing bass. Normally I love the feeling of music with bass that booms within me-- that is, when I have control of it in my own apartment. But this... this isn't music. This is random vibration at its best. On scattered syncopations my chair shakes just enough to be annoying; it's like a giant fly is buzzing beneath me, coming and going as it pleases, along with some inaudible melody.

Tallinn has changed into a different city over the past 4 weeks. It's evolved from snow on the ground and daily temperatures hovering around freezing to mid-50s pretty much every day, and sometimes it even gets up to 60, with a good deal of sun. This might not sound that great to you, but when we were looking -30 in the eye this winter, the change is remarkable. Not only are the days warmer, but they're longer too and the general attitude among Tallinners has obviously improved. There are more people outside than I've ever seen, and there's just a general vibrance that's definitely something you pick up on. People have been cooped up for during a long winter, and it's evident in their disposition.

So what have I been up to over these past few weeks, you ask? Well, I'll be honest, a lot of my time was spent on this conference. But I did manage to have some fun, which is what I blame in large part for my momentary sickness.

See, what you may or may not know about me is that I have a really hard time saying no to a good time or to what I know will be a good opportunity. So when friends call me to hang out while I might otherwise be sleeping, I don't want to miss out. Yeah, I know, sleep is good and in some ways necessary, but it's something that can happen anytime. My friends won't always be around, and I certainly won't always be in Tallinn with all of them, so I might as well defer sleep, right?? I mean, I might miss the greatest evening of my life, or some other great memory that I'll forever look back on. So, I go for it, at my own peril.

Sickness happens when our work and play collide in a manner that yields less sleep than we actually need, and our bodies are done putting up with bad treatment. So you deal with it. At present, I've placed myself on "house arrest" with extra sleep for the nights of this weekend. Plus, my parents get here next Wednesday (!), so I'm not that upset at missing some time with my friends for the sake of my health. It's hard to tell them no, but it's just something you have to do, as I want to be healthy when my folks show up.

So, what I've been up to when I'm not working or recovering. Well, a few weeks ago, two of Jon Fougner's friends from college, Ashley and Hillary (who were randomly travelling through Europe and Russia), popped through Tallinn, and Jon put us in touch. I got to show them around, which was fun, and it was cool to hang out with some more Americans who have been out of the country for a while, and can relate to missing certain things from home. We caught up on politics, degrees of seperation, and a number of other things, and got dinner and a few beers at Hell Hunt, Tallinn's first pub (though it hasn't been operating continuously, and has been rebuilt from its original state). It's a really cool Estonian pub/restaurant with a number of homebrews, and good Estonian food that's not too weird.

Here Ashley and Hillary are at one of the lookouts, and you can see the snow on the ground. This was taken April 2, and needless to say, it's pretty different here now:

Ashley and Hilary only stayed in Tallinn one night, as it turned out their whole trip through Tallinn was based around the fact that they could get cheaper flights back to the UK and France from Tallinn, as opposed to St. Petersburg. But I was glad to play host, and the girls were a lot of fun. We met up the next morning and grabbed continental breakfast at their hotel, and I called them a cab to the airport, and hitched a ride to work. I'm sure we'll cross paths again someday when we're back in the US. Here we are one last time, in Hell Hunt:

Over the next few weeks, I got caught up in conference business a lot of the time, putting in nights and weekends to make it as good as possible, but I did find time to go to a housewarming party for some of my international friends, and do stuff like meet up with my French buddies Antoine and Guillaume for lunch and coffee at a members only cafe called NoKu, which Fortune Magazine describes as "almost impossible to find, on a cobblestone street behind a pair of old, unmarked wooden doors that unlock only with a magnetic keycard, and up a set of rickety stairs."

Upstairs in NoKu, however, it's a chill vibe, as the whole keycard deal makes tourists non-existent, and relegates the crowd to a funky, artistic-hipster crowd. Sure, you could wait outside for a member to come out and go in through the open door, but it would likely be obvious that you didn't belong, unless you're with an Estonian, or someone they recognize. In certain circles, Tallinn is a very small place, and this circle is no exception. But it's not a bad thing-- in fact, NoKu prides itself on this. Inside the restaurant/bar/hangout is an almost homelike atmosphere, with couches around a fireplace in the center of the place, as well as tables where people can study or eat/drink, a computer with Internet access that is free for anyone to use, and larger tables for groups that ebb and flow throughout the day who want to hang out with one another. But the best part?? The shelves full of board games!! They have a ton of stuff, including an old game I used to have when I was a kid-- The a-MAZE-ing Labyrinth-- which Guillaume and Antoine prefer playing and have engaged me in their rivalry. Did anyone else ever play this game?? Good times...

And then this past week, I actually had another set of visitors! A fellow Wheatie, Caitlin Deighan (who is a Fulbrighter in France-- though she's teaching Engligh there, not doing research) and another American friend of hers named Crystal (who also teaches English in France, but to elementary schoolers) decided to take a trip to Prague and Tallinn! So after they saw Prague, I had more guests. They stayed with me for a period of 6 days, but took an intermediate trip to Helsinki for the day of my conference and the day preceding it. I wasn't sure how it would all work out, as I was afraid I'd have to work for a lot of the time they were here, but it turned out to be no problem, as their trip to Finland coincided perfectly with the times I was busiest.

With all of these visitors, I've gotten a decent walking tour of Tallinn down, and I thought of this (while very fun with my friends) as a practice run for when my parental units are here. So, we got sandwiches from my favorite little shop off Raekoja Plats and then walked around town, and just caught up. Like everyone who's seen Tallinn, C&C were blown away. We had a great time and there was a great dynamic between all of us. Caitlin and I had a particularly fun time, because we only became friends at Wheaton at the very end of last year-- when we both found out we won Fulbrights. It was really fun to have her here, but also kind of weird to realize that we had so many mutual friends at Wheaton but still managed to miss each other for the most part during our 4 years. It was definitely fun to play the "Do you know XXXXX?" game though, and I realized Caitlin and I are really similar in a lot of ways. So, good to get know her better, even if it is a bit late in the game. But as they say, better late than never.

Other highlights of the trip included getting dinner with Trudee and Andrew, who also really clicked with my guests. As I've been discovering being away, it's nice to have American contact, even if the people are all different in their own way. We're still more similar to each other than we are to any of the Estonians around us because of the common language, and sometimes we forget this. So, speaking English with native speakers and just joking around and making puns that only a native speaker would get was fun, and reminded me of what I left behind and am coming home to in just a few months.

Which brings me to the fact that I'm less than 3 months away from being home in California. And in only 2.5 months, or 10 weeks, I will be leaving Estonia, which really puts things in perspective. And of these 10 weeks, my parents will be here two, and I'll be in Cannes, France for 10 days as well. So, in actuality, I really only have 6 or 7 weeks left in country. That is just CRAZY!!

Caitlin and Crystal haven't yet sent me any of the photos from their trip, so I can't post one here, but when they do I'll try to remember to post one here. They left just two days ago, and made it back to their home in Orleans, France alright, which was good to know. But we had a good time, and again, will likely cross paths again a bit later in life. But with Caitlin, it won't be at least for another year, as she was just accepted into Trinity University's (in Ireland, not CT) International Peace Studies program! Way to go Caitlin! It should be noted that in an odd case of extreme small-worldedness, there are only 30 students in this program, and one of them is a friend of mine and former next door neighbor from Wheaton-- Adar Cohen-- who won a prestigious Mitchell Scholarship to study in the same program. Talk about a small world; Wheaton is everywhere!!

As for what lies on my horizon, I am just taking it easy, gearing up for my parents visit and our trips to Saaremaa (Estonia's largest island), Riga, Moscow and St. Petersburg. I'm looking forward to it, and we'll talk lots of pictures!! So until next time, I miss all of you!!

PS: Feel free to comment directly on my blog-- it's always fun to get comments! -J

Good News/Bad News

So... Do you want the good news first or the bad news first?

To tell you the truth, I actually hate it when people ask me that, because I never like bad news. So inevitably, I take the bad news first, so I can neutralize the bad news with good news, rather than be brought down by bad news. I guess I prefer to go on with my life on a positive note rather than a negative one, so I'll give you the bad news first. And the bad news is that I am sick again. It's not strep this time, but it's still a throat ailment-- some type of relapse from last week. UGH, it's terrible.

I guess it's a product of trying to bounce back from sickness too early, as well as being stressed about my conference and working really long days in order to get it as good as it could possibly be. So yea, here I am, sick again. And it's all the fault of my conference...

Which brings me to the good news: My conference took place last Monday, April 24, and it went great!! I honestly couldn't be happier, and I think everyone who attended took something away from it.

Just a quick recap: the title of the conference was The Policy of Broadband Wireless Access Technologies, which refers to the technologies that broadcast wireless Internet over long distances and to many people, but at high speeds. For the sake of ease, Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) technologies can be thought of like the WiFi many of you have in your house on around your school campuses, but instead of having ranges of 300 feet, BWA technologies can extend over distances up to 35 miles!! There are some between BWA technologies and WiFi, but the general idea is the same.

In any case, about 100 people registered for the conference, and even more showed up on conference day, which filled the room I booked in the Sokos Viru Hotel here in Tallinn. [note: When I initially planned the conference, I posted on my website that registration would end on April 17, the Monday before the conference. On April 17, I had a total of 25 people signed up for the event.] Everyone in my office had told me that Estonians are notoriously late conference-signer-uppers, but I was still nervous. So when ~100 people showed up at the conference on the 24th, everyone was kind of like, "Toldya so..." I didn't mind though, I was just happy that people, had indeed, showed up.]

The Sunday before the conference I was in the office until 9:30pm, making the final preparations on everything, and then I was back in the office before 8am to take all of our materials over to the hotel. Registration started at 9 and the conference itself started at 9:30, with my eGA boss Ivar Tallo welcoming everyone to the conference and framing the issue for the audience. He spoke for about 20 minutes and welcomed our first presenter, a man from France who also spoke generally about BWA technologies, but about a specific application called WiMAX.

As the day went on, we had presenters from Sweden, the U.S. and the Repubilic of Macedonia in addition to France and, of course, Estonia. The presenters spoke about both technical and social aspects of the technology, and tried to bridge the gap between the technologists in the crowd and the politicians and social scientists that attended.

A major highlight of the day was hearing Glenn Strachan talk. Glenn is a native Californian who has been involved in computing for 30 years, and has spent the greater part of the last few years wirelessly networking all of Macedonia's schools, and ultimately all of Macedonia, making it the first country with a fully wireless urban-rural network. [note: some small island nations have been completely networked for longer than Macedonia, but it doesn't nearly what Macedonia's case does. Macedonia may not be huge, but the fact that all of this mountaneous country is wirelessly covered is tremendous, and it's already bettering the lives of Macedonians everywhere.]

Glenn uses BWA technologies other than WiMAX, so the fact that he already has had so much success and has strayed from the biggest name technology is intriguing, especially in a country like Estonia, which is only about 30% larger than Macedonia and has many fewer geographic boundaries. Thus, many people were eager to hear that Glenn's solution actually works today and isn't just a pipe dream, like many worry WiMAX could be. Thus, when he gave concrete examples of his work, people (including me) were blown away. I was fortunate to have had Glenn agree to participate in the conference, but I know he was glad to be there.

Two other big highlights were the panel presentations that we had, the first featuring representatives of all 4 companies that currently hold WiMAX licenses in Estonia: Elion, Levira, Baltic Broadband and Norby Telecom. According to Veljo, my mentor and Estonian WiFi guru who also spoke at the conference, this was the first time that all 4 companies had been on the same stage and gave presentations about what the actual statistics are with WiMAX. They gave projections for mainstream deployment of the technology, which ranged from 2007-2009, and they also gave projections of what costs would be. Both pieces of data had previously been unknown, so when each participant announced their projected rates and timeline, you could see the looks going around the room (even between panelists!) about who was where in the game, and who might be the ultimate winner. Now that the companies know where each other stands, perhaps it will create more competition, lowering prices and bringing the product to the market more rapidly. Pretty cool stuff, if you ask me.

The final panel was hosted by Linnar Viik, who is aptly named Estonia's "Mr. Internet." Linnar was not only the main visionary in spreading Internet technologies across Estonia, but he was the first person I read about in Estonia, and was one of the major inspirations for my coming to Estonia. We invited many of the conference participants back to the stage and Linnar led them through a series of questions and even engaged the audience in thinking about where the technologies would head. It was the perfect capstone to a fantastic day that many people helped make possible. To see the whole agenda of the day, check out this link.

After the conference ended, I was overjoyed. 4 months of work had finally paid off, and despite my nerves and the lack of early registration, the conference was a hit. The audience left and I received congratulations from everyone I talked to. What a feeling.

A few hours later, most of the conference participants met in the Old Town and we got dinner at Restaurant Kuldne Notsu, a.k.a. "The Golden Pig" in English. It specializes in pork dishes, but I actually got salmon and a great desert, called the "Apple Bomb." It was essentially apple cobbler inside out-- a baked apple stuffed with the sticky granola and raisin combo. Yum!! The participants all had a good time and enjoyed their dinner and we toasted (me with water, since I'm sick) throughout the evening to the success of the group and the contributions of everyone. It was a lot of fun, and we got to know each other on a friendly level, whereas before we had only been colleagues. It was a fun end to a busy, but successful day.

The next day, Glenn met with Veljo about the future of Wireless Internet in Estonia, and I got to sit as a fly on the wall, and it was really interesting to hear two visionairs compare notes. I had a few things to interject, but I definitely took a backseat and enjoyed hearing the guys talk shop. This is what my whole Fulbright is about!!

Glenn and I arranged our own meeting later in the day at my eGA office, and we had a great time. We had a certain connection just due to the fact that we are both Americans, but more so because we're both Californians, and have similar interests and ideologies. Glenn gave me some suggestions about where I might think about working next year, and one of the coolest places he suggested was Inveneo, a San Francisco company that everyone should know about. They install sustainable wireless networks in rural Africa, that are both solar powered and mechanically powered. He put me in touch with one of his friends via the industry, and I've just gotten in touch with them. They sound fascinating, and I have no idea where the dialogue will lead, but at the very worst, I'm really eager to hear more. No matter what, they'll be a company on my radar, just because they're using a technology I'm interested in for a humanitarian purpose. We need more of this in the world.

Lastly, I arranged with my friends Peter and Jaak, who are film students at the Baltic Film and Media School, to video the conference and edit it down into a series of clips and a 2 hour DVD. They said they'd have it by next week, so there is a chance I'll be able to post it online. We'll see!

So even though I'm sick again, there has been good news. And another piece of good news: I just found that the WiFi from my apartment stretches down to this tiny balcony on the landing between my floor and the one below us, so I am outside watching a beautiful sunset, wearing shorts and sandals, and typing to you. Needless to say, it's warmed up here tremendously, and was about 15 or 16 C (~60 Fahrenheit). Just to give you a flavor of Tallinn at 8pm and what my life is at the current instant, here is what I'm looking at right now:

So I'll leave you here. I'm going to meet up with my Portuguese friend Joanna for her birthday. Happy birthday Joanna!! Or rather, I should say "Feliz Aniversario Joanna!!"

Cheers everybody, I'll blog about less work-oriented stuff next time, which hopefully will be tomorrow. Miss everyone!!

[ed. note] I found out that it's not really Joanna's birthday today, but rather, she is headed back to Portugal tomorrow for a few weeks, so it was a "see you in a bit/farewell" party-- not a birthday. I wonder where I got that idea...

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone!!

My dad asked me in an email whether Easter was a big deal in Estonia- both in the Church and in it's more western forms (bunny/eggs), so I thought I'd share a little of the answer here, and catch you guys up on what's new in my life over the past week.

In answer to his question, Easter is a semi-big deal here-- people were in church yesterday, but it's not the crazy Easter-Bunny-fest that is in the U.S. There is a little of that-- people die eggs and there are a few cartoon rabbits around the city on store windows and stuff-- but there is no egg hunt. Weird, right?? I thought that the whole point of dying the eggs was to hide them and find them. But apparently not in Estonia... (and FYI, this information is coming from an Estonian coworker of mine, so in the off chance that what I am telling you is incorrect, don't hold it against me.)

The streets in old Tallinn were quiet yesterday-- at least in comparison with Saturday, 2 days ago. It's official: "tourist season" in Tallinn has begun. Elderly vacationers, British stag parties, entire former soviet families exploring what used to be the USSR-- everyone was out in full force this weekend. 2 weekends ago there were a few tourists in the city, but nothing compared to Saturday. The sun was out, the outdoor seating is back on the town square, and the streets and shops were overflowing with people. It honestly feels like a different country than the one I have been in for the past 7 months, and as bad as this may sound, I couldn't be happier.

So, maybe you're curious what I was doing on Easter while you were dyeing eggs and biting the ears off of chocolate bunnies. I'll start by saying that I'm finally healthy after a horrible last week. All last week I had strep throat, and Saturday was the last day of my antibiotics. So, I slept in on Sunday, and despite not having a particularly "Easter"-ly Sunday, it was nice. My Estonian friend Karmen and I got sandwiches from this little hole in the wall place directly off of the town square, and-- oh my god-- it's so good!! They have fresh squeezed juice-- so far I've tried Apple-Ginger, and the fresh OJ was divine. I just discovered this place last week (my friend Trudee only just told me about it), and I'm now convinced it's the best lunch place in Tallinn for value and quality. 50 kroons (<$4) for a tasty sandwich and a big juice. YUM!

Karmen and I just sat on the town square people watching, and she was semi-laughing at how giddy I was from just being out in the warm sun. Let me clarify, "warm" = ~55-60 degrees Fahrenheit, but this was a major victory for us here in Tallinn-- but especially for me. We had fresh snow just 4 days ago, believe it or not. But really, it was nice just to sit and think about how crazy it is that I am living in ESTONIA. I mean, I am here 24/7-- obviously-- but it doesn't always pop into my head just how ridiculous this is. Not everyone does this. I have crazy onion-domed churches outside of my window, and arguably the most well-preserved medieval city in the world in my backyard. Not to mention the fact that English is not the native language, or even 2nd on the depth chart, here.

But what grabs me most of all, and I'm sorry if this sounds obvious to you guys, is that I am living in a place that people get really excited about, and choose to come to to spend their hard-earned vacation time. Let's just say that these thoughts weren't exactly at the forefront of my brain during the.......extended.....winter. But now that the warm weather is back and the sun doesn't set until after 9pm (seriously), I am just in the greatest mood. This coupled with the fact that I was bedridden last week makes me feel as I've just exploded into summer, bypassing spring entirely. Let's hope the weather keeps getting better!!

Spring......Where are you???

So we're supposedly 2 weeks into Spring, but no one told Estonia...or if they did, Estonia's taking its sweet time in terms of catching up with what the weather is supposed to be.

Over 2 weeks, we've had two seperate "warmish" days, complete with blue skies and sun, and I've been overjoyed. But it's as if some higher power is just teasing me, for after each sunny day in the plus column, what do we get?? Snow. That's right, SNOW.

Three days ago was gorgeous-- not a cloud in the sky, and everyone was buzzing about how Spring was finally hear. But then the next day, what do we get?? Snow, then Sun, then Rain, then Hail, then Sun, some Clouds, more Snow, more rain, and then the beloved wintery mix in the evening. I was out playing soccer ("football," in Europe) with some friends from Skype, and it was (while extremely fun) quite miserable weather, and I think it got me sick. Coupled with the extremely long work hours I've been keeping, I guess it's my own fault, but still...c'mon Tallinn!!! Make up your mind!

Today was quite warm-- according to our thermometer in the kitchen, it got all the way up to 12.6 C, which is almost 55 degrees Fahrenheit!! I've been bedridden most of the day, so I'm not sure I believe it, but regardless of that, I'm not sure it will stick around, even if it is true. I'm hoping for the best, but for now it's a waiting game as we find out whether or not the weather gods are just playing another bait and switch game with us.

Here's hoping for the best!