I was pretty stressed out the morning of the 30th. I had my final exam for one of the harder Engineering units i'd been doing and the lecturer conviently decided to change the course requirements to create a final oral exam. I was soon to find, however, that the stress was undeserved - the lecturer simply held an extended conversation with me about me thoughts and learning from the course (a course might i add in which I attended 10% of lectures due to unforseen circumstances - like Amsterdam).
Anyways, relieved to claim some unit points and have the rare feeling of being mildly productive toward my degree I cycled home to cook lunch and relax for 15min. For shortly after my morning exam and subsequent celebratory lunch I was scheduled to take an overnight cruise to Tallinn, capital of Estonia, with 20 other exchange students. Bang! The beauties of Europe!
A whirlwind of buses and trains and the gang and me found ourselves boarding the 'Viking Lines' most luxurious cruiser to traverse across the baltic and beyond. These cruises are quite reasonable when booked in large groups, and of a similar standard to the boat I took on
my Russian adventure. An interesting aspect of this voyage was the selection of individuals present. It has become common sight to see large travelling groups of americans, australians or germans - loud and rowdy (an impression we frequently give on our nation nights in Uppsala). But the organisers of this cruise were Polish and Estonian girls, there were a couple of French and Italians, Germans, Austrians, Swedish, Dutch, and I was the token token (black + Aussie). We had a really international feel and it was amazing. Conversations about anything and everything become interesting linguistic battles. and that was before the Karaoke Country Cup. Like in any good cruise ship, our boat floated the notion of providing Karaoke evenings to entertain the passengers. Being a group of 20 young, vibrant and energetic persons - some of who may or may not have been members of the choir - we took over the stage like an Ambi- turning zoolander. Listening to french girls belting out such classics like Stairway to Heaven complete with their rubbish english pronounciation has never been so much fun. Ah the french - speaking english for them is worse than inviting the Devil home for supper.
We proceeded to spend the night in conversational interactive dance sequences through the ships corrdiors. Because in all honesty the rooms were designed for dwarf gymnists who could find it comfortable to sleep wrapped around the toilet bowl. Therefore, being as inflexible and large as we were, we hypothosised that by spending as little time in the rooms as possible our comfort levels would remain at acceptable levels.
This strategy was all well and good during the act, however the next morning when you're rudely awoken by a loud speaker at 7 and thrust off the boat to spend the next 10 hours walking, hindsight becomes a wonderful word to curse. Despite our weariness, we had a great day in Tallinn, highlights which included the old town and the central markets.
The day also happened to be a celebration for the past - leading to costumed actors putting on plays and songs for bewildered tourists. I was in no such bewilderment however, so instead i asked them a very rational favour. If they would help me create a unique, old estonian flavoured jumping shot.
(for those still in the dark, a bit slow to catch on are we?, jumpics
are a small energy outlet i like to practice in front of the camera. being in the air when the picture is taken provides a much more entertaining memory snap of you and whatever you happen to be jumping infront of/ with).
So now you can enjoy the fruition of my labours with full knowledge of my endevours. Enjoy the pictorials grubben!
Estonia's Flag
Map of Estonia