Scholars have been seeing stars in Tartu for over 200 years. The old observatory is crammed with equipment to view, measure, and analyze. And it is a cold place, even with the hatch closed. A non-astronomer never realizes how freaking cold it is to work at an observatory, because except for in late summer, the clearest nights also mean coldest nights. Yet once again, no such luck for me.
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
Being contemporaries, focused as much on style as on wit and critique of society, Oscar Wilde and Eduard Vilde could have met. But they never did. And so they were depicted having a chat on a bench outside of a pub in Tartu. Oddly, I learned that the exact same piece stands (or sits) in Galway, Ireland.
What an unsettling thought: after you are dead and gone, somebody depicts you next to a person you never met nor knew, assuming there is a connection – and the rest of the world agrees.
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
In the middle of the square they stand, kissing. Caught in a moment, frozen in love forever. These are no prissies for sure: note her short, tight skirt and his dancing shoes. This is young love, frivolous and unassuming; self-absorbed no matter the weather.
It was a cold Saturday in December. Somebody kind had wrapped the lovers in a woollen scarf. Hot pink, of course, just like their love.
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
There, unassumingly in the park, next to a currently acknowledged house of God stands a much older site of God. A million sacrifice ceremonies have worn out round indentations in the rock, like bowls carrying gifts to the Divine.
The days of worship are not over. The students of Tartu university use it to burn their lecture notes after exams. Perhaps it is not so much a sacrifice to knowledge and life but a purification of methods after numerous books have been converted to understanding and insight?
Times change. Our need to connect with the Universe will not.
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
Days of misfortune arrived—blows fell broadly—
death seized all those sword-stout men—their idol-fanes were laid waste —
the city-steads perished. Their maintaining multitudes fell to the earth.
For that the houses of red vaulting have drearied and shed their tiles,
these roofs of ringed wood. This place has sunk into ruin, been broken
into heaps…(Anonymous, 800 AD)
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
Over Finland: nightless night, coffee, and bears. Over Russia: beautiful ladies, Putinistan, and terrible drivers. And over the Arctic Ocean: polar bears. This is the world we live in, according to ourselves and foreigners to our country. A world of stereotypes and perceptions – many of which we struggle to ignore.
Where I come from is Finland. Indeed, nightless nights, but also cold, dark winters, introverts, silence in conversation, very little physical touching or hugging, and definitely very little expression of emotions. For Americans, “I love you” is an everyday word, quickly dropped to a life partner or daughter or friend when passing out of the door. In Finland, “I love you” is like a fabled unicorn. A phrase so rare it is a legend. Even on television, “I love you” is always translated in Finnish to “you are dear (to me)”. Because it is too intense, too monumental to be used.
But I digress. How did I get to “I love you” from a map of stereotypical perceptions of countries? Not sure. Yet please note that above I said “I come from Finland”, not “I feel like a Finn”. I wonder if anyone truly identifies with the stereotype of one’s country people?
(Tartu University Museum, Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
It turns out Estonian student life is not that different from Finnish student life. And probably both cultures have their origin in Sweden. Velvet caps and all. Estonian caps seem to be much more colorful than the Finnish ones. The contemporary Finnish cap is pretty much similar to the one on bottom right, except for that it bears a golden lyre emblem of one’s university.
In olden times, a student would proudly wear his/her cap from May Day to end September. Today, in Finland, the student’s cap is mainly worn on May Day, by both young and old. At least in Estonia the rule is that when one is relieving oneself in the lavatory, one removes the cap and either gives it to a friend or sticks it somewhere where it stays clean. Just not on one’s head.
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
Once it was a chapel. Then it was a university library. Now it is the university museum. Tartu used to be one of the grand university towns in Europe. It was founded 400 years ago under the Swedish rule in a country called Livonia. Neither Livonia nor its language Livonian exist anymore. Then it was opened under Russian rule by the Baltic Germans (Yes. There were Germans living in the Baltic countries. European history is confusing). And finally, some 100 years ago, it was again re-opened as an Estonian university. Obviously under Soviet rule for quite a while.
It is befitting that the university museum is an old church. Because despite of wars and politics, critical thinking prevails. Ideas remain the sacred driving forces of not just humanity but of nations.
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
Well, Christmas came and went a few months ago. This is how early December looked like in Tartu. Magical, wasn’t it? 
I had some glühwein at the Christmas market. I received an insulated coffee cup of at least 3 deciliters. Halfway through it I felt like I was hit in the head, hard. I keep forgetting I am close to the Russian border.
(Tartu, Estonia; December 2017)
Look at that: little Finland is all grown up. For countries that happens when you can add three digits to your age. It all started in 1917 when the country tore itself off the flank of Russia and the shadow of Sweden and declared its independence. Borders were drawn and redrawn. To keep its sovereignty during WWII, Finland had to even play a dirty game, letting in the Germans to attack Russia from Finnish soil. As a loser in that game, we paid war reparations for nearly 10 years, delivering hundreds of ships, engines, and ready-to-install houses to Russia. Finland was the only country that managed to pay its WWII war reparation debts.
Since then one could write a sweeping anthology of free university education for the masses, the rise of the middle class, membership in the EU, adoption of the euro, female presidents and prime ministers, and the status of a neutral diplomat between East and West.
And I completely forgot dear Finland’s 100th birthday when I accepted the invite to go give a talk in Tartu, Estonia. While others dined, danced, and watched fireworks, I celebrated with a little piece of cake in the lounge at Helsinki Airport. How very inconsiderate of me.
(Helsinki, Finland; December 2017)
This blue marble 