Well, as the fog rolls in and winter winks slyly, it seems only right to finally write a post that is actually meant to be informative.
Life in Eesti..
As I type this part of this post (given the fact it is supposed to be descriptive and understandable, composing it takes a bit of time!), I am sitting with soothing soft jazz and the constant flow of trickling water surrounding me in a café. One thing that seriously defines a country is its array of cafés.. I deeply miss the culture in Minneapolis: good music, provoking elements piecing together to become some corner Uptown espresso joint, interesting people coming through and living their lives as they live them alongside you - just a small table or couch away.. these atmospheres are impossible to replicate or transplant. I believe that some places of this type exist in the UK and various pockets in Western Europe, however they are surprisingly absent here. Even when I was in Suomi looking for a place to sit down with a book and some temporal calm existence, it was a bit difficult to track down somewhere outside swarms of tourists, non-corporate and not just a shack with an automatic Nescafe dispenser. Maybe my searches have been too short and too limited (I suspect this), as I have only done so during the course of tethered travel and time-space deadlines.
Eesti has a few positive locations that at least provide some elements of decent coffee-shoppery. Yet almost all of these are accompanied by some sort of disqualifier - for example, I'm currently enjoying my work day with upper-mid-priced coffee at the second-level café in Rahva Raamat bookstore.. located at the very top level of Viru Keskus shopping center with a great window booth seat overlooking the consumer orgy below and with a skylight above. Not bad, overall.. jazz is playing (as I said) and there is also an interesting fountain to the one side of the cafe (constant trickling fantasticness).. yet no free bathrooms. All in all, it is my favorite spot in Tallinn next to Kehrwieder locations.. however I technically work for those place and the customer flow there is much more active. In any case, all the above have much better results than usual attempts to 'branch out' a bit. I tried a small café that has always looked interesting, yet is directed towards the daily business crowd and is only open until 18:00. It was good to give it a try, I suppose.. and in doing so, find one of the few locations in downtown Tallinn that make you feel like you are at some rural bus stop between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Watery brown-ish Nescafe straight from a discount vending machine, music that will either make you want to down half a bottle of vodka or go postal after three minutes, and absolutely no character. The majority of other cafés here tend to bear elements of this or go to the exact opposite extreme -- über-classy and low quality with looks of scorn as you try to relax. A good number of cafés here tend to cross or try to smudge the line between coffee place and restaurant.. given, 'expert reviews' judge them on their kitchen as well and I know from violent experience (literally - an intoxicated pensioner swung a punch!) that clients expect there to be some sort of 'praad' - i.e. main dish. Makes sense that physical conflict should ensue if the establishment does not follow up on their 'obligation' to provide solutions for drunken munchies.
Müürikohvik in Haapsalu completes the top-three of places at which I am comfortable working or unwinding.. though given the multiple-hour bus ride required to hit up the location, I am sadly unable to frequent it often. Maybe it is just a lack of integration on my part - who am I to think that a café is not defined by its array of faux-Indian dishes, cognac menu and an atmosphere that is either prepping you to get back in your BMW or drink yourself slurry?
Cases such as these cause me to question levels of integration overall -- does the term entail living it and shutting up, or is there room for criticism in the process? For some reason, I am often in turmoil with the preconception that while still undergoing integration you really only have the right to openly and directly criticize certain elements after you understand why they function as such and after determining whether or not they are beneficial for the target society in question. I concur - the reason such conflicts exist is that the world is still chock full of diversity. This is a positive aspect, and even some things that may seem negative to the outsider or even to a lifelong member of the culture are still necessary for it remaining unique. Where does the line run between having arty cafés dotting the streets, filled with thinkers and conversationalists; and a monotone urban landscape void of geographic peculiarities? I suppose the only way to go at it is to give it a try -- however the former spots did themselves arise from a certain environment and it might be supposed that such corresponding cafés or whatnot should do the same in their own country. Progression vs. reform vs. renewal.. vs. a preserved form. Inspiration? It would be fantastic to open up some place combining all the things I would like personally in a cafe - Kehrwieder is actually a fantastic example of this, as a Canadian expat with Estonian roots and a life story encircling the globe succeeded in creating the type of Estonian café he always wanted to patron. Possibly some day and with some kind of capital and loads of freedom to keep up a somewhat nomadic existence.. that must be it. Integration is an individual process through and through, and each minuscule element is a personal decision, a determination of the level at which one floats or submerges. We nomads and cultural vagabonds are not merely aquatic or of land -- gills in some tidepools and wings above others.
Edasi, вперёд..
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