America Days in Viljandi – Day 2

On the second day of U.S. Embassy Tallinn’s visit to the America Days celebrations in Viljandi, Embassy staff members were first greeted by famed Estonian textile artist Anu Raud at the museum at Kääriku Farm, which showcased prime examples of Estonian handicrafts and artifact. Professor Raud then invited the Embassy delegation into her home, which also serves as her studio. There she explained the significance of the Estonian handicraft tradition and the steps she takes to preserve it. Every summer, students from around the country visit her farm and learn the techniques she uses to weave intricate tapestries and knit fun and functional woolen goods for the coming winter.

After saying goodbye to Prof. Raud, the Embassy team visited Olustvere Service and Agricultural School. Housed on the grounds of a 19^th Century manor, the school blends old traditions with new facilities and training techniques to help young Estonians maintain their cultural heritage and turn it into a rewarding career. Embassy staff members enjoyed a delicious lunch in the manor house and then toured other historic sites on the campus. At the grain storage building, they sampled Estonian barley bread, which reminded many American staff members of the corn bread they eat back home. They also visited a number of art exhibitions featuring various media, including blown glass, ceramic and wood. One display housed hundreds of horse figurines depicting various scenes from Estonian history and culture; they were all created by a single artisan Voldemar Luht in rural Estonia.

While the main Embassy delegation was touring the manor grounds, other Embassy staff members were busy teaching students how to make classic American Chili at the school for culinary arts. The whole team then reconvened in the school’s dining room to taste the students’ delectable creations. The apple pie, chocolate chip cookies and blueberry-lemon tart were definite crowd pleasers. Hopefully some of those students will feel inspired to travel to the United States to learn more about America’s culinary traditions!

To complete the Embassy’s trip to Viljandi America Days, the team visited Pastor Hermann Kalmus at St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Pilistvere. His congregation has established a museum commemorating the tragedy of the Soviet annexation of Estonia, and just down the road from the church stands the Stones of Sorrow memorial. Erected in 1988, the monument pays tribute to those who perished under Soviet subjugation and deportation. Each year, thousands of Estonians visit the monument to remember loved ones and fellow countrymen lost. Despite the sorrow the museum and memorial invoke, the Embassy team was impressed by the Estonians’ continued efforts to preserve their patriots’ legacies.

At the end of the day, the Embassy team left Viljandi for Tallinn with a strengthened appreciation for the Estonian-American partnership that extends throughout all of Estonia. We look forward to our next trip to Viljandi, where we hope to greet the many new friends we made during the two-day America Days celebration!

America Days in Viljandi – Day 1

Happy America Days from Viljandi, Estonia! As part of a two-day event, sixteen U.S. Embassy staff members gathered together in Viljandi yesterday to celebrate the bond between Estonians and Americans.

On the first day of festivities, Ambassador Levine and embassy staff were first met with a warm welcome from the Mayor of Viljandi, Ando Kiviberg, Krista Kull, Head of the Department of Public Relations and Tourism and officials from local schools.  After the meeting, our embassy team split up to visit Viljandi schools and even a local animal shelter. During our school visits we gave presentations about the U.S. and got the chance to meet and chat with students there.

One of the most important stops of the day came up next: the American Corner at Viljandi Library, which just celebrated its 10^th anniversary of sharing the United States with the citizens of Viljandi!  After warm remarks from the Mayor and the Ambassador and a look back through the Corner’s accomplishments, we all enjoyed a delicious birthday cake. 

Then, most of us set out for a walking tour of Viljandi – we learned about its nearly 800 years of history and visited beautiful buildings, a ruined castle and the newly renovated Cultural Center.  Meanwhile, a smaller group which included the Ambassador, visited local businesses, including a factory that makes one million candles a day!

To wrap up a wonderful day, America Days guests were treated to a reception at the Sakala Center, where local youth musicians (including American Fulbright Scholar Katherine Marsen) put their talents on display.

What a wonderful start to this year’s America Days in Viljandi!

Post by PAS Intern Kirsten Anderson
Photos by Social Media Assistant, U.S. Embassy Tallinn

Did we just meet the next Edward R. Murrow?

What is America’s next generation of journalists interested in?  For a group of 20 media students from Kent State University, the answer was definitely: Estonia!  This is what we learned when they came to visit us and chat with U.S. Ambassador Jeff Levine at the U.S. Embassy on Thursday. 

These students – who are studying photojournalism, multimedia, electronic media, traditional broadcast and print media, magazine journalism and a host of other topics – have come to Estonia for a 10 day trip to meet and speak with Estonia’s movers and shakers.   Along the way they are publishing stories on a website called http://www.datelinebaltics.org/.  So far they have met with the Ukrainian ambassador to Estonia, visited the Museum of the Occupations, and sometime soon they’ll be meeting with President Ilves  - who, funny enough, was once a journalist too!

Ambassador Levine with journalism students from Kent State University

At the Ambassador’s meeting with the students he gave them a brief overview of the U.S.-Estonian bilateral relationship and highlighted a lot of the successes Estonia has achieved since re-independence.  Estonia has become so successful, the Ambassador emphasized, that the U.S. and Estonia now work together as partners in other countries, including Moldova, to encourage the growth of democracy.

Ambassador Levine discusses Estonian-U.S. bilateral relationship.  

The Ambassador (himself a former journalist and one of the founding staff at USA Today) then fielded questions from the students, who were very interested in Estonia’s security position with regard to the critical events playing out in Ukraine.  He explained about NATO’s recent decision to beef up Baltic Air Policing and how important this is to our Baltic allies.

Our one hour meeting went very quickly and the Ambassador was pretty impressed with the caliber of questions and background knowledge these budding journalists brought to the table.  Who knows, maybe among them is the next Edward R. Murrow?  They certainly came further than the last three feet!     

Blogpost by: APAO Alison Davis
Photo by: Social Media Assistant, U.S. Embassy Tallinn 

Castles and (American) Corners

A couple of my colleagues and I had the opportunity yesterday to visit the northeastern Estonian cities of Sillamäe and Narva.

While we were there, we got to visit Narva castle, and we could see Ivangorod Castle just across the Narva River in Russia.

But of course, seeing cool tourist sites was not the purpose of our trip (just an added bonus!) So in each city, APAO Menaka Nayyar and I visited students and discussed U.S. higher education opportunities. In Sillamäe, we visited Sillamäe High School and in Narva, we stopped by the American Corner at the Narva City Library, which is the first-ever established American Corner in Estonia at 10 years old.  

Also on hand were Eha Teder and Epp Kirss from EducationUSA at Tallinn Technical University, who spoke about the practical side of applying for a U.S. university, including financial aid, exams, etc.  True to their reputation, the students tended not to ask questions from the group, but rather one-on-one after the presentations. They were curious about life in a U.S. college, the different ways to pay for school and what they would need in order to be successful.

I am hopeful that some of them will take the leap and choose to study in the United States!

Post by PAS Intern Kirsten Anderson
Photos by Social Media Assistant, U.S. Embassy Tallinn

Back To School Too!

While Ali was visiting Pelgulinna Gymnasium in Tallinn, I was with our Political/Economic Chief Mary Glantz at Tallinna Linnamäe Vene Lütseum!

Tallinna Linnamäe Vene Lütseum is the largest Russian school in Estonia and one of the top schools in the country. The school is celebrating their annual "Language Week," so Mary and I went out to serve as guinea pigs, I mean native English speakers, for the school's English Conversation Club.

Since there was no predetermined topic, we just let the conversation flow where it wanted. So we talked about American movies, Ellen DeGeneres' selfie at the Oscars, how we liked Estonian food.

And of course, study in the United States.

I was really impressed with this group of students...one of the more enthusiastic questioners made a comment about her English being bad...but boy does she speak it better than I speak Estonian! (And of course, far better than my, oh, five words of Russian!)

We spent an hour with the students, after which we made pictures, including an Ellen-like selfie which the student promised to send me. I will share it when he does!

Post by PAO J. Michelle Schohn
Photo by Social Media Assistant, U.S. Embassy Tallinn

Back to school!

Today I got the chance to visit the Pelgulinna Gymnasium in Tallinn, where I spoke with high school students about current events in the U.S.  I had a fantastic time talking with the students and also enjoyed learning a bit about their school. 

Pelgulinna Gymnasium is known for its enhanced arts programs, and some of Estonia’s most famous contemporary artists and musicians attended here, as well as Estonia’s very own Mart Laar!  I heard about this from local teacher Kristi Saare who participated in the local program Noored Kooli which is a lot like the U.S.’ Teach for America program.  (I first met her a year ago when we invited the new group of Noored Kooli teachers and mentors to the Embassy to meet Ambassador Levine and was delighted that she invited us to visit her class).



Talking about current events with students at Pelgulinna Gymnasium

 

And speaking of that class … it was a challenging task for me to decide what to talk about with the students with so many current events to choose from.   In the end I decided to talk about marriage equality in the U.S., climate change policy and, of course, the recent events in Ukraine.  



Marriage equality is a heavily debated issue in the U.S.

Since gay marriage has become legal in some U.S. states a number of famous American LGBT people have gotten married, including of course, Ellen Degeneres!  But beyond the celebrity weddings, people in the U.S. have a range of opinions and feelings about it.  Many people are against it because of their religious beliefs, while others strongly support it because they believe the right to marry who you love is a human right.  So far 17 states in the U.S. have legalized same-sex marriage and many others are considering moving in that direction.  President Obama, himself, supports it and has taken steps to support it on the federal level. 

Is it getting warm in here?  Our classroom, which was on the top floor with tons of windows on a very sunny day, was perfect for the next current issue I tackled: climate change!  This is an issue that is close to my own heart as I worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for seven years prior to joining the U.S. diplomatic corps.  Climate change is happening and mankind is the cause according to 97% of climate scientists, however in the U.S. a political debate is still underway as to what should be done about it – and many people are afraid of the economic impacts of reducing carbon emissions.

President Obama has launched a new campaign to address carbon emissions through more efficient vehicle standards, greater energy efficiency in buildings and new regulations for new and existing power plants.  And did you know that China is now the world’s #1 producer of carbon emissions?  This fact points to why we need international, multi-country initiatives to combat climate change and that is the final part of the President’s initiative – an international climate change agreement worked through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Finally, I spoke with the students about the current crisis in Ukraine and shared a video clip of the President talking about the U.S. response to the situation.  President Obama has repeatedly stated his hope that a diplomatic solution – including both the government of Ukraine and that of Russia – can be found and that, in the short term, the situation can be de-escalated.  I was 14 in 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down and remember watching – with relief! - relations warm between the west and the east.  I only hope that some of the goodwill and friendship we have developed since then will get us through this difficult time. 

All and all, I really enjoyed my visit to Pelgulinna Gymnasium, meeting its students, and sharing what Americans are talking about.  It was a great time and reinforced how bright Estonian students are and how well they speak and understand English!     

Blog post by Alison Davis, Assistant Public Affairs Officer
Photos by Tiiu Vitsut, Cultural Assistant

Breaking down the Virtual Wall: USS Tallinn Facebook Party!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a bunch of Facebook friends over for a party? 

Ambassador Levine did and he decided to make that idea a reality! 

Yesterday, he hosted his Facebook Friends Party, designed to “break down the virtual wall.” 

The Ambassador, hundreds of his friends and embassy staff were on hand at the Seaplane Harbor for a night of fun. There was music from a local band, "Jats," that the Ambassador first met through Facebook, a live Instagram feed for guests to post their #usstallinn photos, and the world-famous Titanic Exhibition, which was in part sponsored by the embassy.  

Even the nametages had a Facebook theme! Everyone wore a name tag with space for their "status," and they were invited to "Share" their status at the end of the night on a poster to commemorate the event. 

All this took place in the cavernous space that is the Seaplane Harbor museum, which boasts hundreds of maritime pieces and ships. Those of us from the embassy had a great time at this unique event and we hope you did too!

Post by PAS Intern Kirsten Anderson
Photos by Social Media Assistant, U.S. Embassy Tallinn