Estonia Part 2

Robert managed to get 2 weeks off work so he joined us for the second half of the holiday. His mum also arrived 1 day later with rainstorms from Sweden. That's when the summer seemed to have ended - it was cold and poured down with non stop rain. Luckily in Rakvere like in every proper Estonian town these days they have opened a new water-centre and spa. We had already been there with the kids once before and now had a good option to spend an otherwise miserable day. Heli was reluctant at first and planned to sit and do her crosswords but luckily I managed to persuade her to bring the bathers anyway and of course she joined in when she saw it. The building has a nice nordic design and good layout. All the different pools are quite close to each other and the scale is not so huge that you would constantly loose some of the children. There is something for everyone - splash for babies, bubbles for grandmas, ocean waves for the adventureous and the big black tube for the fearless. Raoul had tryed to persuade me to go in it already the first time but I was too scared. So this time he went with Robert but he had overestimated his braveness and came out quite scared.
There is a huge sauna complex with something like 10 different kinds of saunas and we tryed them all. So all the kids are sauna experts now. (Funnily now after we came back they discovered the steam sauna here on the condo for the first time and insist on going in there. I have resisted so far.)
And of course there is a pirat themed cafe at the exit and of course you cannot miss it with 3 aspiring pirates after a 3-hour swim.
Later on the weather turned a little better so we had a tour of the area the next day - manor houses, old fishing village etc. The absolute highlight was our incredible mushroom-picking. We just stopped in the middle of a forest that to me looked like a place where there could be mushrooms and a few meters from the road stumbled over loads and loads. I don't know what they are called in English (pilvikud in Estonian), but they are edible and tasty. I have never seen so huge ones of that type that are so fresh and uneaten by worms. It took us maybe 15 minutes to fill a big basket and more. The mushrooms with fresh potatoes fed 10 of us and another 2 portions were left over. We had a repeat of that a few days later. All kids were so excited and became really skilled in finding them as well. At dinner time Raoul had finished his plate and asked for more "can I have some more of that fish please". Well - main thing is it tasted good.
There were also masses of wild blueberries but we were so occupied with the mushrooms that we didn't even start to pick those. Just enough so that everyone had a nice blue tongue.

Sorry sorry sorry!!!

As was to be expected our 4 weeks in exotic Estonia were non-bloggerfriendly so there is a big gap to fill. Hopefully you all haven't given up checking in!
As I flew alone with the children the trip was quite interesting. Probably the hardest part being the wait in Amsterdam. We had something like 6 hours between the flights and it was no fun after a 12.5 hour flight from Singapore in economy class. Surprisingly for such a big airport Schippol has very limited facilities to entertain travelling kids. The playroom is boring and shabby and nobody wants to spend more than 15 min in there, so that left us with 5 h 45 min to go. Well, eventually we got there.

Estonia greeted us with lovely cool weather - such a bliss after these hot months in Singapore. After a few days the summer arrived though and we went to the beach. The sea was too cold for me but the children were in the water in no time inspite of their colds. Anyway, I did underestimate the sun and didn't use enough sunblocker so I got a sunburn. Dad couldn't stop teasing me about it - a person comes from the tropics pale as a swan and burns herself here in the north!
It took us a while getting over jetlag, especially Raoul had a hard time and was up 4.30 every morning for the first week. The Estonian TV apparently caters for jetlagged children as their kids program runs from 6 to 8 am. So that came in handy and I could go running before the farmers started racing up and down the dusty country lanes with their tractors. By the end of week 2 everybody had adjusted to the local time so well that they missed the kids program every morning.
I think the children enjoyed their time in Estonia a lot and proved their genetic identity very well. They spent a lot of time "helping" Jaanus to build his exciting new house that I can't even start to describe. Will have to wait for a photo! I hope he still has all his tools. Also Raoul enjoyed driving grandpa's old car that he called very cleverly "vana-aeglane auto" - combining two words - oldtimer and slow! Beatrice showed her best side doing all the family's share of work so I could just relax while she was helping Mana to pick tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes etc or helping Manass carry logs. Raoul also had a daily routine of getting the newspaper from the mailbox up the road that he transported in Beatrice's old doll pram. He even tryed cutting the hay. So clearly Raoul showed big potential for taking over the farm one day. Karl loves the animals and spent lots of time with the neighbor's old dog Pantu who has moved to my parent's place permanently now. He is so old and smelly that nobody apart from the children even wants to stroke him anymore so I guess he enjoyed the attention and the occasional feast of a saucage. Sophie the cat is shy and avoided us for the first few days. Boys play is still too wild for her. However one morning Raoul walked in with one of her trophys - a halfeaten dead mouse in his hand declaring that he found a bird.
All the kids started to enjoy the sauna and sat nicely on the lower bench. Another important event was burning hay at Kart's summerhouse. It was quite magical - the dry hay went up in sparks like a volcano with the sun setting in the background. All by themselves the kids learned to build nests in hay. That for me was such an enlightening moment. Building nests of freshly dryed hay should be a "must-do" activity of everyone's childhood. And I don't know if there is another place apart from Estonia where my children could do that.
Beatrice and I got to enjoy the proper Estonian summer of music festivals as well. On Margit's initiative we went to Viljandi folk for one day and that turned out to be such a hit. It has been running for many years now but I have never made my way there assuming that the crowd would be very alternative and not my cup of tea. Either my assumption was wrong or it has changed but it was very nice and normal. Just lots of kind and beautiful people enjoying interesting and good music. The choice of concerts was too big so we trusted Peep (my cousin's husband and Karl's godfather) the musician. He chose very well. So we heard a trio from Russia who played interesting music from all over the world giving it a russian touch with balalaika etc. And the of course Vagilased - an estonian band who gives old traditional tunes and songs a modern rocky twist. They seem to be especially popular with the Viljandi folk crowds so there was a lot of dancing and singing along. Inbetween the concerts some of us had a swim in the lake. So it was really a nice day just hanging around there. And of course always a good place to find some long lost friends with their new offspring.
We were quite lucky with timing this year as many friends and relatives happened to be there as well. Robert's younger sister Aime and partner Johannes were touring Estonia and camped at our place for a night. (Successfully ignoring the wake-up committee with drums etc at 8 am.) We went to the Rocca al Mare open air museum with Kristel and her kids and had a good runaround and tested all the huge swings there. Also managed to see Mart, Nele and Joel off to Berlin. And of course I managed to see at least some of my dear old friends. If sadly by far not all.
There is plenty more to write, so I'll catch up soon.

Karvased ja sulelised

Tegime pyhapaeval ara veel yhe kohustusliku Singapuri valjasoidu - Jurongi Linnuparki, mis on nagu loomaaed aga ainult lindudele. Kannatab taielikult vordluse loomaaiaga valja. Vaga ilus dzhungli moodi haljastus, kynkaid ja vett ja suuri puid ja vaikseid lilli - koike mis vaja yhesonaga. Tegime alustuseks vaikese soidu "panoraili'ga" - rong, mis soidab korgel ja sellelt saab hea ylevaate, mida ja keda lahemalt vaadata. Hasti tore raakivate lindude kogu on seal, aga me ei osanud nendega vist oieti raakida, igatahes onnestus ainult Robertil ja Beatrice'il yhelt linnult mingi jutt valja meelitada ja see oli ka kasside keeles. Paris palju linde oli sellistes suurtes lindlates, kuhu kylastajad said sisse minna. Yks Uus-Guinea tuvi oli vaga julge ja huvitus tosiselt minu varvastest, mida ta ilmselt mingiteks soodavateks marjadeks pidas ja hoolega nokkima hakkas.

Eriti suures "aviary"s on suurim kunstlik kosk - 30 meetrit ja kogu ala nagu yks korralik vihmamets. Ise me ei nainud seal nii palju erinevaid liike alguses, sest koik olid kuidagi puudes peidus aga sattusime sootmise ajaks ja siis ilmus ikka igasuguseid tegelasi lagedale, yks kirjum kui teine. Soogiks olid ussid, tougud ja tirtsud ja onu andis lahkelt pealtvaatajatele topsikuid soogiga, mida korgel hoides linnud lausa kae peale lendasid. Nokkisid nii, et touke lendas ymberringi. Koik lapsed sattusid suurde hasarti ja korjasid lopuks mahakukkunud usse topsidesse tagasi. Raoul oli isegi nii julge, et vottus yhe tirtsu, aga viskas selle maha, sest see "hammustas" teda.

Vaatasime veel roovlindude showd, kus kotkad ja kullid lihatykke ohust pyydsid ja pealtvaatajate peadest nii ligidalt yle lendasid, et vois tunda tiibade puudutust. Vaga muljetavaldav.

Olime seal kogu pika paeva ja lopetuseks veel manguplatsil. Olen juba harjunud, et sellistes kohtades on harilikult ka veemanguplats, nii et ujumisriided olid kaasas ja Beatrice ja Karl said ennast maha jahutada. Raoul on viimasel ajal otsustanud, et ta ei taha enam ujuda, nii et ka seal mitte.

Hasti palju venelasti oli kylastajate seas, kuulsin siis tapselt ara, kus on koige paremad ja odavamad kaamerad myya jne.

This has been another busy week. The boys were off school Monday and Tuesday. (The school takes apparently every chance!) Monday was "youth day" and Tuesday parent-teacher conferences. We went to the Science Centre on Monday with Mia and Alex and had a great day. Discovered a lot that we hadn't seen last time, also took swimming stuff so the kids could play in the water playground which is really great.
Tuesday's meeting was a surprize as I had expected to hear a lot of terrible things about Raoul. Instead the teacher said since the start of this term the boys have swapped their roles with Raoul being good, sitting and listening quietly and Karl disrupting the classes and playing rough. The report referred to last term though and in there Karl is doing very well. Raoul has been not happy to go to school and almost every day I have to lift him into the bus with lots of resistance. At school however he seems to be happy. So I have no clue what is going on.
Yesterday we had a girls day out with Beatrice and went to the Asian Civilizations Museum, just the two of us. Very nice and quiet. The collection there is really impressive, also a lot of interactive and hands-on things to do for the kids. There is a special exhibition from Vietnam and we did a quiz with Beatrice being very good at finding the objects we had to look for. Afterwards we walked over to the Merlion on the riverside to have a close look. We had only seen it from the tourboat before.

Kylaelu

Viimased paar paeva on hakanud tunduma, et see siin on vaike kylake. Eile ei olnud poistel kooli vaid opetajate kohtumised vanematega ja seetottu laksime enne meie aega Go Go bambinisse, mis on kooli ligidal. Pealegi ei olnud Beatrice seal kainud ja talle ikka veel meeldivad vaga sellised ronimispaigad. Vaevalt olime sisse saanud, kui nagime poiste klassivenda Matthew'd - see sama, kes kaib ka nende taekwondo koolis. Ei tea kyll, kuidas see nii juhtub, et meie teed pidevalt niimoodi ristuvad. Igatahes oli koigil muidugi eriti tore, kui said juba "vanade" sopradega koos mangida. Matthew ema on Malaisia hiinlanna, isa austraallane. Ema kaest kuulsin ka, et taekwondos on veel yks poiss nende klassist. Poisid olid juba enne oelnud, et "see poiss on meie koolis", aga mina ei olnud teda seal nainud ja arvasin, et ajavad kindlasti midagi segi, sest asiaadid on ju meie jaoks ikka ysna sarnased. Tuleb valja, et poistel oli siiski oigus - tegu on lihtsalt ysna uue poisiga, keda ma ei olnudki nainud koolis. Kusjuures eelmine kord taekwondos raakisin ta isaga - molemad vanemad korealased! Aga muidugi ei tulnud koolidest juttu ja nii jaigi see selgitamata. Nyyd sai lahenduse veel yks mysteerium - nimelt oli Karl eelmine nadal mingi pahandusega hakkama saanud koolis ja pidi istuma "pahanduse toolil". Raoul seletas mulle, et ta oli teinud midagi jo-jo'ga. Ma veel imestasin, et mis saab jo-joga teha, mis on nii suur pahandus. Nyyd selgus, et selle uue korea poisi nimi ongi jo-jo (ei tea tapselt kuidas nad seda ladina tahtedega kirjutavad, aga nii igatahes koik haaldavad). Nii et Karl oli nahtavasti Jo-Jo'le haiget teinud. Nyyd on igatahes neli poissi yhest klassist sattunud yksteisest soltumata samasse taeokwondo-kooli. Ja seda Singapuri miljonite elanike ja tuhandete voimaluste hulgast.
Koolis ootas veel yks yllatus - arvasin, et kuulen palju Raouli pahandustest aga selgub, et kuigi ta ei taha kuidagi kooli minna, on ta seal roomus ja tubli. Opetaja sonul on poisid peale vaheaega justkui rollid vahetanud - Raoul istub ja kuulab ilusti, samal ajal kui Karl on nyyd see, kes ringi ronib, ennast ja teisi segab ja tyli kisub (rough play). Ma loodan, et ta toesti ei ole neid parast vaheaega segi ajanud.
Parast kaisime poes ja seal kadus Karl ara ja jarsku helistas Beatrice'i klassi Hannah ema, et leidis Karli. Nemad olid ka juhtumisi samas poes. Vaike kylake.

BBQ

Finally we got our act together and used the BBQ pit outside our living room window. We had invited Beatrice's friend's family over as well as Mia and hers. They are all more experienced barbequers than we are so that way we were on the safe side. Had some lovely fish and beef and it was great fun with all the kids in and out of the pool and having fun on the playground while we could enjoy the meal and a few bottles of wine. Very tired today.

Beatrice's weeks

A lady having a rest at the dragon boat race

Now Beatrice has finished school and we have some time for the two of us trying to catch up on things that she has missed. We went to the library on Monday and it was a very different experience compared to the visits with the boys. Yesterday I took her to the Mozart exhibition that we had seen with the boys. Mia and Alex came along and we had a great time. It was so much more appropriate for their age and they could enjoy a lot more of the activities - like trying to write with a feather - and learn something actually. Then we had lunch - Beatrice her traditional chicken-rice - and a coffee and we got back running from the bus stop just in time to meet the boys school bus as it arrived at the gates. That was a tight timing.

Beatrice had her 1st Taekwondo lesson yesterday at last. She was not keen to go as she had to go by herself. It was only because I promised her a big golden star that I got her on this bus. However it was a whole different girl who returned with a wide and proud smile. She had made friends with the other kids and earned her first yellow strip on the belt. And I must say the star chart has worked wonders with her - doing a lot of things without a moan and always looking for ways to help at home in order to earn some more happy faces. For the boys the effect is limited. Karl is keen to get some happy faces and does his chores when we stand in front of it and count in the evening but Raoul couldn't care less.

Also the boys had their second TKD lesson on Saturday and seemed to enjoy it. However Raoul was being his good old self and gave the instructor a hard time. Although it was more in a joking mood so there is hope.

On Sunday we went to see the dragon boat race which is a big yearly event with many countries and many many local teams participating. Lots of expat teams as well. It was quite good fun to watch it with the drums banging and pretty boats with dragon's head and tail. We are too few to set up an "Estonian dragons" team though. Afterwards we went to the East Coast Park that we hadn't seen yet. It covers the whole eastern coast of the island and is nice for bicycling. There were people swimming as well. But looking at all the thousands of ships anchoring right outside, I don't really know if I want to swim there. People go there even camping for weekends. Also there is one quite funny attraction - waterskiing on a lagoon while strapped to lines that hang in the air and pull the skiers around and around. They use something that looks more like a snowboard with boots and everything. There were some young kids going around and the more skilled ones used the little "mountains" built in the water to demonstrate jumps and turns. I have never seen anything like that.