Lyudmila came to Estonia via a program for Finno-Ugric peoples. She enrolled soon after in a doctoral program at the University of Tartu. Lyudmila has therefore lived in Estonia for 19 years now, and done different things here. For the past two years, she has worked as a history teacher. Lyudmila is a Mari by ethnicity. The Mari are a Finno-Ugric people who live along the Volga and Kama Rivers in the Russian Federation.

"As soon as we crossed the border, I was surprised by the well-tended yards, houses, and lawns here. This gave me the sense that the people here love their homes and their homeland," says Lyudmila of her first impressions at that time.

"Now, I have already understood that the Estonians really value quality. They would rather buy something that is more expensive and of higher quality than buy something every year that is cheaper and in fashion."

The work culture of the Estonians also caught her eye. "If you order something from an Estonian, they never deliver anything below their own high standards, and they don't rush projects," Lyudmila says. "But to this day, I have a hard time dealing with the way they communicate. If you start to communicate with Estonians, then you have to take into account that they might not answer your calls, because they prefer to send text messages," she laughs.

She really likes the Estonian word emakeel, which means 'mother language.' "In both Russian and Mari, the word for one's first or home language refers to the place where you are born, but in Estonian it means it is your MOTHER language. Because of this, I came to understand that I should speak to my own children in the Mari language. Exactly me, not my husband so much. A child does speak with their mother more, and via their mother learns of different cultural traditions," Lyudmila explains, and adds that her younger child spoke only Mari until the age of 8.

In Estonia, she does miss her relatives, and would like to sit around the table with them and talk about the world. "Maybe that's why I'm actively involved in Mari culture here -- it's like being with my relatives." She also started collecting old pictures, things, and different artifacts, because it's all a way of communicating with her relatives.

Lyudmila likes the musician Karl-Erik Taukar too. His singing, of course, but she says he reminds her of her grandfather. "People used to say that my grandfather was like a kind of Baltic person -- tall, with light hair and light blue eyes, very similar to Karl-Erik Taukar," laughs Lyudmila, who finds similarities between pictures of her grandfather and the singer.

Lyudmila is working to ensure that her children know and understand Mari culture. When her eldest daughter had to do a research project at school, they took one of the pieces of jewellery that belonged to one of her Mari folk costumes, in which the oldest coin dates back to the 18th century, as the object of study. "It was touched by my grandmother, who in turn got it from her mother. It's a rarity, the most precious item in our family," explained Lyudmila.

In Estonia, Lyudmila also met her husband, who had come to Estonia as part of the same programme for Finno-Ugric peoples, but some time before her. "This programme was developed at the start of the Nineties in the last century, during the independence movement in Estonia, with the aim of supporting indigenous peoples. In 1994, when my husband came here, there were about 70 people in the programme, all from Mari-El. They came to study at Estonian universities, then went back to their homeland. Unfortunately, or fortunately, not everyone left, my husband stayed here to wait for me." Now they have two girls in the family, both of whom have Mari names and speak to each other in Mari.

Together with their family, they are trying to preserve the Mari culture in Estonia. "At least once a year, all the Maris living in Estonia get together, we communicate with each other and organize different workshops, so that the children can see how their parents communicate with each other in Mari."

Lyudmila considers herself to be quite emotional, but Estonians, as she sees it, are not so much. "Estonians are very peaceful, they value their words -- if they say something, they choose each word carefully. They also don't waste any words and don't make small talk. Estonians are practical."

If you live in Estonia for a long time, then obviously you pick up some Estonian habits too. Lyudmila has adopted one of these habits herself. "I really like to go to cafes. I remember how surprised I was when I just got here and I saw older ladies seated in a cafe on Tartu Town Hall Square, with their small hats and tiny handbags. They got together, sat in the cafe, and told stories, and it was really nice." Her grandmother never went to a cafe, ever. "They would gather with their girlfriends at home, or visit each other, somewhere else, and if they didn't meet at home or a friend's home, they didn't meet."

"In Mari-El, I'm often asked what I really like about Estonia and I always answer -- I like that everything here is done by the book, there are no big surprises, everything is stable, and can even be at times conservative, but everything is peaceful."

Author: Diana Lorents/HAVAS
Photo: Virgo Haan/HAVAS

Why should a young Canadian guy come to Estonia? But why shouldn't he, when there's wonderful nature and special people on offer here? These two reasons were decisive for Francois. He had heard that Estonia had unspoilt nature, came to see for himself, and stayed. He feels quite at home here now and plans to build a life here too.

Francois has worked for the engineering company Betson for two years, and makes music in his spare time.

"Actually, I'm an engineer during workdays, but in the evenings and on the weekends I'm a musician," says Francois. "When I'm an engineer, my creative side can rest a little, but when I'm a musician, the engineering world can rest. I've created that kind of balance for myself." Francois expresses himself by making reggae and soul music, but he also likes to go to classical musical concerts, of which there are many in Estonia, and those are of very high quality. "I recently was at a concert at Kadriorg Palace where two sisters played. I don't recall their names, but I enjoyed every second," he says enthusiastically.

For Francois, Estonia is a place where everything is close and that means nature, first and foremost. Nature is everywhere in Tallinn, where he lives -- in Kadriorg, Viimsi, and Pirita. From the window of his home, he has even seen the northern lights. Just the opportunity to go skiing in Tallinn's Kadriorg Park is a real luxury, he says.

Here, he has learned to distinguish between edible and inedible mushrooms in the forest, like Estonians, and loves to make delicious dishes from them. He also enjoys the different kinds of potato dishes, he says.

Francois admits that the Estonian language is difficult though: "I've got some of the words down, but I need to be more disciplined, because knowledge of the language is important."

"The people are special here, they love to have some space around them and they also give the other person the same space, which allows them to feel good about themselves, it's like respecting the other person," Francois says of the Estonians. "Estonians always and everywhere give a person time to get adjusted, this is also an expression of respect for the other person."

And while Estonia is very similar to Canada, according to Francois, there is also something different here. "At first, I was taken aback by the Estonians' love of silence. For example, when we eat here, it's not customary to tell stories and to talk. In Canada, we talk a lot and all the time during lunch or dinner, here it's all done in silence."

He has now learned from the Estonians how to be precise in his expressions, how to use just the right words when communicating. "I've adopted this way of communicating. A few words, but very precise, to be a better listener rather than a speaker."

One thing that immediately stood out to him is the pet-friendliness of offices. He doesn't have any pets of his own, but to him the opportunity to bring your pets to work seemed quite different. The Estonian sauna culture also stands out. "Every Friday, people here happily go to the sauna together, and there are even saunas in the offices," he says, adding that this is another custom he has already picked up from the Estonians.

However, in two years, he has not gotten used to the fact that the nights here are extremely long in winter and extremely short in summer. "In Montreal, where I come from, you don't find that, it takes some getting used to."

"I would like to communicate with Estonians through my music," Francois acknowledges, adding that he doesn't think about achieving reggae or soul stardom, but about how his self-expression could bring joy to others. His first album is already finished, he notes.

Author: Diana Lorents/HAVAS
Photo: Virgo Haan/HAVAS

Mizuki first came to Estonia when she was three years old. She doesn't remember anything about it, but the photos show  how she made the day trip from Helsinki to Tallinn with her mother and father.

However, she does recall very well that when she was attending university, she was able to choose an international study program and quickly opted to go to Tartu, Estonia (not to mention the project manager from the University of Tartu who was working with the students there was very cool).
Now Mizuki has decided to stay in Estonia for a long time. Her home and friends are here.
Mizuki works in the Japanese restaurant Tokumaru, where she is a cook and quality manager, and sometimes she serves the food as well.

"Estonians like ramen the most, it's a kind of noodle soup. For me it's sometimes strange how they ask for black bread with their soup - you're not supposed to eat it with bread and we don't even have any bread to offer them, so I offer them rice instead," she says. But thanks to Estonians, she has also discovered new tastes - for example, Philadelphia sushi, which isn't made in Japan. "At first, I thought it was very weird. Why are you putting cream cheese in your sushi? But now I have learned that it is actually really tasty." According to Mizuki, for the Japanese sushi is festive food. "We make it for parties and holidays and most often we just get it to go from a restaurant or have it delivered."

Mizuki brought a rice boiler, miso paste, and soy sauce with her from Japan. Among Estonian dishes, she likes pea soup, blood sausage, and kohuke, a glazed curd snack, the most. "Your oven-baked potatoes are also quite good," she says. She eats one dish quite differently from Estonians. Namely she eats sült, a kind of jellied meat, with hot rice. It's supposedly very delicious.

Mizuki speaks Estonian with her colleagues at Tokumaru. "I asked my colleagues to speak Estonian with me. The language is difficult, the cases are difficult." She discovered that when she started to speak Estonian, people became friendlier. "I can speak Estonian with clients and that's really nice! Especially when they praise me, that really motivates me to learn the language."

Mizuki likes how Estonians know how to relax by taking time off in the summer to go to their summer houses or to travel around. "Estonians take long vacations and that's good," she acknowledges and adds that she does now too. "In the winter, I went hiking with my friends," she says. "It was really fun. You have long winters and it's hard at times. In Japan, we also have them, but it's easier to get through them somehow."

"Estonians are supposedly a bit closed at first, like the Japanese are, but when you've spent more time with them, they open up more," Mizuki adds, speaking about the Estonians.

"And in Japan, there is so much paperwork, but I have already become accustomed to all of these e-systems that we have here. But I still haven't gotten used to the dental insurance system. In Japan, the person pays 30 percent and insurance covers 70 percent," explains Mizuki. 

Mizuki likes Curly Strings a lot. "The band has even been to Japan and my mom went to their concert," who has spread her love of Estonia to her whole family. She loves music in general, but especially enjoys the Song Festival. "There were so many people at the song festival and they all sang together -- I had never seen such a thing. It was just like, wow. Amazing."

Author: Diana Lorents/HAVAS
Photo: Virgo Haan/HAVAS