Acting in Estonia

A while ago we had a post about our music programme. Here is a description of our theathre programme, written by our exchange student Runa from  Switzerland. 

Tere!

I'm Runa from Switzerland, 16 years old and currently living in Tartu for a year. I'm here with the theatre programme YFU offers and here are some thoughts about it.

National Opera "Estonia" in Tallinn

When I first decided to go on an exchange year, I wanted to go to France or French speaking Canada. Due to various reasons that didn't work out and I had to choose a new country. This time language became unimportant as a criteria - as long as it wasn't English. And while reading through the possibilities I stumbled over YFU and their option of different "programmes" during the exchange year. Since my dad is a director I've basically grown up with theatre. I've seen lots of plays and acted myself. I love the stage, watching and being on it.

I wouldn't say the theatre programme was the reason I went to Estonia, I wanted to go somewhere I wouldn't go normally and with these programmes small countries as Estonia just get overlooked because a lot of people don't know anything about it and just skip it for looking at bigger, more known countries. Having this programme made me notice it as a possibility in the first place and I'm not regretting it at all.

I don't have much to compare with but the theatre programme is a bit different from, for example the music

Lydia Koidula (1843-1886), founder of Estonian theatre

programme. I don't study an acting school as such and I don't get to do it every day, but then again, acting isn't the same as music.

In my school we just have drama as a subject for two terms (Estonian school year is divided into five terms), which was great for me coming from a not that big of a town somewhere in the Swiss mountains. I'm also in a small theatre group besides school (where I actually first met my current host family); there I'm currently part of a play - in Estonian which is hard and a completely different experience than acting in my own language but exactly that makes it a great experience. It is  good especially for me because I have been quite lazy in studying Estonian. So I get my share of acting here.

YFU also pays for theatre visits every month so I also end up going to the theatre quite often. Not that I wouldn't do that anyway but my financial means don't go too far. Living in Tartu, going to watch some play isn't a too far trip either (as it usually was at home), so yes, grateful for that. If you ever end up here - go to the theatre, some great stuff on Estonian stages.

In total, I think the theatre (and other) programme is a great opportunity not only for making Estonia even getting noticed (as sad as this sounds, but this small country needs more attention than the rest of the world!) but also makes for a cultural exchange in more than "just" school and family. But (yes there is a but) don't go to Estonia just for the theatre programme. It's not a that a big part of your year. Go to Estonia for an awesome year in a great country with brilliant people and learn this language less than two million people speak. But if you go to Estonia, chose the theatre programme, meet those people through a common interest and learn this lanugage by acting in it.

Runa Wehrli, exchange student in Estonia 14/15

Shrove Tuesday buns!

Every year in February or the beginning of March on a Tuesday which precedes the 40-day Christian fast – Lent - Shrove Tuesday is held. The purpose of the holiday is to eat well before the fast begins. Traditional foods in Estonia include pea or bean soup and pig’s trotter. Nowadays there are also special Shrove Tuesday buns with whipped cream and jam. Sleding is also a part of the tradition: the longer the slide, the longer the stem of flax would be during the next summer.

In celebration of the Shrove Tuesday we present to you a blogpost on the subject of how to make Shrove Tueday buns from scratch.  If you have no wish to actually make them, it might still increase your appetite through reading and looking at the lovely pictures.

The recipe is taken from the collection of Õie, the confectioner of Werner’s cafe in Tartu.

Things you need:

600g of wheat

250 g of milk

35 g press-yeast

75 g butter

50 g sugar

1 egg

A little salt

Take all the components out of the refrigerator as soon as possible so that the components will be of room temperature by the time of making the dough.

Dissolve the yeast milk (on room temprature) and mix it with about half of the wheat (300 g). Churn the mix till it is even and let it proof in a warm location for about half an hour.

Then add melted and a little cooled butter, sugar, egg, salt and the rest of the wheat and blend them in. Knead  the mix till the dough is even and doesn’t stick to the bowl. Sprinkle a little wheat on the dough and let it proof in a warm place under a towel or foil until it is at least twice its size. In order to proof the dough needs both warmth and moisture. If you have a heated floor you may place the bowl on it or put in the oven on minimal temperature with a separate bowl of water in order to maintain humidity. A good tip is to moisturize the towel a little as well.

If the dough has become twice its size it should be placed on the table, covered with a little wheat and then round buns can be made (about 50 g each). If the buns have been formed put them on a plate in a humid place to proof.

After that smear the buns with fluffed egg and bake them at 220 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Once the buns have been cooled it is time to add whipped cream. The cream must be beat up quite strongly as otherwise it will fall out of the bun. Some like to add a little lemon peel and -juice. In order to make the cream stronger, cream cheese may be added as well. And of course don’t forget the jam! There are many different flavours: strawberry, rasberry, blueberry, cowberry… Then all that is left to do is sprinkle the bun with lots of powdered sugar and you are done!

Head isu! (Bon appetite)

Language tour: giving workshops in local schools

In the beginning of each year YFU Estonia organizes an event called Keeletuur (Language Tour). The purpose of the event is to let our volunteers and foreign exchange students in Estonia hold presentations in middle and high schools in bigger towns (Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu) in order to give the students practical knowledge about culture. Normally presentations were held but in 2015 we decided to do things a little differently. So instead workshops were held on the subjects of culture, learning languages and of course living in a foreign country. The students themselves have to participate actively. Giving the workshops is a great experience for our volunteers and exchange students as well since they get to practice foreign languages, meet new people and obtain pedagogical methods and public speaking skills. One of our very active volunteers - Pauline from Germany - speaks about her experience. 

In the end of January a workshop was held in order to train us for Keeletuur. The training camp began with defining culture. During brainstorming and discussing we discovered the aspects we wanted to tell the students. I think nearly no one of the 30 participants knew how much work it is to prepare a lesson. Fortunately we found many useful tips about how to give a lesson and how to make it more interesting. Although it was a long and hard day it was a good one as well because of the great cooking team. 

In order to practice speaking in front of a class we gave lessons among ourselves. After three trial lessons that were held with lots of laughter and fun we could see really well which methods work and which do not. After that the camp was over. Everybody left well prepared for the following two weeks and looking forward to giving the lessons.

During the next two weeks he held presentations every day in many different schools in Tartu, Tallinn and Pärnu. The schools were visited by different teams and with the help pf the YFU offices we managed to give very good presentations. The goal of each lesson was to show the students how important it is to speak about culture and cultural differences and of course stress the need to speak foreign languages. By playing a simple card game we managed to give the students an idea of how it is to live in a different culture. 

We gave the lessons in different languages' classes and also spoke the respective language: English, German or French. Although we probably made some mistakes we managed to show the benefits of speaking several foreign languages. 

We got various reactions from the students. For example one fifth grader wanted our autographs after the lessons. Usually we got many questions about going on an exchange year and being an exchange student. Most of the students were quite shy and had difficulties asking questions in English, German or French. The teachers often also joined the lessons but they mainly listened and were very interested in what we were talking.

In the end the two weeks were really good and successful. I believe we made a good team and as we can see now from the schools' positive feedback we did a really good job. 

Pauline from Germany, exchange student in Estonia 14/15