h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

After a week of hostel adventures in Berlin I've made it to Estonia, which I guess I'm calling home for a while. The contrast to Australia is much more than just the weather.

The food will take some getting used to. Traditional home cooking here seems to mostly be pickles - I doubt they would survive without vinegar - and the quality of cheap take-away is a little below that which I'm used to. I guess I'll soon be missing proper aussie hamburgers and pub steaks. At least I brought some vegemite over with me.

The language is also causing me some difficulties. Most people speak English, but most information is only available in Estonian. My Estonian doesn't yet go past some numbers, beer, thanks, and some words I recognise from English, Finnish or German (the latter two of which I don't speak anyway). The end result is that trying to find jobs and activities over the internet is difficult without a translator.

This is all part of the adventure though. Luckily I like pickles, and today yet again I will be in search of good cheap food. Soon I will start looking for a language course. I'm actually looking forward to the weather staying below zero so the snow doesn't turn to slush.

Hi Penguin

Do keep us posted about how you get on in your new home . I think it is courageuos of you to make this (temporary?) move to your mother's (?) native country.

Sorry about the questionmarks. I'm not quite sure whether I remember correctly.

I'm sure, Hati will always lend you a hand.

It's a temporary move. I plan to move back to Australia or somewhere else. Maybe even in a year or so. I've got no family connection to Estonia. Not even any ancestry here, but I'm staying with an Estonian friend so all the little things (like how to get places on public transport) are easy.

Applying for jobs and things is still a little difficult though. And it's a shame all the snow disappeared

The snow will be back, I'm sure. Where did I get the ancestry idea from, I wonder .

Hooray for more snow. I'll have to get some cross-country skis or something - I guess that's what people do around here.

Memory is a silly thing. Never trust it, I say.

from a memory