Estonian Linedance Festival (Aug. 4th & 5th, 2012): record broken!!!

Dear Readers,

We received a thrilling news a few days ago. A group of people in the USA broke our record by around 200 people, the official number being 2569 beating our record of 2354 people. So now we definitely need our 3000 people to come!!!!

Please register now in our website (linefest.com) for the chance to get a  discount for registration before July 1st!!! You can contact us through our website, or write us directly at kaie@estonianlinedance.com or info@noorusemaja.ee or simply drop me a email.

Come one, join the fun!!!!

Share the news with your friends, colleagues, families.

We can accomodate people in wheelchairs if needed!! 

Parnu International Choir Festival and the Wingate University Choir

     When I was asked by Uudo to take care of a group of American students coming to Pärnu for this Festival, I decline coz I already planned to do some activities with two groups of pupils learning French. With those two classes, I just played « Drawing is winning ». I show them cards with words or expressions on it they had to draw. Of course they couldn’t speak or use any letter on the chalk board. It was really fun with the second group since they were really looking for the clock (each person had one minute to draw and make his/her team mates guess), they were really into the game. The team made only of boys were a bit disappointed not to win, especially since they lost to a group of girls !

     So when I had to go back home I decided to go the gelato shop who happened to be open for the first time just that day. So I decided to go there and check out the new flavour they had. I couldn’t resist the Belgian Chocolate, Kiwi and Vanilia flavour. It was awsome to eat it. When I had to leave, I met some of the students who were chaperonned by Katerina in the end. They were really friendly. So we decided to go meet again after their performance of the night somewhere to grab a drink or two or three or…… We ended up on one of the playground on the beach. We basically talked until 3 or 4 am, when the sun was coming up.

    The next morning they had to be on the beach to take some group pictures before their performance on Ruutli square. Let say some needed more time to freshen up before taking the pic. ;-) At some point I had to leave them for lunch and after eating just before going back home, I stumble upon a small group of them. They were looking for the donuts place famous in Pärnu. So I took them there. They couldn’t get away from the counter and kept on ordering again. Of course, they had to share the information to the rest of the group. After their performance in a Tori Church, a few kms away from Pärnu, some of them came to the little bar where we were enjoying our evening. To get some music, some people decided to put on the tv to watch the eurovision song contest. Those American students who came were surprised some of our group were so much into this show !! 

video of Walking the Light by the Wingate University Choir and Finland's Phonik Choir

    (sorry can't post the vids directly for now)

     The next morning, they had their final perfomance at the City Hall with a group from Finland. They managed to get their hands on some estonian choir music while in Tallinn, song they practice while on the bus to Pärnu or to the diffrence places they performed. It was very nice of them to do it even they were not obliged. It was a great gift to the Estonian people who great them. They made another surprise. While they were in Tori Church, they decided with that fininsh group to do a song in common (video above). Their last performance of Sholosa (video below) was just before the reward ceremony where they finished first place !! congrats to them, they deserved it.

video of Shosholoza by the Wingate University Choir

(sorry can't post the vids directly for now)

Pakri Island, Estonia

Two panoramic pictures taken during my mid-term training when we went to Pakri Island, 

at about 60km from Tallinn, next to Padilski.

Just a few picture from places in Estonia

Tallinn - view of the old town on the right

Tallinn - view by (almost) night

 Tallinn - Kadriorg Park

Finally a good selection of French cheese

     What was my surprise to find this good selection of French cheese in this supermarket. I wasn’t looking especially for that, just trying to find some place where I could be covered from the rain. By chance, I stumble upon that fine area of the supermarket.

     We already found a small shop in the big market next to the bus station where they were selling French cheese. I didn’t know Latvians enjoy so much this national treasure the world envy us.

     We couldn’t wait to buy a cheese in each of those shops, one of lunch and one for dinner. When I say lunch or dinner, we litteraly eat only this with some good bread. Some turkish bread went with the first cheese and a ciabbata bread was used for the camembert for dinner. We bought it around 5pm but we didn’t get home before 10pm. So the camembert was very runny, so much we could eat it with a spoon !

     I almost forget about the other culinary treasure I found in Riga. That friend who knew Riga brought us to this French café where I could find some really nice croissants and « pains au chocolat ». They really tasted like home. The first day we went there even though I had my breakfast, I could’nt resist having one of each. My body and my mind would never thank me enough for that. I had to go back there before I took my bus back to Pärnu to get some croissants and « pains au chocolat » for my breakfast.

Riga

     When I went to my on-arrival training for my voluntary service, they reminded us not to focus only on working. I couldn’t agree more on that. I know for a fact if I don’t have a way to relax somehow, I’ll go crazy and won’t be able to work properly. So when I was asked to go to Riga, capital of Latvia for a few days, I jump on the occasion as this city was one of the things on my list of prospective visits.

     (Side note in the middle of the text : one tip to remember in which order the baltic countries are located on the map if you mix them together. You have to take them in alphabetical order –Estonia, Latvia & Lituania- and place them from north to south on the map, next to the border with Saint Petersburg, in Russia)

     I also didn’t hesitate to come as my friends already took care of the accomodation finding someone for couchsurfing. I didn’t have a clue about the cost of living there until I met this group of american students who came to Pärnu for a Choir Festival. They told us the exchange rate was 2USD for 1Lat. i found later for €, it was 1.4EUR for 1Lat. So In decided to be on a budget time. Luckily for me, one of us knew the city and showed us where to go eating for a cheap price. Next to the bus station there is this huge market where in one of the four halls, you could find some bakeries which offered snacks for a cheap price. We went there for our breakfast and some time for some of the other meals.

     Concerning the visits, we essentially went to the old town on Thursday afternoon and nothing much the rest of the time as it was very cloudy and rainy. It’s sad as I wanted to see the different parks in the centre. Unfortunately there isn’t much very old building due the bombs in the 2^nd World War. The remaining building are still very nice to see. On a lot of them, we could feel the russian influence. They are in serious need for a renovation. They already started but i twill take time to renovate everything.