It has already been one week since I arrived in Tallinn. I went to the spa last night and got a classic massage (similar to Swedish) and then went to the saunas. Went in the wet sauna first (so warm and moist I felt like I was back in Florida) then DRY sauna. At least that's the way I did it...I don't know if there is a way you are "supposed" to do it but this worked for me. Not a bad way to spend two hours after work! It wasn't very expensive...even though Swissotel is a very nice hotel (4 star I think) it was only about $60 US for the massage and I got to use the saunas included.
Yes, I really am WORKING too! Karmo and I have had some more
conversations about our project and I have a good start on the requirements document. I am about to open the document up for review to our 7 countries, so this is where the "fun" will begin, I think! I will be working on this project with people from Bulgaria, Slovenia, Latvia (they have the most challenging names to pronounce or spell), Lithuania, Russia, Poland and of course Estonia. Much of our interaction will be done remotely, either over the phone or over the internet, so this should prove interesting. Karmo is pretty cool...I think he is probably more fun when he is away from work. He has a pretty good sense of humor. I think it just takes a little time for people here to get used to me. I still smile at people when I pass them, at least at work...some of them just look at me funny but some are starting to say "Tere!" or "Hommikust!"
They had a birthday party at work for Villu, one of the guys in IT. Everyone lined up to shake his hand and say Happy Birthday (so maybe we will start that tradition when I get back) and they had kringel instead of cake. I told Karmo we have a similar thing to the kringle for Mardi Gras that we call king cake and we put a baby in it. He gave me this really weird look and like "what?" and I said "oh, not a REAL baby!" and he said "Oh, I thought you either had really small babies or really big cakes" LOL (I told you he was funny!)
I was able to join the local sportsclub through Bonnier at a really good price so I'm going to start weight training there this week; I'll be going tomorrow night with Julia. I walk alot here so I don't need to hit the treadmill and my office and my apartment are both several flights up so I get the benefits of a stairmaster for free.
I am going to Finland this weekend and plan to meet up with Shannon (from Winter Park Bonnier). I had planned to go the following weekend, but I found out that I am off on Friday so I am leaving on Friday and will be staying in Finland until Sunday. She really seems to love it there so I am looking forward to it!
