For two weekends in a row, I had the wonderful fortune to travel with my classmates and instructors and experience the incredible diversity of the Estonian way of life. On September 28^th and 29^th, we travelled with the whole Johan Skytte Institute of Political Science to Kääriku Spordikeskus (Sports Center) for a retreat featuring lectures, camaraderie, and the Estonian national pastime—the sauna.

The following weekend, the other EU – Russia Studies (EURUS) program first-years and I were whisked away to Tallinn under the fearless leadership of our program coordinator and instructor. We spent Friday visiting Estonian policy and bureaucratic institutions, followed by a day in the Old Town on Saturday.

Kääriku

We were told, “What happens in Kääriku, stays in Kääriku.” So, I’m risking my my place at the Institute to write about it. But it was too interesting not to. We took a mid-morning bus from downtown Tartu an hour south, towards Latvia, to a compound in the middle of the woods. There is not much historical information about Kääriku—at least in English—so I will present a short “oral history” based on what we were told while there.

Kääriku Spordikeskus is a Soviet Era construction originally intended as an Olympic style training facility for Estonian athletes. It still serves this purpose today, mainly as a cross-country skiing base; indeed, we saw a lot of people training with those cool roller-ski things throughout the weekend. But it also serves as a retreat space for groups with a hotel/hostel and conference spaces. Perhaps the most important events to occur there were Juri Lotman’s schools which were foundational to the field of Semiotics.

There are a few large buildings, a bunch of sporting areas (Tennis, basketball, football (soccer), volleyball, hiking paths), and a lovely lake. Next to the lake is a log cabin containing the sauna.

On the first day we were treated to a few lectures in the morning and early afternoon. Then my friends and I played some basketball on a very nice court with a slightly deflated ball (Tom Brady must be a regular). I was pleasantly surprised that my modest-by-American-standards basketball skills held up, although my general cardiovascular fitness could use some work. We had a quick dinner, a quick drink back in our rooms, and then we headed to a Political Science Nerd inspired pub trivia night featuring questions about protest songs through the ages. My team placed in the middle of the pack, with the staff and professors coming out on top due to the preponderance of 80s music. At that point it was off to party a bit in the hostel before heading to the sauna.

Never having been in a sauna, I have to say, I’m not sure I was quite prepared. It was hot. Really hot. Like, step in and within seconds be fully slick with sweat. And good luck when one of the grizzled Estonian sauna veterans decides that it’s not quite hot enough. They begin a merciless campaign of water on the hot sauna stones which immediately increases the RealFeel^TM temperature by about 5 degrees Celsius (roughly 10 degrees Fahrenheit for my imperial readers). There is a sort of ritual to the sauna, especially one as busy as this one was with about 50 people rotating through about 10 sauna spots. First, you enter the ante-ante chamber, just a warm room with some benches and space to “chill,” as it were. Then you enter the ante-chamber, a tiled room outside the sauna featuring some shower heads (to warm up or cool down). Already it is getting warmer and more humid. When it is time, you very quickly enter the sauna so as not to let the heat out. As a novice, I couldn’t spend more than about 10 minutes at any time. But the time in the sauna is really about socializing and enjoying a shared experience of extreme sensory overload. Through this, you ease into the feeling sort of like a really hot day where you just accept the heat and humidity and sweat and begin to revel in the sensation. At a certain point, though, the oppressive heat gets the better of your animal brain. That is when having a sauna next to a chilly lake is a true luxury. As quickly as you can, exit the sauna, grab your towel, haul ass to the dock and jump into the frigid waters. Don’t breathe in! Exit as quickly as possible for the most refreshing feeling in the world. After all of this thermal whiplash, standing around in your “European swimwear” in the quite cool fall air is no problem. Enjoy sipping a drink with your friends, and then start the whole process over again.

Of course, this series of steps is not applicable to every sauna, this one was especially large and well-situated. But the general cycle of heating and cooling is what really matters in a sauna situation. Aside from a morning ride back to Tartu, that was the end of the weekend in Kääriku.

Tallinn

We began our journey with a 6:45am meeting at a corner between the major dorm buildings. We had a 7:30 appointment to meet our instructor at the train station which is, unfortunately, on the other side of town. But our excitement propelled us to the historic station with some time to spare before our departure. It helps that you can pretty much walk anywhere within Tartu. What didn’t help was the weather report: cold and rainy. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our 2-hour commute and arrived in Tallinn by mid-morning. After quickly checking in at our hostel (very nice, very clean), we began our “Day of Many Meetings.”

We met with representatives from:

• Estonian School of Diplomacy
• Estonian Centre of Eastern Partnership
• The Estonian EU Secretariat
• Eesti Päevaleht (Estonian daily newspaper)

Tons of information was absorbed, many questions were asked, and many kilometers of Tallinn were traversed on foot in the drizzling rain. After a brief Bolt (rideshare of choice) related detour, we all went to dinner in a trendy area near the train station. It was a long, continental style dinner, with a few well-deserved beers and some great conversations with my classmates and our instructor.

We adjourned to the hostel where we had a few drinks together. I also found out the hard way that you can’t buy alcohol after 10pm in Tallinn. So, we had a few less drinks than we were anticipating. We had a brief night on the town, but we were tired from the long day and had another full day planned. It snowed on the way back. On October 4^th.

The next day we started off with a guided tour of Vana (old) Tallinn. Although it was still cold and gray, the rain had subsided—allowing for plenty of pictures. The “fairytale” nature of Tallinn’s old town cannot be overstated, it is truly incredible to behold. After the Nærøyfjord in Norway, this marks the second European UNESCO world heritage site I have had the pleasure to view. After a childhood spent obsessing over knights and castles, it was truly dream come true to see and touch real medieval fortifications. No amount of description can really do it justice, so I will let the photos speak for themselves. The tour was led by our aspiring-Estonian professor and our actually-Estonian classmate, who both had many kernels of knowledge to impart.

We then walked halfway across the city to spend some time at the Põjhala Brewery, one of Estonia’s many craft breweries. Those of you who know me are aware that I don’t put much stock in craft beers (sorry), but I have to say: it was pretty good beer. Since the rest of my classmates were either too tired or too hungover to participate, I had a chance to catch up with our professor alone and enjoy the tour. We even found a plaque indicating that the brewery was a recipient of EU development funds, which justified this outing as an educational experience.

After just a few hours of downtime in which we were all far too exhausted to do anything else, we headed back to Tartu on the train and retraced our steps from just one day before. I think we all slept well that night.

Two very different yet quintessentially Estonian weekends. Ok, maybe the extremely touristy overview of Tallinn wasn’t super Estonian, but you have to start somewhere! I’m excited to repeat both events soon and begin to expand my European horizons past the borders of Estonia. Catch the full photo albums of both events below:

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