Ten reasons why Estonia stands out from the crowd - Amazon Web ...

Shell PatternsJust look at the stripes on the skirt the womanleaning against the motorcycle is wearing – howmagical!Each stripe is a code that carries information.The skirt is a data storage medium, just like a CDor a memory stick. And when viewed together,the stripes provide a knowledgeable eye withinformation about the wearer’s life – whereshe is from originally, where she has lived herlife, who she is married to, how satisfied she iswith life etc. These are the Shell Patterns – thevoodoo of the North!There are over 1,500 islands in the sea off theEstonian coast and one of them bears the nameShell Island. The islands are all places with aunique, almost pristine natural environment andan individual cultural atmosphere. And there isalways something to be found there that meritsthe exclamation – “but there’s no way…!”“Normaalne!”Normaalne!Normaalne! (“Cool!” Lit. “Normal!”) That’s whatEstonians say when they have particularly goodluck. Say your Estonian friend wins a million Eurosone Friday night in the casino, gets engagedto the daughter of an Arab oil sheikh and, tomark the occasion, is presented by his prospectivefather-in-law with a Lamborghini… ask yourfriend how his weekend was and he’d reply“Normaalne!”pression of Clint Eastwood, they reply to thegreeting “How are you?” with a “Normaalne!”Outward displays of emotion are not really themost striking thing about Estonians. But thenagain, once you’ve been accepted, you gain aloyal companion with whom you can ride offinto the sunset… or perhaps explore the wildnightlife. Or just pop out with for a bite to eat.Traditional Estonian skirts tell a lot about thewearer!Just a couple of words about the motorcycle andwooden sidecar in the picture. The men of ShellIsland are fishermen. But fishing is one of themost dangerous and masculine trades of all. Forthat reason the wives of Shell Island’s men gatherat the seashore to await their sweethearts’return from the sea. The sidecars are for the fishthe men have caught.Real fishermen also like to drink like real mennow and again and when they do their sweetheartswill heave them into the sidecars alongwith the fish. It makes it really easy to zoom offhome. Normaalne!When the Estonian athlete Gerd Kanter madehis gold-medal-winning discus throw at the BeijingOlympics, thousands of Estonians watchingon TV whooped “Normaalne!”The use of this slang term in no way reflectspoor levels of self-esteem among Estonians. Itis simply a local response to expressions such as:“I just can’t believe how lucky I’ve been!” “I’vewaited so long for this moment and now it’s finallyhere.” “Thank heaven for the miraculouscoincidence that brought us together so unexpectedly,”etc etc.And that’s precisely what Estonians think when,shaking your hand and imitating the stony ex-Exceptional Estonia2 Ten reasons why Estonia stands out from the crowdTen reasons why Estonia stands out from the crowd 3