Eesti

"Welcome to Tallinn, Estonia. The local time is 10:00am. Thank you for travelling with Tallink Silja and have a pleasant day." Those were the words that were my proverbial pat on the bum as I exited the boat to begin my stay in Tallinn. Hands clammy, mouth dry, eyes wide, nerves frayed. Great start.

Upon my arrival, two of the university students who volunteer with the international office were there to meet me and to my fortune, they had a car. They drove me to the university and allowed me to get settled and then showed me around campus. The campus itself is relatively easy to navigate and the social sciences building where I'll be is very close to where I'm currently staying, although my location may change. There is a lot of concrete (something I assume is leftover from the Soviet era) and many pedways connecting each building which is excellent because it's -20!! It's going to be -32 on Sunday as well. So, it's a little chilly here and I'm glad that when I'm switching buildings I don't actually have to go outside.

I'm not nearly as calm as yesterday. Being in the place where I actually spend the next five months is a little daunting and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. I'll be sorted out soon enough though, after I get some rest. I'm also quite early so I may do a little more travelling before classes begin (Lithuania? Finland?) as I don't know many people here and have a spare week to do some looking around.

According to the student volunteers, in this particular exchange program, I am the first student to arrive from North America, though as I understand it, there will be an American here eventually. Also the university with which my exchange was organized has amalgamated into the one I'm currently attending so it's possible that there were North Americans attending that institution from time to time. Either way, being the only Canadian will be interesting I'm sure.

I'm looking forward to exploring tomorrow and I think I'll be able to take the bus which seems fairly easy to navigate. There is the possibility of an apartment near the city centre so I think I might see if I can find it.

This is turning out to be quite the adventure and I've only just begun!