2016-06-30

【Aiden in English】

        Estonia is one of those countries that kids at my middle school scratch their heads upon hearing the name. It also may bring curious pronunciations along. Tallinn is its capital city, which is a modern term. Not long ago, the city would've been a little more than a town of peasants, but the revolutions in technology and science have brought about great urbanization to the country, and nearly 40 percent of the country's population lives there. Yet oddly, the most beautiful sight to see is a living museum of spired churches and medieval architectures. 

        The history center or old city makes up most of Tallinn, dominating the culture and lifestyle. It has been deeply influenced by the Teutonic, Danish, Tsardom of Russian, and Soviet regimes. Getting a second house is supposed to be much cheaper than renting an apartment in the center of the old town, since not only are the buildings extremely old, but also the old city center is quite ... small like a birdcage. To start, everything is built on a set layer of cobble. Although it gives off a fancy look, it is really annoying to travel on. Just imagine, you look up to see a church or any sight in particular, and you just so happen to step into a crevasse on the ground. It isn't the best idea to have us walking, but on the other hand, the streets are barely large enough to fit a single car. Unfortunately for some tour bus drivers, certain streets were for living purposes, and parked cars often got in the way. 

        It's ironic that the country of Estonia has been fighting for its freedom for so long against the former USSR and now accepted so many of them into its society. To be fair, there aren't too many fights breaking out like our perfect US society, and most can't be distinguished from one another if you're a tourist. Yet, for the tour guide, it was as easy as reading a book, pointing out races in the restaurant, bus, and streets. It went literally like "Hey, she's Finnish" or "Wow, another Russian waiter". I guess I shouldn't be surprised since mom has the same ability as Chinese ethnic groups. Also, apparently, one out of every five Finnish people in Finland has been to this country, as there is a ferry that runs 3 trios back and forth, each length is fifty miles across the Finland Gulf. Ironically, again, Finland was not an option of escape during the Cold War, as the country was trying to avoid the former USSR's wrath as well. 

        Another weird fact about Estonia was the place for sailing competition during the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games. As the former USSR still held dominance in the country, it wanted to show wealth in weapon power and the money to impress, so the bad treatment of the people had to be temporarily removed. New houses with beautiful outer decorations were constructed before the Olympics, but the insets were quite dull. Nowadays, the city looks about the same as it had, having beautiful streets. Of course, not every house was changed, and people saw the boxed, poor houses residents would usually be treated to. Today, we just look at the former USSR government and laugh at its foolishness. The irony is present again since it is the decorations of the former USSR that really spice up the old city thrill. 

        Estonia is a country that has been only a pawn in a game of chess for so long, and after its independence in 1991, I highly doubt Russia will ever touch Estonian territory ever again. Ironically, that's where we are going next.

【紅霞譯文】

        在我就學的初中部，但凡聽到有人提及某些國家，同學們禁不住搔頭撓腮難掩困惑之意，愛沙尼亞便名列其中，連同它的發音無不令人感到高深莫測。首都塔林是近代才開始使用的名稱，之前無異於幾戶人家組成的窮鄉僻壤，科學技術革命給它帶來了翻天覆地的變化，塔林由此發展成為舉國聞名的大都市。愛沙尼亞約有40%的人口居住在這裡，然而最攝人心魂的美景卻是古城教堂尖塔林立，中世紀老式建築櫛比，一座渾然天成的博物館活脫脫地展現在我們遊人的面前。

        塔林大部分區域都屬於歷史中心，不僅散發出濃郁的文化氣息，而且還保持着傳統的生活方式，過去一直深受條頓、丹麥、沙俄和前蘇聯的影響。想必在古城買棟二手房要比租套公寓划算得多，一來老宅子年頭滄桑，二來面積小得……像個鳥籠子。這裡什麼東西都建築於鵝卵石之上，雖說馬路表面花哨漂亮，但走在上面頗覺吃力，試想一下，如果你光顧得抬頭看光景或其它博取眼球的東西，稍有疏忽便踩進石縫之中，後果可想而知。再者道路相當狹窄，路面充其量僅適合一輛汽車通行，這可真讓不少旅遊大巴司機騎虎難下，尤其穿行私車停靠馬路的居民區更是如此。

        對於像愛沙尼亞這樣的國家，要想從前蘇聯那裡爭取自由簡直是天方夜譚，習慣成自然，當地人早已被潛移默化，公平地說，他們用不着花力氣去打破常規，美國何嘗不是這樣。作為遊客，你根本看不出來俄國人之間有何區別，但導遊卻熟諳門道，無論在餐館裡還是馬路上，能夠準確無誤地分辨種族差異，隨口道出“嘿，她是芬蘭人”或者“呃，又一位俄羅斯服務生”。我想本人沒啥好驚奇的，正如媽媽可以輕而易舉地區分中國各數同胞一樣。導遊之所以對芬蘭人瞭如指掌，是因為每五位芬蘭人當中就有一位來過愛沙尼亞，要知道兩國每天各有三班客輪來回穿梭芬蘭灣五十哩路的海域。滑稽的是冷戰時期，隔海相望的芬蘭並不是愛沙尼亞人擺脫前蘇聯統治的理想天堂，自身難保的芬蘭政府因生怕得罪鄰家超級大國而不得不把叛逃者送回本土。

        再講一段搞笑的插曲：追溯到1980年莫斯科夏季奧運會，當時愛沙尼亞受命於蘇聯指令承辦帆船比賽項目，為了顯示軍力威武國富民強，塔林市區凡是有礙於政府形象的東西全被臨時取締，趕在開幕之前又加蓋了許多簡易樓房，雖然城市外表煥然一新，但新老搭配卻極不相稱。如今，塔林依然保持原有風貌，優雅的街區烘托出傳統民居特有的文化氛圍，顯然蘇聯當局並沒有完全銷毀古蹟建築，現在所有火柴盒式醜八怪的簡易樓房都是以前面子工程的產物。今天當我們回首蘇聯自欺欺人的行徑禁不住大笑起來，出乎意料地，蘇聯簡易樓房把塔林古風反襯得更加濃厚。

        愛沙尼亞曾作為蘇聯手中的一個棋子被下了很久很久，直到1991年獨立才真正擁有自由。如今，我敢打賭俄羅斯人再也不敢對愛沙尼亞為所欲為。無巧不成書，我們下一個目的地將是俄羅斯……