At the workplace

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Estonian culture make the workplace very interesting (to a foreigner, in Academia, at Tartu University):

• The typical Estonian personality trait: shyness (or a deep respect for privacy?) also extends to the workplace.

• Instead of interacting with you, they will put foreigners in an office away from the main building, and/or with other foreigners.

• They will stare at you when they think you are not noticing, but then quickly look away if you look their way.

• Coming up a narrow hallway, they will stare at the floor or their shoes rather than look up at you.

• A simple "good morning", "hello" or even "hey" is completely out of the question.

• That last one might be complicated by the fact that in Estonian, "ei" means "no".

• When you approach a locked door you, if you see someone you recognize coming out, do not expect the door to be held up for you.

• Holding the door for you for even 3 seconds would be almost like saying "hello".

• After the fact, you will occasionally hear of weekend conferences or day-long symposia to which you were not invited.

• If you ask, you will be told that they were not in English, so there was not point even telling you about them.

• Unless you are housed with other foreigners, weeks could pass without you talking to another human being at work.

• Actually, you can easily disappear for a week and nobody will even notice.

• But administrators get upset if, when you return to work, you ask them to count the previous week as vacation.

• This occurs even if they did not know you were away!

• However, you are FORCED to take generous yearly vacations.

• But you can just come to work during your official vacation; nobody will notice.

• Oddly, instructors sometimes take week-long vacations (or go to meetings!) in the middle of their courses, and nobody seems to mind.

• Weekly lab meetings or seminars are not a custom. Committee involvement is non-existent. Researchers do not teach.

• You will develop the habit of talking to yourself, and pretending to be singing if anyone walks outside your door.

•  Your need for human contact might compel you to volunteer to teach something.

• If you teach, do not expect any positive feedback from students, their supervisors, or your colleagues (Some things are universal!).

• Do not expect any negative feedback either (Some things are unique!).

• The isolation is great if you want to finish a paper/chapter/book and you do not want any distractions.

• But after a while it becomes a psychological challenge for even the strongest minds. Your ninja training will come in handy.

• Luckily, there are lots of bars, pubs and nightclubs in town.

• But if you hope to interact with anyone professionally, you must rely on former colleagues abroad and the internet.

• Your only professional validation will come from the international academic community, so keep active out there.

• If you choose to come, just smile and rejoice at the diversity in human cultures; take a Zen attitude towards life.

• You will still fall in love with this country and their people!

But what is REALLY interesting are the official policies regarding foreign researchers.