19 December 2005


soil ring with gold leaf Posted by Picasa


the hood Posted by Picasa


dirt "pearl" necklace Posted by Picasa

Jewellery

i just got some of the proofs from the photo shoot before erki moeshow. i've cropped them a bit so you can see (hopefully) some more detail.

today was busy! i spent nine hours with mikko getting things taken care of for the opening in january. since we'll both be home for the holidays there were a few things that we had to order today so that they would be ready to pick up in time for the installation. a little hectic but we managed to check off some very important things from our list. the highlight had to be getting sponsored by jajaa print center for our flyers. in exchange for their logo on the back we get 400 postcards printed, double sided, for free!

18 December 2005


anna, the spare queen Posted by Picasa

Bowling

i haven't been bowling in at least a year. though i've never scored over 100 points in any game, think 50% or more gutter balls, i really enjoy the sport. this afternoon anna and i went bowling just outside the city with two new estonian friends, aivar (pronounced i-var) and maik (sounds like mike). the four of us were able to bowl two games, rent shoes, and drink cokes for 220 kroons (that's about $17). i can't think of the last time i've spent less than 5 dollars for almost two hours of entertainment. the best part is that the bowling alley is one of the few establishments in estonia that i've found to be completely smoke free. since i'm quitting tomorrow this may become a regular thing. wait, i was wrong. the best thing actually was that the second game ended with me not only breaking 100 points but somehow managing to obtain the highest score. who knows, maybe i'll change my project proposal to "breaking 150 in estonia." it could happen.

14 December 2005


plastic bag stand Posted by Picasa

Plastic Bags

when you go to the grocery store in estonia, if you want a bag to carry your purchases home you have to pay for it. it's not very expensive, 1 to 3 kroons (9-27 cents each), but it encourages customers to bring their own bags which promotes recycling and is a good thing. what i didn't expect to find is that this practice has led to certain plastic bags becoming more desirable than others. in fact at tallinn's balti jam (train station) there is a plastic bag stand. there are a variety of available sizes and designs ranging from plain, solid colors for 1 kroon to colorful, holiday scenes for up to 5 kroons. as you can see from the above photo, this stand is quite popular.

01 December 2005


me, john, and raphael at the felt hat stand! Posted by Picasa


raikoja plats christmas market Posted by Picasa

Christmas Market

without seeing halloween decorations and candy in stores by september i began to wonder what the christmas season would be like in estonia. would there be decorations in department stores? christmas trees in living room windows? lights hung up in the town square? my worries came to an end when i saw the christmas market in raekoja plats (old town square). it's like a fairytale christmas village! small wooden houses with thatched roofs are scattered around the square with every imaginable hand-made item pouring from the windows, there are vendors selling gingerbread and hoogvein (warm mulled wine) and honey in the comb (yum!). the best part by far is the huge, 30-40 foot, christmas tree right in the center of the square. this is the very spot where they say the first christmas tree stood in 1442, as in the first christmas tree ever. it's so lovely i've been back twice and will go again tomorrow which means that everyone on my christmas list is getting hand-made estonian gifts. i'm so excited that christmas is almost here! i'm going home to spend the holiday with my family and i'm no longer embarrassed to be listening to my holiday classics playlist (which has been in heavy rotation since october).

okay, okay, after looking at my pictures of the christmas market i realized that the little houses don't actually have thatched roofs. apparently my excitement led me to fabricate a few details. i apologize.