Nelijarve

every year kunstiakadeemia (the estonian academy of art) hosts a winter days weekend for the students and faculty. this year over 200 participated. we were bussed out to nelijarve (four lakes) an hour south-east of tallinn for a day and a half of winter sports including cross country skiing, ice skating and hockey, sledding, and snowball fights. for only 100 eek (about $8) we had transportation, all of our meals included, accommodations in the nelijarve hostel, a party saturday night, and a lecture on the history of pornography on sunday morning. in all of the four years i attended university in the states, not once was there a large-scale, university supported and planned activity for the students. the weekend turned out to be a great way to meet people, especially the new group of international students that will be studying here during the spring semester.

otherwise.... the exhibition ended on the 29th and the gallery was completely cleared out by the next evening. i'm excited to have my days back and have begun researching estonian history and collecting materials for a series of necklaces i plan to make. i've also begun private tutoring with a fellow fulbright grantee named andrew. i was participating in a language course offered by the academy last semester, but with a new group of international students the curriculum will be repeated. being tutored an hour and a half a day, four times a week has begun to make a huge difference in my comprehension of the estonian language. i still have a long, long way to go but it seems a bit more attainable now.