learntofly

when...

noreply@blogspirit.com (just me) — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:45:52 +0200

...the most exciting thing in your life is getting a post-card with snail mail.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE receiving post-cards, but...life should be more exciting than that.

You know you are from Estonian when...

noreply@blogspirit.com (just me) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:12:15 +0100

1. You use the word ‘normal’ if something is ok.
2. When visiting friends abroad you bring along a box of Kalev chocolate.
3. You attended a song festival at least once either as a performer or as a spectator.
5. You are nationalistic about Skype (it is actually an Estonian company)
6. ‘Kohuke’ belongs to your menu
9. You are convinced that Estonia is very strategically located
10. You spent at least one midsummer in Saaremaa, Hiiumaa or one of the smaller islands
11. You can quote films like "Viimne reliikvia" and "Siin me oleme"
13. Words like "veoauto", "täieõiguslik" or "jää-äär" sound perfectly pronouncable to you
14. You like bold statements, such as this one... ;-)
15. There can never be too much sarcasm
16. You can at times drink hot tea to hot food
19. You have been to Finland
20. You say 'Noh' (sounds like NO) even when you speak English, just to confuse people
21. You know the lyrics to "Mutionu" and "Rongisõit"
22. You would never mistaken Kreisiraadio for a radio station
23. You would agree that wife-carrying is a real sport (at least as long as Estonians are winning)
24. Your best friend's girlfriend is your English teacher's daughter and they live next door to your grandparents, who were colleagues with your advisor, who is friends with your...
26. You check the thermometer before going out
27. You look in both directions before crossing the road, even if it's a one-way street
28. You grin very mysteriously when people ask about your national food
29. You teach a non-Estonian speaker the word "Tänan" before "Aitäh"
34. Sour cream tastes good with everything
35. A foreigner speaks to you in broken horrible Estonian and you go on and on about how wonderful their Estonian is compared to "the Russians'"
36. You have ever worn or seen anyone wear "karupüksid"
....

You know you've been in Sweden too long when...

noreply@blogspirit.com (just me) — Fri, 1 Feb 2008 22:52:59 +0100

1. It's acceptable to eat lunch at 11.00.
3. You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage.
5. The first thing you do on entering a bank/post office/pharmacy etc. is look for the queue number machine.
6. You accept that you will have to queue to take a queue number.
7. A sharp intake of breath has become part of your vocabulary, as has the sound 'ahh'.
10. Silence is fun.
11. Your native language has seriously deteriorated; you begin to "eat medicine" and "hire videos".
12. Your front door step is beginning to resemble a shoe shop.
13. When a stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume that:
a. he is drunk;
b. he is insane;
c. he is American;
d. he is all of the above.
15. It seems sensible that the age limit at Stockholm night clubs is 23 or 25.
19. The fact that all of the "v's" and the "w's" are together in the phone directory seems right.
23. You know that "religious holiday" means "let's get pissed."
24. You are no longer scared of volvos and volvo drivers.
28. You use mmmm as a conversation filler.
29. An outside temperature of 9 degrees Celsius is mild.
30. When someone asks for "three cheers", you say "hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, hoorah".
32. You eat jam with savoury dishes.
34. You think riding a racing bike in the snow is a perfectly sensible thing to do.
35. You think it's more fun to stay at home and drink then go out.
36. You wear warm clothing when it's 25 degrees plus in April - because it's April.
37. You wear shorts and t-shirt when it's barely 10 degrees in July - because it's July.
38. You get extremely annoyed when the bus is two minutes late.
39. You think women are more than equal than men and deserve to have better positions in the work place.
43. When a stranger asks you a question in the streets, you think it's normal to just keep walking, saying nothing.
47. You lose any artistic talent whatsoever.
57. It doesn't feel like lunch unless it's a hot, full course meal drenched in gravy.
60. You don't question the concept of 'telephone time'.
61. It seems reasonable that no business can be conducted on Friday afternoons. [or the entire month of July]
62. You assume that anyone who apologises after bumping into you is a tourist.
63. You think it is normal that a huge restaurant has a smoking section which consists of three tables near the door.
66. It seems reasonable that even those asking you for money at T-centralen reach for their pocket as the melodic music of the Swedish mobile phone resounds.
67. You get into a Mercedes taxi cab and think nothing of it.
68. Paying $5 for a cup of coffee seems reasonable.
69. You understand that when a colleague asks you out for "a drink," it will probably be a long night with a severe hangover the next day.
71. You believe that when you finally win your Nobel Prize, it is best to be modest and say "Oh really, it was nothing!"
72. You get offended if, at a dinner party, someone fails to look you in the eyes after raising their glass for a toast.
73. Seeing a young woman with lit candles stuck to her head no longer disturbs you.
76. You get to the movies early so that you can watch the commercials.
77. Most of your friends have the same names and you must use both names to distinguish between them.