Before coming to Tallinn, my biggest worry about the upcoming summer was living with a host family. I was nervous that they wouldn’t like me, or that I would find it very difficult to communicate with them, or that I would feel uncomfortable living in someone else’s space. But I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been placed with a really wonderful host family - within a couple days of my arrival, all of my worries disappeared. Living with a host family ended up being one of my favorite parts about this program, and now I find it hard to imagine that I ever could have been nervous about living with them.
One of my favorite activities this summer has been going for evening walks with my host mom, Vika. Around once a week, she suggests going for a walk before bed, which is a very nice way of ending the day. The sun is of course still up, even at 9:30 p.m., thanks to the impossibly long Estonian summer days, making our walks easy and often very beautiful when we manage to catch the sunset. Our locations vary - sometimes we stay close to home in Lasnamäe, the neighborhood we live in, but often we’ll venture further in the car. On our latest walk, one that took us outside Lasnamäe, we ended up in a small town on the sea outside the city limits and explored a marina.
A beautiful sunset view on a walk in Marjamäe park
On our walks, we chat about anything that comes to mind. Almost invariably, the conversation includes me pointing to a sign written in Estonian and asking what it means - recently, I learned the word neeme, which means cape! Additionally, we frequently talk about differences between life in Estonia and in the US, and often Vika has a story to tell about the place we’re walking in. For example, a couple weeks ago, we walked in a park in the Pirita neighborhood, and she pointed out the place where she used to celebrate Jaanipäev, the Estonian midsummer holiday, as a teenager. Another time, we stumbled upon a film shoot, and she told me about how she’s been an extra in several works filmed here in Tallinn. And, on almost every walk, I stop to take a photo somewhere, which inevitably leads to a mini photoshoot as Vika wants to then take pictures of me.
Because of these walks, I’ve gotten to see parts of the city and surrounding areas that I never would’ve seen otherwise, and I’ve learned so much about what it means to live here. I’ve had so many great conversations with my host mom and I’ve gotten to see a little bit of what Tallinn looks like through her eyes. I’m incredibly glad that we’ve found an activity like this that we can enjoy together, and I’m so grateful that I didn’t let my worries about living with a host family stop me from coming to Estonia and realizing just how amazing this experience can actually be!
My host mom took this picture when we stopped by the community garden on a walk near our apartment
By Connor Nold
Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program
Tallinn, Estonia, Summer 2024