Hey geograpeeps!
So as you guys know my researching Estonia video got a copyright claim
so it's still up but it's not monetized
so i figured maybe i should like kinda redeem myself and make another Estonia-ish video
but instead of redoing the whole episode again
why don't I just talk to a real Estonian?
So remember Artur from the last video?
Well turns out he actually lived like less than a mile away from where I lived and he's right here in Los Angeles
So Artur come on in!
WOOOP!
Paul: He's Estonian!
Artur: Yes I am!
Paul: Yeah!
Alright, so Arthur, let's talk about Estonia, okay?
Alright.
So let's just get it off - just start, okay?
So you are Estonian.
Mm-hm.
I am.
Alright, and that's done, we're done.
Alright.
So one question I have is -
what do Estonians think of Latvians and Lithuanians?
Yeah... Latvians -
They have 6 toes.
If you ask me about stereotypes or jokes
we always tell "Latvians have 6 toes."
They have very cheap alchol, much cheaper than ours.
Cheaper alcohol.
Finnish people come to our country to buy alcohol -
I know that, yes.
We got to Latvia.
You guys go to Latvia
And Latvians go to Russia, I think.
So when we think of Latvians
we think that we are better than them.
But they think that they are better than us.
So we're like competing, but in the end
no one is better than anyone, you know?
Cause they think you guys should consider yourselves Baltic
but you guys kinda consider yourselves Nordic?
Course we're Nordic.
The flag, it's all blue and heavenly.
Another question is how much Finnish can you understand?
Cause I know your languages are kinda similar, but -
I've heard that Estonians can understand Finnish better than Finns can understand Estonian, is that true?
The problem with the Finnish language is that you understand the language
because the words are the same,
they sound exactly the same but they mean different things.
So you understand what you understand but they say something else.
There's some funny things that happen between us and Finland, but we
we respect them, we love them, they're our big brother.
What else can we - so rapid fire -
In your opinion, who are some the most famous Estonian people who have ever graced this planet?
Okay, Arvo Pärt is one.
Musician.
So another one would be Karl Ernst von Baer.
Very big in science, genetical science, actually.
And he was on our money.
[Then] the euro came.
The euro took our money.
Gerd Kanter, the winner of disk throw, I don't know - discus!
Speaking of sports,
have you ever done kiiking?
Or that thing? The swing?
I cannot do that, I'm like 2 meters tall, man.
And if I go there - whoo! I can't.
Is it better if you're short and you do it?
I think so.
By the way, just a little reference -
this is how tall he is.
This is literally how tall he is.
Yeah, I'm just barely at his shoulder.
Alright, it's getting a little dark,
Artur, can you turn on the light?
Where's the light? Yes, I can!
Yay!
With your tallness -
-the light, on top of the ceiling.
Uh, rapid fire:
Top Estonian foods:
Top foods. National food, you know? Kama.
What is it?
Kama is the national food.
? mixed with a grain. Kama is the name of the grain.
It's like yogurt with grain?
It's basically yogurt with grain.
- you're kinda way cut off.
Sauerkart, kama, verivorst (bloof sausage).
Blood sausage.
The bread with butter and - kilu. FIsh, I don't know -
It's a raw fish.
It's really good, it's not like Icelandic rotten shark or something.
So another thing that I know is that Estonia is very tech-savvy.
How did you guys start getting into all of that?
When did that begin? And when did it really explode?
When the Soviet Union ended, the singing revolution of us, we went away
we wanted to get rid of everything that - everything red went away.
The color was even Stalin, you know.
It's not on your flag, for sure. No.
And the Soviet Union represented everything that is old, and the technology and the western stuff,
everything was so new and so awesome and we started climbing towards that.
What do Estonians like to do for fun?
What's a favorite pasttime?
Usually being alone in a room not talking to anybody.
Sleeping in a coffin, you know?
We do have social activities, as hard as that is to understand.
People drink too much.
They drink.
They drink themselves to death quite often and that is sad.
We come together. We sing, we dance, we drink.
You guys are huge on singing.
Oh, we are.
You have that - what's it called? The festival?
The song and dance festival.
That's only every 5 years, though, right?
The big one is, yeah.
But the small ones are every year.
Oh, so have small ones and the big one.
I've heard you have
the highest ratio of women to men.
That's good.
And more than any other country in the world, like the ratio is the highest in Estonia.
Oh, you know why that is?
Why?
Cause men drink themselves to death.
Off that topic, how has the culture of living in the US really shocked you as an Estonian?
The people, first of all.
The people are really open here.
They're really open, really polite, really smiling.
Of course, it's LA also, LA's known to be the surface - right.
But still, people are more open and liberal than Estonia.
Second thing I would say, I guess that
the lines.
I mean, you have to stand in line to get a passcard.
Oh, yeah.
Estonia is like - boom, done.
It's really the country where
you know, if you're a single person, you can go up to the top.
Yeah, America is really based on anything is possible,
you just believe and you can do whatever you want in this country.
It comes at a cost, though.
It does.
Yeah.
So, in America, you fight for yourself, but you really have to fight for yourself.
Oh yeah
So the potential is high, but the risk is high, too.
Final thoughts. Why is Estonia great?
Why should people be interested in Estonia?
Make your country proud, what is cool about Estonia?
Just the coolest things.
We have cheap vodka.
I think Estonia is one of the last nations to have these rare, old customs and the sadness
of the nation and the history still in our blood.
I guess the loneliness. We are small, we keep to ourselves,
and we just exist like an Amazon rainforest tribe. We're on our own, small, but we are there.
And the loneliness. I like how you said that it sounds bad,
but there's a charm to that loneliness that you guys have.
You enjoy it.
Kind of.
Feed out of it, actually, I think.
Yeah, you live off of the loneliness -
All our songs are based on blood and sadness, all our national stories, everything is violence and bad, you know?
So we feed out of it. Our culture feeds out of that.
Your culture feeds off of that.
That's actually pretty cool.
I like that, not many countries are like that.
But you guys embrace it.
Yeah. You embrace the loneliness and the pain.
And you make it into something wonderful and glorious.
It hurts so good!
It hurts so good.
Yeah, that's Estonia.
"It hurts so good."
Estonia, that's the little motto.
Just write that on the flag.
"It hurts so good."
3 bands, 3 words. Hurts. So. Good.
Alright, well guys, this has been Artur.
Thank you so much for teaching us about Estonia.
He's the expert here.
Check out his Instagram or other social media.
Snapchat. Selling myself here. Yeah, click on any of the links.
And check out more of Artur if you wanna know anything about Estonia, ask him,
he is the expert.
So thank you so much, Artur.
Thank you. Have a good one.
Yes. It was a pleasure.
Stay cool. Stay tuned.
Yeah, we're done.
Dude, that was really cool.