ask-hws-estonia

[ask-hws-estonia]

If we're bringing up Kalev chocolate, what about Finland's Fazer? Do you see it as a rival?

LOL absolutely not. I love Finland, I love their sweets but it's nowhere near close to as good.

[ask-hws-estonia]

Who will you be celebrating Valentines with?

Ah well, the answer is less exciting than you're going to hope for, since Valentines Day here in Estonia is also Friends Day; I won't be sharing valentines day with anyone, but I will be spending friends day with Timo - Finland.

[ask-hws-estonia]

Does Kalev like Kalev chocolate?

HA! I do, actually! My favorite one is the Linda one with hazelnuts.

[ask-hws-estonia]

What do you think of Russia?

He's awful, next question.

[ask-hws-estonia]

Why do you want to be Nordic so badly?

I am not a Nordic, and I do not wish to be. I am Estonian, and a proud one to boot. Not only that, but the advantages my country would have gained from being recognized as Nordic have been nullified by the advent of the Nordic Baltic Eight. I am not only content with my Baltic placement, I'm proud of it.

Fun fact about the Can Eesti Into Nordic Joke: it came from one single proposition from the Estonian government in the 90s. It failed spectacularly and was never attempted again. The reason it failed was twofold. For one, the Nordic nations weren't particularly interested. And for two - neither were Estonians. There are a lot of reasons for that, but most of them can be categorized into the "estonians like being estonians" category.

Estonians have had to do a lot of work to be recognized for who they are. For many hundreds of years, they were regarded as lesser humans who were meant to be subjugated (by Baltic Germans and by Russians, later). Their language and culture were suppressed. And then remember in the 90s, they had just emerged out of another era where their heritage, history, and culture were considered less than. They do in fact have long historical ties to the Nordics, but longer, stronger ties to the Baltic states, and Estonians, of course, know this.

[ask-hws-estonia]

There are three of us now

So it seems!

[ask-hws-estonia]

What's up with the name? Not von Bock?

Von Bock is a German name. I am not German myself and have existed since before Germans and the German language began having an effect on Estonia and Estonian.

Though Himaruya has not given a specific reason as to why he chose Von Bock to be Estonia's surname, the handful of places I can think of him getting it are a little bit odd and don't exactly make me think he did lots of research when looking into his name.

The first thing I can think of is a book called The Tzar's Madman (Kesri Hull in Estonian), where the major character has the name Von Bock, but there is also a historical man who had the name and thought quite lowly of Estonians, thinking them to be akin to animals.

As such I took the liberty of changing his name to something more fitting for an ancient estonian.

[ask-hws-estonia]

Tere~

Hello all! My name is Kalev Pääsuke, and I am the national representative of Estonia.

The chief goal of this little project is international outreach - to broaden my horizons and make connections outside of that which I am familiar; I intend to accomplish this by allowing others to ask questions about myself and my nation, as well as its history and culture.

I am thrilled to be here, and I hope that you will stop by soon.

Note: the mun of this blog - me - is American, however, I am really interested in Estonian history, culture, and language. As such I'll do my best to be respectful of it. That said if ever I get anything wrong, quickly shoot me a dm and let me know. We'll get it sorted out.