Tere Tulemast!

That means "welcome" in Estonian. :)

This post will be a little Q & A....

Anonymous asked, "If they use English letters, could you give a sample of the language? How are your kids adjusting to Estonia?"

You can see from the post title that they do use familiar letters, which is very nice after trying to read Hebrew! The Estonian language is complex, but each letter only has one sound, which makes it a little easier when you're learning. I feel sorry for people learning English as a second language. Each one of our letters makes several different sounds and there are almost always exceptions to the "rules".
Our kids are adjusting very well to Estonia! It really helps that we have friends here, which is something they did not have in Jerusalem. They also love the snow and the freedom to go places and to be outside.


Victoria asked, "What is the most unusual thing you have encountered since moving there? Do they have any unusual foods there and what is the main religion?"

Well, that's a little tricky.... one of the things we like about Estonia is how normal it is! I'll keep my eyes open for the strange and unusual, and be sure to let you all know if I find anything.

Now it's a whole lot easier to find the unusual in the grocery store. We have not had the adventures that we had in Jerusalem, but we've seen a few things that seemed odd to us. For instance, we spotted these in the freezer aisle...
It makes sense really, we have fish sticks, and chicken tenders, why not squid fingers? I've also seen green apple ice cream, which just sounds really strange. Shopping for groceries here has been really great actually. Everything seems to taste better than in Israel, even things like potatoes and bananas. Pork is the staple meat, which is nice to have again, and there are a variety of cheeses to choose from. If you followed our days in Jerusalem you'll know that those were two items we missed the most while we were there; pork and good cheese.

I believe the main religion here is Lutheran, but there is a little bit of just about everything. However, for the most part, religion, or more accurately, God, does not hold a place of much importance to people here. Being a missionary here usually requires building bonds with people before they'll even begin to listen to the Gospel. All of the missionaries here could really use lots of prayer.

Crissy asked, "Do you live in an urban or suburban area?" and, "Your new blog banner, is that a picture you took in Estonia?" and, "Do you enjoy the moving and the new places?"

Thanks for all the questions, Crissy!
We live in Tallinn, which is the capital city, so it is urban, but you don't have to drive far to be in a nice suburban area. Even though Tallinn is a major city with skyscrapers, public transportation, factories and the like, it doesn't strike me as being overly busy and doesn't seem polluted at all. They definitely do a good job at keeping things relatively clean and most of the people are friendly.

The new picture at the top of my blog is the view from my front door. This shot was snapped right after a big snowfall and I thought it looked so peaceful and beautiful. Of course, as soon as people start driving on the road and the sun comes out things start looking more slushy and the snow looks more like big gray piles of dirt. When spring officially arrives I hope to replace that picture with one that's more cheery and colorful.

We do all enjoy moving to new places. We've lived in 4 different countries in the past 6 years and my children think of the United States more as a vacation place than home, but we are still proud to be Americans. The key to being happy amidst all of this moving is who gave us marching orders. The Lord has placed us in each one of our homes, and there is no place happier in the world than in God's will. After all, home is where God sends you.


If you have any more questions for me, personal, or otherwise, I'd be more than happy to answer them!