tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post7707362715174290741..comments2023-11-05T09:55:13.077+02:00Comments on Itching for Eestimaa: johannes walkerGiustinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756707910693785516noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-11148272780208392952008-03-15T01:43:00.000+02:002008-03-15T01:43:00.000+02:00Try living with Piret.most forigners think I'm a m...Try living with Piret.<BR/>most forigners think I'm a man so in 9 hotels out of 10 they expect a Mr.<BR/>the rest have my account details and even then I get an odd Mister as no one in their right mind would call a girl Piret!<BR/>once they get to grips with the concept of Piret being my name I have 70-30 chances between a Pirate or a Parrot. Even my credit card says Pirret and it took me a month to notice the double-R :)<BR/>In French-speaking countries they get the spelling right but assume it as my last name so often someone called Mr/Ms Piret is expected to turn up.<BR/>So whenever I order taxis or book tables in restaurants I just use Laura as it resembles my last name and is much easier to get across.<BR/>This has once resulted to Lora (in London) meaning bull***t in Estonian. I made sure I kept that receipt :)seisus kohustabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16816870048599615290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-25822100610895421312008-02-20T23:28:00.000+02:002008-02-20T23:28:00.000+02:00Many years ago a Canadian Esto named Avo went to U...Many years ago a Canadian Esto named Avo went to U of Michigan in Ann Arbor.<BR/> The admissions clerk had taken the liberty of altering the spelling of his first name to Ava.<BR/> When he checked in at the the residence he'd been assigned to, he found he'd been assigned a room in the women's dorm.<BR/> No, sadly, he was not allowed to stay even the first night.Karlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16542671825995892455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-54906857291430650472008-02-20T20:20:00.000+02:002008-02-20T20:20:00.000+02:00My first name is Kärt and this has always been a p...My first name is Kärt and this has always been a pain in the arse for my foreign friends. A few months ago I attended an international event for two weeks, and the first 4 days was hilarious, with the people trying to pronounce my name. then I got tired of that and said: Would you just call me Carrot? since then, I'm Carrot to them. ;)<BR/>(ofcourse there has been some more: Kurt, Cat, Cady,etc)pićahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11539289032758662062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-61595528182193817242008-02-15T04:02:00.000+02:002008-02-15T04:02:00.000+02:00Why is naked women funnyand naked men is sexy?What...Why is naked women funny<BR/>and naked men is sexy?<BR/><BR/>What we're going to do:<BR/>We got Eddie.<BR/><BR/>He's Estonian: Of course<BR/>he's afraid of nudity.<BR/><BR/>He's afraid of a naked woman.<BR/><BR/>Naked women can be sexy,<BR/>Eddie.<BR/><BR/>Thinks he's getting<BR/>free mehe-liha.<BR/><BR/>Politicians are sucker<BR/>for free liha.<BR/><BR/>Why is naked men okay<BR/>and naked women is funny?<BR/><BR/>Let's have<BR/>a naked waiter there.<BR/><BR/>I think that's fantastic.<BR/><BR/>What is that?<BR/>Why is that a problem?<BR/><BR/>We'll run Ilmar there,<BR/>his dong hanging out.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17628152261607224695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-69166486642076052742008-02-15T03:36:00.000+02:002008-02-15T03:36:00.000+02:00Autor on selle kommentaari eemaldanud.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17628152261607224695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-84976209323718249122008-02-15T03:33:00.000+02:002008-02-15T03:33:00.000+02:00Autor on selle kommentaari eemaldanud.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17628152261607224695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-66787284274176300672008-02-09T22:27:00.000+02:002008-02-09T22:27:00.000+02:00Confusion about names reminds me of an odd story t...Confusion about names reminds me of an odd story to do with Finnish names...<BR/><BR/> Many years ago, my wife and I spent a couple of years teaching at Confederation College in Thunder Bay in Northern Ontario. Thunder Bay has one of the biggest Finnish colonies in North America, numbering some 150,000. Many of the outlying communities in the area have Finnish names like Lappe, Kivikoski, Sistonen's Corners, etc.<BR/><BR/> One of the most common names to be found in the phone book up there is MAKI, without the diacritical of course. Now some of these 'Makis' may have been originally Mäkis, others were no doubt foreshortened from Kaunismäki, Kauramäki, Koivumäki, Myllymäki, Palomäki, Lamminmäki, Rautamäki, Peramäki, Hakomäki, Kortesmäki, Hautamäki, Niinimäki, Katajamäki, etc. Others, like Mäkelä, Mäkinen, Mäkitalo, Mäkivuori, etc., by deleting the suffix, were similarly transformed into Maki. Anyhow, there's one hell of a lot of MAKI'S. (Some of the Finns sought to minimize the confusion by anlicizing their "Maki" to "Hill." That didn't really solve the problem. The phone book has pages upon pages of "Hills" as well.<BR/><BR/> One of my classmates from university, a descendant of the Stornoway Scots who first settled the Lakehead area, welcomed us to his hometown and filled us in on local lore. In the course of conversation, he told us about a particular Mäki -- a Toivo Mäki -- who, he alleged, was a Finnish-speaking Japanese-Canadian. This Toivo Mäki was a professional bartender, and a very successful one, much in demand at local weddings, reunions and all major social functions. Since Finns constituted a high proportion of his clientele, this Toivo Mäki had learned Finnish and legally changed his name.<BR/><BR/> At first we thought that my classmate was putting us on, pulling our legs. <I>A Japanese Toivo Mäki?</I> Not so. Before long, we attended a large social function, and there he was the Japanese Toivo Mäki, in charge of his own crew of bartenders, serving the public and chatting away to the many Finnish guests in Finnish.<BR/><BR/> Besides Finns, Thunder Bay also has large contingents of Italians and Ukrainians. It is (seriously) the only place I know of where amongst the choices of pizza toppings you can order ... <I>chopped cabbage</I> and <I>herring</I>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-42771791945339241412008-02-09T22:18:00.000+02:002008-02-09T22:18:00.000+02:00Yeah, the Finnish taxi system is certainly incredi...Yeah, the Finnish taxi system is certainly incredibly reliable. It is so strictly regulated that you basically never encounter unlicenced taxis. The minus side is that in peak times (the most notorious being the Christmas party season) you can have quite long queues. Also there can basically be no price competition - but on the other hand you won't be cheated, you will have very professional and knowledgeable drivers and no need to negotiate the price beforehand to avoid unpleasant surprises at the destination. Of course this makes Finns quite amateurish and clumsy taxi customers in large areas of the planet...stockholm slenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16909107517362691387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-5223453857481070672008-02-09T20:34:00.000+02:002008-02-09T20:34:00.000+02:00"Talking about taxis and Finns... Well, I suppose ...<I>"Talking about taxis and Finns...</I><BR/> Well, I suppose that in big cities everywhere one is at the mercy of cabbies to an extent. Still, I've encountered remarkably honest and helpful cabbies everywhere (the other kind don't really suprise me any more), even in Paris, York, London, Tallinn...<BR/> But the most consistently 'straight' cabbies I've had the luck to deal with have been in Helsinki. For example, upon getting off the Tallinn ferry at the port and giving my destination out in Espoo to one driver in the first taxi-rank, I have been directed to another rank with the explanation:<I> 'Well, I can take you there, but if you go to that guy over there, he'll take you for half the price.'</I> Something to do with zones, I suppose, since the cars and company markings looked similar to me. But he was right.<BR/> On another visit, after a leisurely lunch at the Ravintola Solna downtown with our friends Raija and Seppo, my wife paid the bill and we proceeded on foot, leaving Solnantie and taking many twists and turns through a residential area. Seppo was showing us where he had grown up and gone to school. We must have gone some distance (walking for perhaps 10-15 minutes) when we heard a voice hailing us from behind and turned to see our waiter from the Solna, in full kit with bowtie and somewhat breathless, sprinting uphill toward us. He presented us with my wife's pocketbook (stuffed and overflowing with cards, euros, dollars, kroons) which she had left on the table after paying. Now this young waiter must have had remarkable radar and the fleetness of Paavo Nurmi to track us. Not to mention of course very Finnic honesty and diligence. My wife had left quite a handsome tip, but we felt bad that our waiter had had to sprint for it... Well, we were a bit jet-lagged, and all...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-79191159073110869852008-02-09T19:40:00.000+02:002008-02-09T19:40:00.000+02:00In 1995 I had to go to Mustam2 Haigla in Tallinn. ...In 1995 I had to go to Mustam2 Haigla in Tallinn. Everything was fine until the moment when the spinchter behind the glass began processing my charges. Stupid me, I had marked my correct home address. In the United States. Naturally, the charge was doubled on the spot.LPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-4791109560170410712008-02-09T19:16:00.000+02:002008-02-09T19:16:00.000+02:00When I order a taxi or use my nave over the phone ...When I order a taxi or use my nave over the phone I never use Craig. This usually results in a strong and forceful Mida? So I go with my middle name Martin, which is common, but my parents had no idea where Estonia was when they gave it to me, and then I am luck with a last name Hamer, so I usually just say it and then add, with one a, so they don't think my name is hammer, but it doesn't really matter, they usually make up whatever they want.Craig Hamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06111075726087898041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-59452899982446591842008-02-09T18:49:00.000+02:002008-02-09T18:49:00.000+02:00Talking about taxis and Finns - there has admitted...Talking about taxis and Finns - there has admittedly been certain interesting variations in price when I have been taking the taxi alone (despite of never uttering a word of Finnish) compared with the occasions when my wife is along to do the talking... This, I must complain, is surely highly irregular and non-Nordic! Though I must say that Tartu has been much better in this regard than Tallinn. (Travelling to Tartu next week, btw, always a nice feeling of anticipation, it is such a lovely place.)stockholm slenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16909107517362691387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-24107887732854923402008-02-09T17:49:00.000+02:002008-02-09T17:49:00.000+02:00For those of you who dig russian "anekdoty", check...For those of you who dig russian "anekdoty", check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c33qQhrHXhI&NR=1LPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-9247788899219458292008-02-08T16:40:00.000+02:002008-02-08T16:40:00.000+02:00Right on...Admittedly, Frank was slightly in the b...Right on...<BR/>Admittedly, Frank was slightly in the bag. A couple of other true stories...<BR/>My late father was Ants. In his first workplace in Canada, although the personnel records had it right, the payroll department kept rolling out paychecks to ANT.<BR/>The old man confronted them, and explained that "It's Ants, with S on the end, but you don't have to pay more than to just one insect."<BR/><BR/>In Thunder Bay, the nurses had an inordinate amount of trouble paging our late friend Dr Heino Kulasalu. You can imagine the convoluted and incomprehensible drivel that went out over the hospital PA system as Heino's patients lay waiting in extremis...<BR/><BR/>He finally changed his name legally to Kent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-13250171515111945062008-02-08T16:27:00.000+02:002008-02-08T16:27:00.000+02:00Like Soviet era academic citations (N. Bugadanov, ...Like Soviet era academic citations (N. Bugadanov, K. Chukachuk). You never ever find out who N and K are...Kristopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01394211030848077681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-73888166043824227612008-02-08T15:34:00.000+02:002008-02-08T15:34:00.000+02:00There should be no problems with a name like ENN, ...There should be no problems with a name like ENN, right? Wrong!<BR/>Many years ago, my late friend Enn Elbing, chem.eng. prof at Monash, was visiting from Australia. We had a party. Late into the evening, I was cornered by a local guest:<BR/>"Nice fella, that Aussie prof, but what's his NAME?"<BR/>"Enn."<BR/>"C'mon. We've been talking for hours. I can't just call him N, for Chrissake! I mean, my name is Frank. You don't call me F, do you?"<BR/>"Well, his name really is ENN."<BR/>"N... Just an initial... Jesus, you Estonians can be so <I>formal</I>..."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-64689367733541187152008-02-08T15:00:00.000+02:002008-02-08T15:00:00.000+02:00My name is absolutely hopeless to get right for mo...My name is absolutely hopeless to get right for most Estonians, usually I just whip out my Estonian ID card (which in itself is hard enough to explain to a bank teller how it was broken, renewed, broken, lost, cancelled, refound and must be renewed again).<BR/><BR/>"Carl-Johan" usually is reduced to a somewhat bothering "Karl" and "Sveningsson" becomes totally nonsensical, especially with that spelling. Though with taxis we've discussed how you should be able to get one for "Pope John Paul" and it ought to work out just as well.<BR/><BR/>Wow, you really have an amazing number of commentators. Maybe if I wasn't so secretive about the Swedish/Estonian (/American) blog me and my friend in the US used to write more frequently: http://utvandrarna.blogspot.com/<BR/><BR/>I may take it up again, and even though currently I am busy with my other projects beside work, I would love to see it linked among your other nordic blogs linked there from the sidebar.Carl-Johan Sveningssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374102015017147018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-78234764387920199722008-02-08T11:28:00.000+02:002008-02-08T11:28:00.000+02:00I'm sorry but I categorically insist on my family ...I'm sorry but I categorically insist on my family name being pronounced with a schwa(<I>kənt</I>).<BR/><BR/>My grandfather was a vabrikant and he was a great Kant. His father was a massive Kant, weighing 22 stone with Junker roots and nine children. I consider myself no less of a Kant. <BR/><BR/>The philosopher (<I>kaaaant</I>) was a distant relative, but that side of the family has a lot of black sheep -- people with short haircuts involved in the scrap metal trade.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03609613961511659924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-9177501918113200882008-02-08T10:25:00.000+02:002008-02-08T10:25:00.000+02:00The name Kadri gets pronounced in various differen...The name Kadri gets pronounced in various different ways - like Audrey or Kadrii etc, and when I say I'm from Estonia, they (esp in NYC) think I'm from Astoria. So it's Audrey from Astoria. <BR/>So for the sake of making it easier for everyone I've used K.T., Kate etc. When ordering a taxi, simply Kati. <BR/>The Muslims get excited at the sight of the name and automatically make it into Kadir. So I get asked if I'm Muslim. A lot. Even my bday cake made at a local Wal-Mart said Happy Bday KADIR. :)Luarvikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11071174629812666803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-19616004428414731822008-02-08T10:02:00.000+02:002008-02-08T10:02:00.000+02:00American fella: "So whats your name?"Me: "Vahur"AF...American fella: "So whats your name?"<BR/>Me: "Vahur"<BR/>AF: What?<BR/>Me: V-A-H-U-R<BR/>AF: Eeeeee.... You know, lemme just call you John.<BR/><BR/>Im not even gonna start with all the amusing pronounciation variants I have heard :DWahurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15861003012357572291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-88531634531505117072008-02-08T08:56:00.000+02:002008-02-08T08:56:00.000+02:00Here's a little tip for you, Hendrik:the famous Ge...Here's a little tip for you, Hendrik:<BR/>the famous German philosopher Immanuel Kant is usually pronounced kaaaaant in "polite Engish speaking society". Maybe it could work for you, too?Rainerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160091690005391250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-86440833167740305872008-02-08T08:15:00.000+02:002008-02-08T08:15:00.000+02:00Oops...Hendrik may be an asso', but in this case h...Oops...Hendrik may be an asso', but in this case he just pick a common name randomly.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03609613961511659924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-88578956615959018862008-02-08T06:06:00.000+02:002008-02-08T06:06:00.000+02:00On the topic of slavic existence: http://www.exile...On the topic of slavic existence: http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=16405&IBLOCK_ID=35LPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-50762695728904797892008-02-08T05:37:00.000+02:002008-02-08T05:37:00.000+02:00Siis oleks pidand ju Johannes Jalutaja olema mitte...Siis oleks pidand ju Johannes Jalutaja olema mitte Johannes Walker?LPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13406351.post-57383342933779198812008-02-08T04:05:00.000+02:002008-02-08T04:05:00.000+02:00My name is Triip Pillerputs.My name is Triip Pillerputs.LPRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397977705898254598noreply@blogger.com