Indrek's star turn

Kristel's brother gets some TV time in a fictional parody as the unemployed Estonian.

Estonia? What the heck?

Estonia is a nation that many Americans have probably only heard a passing reference to. Heck, a lot of EUROPEANS are fuzzy on the details.

One reason is it's small (about a quarter the size of Kansas), and it only has 1.3 million in population, and had the misfortune to be assimilated into the Soviet Union following World War II.

People have lived in Estonia since the Bronze Age, in fact there are graves about 40 kilometers (20 miles east of Tallinn that you can visit that date back at least 9000 B.C).

Tallinn, the capital where the wedding will be, was first mentioned on a map in 1154. It was then called Kaleweny.

It took its first steps toward a true nation-state when Denmark conquered the territory in 1219. Since that time, it has been controlled by Swedes, Germans, and Russians. The country won its independence in 1918 following World War I, and then regained it in 1991 after the Soviet coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev.

Geographically, Estonia has always been desired by its neighbors because of its ports and as a link between east and west.

Estonians are part of the Finno-Ugric line of people, which includes the people of Finland, Hungary and people that live near the Volga River and the Ural mountains in Russia.

As you can see from the map, for travel purposes, you have several options. You can find a flight that goes directly to Tallinn. You can fly to Helsinki, Finland (Vantaa Airport), and then take a bus or taxi to the port, then take a 2-hour ferry to Tallinn. You can fly to Riga, Latvia. A bus from there to Tallinn is about 4 hours.

Estonian language/ Eesti keel

Want to endear yourself to Estonians? Learn some Estonian.

It's a difficult, almost impossible language, Scott thinks. There are 14 cases in the language, no gender, and no future tense (the joke is - no sex, no future). And pronunciation is paramount.

And it's even more difficult to learn because Estonians aren't used to hearing accented Estonian, like English speakers are used to hearing accented English. So if they can switch to English, they will.

The good news for foreigners is that everybody pretty much under 40 speaks English nowadays. But you're a guest in their house, so a few words wouldn't hurt your image as an Ugly American (which, compared to places like France, isn't so bad).

We would suggest the following, to show respect:

Tere (tear-eh): Hello. The first part sounds like tearing a book, not crying.
Ja: (yaa): Yes
Ei: (A): No
Palun: (Pall-un): Please. The nice thing about Estonian is it often sounds like it reads. Just put the stress on the first syllable
Aitäh: (Eye-tah): Thank you.

That's your Estonian language starter kit. We will continue lessons.

Read also: Douglas Wells, former Peace Corps volunteer brought to light the true roots of Estonian language.