Just had dinner with my youngest. She turned 21 today. We were discussing next years school plans.
She has an opportunity to go to school in Estonia next year. Probably be for the fall and spring semester.

I know very little about this country. Was curious about the things most parents would worry about.
Safety, culture, etc.

Any insight would be appreciated if you have knowledge about the country.

Thanks in advance

I did a little research, one of my kids is headed there in the near future.
Looks pretty safe overall, we have a military presence there.

I don't remember the details but a friend's son spent some time there. He loved it there, they're nice and modern, I get the impression of an eastern European version of Switzerland.

It's a pretty but small country. It has a few cities and a lot of open terrain. One of my buddies visited the NATO Cyber Center of excellence and was impressed. It seemed like a safe country with reportedly low corruption. They use the EURO so things will be a little expensive. It's also the birth place of Skype and they are building out their tech sector. I wouldn't lose much sleep with her attending school there unless Russia gets feisty.

My wife's aunt and uncle went there twice to adopt two girls. They loved it. I'll try to ask them for more info.

She'll be fine unless the Russians invade. Then all bets are off.

They seem to be similar to Lithuania where my daughter wants to go next year. I’ve watched Taken to many times to be enthused but at least these two Baltic states seem stable countries.

The baltic states used to be the crime capital of europe, particularly eastern europe. Latvia was the worst. A lot has changed in the last 8-10 years.

Level 1 from State - low threat.

All I know is that Estonia women are drop dead gorgeous.

quote:

All I know is that Estonia women are drop dead gorgeous.

This is a HUGE understatement.
But you have to like blondes.

Estonia is trying to become the cyber center of world trade.

They have an E-residency program to give any online business owners/businesses a tax residency there.

I am sure they are doing there best to make the place squeaky clean to foster this program.

Also see recent thread on the same question for neighboring Lithuania.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
The baltic states used to be the crime capital of europe, particularly eastern europe. Latvia was the worst. A lot has changed in the last 8-10 years.

Thankfully, some might say, they seem to have exported a lot of their crime and criminals to UK, especially Latvian and Lithuania. Here we don't get much, in fact, zero, about Estonians [one of my daughter's carers is a gorgeous Estonian girl], but plenty of modern-day slavers and murderers/rapists from the other two Baltic states. The region in which we live is almost 90% agricultural, and is a hotbed of work-gang semi-slave labour from these places, but for some reason, Estonia only figures strongly in the service sector.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:

quote:

All I know is that Estonia women are drop dead gorgeous.

This is a HUGE understatement.
But you have to like blondes.

Yea, hot chicks and a bunch of our old M14's. What's not to like?

Thank you all for the input. She is planning on attending the university of Tartu. She is a double major in Russian and biology, and this school seems to check the boxes she needs. She is a driven student. Honors college, deans list and about zero student debt, Between her academic scholarships and her working as an ra to cover room and board.
As a parent it is a point of concern, not knowing a great deal about this country, so the learning process has begun.
As always the time for your input is appreciated.

I love Estonia. I've been there three times since 2014 and going back again soon. Sad to say it seems that most Americans have barely heard of it.

Tallinn is a great little city. Easy public transportation, clean and safe. If you get bored there's a ferry for 25 euro to Helsinki or 40 to Stockholm. The food is great but expensive around old town, you have to venture a little bit outside of the city for decent prices. Groceries are about average for Europe.

The people in Estonia are generally nice and speak 4 languages on average. Lots of Russians there and they control most of the drug/alcohol/sex trades. Oh and cabs are all Russian controlled as well. For a female I would advise common sense safety practices and there won't be any problems.

I am not sure about places to live but I could inquire with some people I know if you are interested.

AirmanJeff, any intel would be appreciated.
Like I said we are just in the beginning phase of this adventure.
Thanks for the offer

They used to have Galils and Galil SARs.
They now adopted LMTs.
Our old M14s.

All cool rifles. Sadly, that's about all I know about Estonia.

Never been there, but do have some second hand info: A few years ago we hosted an exchange student from Estonia. She was an ethnic Russian. It seems that when Hitler and Stalin signed their “non aggression pact,” on the eve of WWII, the Soviet Union proceeded to “annex” the Baltic Republics including Estonia. They then forcibly relocated large numbers of Russians into these countries. Made Russian the official language, etc. Now nearly 80 years later, there is some tension between the ethnic Russians (who have been there three generations and can’t really return “home” to Mother Russia) and the native Estonians (who still see the Russian people as outsiders). According to this Russian youngster, she always felt somewhat uneasy and unwelcome in the only home she has ever known. She lived in Tallinn and returned there after her stint with us. Very charming youngster wand her English was good.

We trudge on.