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I was looking into moving to Tallinn as an expat. This just sealed the deal. Any Estonian hackers on here?
by relix 15y ago
I was looking into moving to Tallinn as an expat. This just sealed the deal. Any Estonian hackers on here?
- ddon 15y agoi moved from Tallinn last year :) many positive things can be said about this place, but having a snow (mostly dirty) for about 7..8 months a year, and seeing this mess made me move: http://public.fotki.com/dmitri_don/tallinn-2011/ http://public.fotki.com/dmitri_don/tallinn-2011/
- relix 15y agoYou're the first guy I read who addresses negative points of Tallinn, thanks! I knew about the snow, but not about the derelict state of some of the surroundings. However, isn't it normal for a reasonably large city to have vandalized parts like that? I'm sure you could find similar scenes in cities like Paris, Brussels or Berlin. If you have any other resources about Tallinn (biased or not ;-) ) I'd love to take a gander, it's actually quite hard to find good intel about it. I noticed you're Canadian - did you use a guidebook when you first arrived? I'm wondering which one I should get.
- robtoo 15y agoThe pictures aren't representative of Tallinn as a whole, certainly not the central parts, but it is probably fair to say that it is more run-down in parts than similar cities in wealthier countries. (Remember that Estonia isn't rich -- GDP per capita is one third that of Belgium, for example.) How much you see of this obviously depends on where you live and where you go. Best single Tallinn resource is probably In Your Pocket: http://www.inyourpocket.com/estonia/tallinn http://www.inyourpocket.com/estonia/tallinn You can pick this up cheaply in the city, download the pdf from their site for free, or get their iPhone app (also free). Also new and interesting-looking is http://www.likealocalguide.com/tallinn http://www.likealocalguide.com/tallinn There is no great definitive online expat forum. Also: when looking up stuff online, learn to love Chrome's built-in translation functions, and remember that it (and Google Translate) unfortunately does a better job with Russian than it does Estonian.
- relix 15y agoAwesome, thanks!
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- jkaljundi 15y agoSame as any city. New York for example is so much dirtier and uglier than Tallinn, would never imagine living there. As for snow, 7-8 months is exaggerating, if not pure lying :) It's true, that the weather is not African, then again it is really varied and one of the few places where we do have 4 really distinct seasons.
- robtoo 15y ago7-8 months is certainly exaggerating, but 5 months is still a pretty long time to have snow on the ground. At least the snow is white for most of this time (rather than dirty/sooty brown/grey as in many other cities), and it's less windy and humid than I'm used to in the winter (so it doesn't feel as cold as the thermometer says).
- karls 15y agoi am! in tallinn during the summer, in the UK during uni.
- jkaljundi 15y agoYou're welcome! Have a look at what we do on our startup scene: http://garage48.org/ http://garage48.org/ (events + startup co-working hub) http://startupleadersclub.com/ http://startupleadersclub.com/ https://www.facebook.com/occtallinn https://www.facebook.com/occtallinn
- relix 15y agoAwesome that you're on here! Garage48 was already on top of my "Tallin To Do" list for once I'm there :) I'll probably see you around then.
- maayank 15y agoSounds interesting! I'm unable to find a more subtle way to ask this, so I'll be blunt. (pardon! :) How is the English literacy in Estonia and in Tallinn in particular? Of course, if someone expects to live somewhere s/he should be expected to learn the local language and customs, but if you're there for only a month or two then it's challenging.
- Strom 15y agoI've lived in Tallinn for most of my life.
- relix 15y agoDo you like it?