Tallinn School vol.2: the Team

originally i was very excited to tell you all about the other volunteers i'm working with, but it has since occurred to me that despite how well get along with them, how awesome they all are as individuals, and how valuable my conversations and interaction with them has been, in all likelihood, you won't care.

but now that i'm in the last few days of the camp and have gotten to know them all about as well as i'll get the chance, i just can't help myself. i've been fortunate enough to share these 2 weks with 7 other volunteers from a truly international background and their various traits, experiences, strengths and weaknesses have been perhaps my most imporant activity of these past two weeks. no offense to the kids, but ok, 12 year olds are hard to deal with, gotcha.

First up is our group leader, Feli ("Fay-Lee"), a year-long volunteer with the EVS program who's been working with our particular school for some time, but who has not yet seen, much less run, a summer camp. she's certainly a bright girl, and is a very fun mixture of expectation and exception all packed into a very petite 20 year old southern German frame. And as a self-proclaimed trekkie, it's hard not to get along.



next is our most senior member, and in my estimation most effective, Marieke (Ma-Ree-Ka). Despite a bizarre similiarity to Gramma Dar (she's even an amateur clown for pete's sake!), this 35-yaer old lass of Holland is a wonderful snapshot of a life in progress. she has a successful career as a financial consultant that she's leaving in search of an unknown and more fulfilling pursuit, with this camp her first of three in exploring youth education. she knows what it takes to self-motivate, and she has a balloon hat (or three) ready for every occasion.

And then there's Marta. I'm not sure what i expected from a 29 year old Polish woman, but it can't possibly be any mold she fits into. Certainly an enigmatic figure, it took the better part of a week before she finally divulged any personal information, she is a master of omission and deflection, but also a ridiculously astute observer and concise questionairre. she'll sit quietly in the group, jovial rather than detached, but just when you think all is bubbly and light, she'll drop a question that jolts you back to substantial self-contemplation. don't answer too fast, she's already one step ahead of you.

The school may be in Estonia,but Russian is the default language when the students English vocabulary comes up wanting, which makes the next two team members even more valuable. Maria is a 19 year old Russian from nearby St. Petersburg who is already in her fourth year of university with a focus in psychology and some earlier work with autism feeding her experience. more than anything she's wonderful about translating when needed, and conveniently "forgetting" russian the rest of the time. Also, watch out, this Ruskie is one hell of a dancer on the Latin beat.

Sojin ("Soo-Gin") is perhaps the most unlikely story in our posse. This 20 year old Korean (ok, actually 21 years by the Korean method) comes to Tallinn from a surprisingly short train ride out of moscow, where she's studying Russian at university befor ereturning to her native Korea. The language helps, but i think her ever-ready and super-expressive smiles are probably the biggest weapon she brings to the camp leader arsenal.

In my travels, i've already met a few Swedes, but all of them were life-long travelers, usually many years removed from the frigid winters and universal healthcare of the homeland. not so with Kajsa ("Kai-Ee-Sa"), a 21 year old who joined up with our program in order to get out of Stockholm for a change. she'll admit to confirming the stereotype about swedes being a touch xenophobic, but she's also quick to point out examples of Swedish culture/influence on the "outside" world, especially in the arena of indie rock. I didn't know the Caesars were Swedish, for example, but now i do.

Sunshine (believe it) shares the distinction of being our youngest member, but is perhaps among the most travelled of the crew and certainly wins the prize for being the most mature relative to age (in which category i probably finish last). she's also my teaching partner, and i must say the pint-sized french teenager has been a pleasure to work with throughout the camp. i don't think she quite has the world on a string as she very nonchalantly seems to, but it's hard to believe there's much this future tourism major can't figure out.

so there's the team, a gaggle of wonderful, fascinating, and very different girls with which i have been honored to live, work, laugh, curse and drink with for these two weeks. as our camp draws to an end, i find myself rather indifferent to the upcoming absence of the students (and all the work they entail), but i am going to miss my team mates, and it will be very difficult transitioning from a 1 bathroom flat with 8 occupants sharing food, schedules and goals back to the standard and much less personable hostel or even hotel environment.

this is the closest i've felt to the sense of community and comaraderie that i enjoyed so much as an undergraduate, and while that chapter of my life is over, i am very thankful for this chance to revisit the experence, and grateful to whatever fates or circumstances that landed me with a group such as this. i may not be well travelled, or even especially bright, but at least i'm not ungrateful for simple things.

The weber has spoken (while on the lamb)