dont take pictures of the US Embassy
so on wednesday we toured the estonian parliament then had a meeting with their minister of finance on the country's economic policies. we got some lunch and then our company visit was with Svedbank, a swedish banking giant with a 50% market share in every aspect of banking in the baltics. the guy who spoke with us is an ex-pat who got his MBA and then moved here for a year and learned estonian. apparently about 15 years ago the demand for american business people was huge around here, because the guy was in his late 30s and had been CFO of the baltics before he took a better position. that night we went to the pub with no name to watch barcelona whoop up on man u. it was a lot of fun and we ended up with a couple english guys at the local clubs.now yesterday was the longest day yet, we got up at 730 and walked to the US embassy. we got there and brandon decided he would take a picture of himself next to the security box. he was warned, they deleted his picture, and then we went in. we first spoke with a Major in the Marine Corp about the US and NATO presence in the baltics. oh and as it always works out, the major was an Auburn grad, class of 96, so he enjoyed speaking with us after his lecture. he also spoke to a prominent state department guy about past and future US endeavors in the region. then on the way out brandon tried to take another picture in front of the embassy. so 30 minutes of interrogation later, we now have a person of interest to the us government in our group. after that we went for ANOTHER lecture on estonian business at the tallinn chamber of commerce (another solid 30 minute hike to the top of the mountain in old town). we came back here, took naps, and then went to the museum of soviet occupation yesterday afternoon. it was really eye opening to see a different side of WW2, because when the germans captured estonian, they were viewed as liberators from soviet oppression, and the estonians fought back the soviets side by side with the germans. you always hear about the atrocities of the germans during the war, but the soviets were probably worse. there were so many mass murders by the soviets here it is unbelievable. after that our company visit was with microsoft estonia, and then we went to the estonian national ballet and saw Swan Lake. after that at 10 oclock we went out for sushi, which ended up being pretty good, and then a few of us went out for kate's birthday. we got home as the sun was coming up at around 4 and now its two in the afternoon and we are all packing to go to Helsinki, Finland for a few days. i will try to write a post up there but if not ill write one on sunday. everyone have a good weekend!
posted by Graham Potter @ 5:52:00 AM
