My country just had 100. birthday. Being a member of a little country with such a rough history has made me evaluate this freedom and the specialness that makes Estonia unique.
Some of my ancestors have lost their lives in the wars, deported to Siberia and killed just for their bravery to say what they think. They have always fought for their freedom and dreamed of Estonia we enjoy today.
Here are TOP 10 things I truly love about my country:
PEACE AND QUIET IN ESTONIAN NATURE
My favourite places in Estonian nature are mystical bogs, private beaches and clean pine forests. Walking in Estonian nature is something that really gives you energy.
E-ESTONIA
It takes just 3 hours to start a company and 3 minutes to file personal taxes. E-voting and other government e-services have made my life so easy. I am using mobile-ID daily and wouldn’t imagine life without it.
If you are an enterprising person from abroad, I will invite you to become an e-resident! E-Residency is a new digital nation for global citizens, powered by the Republic of Estonia. Estonia is the first country to offer e-Residency, a government-issued digital ID available to anyone in the world. E-Residency offers the freedom to easily start and run a global business in a trusted EU environment.
You can apply here: https://e-resident.gov.ee/become-an-e-resident/
FOOD STRAIGHT FROM THE FAMILY
Many Estonians grow their food (herbs, grains, fruits, veggies) in their own gardens and fields. I also got some of the fresh food from my granny and mom. I dream of growing herbs for my children in the future too.
Organic shops are becoming more popular, restaurants and cafeterias are offering healthier products. My favourite organic shop in Tallinn is definitely Mahemarket and the best healthy restaurants are in my opinion Biomenu Maheköök, Restoran V and Bliss.
ENTERPRISINGNESS
Estonia has the third place of the number of startups per capita and 12. place of Global Ease of Doing Business! As said before, it takes just 3 hours to start a company
LANGUAGE
There are only 883 707 Estonian speakers who speak Estonian as a mother language. In my opinion, the beauty of this language comes out with music.
MUSIC
The singing revolution in 1987-1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia is something special to us. There are so many national songs from the past that last forever.
Also, I love the new Estonian music, especially these artists who have been inspired by Estonian nature. My friend Mick Pedaja is definitely one of my favourites!
HUMOUR
You got to love the black humour even when it’s on sensitive topics 🙂
EDUCATION
Estonian schools are pretty equal and the access to good education is great compared to other countries. Estonian schools have high rankings in PISA tests and Estonian higher education is also showing great competitiveness.
FAMILY POLICY
We have a unique system – after having the baby, moms are paid 100% compensation for 1,5 years according to her salary and don’t lose their job if they want to go back.
CLEANLINESS
I love the Estonian project „Let’s Do It!“ It is a civic-led mass movement that began in Estonia in 2008 when 50,000 people united together to clean up the entire country in just five hours. Since then, „Let’s Do It!“ has spread this model – one country in one day – around the world. To date, nearly 120 countries and 20 million people have joined us to clean up illegal waste. (https://www.letsdoitworld.org/about/overview/)
Usually, our streets and nature are quite clean and I love it! I think that this project should be mandatory for the Southeast countries that are full of trash! Luckily, some of them have already joined.
Surely, Estonia has its problems too that I will analyze later in this blog.