Description
About the Author
I was born in Islington, London, of a Scottish father and Estonian mother. I have a degree in English from Cambridge University (Jesus College), a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the Institute of Education, London, and an MA in education from University College (UCL), London. I first visited Estonia in 1989, before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I returned with my Estonian-born mother the following year and this was my most memorable experience of travel: my mother met her childhood friend, who was deported aged 10 from Estonia to Siberia under Stalin, and was now back in Tallinn. It is the first time I heard my mother speak Estonian (she did not teach it to her children believing it to be a useless language) and also because, as a World War Two refugee fleeing Stalin, she focused on becoming English . To hear your mother from Notting Hill speaking her native tongue for the first time on the communal stairs of a dilapidated Soviet appartment block is a disorienting experience, but not a bad one. Estonians are straight-talking. If you ask: How are you?, they may well say: Not at all well, as opposed to the assumed: Fine, and you?. Having worked as a journalist and writier, I am now teaching piano and learning to play the organ. I am a parent governor at St Marylebone C of E secondary school in London, which our teenage daughters attend. They are still learning to speak Estonian and love cross-country skiing in the Estonian pine forests. We hope Putin will not gobble Estonia up. My first book was The Singing Revolution: A Political Journey through the Baltic States (1991, Michael Joseph).
Reviews
Culture Smart! has come to the rescue of hapless travellers...' Sunday Times Travel, ' the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries.' Global Travel, ' full of fascinating, as well as common sense, tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas.' Observer, ' as useful as they are entertaining.' Easy Jet Magazine, ' offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world.' New York Times
Book Information
ISBN 9781857333534
Author Clare Thomson
Format Paperback
Page Count 168
Imprint Kuperard
Publisher Kuperard
Dimensions(mm) 169mm * 110mm * 13mm