Table of Contents

Brief History Politics - Economic Life Traditions - Friendships & Family Relationships Bureaucracy Religion Humour - Local Holidays Taboos Invitations Gifts Dress - Business etiquette - Punctuality & Appointments - Team working Communication Negotiating - Women in Society Tips - Eating Out - Traditional Food - Dos and Don t - Making Friends

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