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Rick Steves and the sunny side of travel Vincent Teetsov Rick Steves is a fixture on public television in the United States, having had travel pro grams regularly broadcasted since the start of Travels in Europe with Rick Steves in 1991. Always prepared with his trademark pair of glasses, a button-down shirt, and kha kis, with a bag slung over one shoulder, he is, as the Public Broadcasting Service in the US states, “America’s leading authority on Euro pean travel...” His Edmonds, Washington based travel brand – Rick Steves’ Europe – extends across guidebooks, TV programs, a radio show, a column, web resources, and an educational online program called Monday Night Travel, in which he pre pares travellers with finer de tails on travel and geographical topics. Since he founded the company in his early 20s, in 1976, the company has grown,
Ukrainian war refugees keen to find jobs quickly ERR, March 2022 A part of people fleeing the war in Ukraine have already found work in Estonia. While hundreds of wanted ads have been posted, employers want the chance to hire refugees on the same grounds as perma nent residents. That said, refugees are expected to do different things than people who have come to work in Estonia from Ukraine before. Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) data suggests over 5,000 Ukrainian war refugees who do not plan to move on have reached Estonia. Around a third of them are working-age,
Speech of Estonian… (Continued from page 8)
I am helping make that day come true, I would also like to express my support and appre ciation for the actions the Ca nadian government has taken. Canada and Estonia are allies, like-minded countries with the same understanding of what is happening around Ukraine, who is the aggressor and who is defending its sovereignty. Finally, … I am going to say two words you all know. And you know the response. I am asking you to respond to these words with all your strength and as one – your clear and resolute voice that reaches the Kremlin’s walls and delivers our message of commitment and resolve: SLAVA UKRAINE! SLAVA GEROJAM!
EESTI ELU reedel, 11. märtsil 2022 — Friday, March 11, 2022
with around 100 full-time employees currently, including a small video production team. His latest television series, Rick Steves’ Europe, has been on the air since the year 2000, touring towns, cities, and rural areas with a delivery that is col loquial, affable, and inquisitive about each corner of Europe. Estonia found its way into his Scandinavia guidebook and Rick Steves Snapshot St. Peters burg, Helsinki & Tallinn later on. However, it wasn’t until episode 610 of the latest TV series that he brought Estonia to the screens of viewers at home. Steves begins his tour in Helsinki, before taking the approximately two hour ferry to Estonia’s capital. Here, the initial impression he gives of Estonia is based on comparison, calling Tallinn and Helsinki “Baltic Sisters.” In both cities, he talks about the combination of Scandinavian and Russian influences. He briefly discusses the history of Estonia’s occu pations, including a local’s take on the eavesdropping that once took place at Hotell Viru. This man also explains what happened during the Singing Revolution. These topics are not
with many actively looking for work as soon as possible, said Anu Viltrop, head of the Estonian Refugee Council. The Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund has created a website with wanted ads for Ukrainians. Over 700 compa nies have registered, while only around 25 percent have posted job offers, said Katrin Liiva mets, head of the fund’s job seekers and employers unit. “Employers often tell us that while they don’t really have vacancies, they stand ready to offer people coming from Ukraine work to help them out,” she said. One obstacle is that refugees can only be hired based on short-term employment regula tion. The conditions are not a good fit for many companies as other than seasonal employees, almost every position has to pay at least the national average salary, Liivamets pointed out. The European Union last week decided in principle to implement a temporary protec tion mechanism for refugees that would equate them to per manent residents in many areas. The Unemployment Insurance Fund hopes the first corres ponding residence permits will be issued in the next week or two. Want ads for Ukrainians are available in all kinds of fields, while there is currently no over view of how they match up with the professional profile of refugees, Anu Viltrop said. “The people I talked to have a very diverse set of skills and know-how. And looking at wanted ads, also in our data base, they range from seasonal work to top specialist postings, for example, in the field of IT,” she said. “There are a lot of
When Rick Steves sets off for a destination, you will get a full dose of factoids and histori cal information. In contrast, more recent travel content creators such as Wolters World focus on the essential facts for getting around day-to-day: tran sit, currency and costs, accom modation, attractions to avoid, and recommended foods, for
example. Criticisms of Steves’ ap proach to providing travel infor mation include his focus on the quaint, and a firm perception of what is “authentic”, such that his fans have been known to flock to the spots he recom mends in large numbers. Rue Cler in Paris is one example of this phenomenon in the global travel community. Furthermore, in this TV program, more em phasis could have been placed on long-standing Estonian folk culture and culturally-rich locations outside of the capital. Though, it is challenging to rep resent every place and cultural concept when a show covers such a breadth of countries. If we are to use this episode as a barometer for his pro grams, one can acknowledge that Rick Steves gets to the nu cleus of what a place is about, while making his guidance as inviting as possible for a firsttime visitor. Indeed, it’s impres sive how many key points he touches on in under half an hour. It’s a service to each country, Estonia included, to spread knowledge to potential visitors and initiate a potentially lifelong fascination.
edly said that false information has been spread by Russia’s enemies such as the United States and its Western European allies in an attempt to sow dis cord among the Russian people. Lawmakers passed amendments to the criminal code making the spread of “fake” information an offence punishable with fines or jail terms. They also imposed fines for public calls for sanctions against Russia. “If the fakes lead to serious consequences then imprison ment of up to 15 years threat ens,” the lower house of parlia ment, known as the Duma in Russian, said in a statement. The Duma outlined a scale of punishments for anyone deemed to have discredited the armed forces, with stiffer penalties for those who intentionally spread fake information or called for unsanctioned public action. The amendments, which could not be viewed by Reuters on the Duma website, appear to give the Russian state much stronger powers to crack down. “Literally by tomorrow, this law will force punishment – and very tough punishment – on those who lied and made state ments which discredited our armed forces,” Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said. President Vladimir Putin said the “special military operation” was essential to ensure Russian security after the United States enlarged the NATO military alliance to Russia’s borders and
supported pro-Western leaders in Kyiv. Russian officials do not use the word “invasion” and say Western media have failed to report on what they cast as the “genocide” of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine. The amend ments have to be approved by the upper house of parliament before going to Putin to be signed into law. Russian oppo sition leaders have warned that the Kremlin could crack down on dissent after Putin ordered the operation. Russia’s communications watchdog also cut access to several foreign news organisa tions’ websites, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle, for spreading what it alleged was false information about its war in Ukraine. “Access has been restricted to a host of information re sources owned by foreigners,” the watchdog, known as Ros komnadzor, said in a statement. Russia has repeatedly com plained that Western media organisations offer a partial – and often anti-Russian – view of the world while failing to hold their own leaders to account for foreign wars such as Iraq and corruption. Britain’s BBC said access to accurate information was a fundamental human right and it would continue its efforts to make its news available in Russia.
that the people who have ar rived so far seem to be some what better off than those yet to come. They are usually people with relatives, a network of contacts in Estonia, for example, family members of Ukrainians
already working in Estonia. They often have a place to stay and a local acquaintance who knows how things work. People who come later, accidentally so to speak, will take longer to get settled.”
A still from the Rick Steves’ Europe episode “Helsinki and Tallinn: Baltic Sisters.”
typical for a tourist’s overview. Steves’ evaluation of Tallinn includes a description of “pre served old world ambience”, the legacy of the city as a trading hub, and glimpses of daily life on the street and eat ing establishments. One un expected moment in his tour of Tallinn is when he discusses pieces on display at Kumu Art Museum. He describes 19th century romanticist paintings in Estonia, notes the nation’s synchronization with artistic
Russia fights back in information war with jail warning Reuters, March 2022 Russia’s parliament on Friday passed a law imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally “fake” news about the military, step ping up the information war over the conflict in Ukraine. Russian officials have repeat
tourism sector jobs, catering and accommodation, but also manufacturing, while employers are also looking for teachers, psychologists etc.” Many Ukrainians are looking for work independently. A beauty technician in Tallinn found work in a beauty salon just two days after arrival. Ukrainian women who used to work as nurses knocked on the door of a hospital in Ida-Viru County, and while they cannot work as full nurses because of language requirements, they can help out where possible. “Several have said they would like to find temporary work, unskilled labor that does not have to match their pro fessional profile. Many people believe and hope that they will be able to return in the coming weeks. They would not have come to Estonia if not for the war. Their focus is on finding a safe place for themselves and their family for as long as the war rages,” Liivamets said. She emphasized that employ ers must keep in mind that war refugees are in a crisis situation and it will take time for them to adjust to life in Estonia. “It is also our impression
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movements in other nations, and says that “Estonia was the only part of the USSR where pop art was recognized.”
