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EESTI ELU reedel, 3. juulil 2020 — Friday, July 3, 2020
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Kid’s Corner: Activities to Stay Cool in the Summer Vincent Teetsov It’s hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk these days, and while a year isn’t quite complete without a few after noons that make you wilt, we could all do with some relief. Something entertaining that will cool you off at the same time. Here are a few activities for kids and their families to enjoy together. 1) Veepommi lahing ja jooks (water balloon battle/race): Anyone can throw a water balloon and get someone soaked... but can you carry one delicately on a spoon without dropping and breaking it first? This game is a test of balance, speed, and then aim. First of all, choose a long space that you can run across; maybe with a few trees at the end to hide and dodge behind. Choose a start and finish line. Everyone stands at the start line with a wooden or metal spoon. Fill up each water bal loon so that it’s reasonably full, but still able to fit on a spoon. Make sure everyone’s balloon has the same amount of water in it so that it’s fair. Then, on the count of three, players must run down to the end of the playing field with the spoon in their hand, taking care to not drop the balloon. Once you reach the end of the field, you can take aim and launch a
balloon at one of the other players. If you get hit, you’re out. Repeat the relay until there is just one person left who hasn’t been hit – that’s where those trees come in handy! Make the race even more chal lenging by putting the spoon between your teeth as your run (just make sure you’re the only one who uses it). 2) Omatehtud puuviljamahla popsiklid (homemade fruit juice popsicles) If you can find them at the grocery store or online, get a few popsicle molds. Then get a few containers of different fruit juices. Try some fruit flavours that you might find in Estonia, like kirss (cherry), jõhvikas (cranberry), must sõstar (black currant), õun (apple), and ploom (plum). If you’re feeling extra adven turous and want to make a bit of a mess, get the fruit that these juices are made of and make it yourself. Kids can wash the fruit, cut it into pieces, and then drop it in the blender with some water. Then, an adult can close the lid, plug the blender in, and blend until the contents are thinned out and mixed together. Try mixing some un expected flavours together to see what they taste like. Plum and tangerine? Why not! Pour it in the molds and store them in the freezer for three to four hours. You can even drop in some fresh herbs like mint,
spices like cinammon, melted chocolate, or some small pieces of fruit in the mold (and eat them as the popsicles melt). 3) Joogiklassi sümfoonia (drinking glass symphony) You can do this in the shade or inside where it’s cooler. Take as many drinking glasses as you can find and fill them up with water at different levels. See which notes are made when you move your finger around the edge of the glass. To make the note higher, pour some water out of the glass; to make the note deeper, add more water. A greater volume of water causes the glass to vibrate slower and the slower sound waves are per ceived by our ears as a lower pitch. Less water causes the glass to vibrate faster. This also works if you gently tap the glasses with a spoon. Pick a melody from a song that you like, maybe “Sauna taga tiigi ääres” or “Kuldne õhtupäike”. Once you choose the song, find the main notes that you’ll need and arrange your water glasses in an order that will make it easy to re member the melody. You can write numbers corresponding to each glass on a piece of paper and then use that as a memory prompt. Practice a few times and then perform for everyone. Enjoy the long sunny days as much as you can, winter will be here before you know it!
Almost every other driving test in Estonia ends in failure ERR, Hanneli Rudi Since February 1, driving tests in Estonia no longer count the number of tries and maneuvers made during the test, instead what is important is that three exercises are completed within ten minutes. Even though the tests should be easier and less stressful, results have not significantly improved. Daniil, who got his license on his second attempt, told ETV’s daily affairs show “Aktuaalne kaamera” on Sun day: “It is a great rule, because it takes the stress off. You no longer have to think about how many tries you have left and if you have to hurry. Now you can do everything more or less calmly because you have time.” He failed his first test in June because he was counting on others in traffic. The young man said he had noticed the traffic sign but was not able to read it: “The driver in front accelerated and I thought I had to catch him, I exceeded the speed limit and that was that.” He thought the most critical part of a test is to not get frus trated: “If you get even a little frustrated, make a mistake, then you will start to worry and the mistakes will start to add up.” Tarmo Vanamõisa, head of the examination department of
the Road Administration (Maan teeamet), said tests had to be made more modern because the exercises and grading scale had become dated. Vanamõisa added: “The test did not get any easier, if I do say so myself. “The fact that we gave people more chances and freedom during the test to adjust or to find a solution is working. But we still see a problem as people are not used to the freedom and still make mistakes.” According to Vanamõisa, driving school teachers who have not adjusted to the new rules play a part in this. He said: “We see it in park ing especially, people still try to reverse in between two cars, which is a dated solution. Any kind of logical thinking is miss ing from modern driving schooling.” Although the pandemic de layed driving tests, experience shows that ten minutes is enough to finish three exercises. An average of 5-6 minutes is usually taken and only a couple hundred of the 6,000 examinees end up struggling with time. The top five mistakes made during driving tests have re mained the same, with traffic lights continuing to be the main source of concern. Vanamõisa said: “If we take 6,000 examinees, then about a
thousand have ended up failing because they proceed to drive with a red light. Giving way on priority roads also continues to be an issue, meaning that when making a left turn, oncoming traffic is not let through.” Learners under the new system are just now reaching the tests but the initial results do not show any significant improvement. Vanamõisa added: “Firsttime examinees still pass on around 46-50 percent of cases, but the results of second and third-time passers have im proved by 15-20 percent. This shows that re-examinations are taken more seriously.” Ideally, two thirds of firsttime exam takers would pass the exam. Vanamõisa believes that the results will improve because learners under the new system are just reaching their exams. According to Vanamõisa, the higher the success rate, the shorter the queues for tests would be. To shorten queues, the Road Administration applied for a test that is ten minutes shorter than before. Vanamõisa said: “So the driving part would be 35 minutes and the whole test an hour. We applied for that to last for 180 days. The easiest answer is that we will see how it goes during that time.”
Photo: Mick Haupt
Preparations for referendum and 2021 elections must begin this summer ERR, June 2020 If a referendum on the Registered Partnership Act is to be held at the same time as the local elections in October 2021 then preparations must begin this summer, the Chair man of the National Electoral Committee has told Minister of Finance Martin Helme (EKRE). Chairman of the National Electoral Committee Oliver Kase has written to Helme about the plans for simul taneously organizing a referen dum and election next year. Organization must start soon, additional funding should be set aside and training given. Politicians from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE) have previously said they want to hold a referendum on the Registered Partnership Act, also known as the Co habitation Act, at the same time as the 2021 local elections. EKRE want the definition of marriage defined as being between a man and woman added to the constitution. The Registered Partnership Act al lows non-married couples to legally register their partner ship. The gender-neutral legisla tion, which was passed in 2015, establishes a legal situation similar to a civil partnership. Same-sex couples cannot get legally married in Estonia but same-sex couples can register their partnerships under the Registered Partnership Act. Kask noted the next local government council elections will take place in Estonia on October 17, 2021, and the coa lition agreement of the current government also allows for a referendum to be held. “The decision to hold a re ferendum is within the compe tence of the Riigikogu and the
The length of exams going forward will be assessed when the high season for tests is over in a few months. For someone teaching their close ones how to drive, Vanamõisa first recommends going back to driving school.
Riigikogu has not made such a decision. If the Riigikogu decides to hold a referendum, it will involve time- and resourceintensive organizational work. Consequently, the Na tional Electoral Committee will in form you in advance of the preparation and processing of the draft state budget for 2021 of the legal and organizational circumstances that must be taken into account in the simul taneous organization of local elections and referendum,” the letter said. In local elections, the num ber of people entitled to vote is larger than in a referendum as all residents and EU citizens over the age of 16 legally living in Estonia, not only citizens, can vote. But in a referendum, only Estonian citizens can vote. Estonians living abroad can also vote in both. “In addition to the local elec tions and the referendum, people must be sufficiently informed in advance about its existence or absence in order to avoid confu sion and resentment on voting days. This means more infor mation than in previous elec tions,” Kask emphasized. Secondly, Kase said, there are significant differences in the organization of voting. “The norms under which polling station commissions and ballot counting commissions are formed differ in local elections and referendums. The circle of persons who may belong to these committees and submit proposals for the members of the committees also differs. Therefore, separate polling station commissions must be set up for local elections and re ferendums, although the mem bership of the commissions may overlap,” Kask said.
He concluded: “Please visit a driving school first, sit in the car for an hour or two, talk to the teacher and figure out what’s actually going on in traffic nowadays. Incorrect maneuvers always come out during a test.”
