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EESTI ELU reedel, 9. oktoobril 2020 — Friday, October 9, 2020
Filmmaker Helga Merits: “It became clear once more how precious time is”
Lea Kreinin Helga, you visited Estonia this winter, just before the corona panic started. I was in Estonia at the end of January, start of February, when it became clear that this new virus, corona, might become a real threat to many people. Within a few days all face masks were sold out. A Chinese couple, tourists, staying in a hotel in Tallinn, were taken to a hospital for turning up late for breakfast. People coughing got a suspicious look. Returning to Holland I was still optimistic or naïve, or both, about my possibilities to travel to the US and Canada in the month of May. So, in February, I was organising my trip to Seabrook for recording a second round of interviews. I would have also gone to New York, Chicago, then to Toronto for the whole month of August. Especially when the situation in Italy became so alarming and numbers of people who had
coronavirus in Holland were rising in March, it was clear that travel was no longer possible. The Corona has closed down the whole world. How has life been in Holland? There was a lockdown in Holland, but happily we could still go out for a walk. The centre of Amsterdam was so quiet and with spring starting, the fresh green on the trees, the silence because of the lack of tourists, of traffic, it was beauti ful. I cycled several times to a park at the edge of Amsterdam where there is usually so much noise from planes flying over that it is no longer a nice place, but without the sounds of air craft engines, it was possible to enjoy the landscape and it was again a great place to be. I work mostly at home, so at the start not that much changed for me, but the archives were closed and for me travel is es sential. Though USA was not possible, I still hoped I could come to Toronto for the month of August. In June, the Euro pean Union started to work on a list of countries to which one could safely travel to. At the end of June, early July, I waited for this list. The negotiations were still going on. Finally it was published and to my great joy Canada was on the list, but then Canada decided to keep its borders closed. During the month of July, I hoped for a change, but none came.
But I could go to Estonia. I wanted to use my time for work, for writing, but it became mostly a holiday. What interesting things did you do in Estonia? I couldn’t stay with my aunt in Tartu, who is 90, as we had to keep her safe, but I could stay in the countryside, not far from Tartu, at a friend’s place. There was a small river near by for swimming, but my friend also took me to different lakes, to the seaside, to the forests for mushroom and blueberry pick ing, all traditional Estonian activities I had not done before. Travel to Estonia became a discovery of the countryside as such a peaceful and quiet place, with the changing of light at sunset, also a magical place. And in certain ways a healing place as well, as in nature it doesn’t matter who you are, what you are – you can just be. Thanks to Epp Sonin, I could also stay in Tartu. With some one of the Pallas Art School, we discussed a plan about giving a workshop there in the autumn. Again, my time schedule became most difficult as by that time, due to the rising numbers of people with corona in Holland, it was not
Language Lounge: Vanasõnad from Virumaa Vincent Teetsov Across Lääne-Virumaa and Ida-Virumaa, two counties that used to be one under the name Virumaa, there is a pro liferation of local vanasõnad (“proverbs”), balanced with an awareness of linguistic impact from Finnish and Russian. Anneli Baran-Grzy bek (Senior Researcher at the Estonian Literary Museum) gathered together a large col lection of these. Together with the research of folklore scholar Arvo Krikmann, this collec tion indicates that Virumaa has among the largest number of their own vanasõnad of any region in Estonia. Many of these are connected to folk songs. Among the collection of say ings that spring up and vary from town to town, a few from the former kihelkond (“parish”) of Viru-Jaagupi stood out as connecting to sayings that we use in English, along with a few that maybe we need to import into our conversations: Kolm on iga asjale hea. (“Three is good for every thing.”): Three is an auspicious
number. It plays a part in spiri tual beliefs, with the trinity in Christianity for example. The symbol of the triskelion ap peared in Ancient Greece, and also emblazons the flag of the Isle of Man. The number three shapes science and engineering in the form of the triangle. Then there’s the saying “The third time is the charm.” Aside from symbolic appearances, three denotes a certain kind of perseverance. It dispels the no tion of a “natural” who imme diately succeeds at a complex task from the first attempt. Goldilocks found the third bowl of porridge to be just the right temperature after two that weren’t satisfactory. Three is good for everything because it ties us to stories, with begin nings, middles, and ends. Stories themselves guide our own behaviour so that we don’t make the same mistakes as characters we hear about. Igal maal ise viis, igas kohas ise kombed. (“Every country has its own way, every place has its own customs.”): This vanasõna has echoes of the say ing “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, which has been
clear when I could return. You are currently working on an exciting new project. Perhaps you could shed some light on it? This autumn, it still is not possible to travel to Canada and now also not possible to travel to Estonia. But research can be done, as I can do it partly from home. One of the projects I work on is about Seabrook Farms, which I mentioned as one of the places I had wanted to go to. It was a place where some 900 Estonians from the refugee camps in Germany came to live. At Seabrook Farms, many nationalities, people with dif ferent backgrounds and cultures, lived together. The largest group were the Japanese Americans who had been interned during the first years of the war and had been looking for a new place to live. The second largest group were the Estonians. There were also some 200 Latvians. Valdis Basins was raised there as well. He was a Latvian-American and one of the few who was truly clear about his identity. He remem bered much of the life at Seabrook Farms and knew a lot about its history.
mals like donkeys, horses, and oxen. On one hand, it could be attributed to Saint Augustine of like the English saying “hold on Hippo. For the people of West for dear life”, uttered when tur and East Virumaa, sitting on the bulence and danger are ahead. route that leads to Russia and In times past, health and wealth being able to look across the were uncertain for those who Gulf of Finland creates an acute worked the land, due to less- awareness of different national advanced medicine and bad harvests for instance. In cases and regional customs. Estonia has its own language that con like these, we hold onto and trasts heavily from even the appreciate people and things Finnish that it is grouped that are precious to us. We together with in the Finno- brace ourselves. On the other hand, imagine Ugric language family. We’re reminded of these differences you spent years looking for a that are to be acknowledged and significant other in a small town respected to maintain friendly and finally someone came relations between visitors and around that you clicked with, and you didn’t want anyone hosts wherever they may be. Aeg parandab haavad, aga else to divert their romantic jätab armid. (“Time heals interests away. Well, then you’d wounds, but leaves scars.”): really yoke them to you! Have you ever been comforted Kuera ei ole, haugu ise. with the saying “Time heals all (“There is no dog, bark your wounds”? This version is a little self.”): The spelling of the word bit more honest about ex “dog” (koer) in this phrase periences that cause more appears to be augmented for the permanent trauma. Pain can be local dialect. If Estonians have overcome, but we may be a succinct ode to self-sufficiency, reminded of it from time to this would be it. True to time. It doesn’t have to scare Estonian humour, it’s a very us, though; it can teach us and direct and dry statement. When enrich joyful moments. you want something to be done, Igalühel ikke oma kallis. you can’t expect others to do it (“Everyone yoke their dear.”): for you. At least not all of the Yokes hold together farm ani time. Estonians aren’t afraid of
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He suddenly passed away in May. It was not because of corona. It was a shock because it was unexpected and I had hoped to see him in May, then September, not knowing yet it would have to be next spring. It became clear once more how precious time is. Together with Rein Kirss, I work on a project about the Finnish Boys (Soomepoisid). We had recorded interviews with seven Finnish Boys last autumn. We had hoped to meet in Estonia this summer to work together, but Rein, who lives in the US, couldn’t come to Estonia. What are your future plans? It is hard to sit at home and wait until travel will again be possible. There are so many people I would like to see again, to meet, to talk and to hug, yes, that would be nice as well. But I know that for many people the pain will be greaterr and the feeling of powerless ness bigger. There is still the need to be patient to remain optimistic and to be creative by staying in touch in many different ways. Happily, there are now various possibilities. This makes it pos sible for me to continue with all my research. I would like to invite every one who could help with either the Seabrook Farms or Finnish Boys (and girls) projects to contact me. I’m looking for memories, stories, diaries, pic tures, information, everything that might help to make the films. Hopefully next spring, it will again be possible to meet every one in person whom I couldn’t see this year.
getting their hands dirty and breaking a sweat to accomplish their goals. Conversations and spoken traditions like these roll off the tongue and are taken for grant ed. At least as far as English goes, proverbs and idioms may become “clichés” that are ac tively avoided in the written word. Yet, if you were to hike from Tapa to Narva and speak with the locals, you’d come across quite a few emeralds of wisdom and humour; and you never know when they’ll come in handy.
A book of vanasõnad. Photo: vanajahea.ee
