Monday May 31, 2010

Today, the 31^st of May, Estonia welcomed us with clear skies and a moderate temperature on our first official day of classes outside the states. After walking nearly 10 miles yesterday, the group was ready to hit the classroom. After breakfast, we walked to the university campus to hear a lecture from Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute of Mainor Business School Dr. Andres Arrak. Dr. Arrak spoke on the current economic position of Estonia in comparison to other countries in the EuroZone and around the world. He argued for Estonia’s flat tax system, which has spread over Eastern Europe, and also lectured on issues such a economic freedom, income taxes, labor wages, employment, and life quality to name a few. After his presentation, all 14 of us crossed the street to a shopping center to eat lunch. We decided on a place called Vapiano’s, which is a pasta/pizza bar. Immediately after lunch, we boarded buses and went to our first company visit of the trip. Eesti Energia is an energy company that focuses on mining and extracting usable fuel from oil shale, and producing and selling the power they derive from it. They have operations in Estonia, Jordan, the U.S., and a few others. Eesti Energia is completely owned by the government and it has some of the most advanced technology in the world in the field of oil shale production. After our company visit, we were done for the day. Dreading the long walk back to the dorm, a few of us chose to stop in a nearby sports retailer to purchase a soccer ball. They did not carry American footballs. With the class work over and time to kill, some people slept off the hangover that is still prevalent from the drastic time change, some chose to visit Old Town, and others fiddled their thumbs. The group split up for dinner, but met up later at a local hotspot called Hell Hunt (a.k.a Gentle Wolf). Today was a long day, full of new experiences and great conversation. We thank Dr. Arrak for sharing his knowledge and time with us, and we also thank the people at Eesti Energia for sharing all their secrets.