“Come to Estonia, they said. It will be easy, they said…”
Yes, you were told about the digital society, entrepreneurial spirit, independent minds, untouched nature, the cleanest air, the highest number of international supermodels per capita and much much more. But little did you know about all the other things…
The first event of Estonishing Evenings in May 2017 was called “How to survive in a new country?” It is time that we will listen to the stories of the expats who have actually survived – and what better occasion than the 10th birthday of Telliskivi Creative City!
How and why did they choose come to Estonia? What have been their biggest cultural shocks and learnings? How ‘estonianised’ have they already become?
Speakers
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Denise Fontoura
Singer and lyricist
Denise Fontoura is a singer and lyricist from Brazil based in Estonia since 2008. Her firsts steps in music were through hip hop and throughout the years and after living in Rio de Janeiro, she had the chance to expand her musical pallet. She is performing in a variety of bands ranging from traditional styles to modern ones, from Trip Hop, to afro-latin music, bossa nova and samba jazz.
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John C Sullivan
Lecturer
John C. Sullivan is a lecturer. His hobbies include making and eating Chili, being a rock legend in his own mind, geeking out on Sci-fi and lecturing all over the world have gotten in the way of his actually having a career. John has a nice voice. Come and meet him and the others on Sunday!
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Ken Saburi
IT specialist
Ken first arrived from Singapore to Estonia as a student back in 2012. A baffling decision to many, a spontaneous one for him. Physically surviving in Estonia was not a major challenge. However, realizing and witnessing first-hand the reality of the society beneath the digital marketing hype is more toilsome to one's psyche.
Worked, interacted and connected with locals from both extreme ends of the economic spectrum, Ken is constantly reminded that someone else in Estonia is having a more difficult time surviving as compared to the average foreigner.
Ken is currently working for an IT company in Tallinn.
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Manan Anwar
Visiting lecturer
Manan Anwar was born and raised in Pakistan. He came to Estonia in 2014 to study the Design and Engineering Program in TTU as an Erasmus Mundus Scholar. He finished his Masters Degree with honors and then went on to work as a Mechanical Design Engineer in Estonia. He is also a visiting lecturer in TTU and teaches Basics of Industrial Design to Bachelor students.
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Stewart Johnson
Stand-up comedian
Stewart Johnson is an American who has lived in Estonia for over two decades. He has witnessed the country's transition from a "former Soviet republic" into an international tech powerhouse. Fiercely patriotic of this country, this trained political scientist chose instead to work in comedy instead of government, because in his own words, "There's really not that much difference anyhow."
