Spontaneous Estonia: a freedom exercise
by João Lopes Marques ( Eesti keeles ) For a Portuguese who is raised in a culture of improvisation, The Netherlands was quite a traumatic home. There is a small word Dutch people love: "agenda." Still nowadays when I am planning things with my good friends in Amsterdam I have to allow one or two weeks. The most common sentence I heard while living in Amsterdam was "Let me check my agenda..." On top it seems they make it on purpose: the pronunciation must be very guttural so that underlines the rational power of the etym. "Agenda" is the Dutch — and Germanic, and Scandinavian — symbol of organization. I am also extremely cautious every time I pass by Vienna, Berlin or Zurich: life must be thought in advance and never ever cancel a meeting just because you are in bad mood, bumped into a ex-girlfriend or forgot about that national team match on TV. You risk losing a friend. This is why Estonian spontaneousness was quite a big surprise for me. Four y...