The Economist in 1998 on the fact that many Tallinners speak fluent Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language closely related to Estonian.
Silence is golden.
What has saved us from being overwhelmed by other cultures is disbelief about the things the world babbles on to us about. Estonians always doubt the values being offered to them without becoming too dramatic about it. My strongest arguments with Estonians have been conducted on their side in terms of icy politeness. So while history and nationalism in Eastern Europe over the past eight years have indeed given birth to frogs and snakes, they have also produced a few swans. Nowhere else in the world would one find three such small neighboring countries without an acceptable common language.