“I cannot say that the attitude towards the Russians has changed.” The story of a Russian woman living in Tallinn Russian woman Polina Knyr: Russian language is used equally with Estonian in Tallinn 04/07/2024, 16:08

Energetic

I’m from Gelendzhik, my last job was a remote support service. Then I was invited to Tallinn to work in another department, this was 5-6 years ago. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose information about the company.

Going alone was probably risky, but at the time I didn’t think it would be scary or lonely. Plus, a few guys I knew were moving out too. We used to work together online and in the office after we moved. That’s why I wasn’t afraid. But I’m not alone anymore; I got married yesterday. My husband is from Ozersk in the Chelyabinsk region. We were working at the same company and we met there.

closed

one hundred%

Personal archive of Polina Knyr

built-in card

We have Russian citizenship and a residence permit, which gives us the right to live and work. We decided that we did not want to change citizenship. You do not need a visa to travel around Europe with a residence permit, and all other visas are issued in the same way as with a Russian passport. But here we could not get a visa to other countries because we are either traveling around Europe or going to places where Russians do not need a visa.

Housing

When I moved, the company provided me with accommodation until I found my own place. Renting housing here is safe and easy, no one can deceive anyone regarding the rent. In about a week I found an apartment and moved in.

There are only a few websites advertising rentals in Estonia. It’s official, you don’t pay anyone upfront. You don’t have to worry about any scammers when renting or buying an apartment.

Impressions from Tallinn

I live in the very center of the Old Town. I always liked that Tallinn is a small, comfortable city and at the same time the capital. On one side is the Old Town, consisting of stone buildings, and on the other hand, Tallinn’s modern architecture is built in a very cool way. It already smells like Scandinavia. There is good investment in the city and it is developing quite rapidly.

closed

one hundred%

Personal archive of Polina Knyr

business for rent

I worked in recruiting for probably three years. When Covid hit, we worked remotely online. Since I couldn’t go anywhere, I wasted a lot of time and started learning facial massage. I liked this very much! I took online and offline courses, obtained a state diploma for professional training as a cosmetic esthetician, and continued to work constantly. Once the pandemic ended, I started getting clients and slowly everything started working for me. I decided to quit my job and start a new business.

open your own business

A year and a half ago I opened a beautiful facial massage studio in the center of Tallinn. Opening a business here is not difficult: everything can be done online, there are electronic signatures and other features. There is no bureaucracy. Managing a business and doing accounting is easy. I opened a studio, worked for a while and hired an employee. Renting the building costs around 960 Euros and utilities around 180 Euros.

closed

one hundred%

Personal archive of Polina Knyr

In general, I managed to earn money – it is not difficult if you can and want to work. I just didn’t approach it quite right. There was this desire, “Oh, I want a nice studio with big windows.” I didn’t research the business plan very deeply, I just roughly calculated on a napkin how much I could cover the expenses. At first I was enthusiastic, but then I realized I still needed to learn how to run a business. As a result, the process was so advanced that it was impossible to pause to learn and understand how to scale correctly. The studio had been in existence for about a year. And so I hit such a dead end that I decided to shut it down. First of all, for my personal well-being, so there is less stress. But I don’t rule out that at some point I’ll decide to reopen something.

Now I continue to give facial massages, I have an official company, but now I work online. In a closed club on Telegram, I show you how to maintain beauty and youth through personal care, how to massage yourself. I also keep a blog on Instagram (the owner of the company Meta is known as an extremist in Russia and is banned), where I talk about how to take care of yourself, the importance of personal care, all this you can do through it. not by pursuing love and instilled ideals and injections of “beauty”. Natural methods and health are everything to us. Through health comes beauty.

closed

one hundred%

Personal archive of Polina Knyr

I am grateful for the experience I gained working in the studio. It lasted a year and it was great, I have a lot of satisfied customers, all five are on Google Reviews, lots of positive comments. People still write that they want to come to the studio.

About Russians and Estonians

There are many Russian speakers here, “Russian Estonians” – many were born in Estonia and speak Russian, but not everyone knows Estonian. In my opinion, local Russians are different from people in Russia, but they are not at all like Estonians. But Estonians are much quieter and calmer.

In general, I liked the idea of ​​moving to Estonia because it is easy to integrate here. Most Estonians know Russian or speak English. Those who work in the service sector and even in government institutions speak Russian; for example, in the police, in hospitals or when doing some paperwork. We got married yesterday in Russian. That is, the Russian language here has always been almost on a par with Estonian, even signs on buildings and advertisements in cities near the border are voiced in Russian.

Now, unfortunately, schools teaching Russian in Estonia are being closed. However, you can always get advice in Russian when you call or come to all government institutions. I can’t say that the attitude towards Russians has changed noticeably in recent years. Maybe they speak Russian a little less in stores.

Of course, we had thoughts of returning to Russia. But here we have an apartment, a car, a job; There is no compelling reason for us to return.

language learning

I learned Estonian with various approaches: I started, I gave up. As a result, I learned this after a year of active study and received a certificate. Here it is necessary to obtain documents and a permanent residence permit.

Free time

We didn’t plan to go anywhere on our honeymoon; We were joking like we were on a honeymoon. We went to a cool house in the forest. There are many places like this in Estonia – you can get away from the city for half an hour or an hour and relax in a house surrounded by nature. We do such trips, we like to walk in the forest. This place is popular in the city where we go to play badminton. I also do yoga, just walk, visit cafes, beautiful places, movies. Standard free time – it seems to me like everyone else.

closed

one hundred%

Personal archive of Polina Knyr

car driving

I had a Russian driver’s license, I changed it to an Estonian driver’s license – you can travel around Europe with it. The penalties here are definitely different. In principle, it is quite easy to get a fine if you leave your car in the parking lot without checking the application. Because here (at least in the center) there is paid parking everywhere, cars have to be parked online.

If you park your car, run to the store and come back, you will most likely face a fine of 20-40 Euros. Or if you forget to wear your watch while parking (there are 15 free minutes) and walk away for five minutes, they can easily fine you and you will have to pay. There is no such thing in Russia; If you pay the fine immediately or within a certain period of time, they give a 50 percent discount. It seems to me that the state earns quite a lot from fines. Although it is not just government, there are also private parking lots and they like to give fines too. They are pursuing this very actively.