Coming of Age: Tartu, August 2006
Steve Appleton
About the Author:
Steve was raised in Red Deer, Alberta and is the eldest son of Don and Yvonne Appleton. He has spent 27 years in the Canadian Army, serving in Germany, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He retired in March 2005 as a Colonel.
Since then, Steve has served as a Project Manager for the International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, for NATO, and he is presently serving with the UN as the Head of the road construction effort for that country.
Steve holds degrees in civil engineering, an MBA, and a Masters degree in strategic studies.
He has been married for 23 years and has two daughters. The older daughter is 19 years of age and in third year at the University of Calgary. The younger daughter is 16 years of age and in Grade 11 in Calgary.
I am honoured to be asked to share my experiences while in Estonia serving as a Senior Lecturer for the Baltic Defence College. I have been fulfilling this duty for the past three years where I instruct in the subjects of international strategy and strategic studies. The fact that a NATO sponsored Defence College was located in Tartu, Estonia was originally a surprise to me, not being familiar with its exact location. Three years later, I can say that the selection of Estonia was visionary, and the selection of Tartu, as I shall relate below, was magnificent.
The road trip to Tartu, after arriving in Tallinn via London, Dubai, and originally Kabul, Afghanistan, reminded me of two places where I previously resided. Firstly, the landscape, green and rich with agriculture, could have been a snapshot of anywhere in Canada. Looking about I saw the beauty of a countryside full of life and activity. Estonia also reminded me of Germany; the development of the road system, infrastructure, and traffic signs, spoke to me as if I was once again traveling along the infamous Autobahn in Germany back in the 1980s.
This mental picture of Estonia was an interesting mélange of images. Both images, very powerful in their own right, yet calming, beautiful, and highly impressive when brought together.
As we arrived in Tartu, the familiar sites of cobblestonee streets, parks, and Toome Hill emerged. The combination of old Gothic buildings and new highrises spoke of the emergence of a city and people that were moving forward into the 21st Century, whilst recognizing and appreciating the uniqueness of their heritage. Tartu is a university town; the University of Tartu is well recognized in this region of the world as a leading institution in education, from medicine to astronomy, from KJ Peterson to FR Faehlmann.
The city also features both a new city centre and an old town. Believed to have been established in the 13th Century, the Old Town within Tartu features such historic jewels as the St. John`s Church with its terracotta decorations, the Town Hall, and the trapezoid-shaped marketplace. The new city centre was, in part, built after the Second World War, when almost 50% of the buildings in Tartu were destroyed. Today, the new city centre features the Tartu Art Building, the Vanemuine Theatre, the popular Wilde pub, and the Emajõe Business Centre. In the daytime, the streets are full of vibrant, healthy looking Estonians, youthful in appearance, and surprisingly familiar with the English language.
In my opinion, the most impressive feature of the Town Hall is the monument built in 1998 of a young couple kissing. Situated in the midst of a circular water fountain, this monument captures the spirit and youthfulness of Tartu, if not all of Estonia. To view the couple is to think of the future and the opportunities that exist for those willing to strive forward. I am told that a competition is held every year to see how long participating couples can maintain the exact pose of the sculpture. The event is reportedly hugely popular with all Estonians.
This does not surprise me. It is evident to a visitor, such as me, that all Estonians have embraced the theme of the passionate monument: the desire to move forward and create opportunity in a new era.
