Independence Day 2008, some thoughts

In the late 1990’s, Toomas Hendrik Ilves came to the New York Estonian House, to present a speech for kultuuripäevad. My impression of Ilves’s speech was that when he made allusions to Estonians being “known” in the worldwide stage, he was reaching. He spoke about Carmen Kass, who was one of the world’s top models at the time, but then made mention of Mena Suvari, who albeit was one of my favorite actors in “American Pie”, even before I knew she was of Estonian descent. I interpreted foreign minister Ilves’s comments as ‘reaching,’ trying to tie anything remotely related to Estonia as part of his ‘agenda.’ After the speech, a representative from the Estonian consulate asked me what I thought about Ilves’s comments. I don’t recall my exact answer, but I think it was something akin to “Stop inhaling the whacky tabacky.” I told the consul, “I am an American goddammit, what Ilves just suggested is sacrilege.” Because, what välisminister Ilves suggested was that people of Estonian descent should repatriate to Estonia. My initial response to his suggestion was gut reaction. Having been a Boy Scout since age 11, I considered myself an American. That was the end of the conversation between me and the consul.

Flash forward to 2008, celebration in New York City of the 90th anniversary of Estonian independence. I find myself in a 3-way conversation with Edward Lucas and a guy who has repatriated to Estonia and is now an English teacher there. Teacher tells me, that he is very happy he has made the decision to move his family to his great-grandfather’s farm on one of the islands. I tell him that I am jealous of him and his decision. I must confess, that while I think Ilves is an idealistic nerd and a bit of a poindexter, he has articulated the needs of a nation well, and I’ve got his back. Maybe there really is something to his 'agenda.'