“Estonian girl reading a magazine,” my Belgian friend sent me a picture she had taken of me a year ago and published on the Internet. Estonian??? By my first blog-post about Europe I want to point out two things: (1) who I am and where I come from and (2) what different interpretations I have received about me – in truth, Latvian from Latvia living in (to my mind) most mixed and apparently confusing region in the EU – the Baltics.
“Are you from Latvia? Oh, your country is really good at basketball! I remember watching some games,” a well known Slovenian musician accidently met on a street in Ljubljana wanted to show his awareness of….sorry, Lithuania. “Are you going back to Lithuania,” my friend asked me when I was heading to the airport after TH!NK ABOUT IT launch event…
I think that it’s just polite for an EU citizen to know where approximately all the 27 EU countries are geographically located or…at least to know that they are independent. But I got shocked when my Finnish flat mate asked about the Finnish people awareness of the Baltic States told me that Lithuania is almost unknown for middle-aged/old Finnish citizens. “Because it’s bordering with Kaliningrad (Russia) on the coast side of the Baltic Sea some people think one needs a visa to get to Vilnius,” was his answer.
Should this all be treated as a silly mistake? To tell the truth, even if I am used to be mixed with the two other Baltic countries in daily situations, I never expected it to happen in an official level. Last year Lithuanian football players were playing in Czech Republic and to welcome them Latvian national anthem was played and Latvian flag was hanged out. Sad, but true…and it seems that even the EU hadn’t helped much to raise people’s awareness of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as separate countries with individual cultures and traditions. The common Baltic basket is still used to talk about them in media and elsewhere.
And the question still remains open: is it anybody’s fault or is it just the Baltic destiny?
(17 votes, average: 3.18 out of 5)
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Well, try answering the question Yourself- name all th Balkanise states. Well, perhaps You can, but most people don’t.
I guess that’s the faith of small nations. Plus, we- the Baltic states still tend to struggle each on its own- take any market: from light production, to finances, to agriculture.. and even for show business- no common policy and separate markets with tight boarders.
Ps. I am also Latvian; also a baller; also often mistaken for Lithuanian or even Swedish (not yet Estonian lol)
Well, try answering the question Yourself- name all the Balkanise states. Well, perhaps You can, but most people can not
I guess that’s the faith of small nations. Plus, we- the Baltic states still tend to struggle each on its own- take any market: from light production, to finances, to agriculture.. and even for show business- no common policy and separate markets with tight boarders.
Ps. I am also Latvian; also a baller; also often mistaken for Lithuanian or even Swedish (not yet Estonian lol)
Oh God, this is a really annoying incident. From afar the mistake of Baltic and Balkan difference, but also that you mentioned. I think this is poverty of the people, not a destiny, because this is not a secret, it is easy to get the information that the Baltic states expression refers to 3 sovereign countries in Northen Europe, and it is also easy to get their names. They are culturally and linguistically related to each other, but they are not the same.
Well their names have similar soundings but you know - as for me - the all time favourite is the Budapest-Bucharest thing, and also the “I’m from Hungary.” - “oh, so you’re hungry?” discussion (:
Or the case with Slovakia and Slovenia:
http://www.ljubljana-life.com/ljubljana/slovenia-slovakia
:)))
“Plus, we- the Baltic states still tend to struggle each on its own- take any market: from light production, to finances, to agriculture.. and even for show business- no common policy and separate markets with tight boarders.”
Maybe that’s a problem that the common history of the Baltic States is longer than the Indenpendence years after 1991 and that’s why many Europeans still think of Baltic countries from historical point of view….and I think it also shows a problem of not having a certain image of a country …Ok, Estonia is known for being an e-country and that’s good for their image, but Latvia? A land that sings? The same is said about Estonia and Lithuania…
Well, I don’t think that there is a special image except the one I am sorry about- cheap and cute girls.
And the slogan “country that sings” was not gradually evolved externally. It was designed by particular company and brought online. I don’t think that countries image can be transformed artificially.
Here’s another one for you. Thursday 12th february Belgium played Slovenia in a friendly football match…
“The match started off on the wrong foot when the organisers played the wrong national anthem. They played the Slovak national anthem instead of the Slovene anthem. At halftime the right national song was apparently found, and played. By then the Belgians were ahead 1-0.”
Shit happens often … it just ain’t funny when it’s your country’s anthem that is being misplayed :). One of the historic moments in Maltese sporting history occured when still under British Colonial rule. During an international friendly between a Malta XI and Austria the band played “God Save the Queen” for Malta. At that point the crowd stood up and sang the Maltse anthem instead… moving… really.
:)), Sorry for laughing but it’s actually a film story.
yeah, Slovenia and Slovakia also seems to be a difficult point. It just makes me think about the awareness of EU citizens about EU countries - EU which is called home for EU citizens…
Well, I’m not surprised of this thing happening with the Baltic countries, but I was surprised of the fact that when I was in France they didn’t see any difference between the Nordic countries, for them it was all the same, so it didn’t really matter if I came from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland or Denmark. I was always the norwegian girl and so on…but really rarely they got it right, I’m almost sure they never got it right, unless I explained where I came from. And even after doing this I guess they couldn’t care less.
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