Denmark. I am treated and have a rest

Unfortunately, I missed both Copenhagen and Stockholm…

We arrived there late at night, by bus. We had to pay for the bus in krones, and we didn’t have krones, there was no exchange and no ticket offices at the

station… So we were standing not knowing what to do. We were rescued by an absolutely wonderful woman, who, having walked around the whole station with us, just wanted to give us the money for the ride. We persuaded her to simply exchange us some euros.:)

The road sign for cyclists
The road sign for cyclists

Our host turned out to be a short springy old man, who accompanied us to the apartment, showed us the kitchen, the bathroom, left us the keys, and we never saw him again. 😀 Until our departure, the old man only communicated with us through Watsupp, and we just shut the door before leaving. This independent lifestyle pleased me a lot, as I was still sick. Sveta walked around the city, and I doctored myself at home. On the plus side, I was then going to Germany as a healthy person.:)

We walked along the central streets a little, and were surprised by the unending flow of cyclists! Europe has separate traffic lights for cyclists, they are lower and smaller than the usual ones. And when they are green, it is as difficult to cross the street as a general traffic way.

Sveta told me about the mermaid statue and the ancient mill. That the city is beautiful and that she had met deaf people from Germany in the city center.

I believed her and hoped to come back here again without fail.:)

I hoped to see the Andersen Museum and take a photo of myself with the mermaid.

And for now, our way is leading us further. Welcome us, Germany!)

A little bit about Danish schools

The Danish school also didn’t answer to our email, so we had to come uninvited. The principal greeted us perplexedly, and said that she had seen the email, but decided not to answer. She said that they didn’t have any time at all at the moment.

Nevertheless, as we showed up there anyway, we were allowed to observe one lesson.:)

There is no school for deaf children in Copenhagen. Like in Helsinki, the school was disbanded, and the remaining

classes were transferred to an ordinary school. So, there are 19 deaf children studying at the school, and these are 2-3 classes. All the classes have children of various ages.

Schoolyard
Schoolyard

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A school in Sweden. Unsuccessful attempt

Sweden turned out not very hospitable: the school didn’t respond to my emails, and when we visited it, it refused to cooperate. The associate principal said that she doesn’t know anything at all (she works in this school!) and suggested that I email another woman. We didn’t have much time, so we decided not to wait for the answer and to travel on.

However, I can still say a few words. The school for children with hearing loss is situated within an ordinary general education school.

The shape of the school is almost a closed circle with many entrances, which confused us.) This is another very big school! And I keep being surprised at huge automatic doors made of glass and metal with intricate locks.

The restroom for children
The restroom for children

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Sweden

A travel buddy

Yay me! I got a travel buddy who joined me in Sweden.:)

So, now we are two.

My travel buddy and companion is a great girl called Sveta. She is born deaf, and we communicate using a sign language. Sometimes, I get really stuck, and Sveta has to repeat her sentence for me again and again… But she keeps patient! I hope that after three months of travel my language level will get higher.)

We will travel together through Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Then Sveta will return to Saint Petersburg, and I will go to sunny Italy.)

So… I’m not alone, and it has become even more fun to travel.:)

Sveta
Sveta

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Adventures at the airport

I decided to fly from Finland to Sweden, and it couldn’t go without an adventure. The lane was low cost, and my backpack didn’t fit into hand baggage at all

“You need to pay 50 euro for the baggage to the ticket office, and then come back for the ticket,” the airport clerk told me happily.

“What dimensions must the hand baggage have?”

“It must fit into this box.”

There was a compact plastic box in front of me.

After deciding that I need all the money I have, I went to dress up. I took my sleeping bag out of the backpack and folded it down into a separate bag, then I put on my voluminous fleece coat and run my fingers through the rest of my belongings. I drew the straps tighter and pressed the top lid closer to the backpack. It turned out not bad at all.

Working place at the airport
Working place at the airport

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Visit to Helsinki school again

I already wrote about education for children with hearing loss in Helsinki (Finland), when I was there in May. You can see my notes here.

It’s worth reminding you that there is no school for deaf children in Helsinki. It was disbanded several years ago, and now there are only special classes for children with hearing loss at an ordinary school. So, the children are partially integrated. Despite these children being in separate classes and having special program, all of the students are together at breaks, festivities and tours.

At the entrance of the classroom
At the entrance of the classroom

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Finland again

I probably won’t write about Finland a lot for the second time. Little has changed there since May.) However, at least it didn’t snow there this time!

It rained instead. But I like Helsinki anyway. There’s almost nothing interesting there on the main streets, but turn to back alleys and you’ll certainly come across an incredibly beautiful music shop with vinyls, a small library, where you can sit for hours, or a Chinese restaurant, where you’ll be the only and the most honorable guest.

Fur seal
Fur seal

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Life in Tallinn

Estonia favored me with sudden adventure and pouring rain.

Despite the marvelous trip to Tallinn, every night there I risked staying outside. The person I was supposed to stay with was suddenly leaving the city. At night. An hour before my arrival. Other times, my plans changed and I didn’t have time to reach the meeting point… Something happened all the time.) Finally, I spent one night in one place, the second one in another, and the last two at a hostel. I started thinking that I was socializing too much, and I could stay at a hostel without talking…:)

By the way, the hostel…

Backpaker’s United Hostel. Its location is perfect: 5 minutes, and you are by the fortress, 6 minutes, and you reach the main square. I wish it had a clothes dryer.) Due to a lot of people staying, my clothes didn’t dry, and I had to put them wet into my backpack. However, there are very kind people working there, and they are always ready to help. They only speak English. If you are

going to make a reservation, don’t be afraid of rooms with 10 and 16 beds. They are much more spacious, cleaner and better then the smaller rooms with 6 beds. Their price is only 10 euro per night, and you can have coffee and tea 24 hours a day. There is everything you need for life. You have free sightseeing tours every day, like at the hostel in Riga.

All in all, I liked Tallinn very much. It impressed me by combining the incompatible. Before, we had two-storey wooden blocks for multiple apartments in many places, and now there is almost none left. As for Estonia, half of Tallinn lives in blocks like this! Nevertheless, they have high-risers, business centers and hotels in the city center.

There is the impressive Square of Freedom, narrow streets… Very cozy small parks, a river and many fishermen. Sleepy ducks and, again, unusual sculptures.

There is an incredibly beautiful fortress! In Tallinn, there are the downtown and the upper district, Vyshgorod. There are several embassies, an administrative building and hotels there. But what matters most are the remains of an ancient fortress, a city wall and fortifications, the architecture… And from the top of the wall you can get an unbelievable view of red fairy-tale roofs and, very unexpectedly, of newly-built blocks glinting in the sun. Do you remember Andersen’s tales? There were the same wonderful roofs there. You can walk around Vyshgorod for a very long time, and find something new each time.

Life in a squat

These are the photos of the incredible place where I stayed one night in Tallinn. It’s a squat: a former big factory, every room of which is now taken by artists, actors and sculptors. It’s an astonishing place. I was lost for words to describe it! The photos won’t express everything. There’s high concentration of creativity and freedom of creative thought.

The Tallinn Marathon

A small life hack for those travelling light.)

Big cities often hold large-scale sports events. During these events, many companies advertize their products and allow customers to try them for absolutely free.)

When I was in Tallinn, I saw the International Tallinn Marathon. So, I managed to get a liter of some very healthy water with juice, candies, some vitamins, a first aid blanket… On the whole, I had a good walk. Take it into account.

The ferry Tallinn—Helsinki

You can get from Tallinn to Helsinki by ferry. It’s fast, not very expensive and very comfortable.

The ferry ride costs around 20 euro. It’s a huge five-storey vessel with restaurants, a lounge, bars and a casino. Live music plays there getting on your nerves. You

can sleep on a couch or watch the calm sea through a porthole.

It’s important to be attentive! The entrance to the ferry closes half an hour before the departure. And if you are buying a ticket over the Internet, you need to remember that it’s not a ticket… It’s a booking confirmation, which needs to be exchanged for a real ticket at the ticket office of the port.

Otherwise, there’s nothing special.

Both in Helsinki and in Tallinn, the ports are located within the city, you can reach them by foot, and buses run regularly there.

The school for deaf children in Tallinn

They were waiting for me here. I was lucky to find a school earlier, and I emailed them in advance. They invited me and scheduled the time.

The school is located near to the city center. It is an educational center and it comprises a school and a kindergarten. In one section, there study children with hearing loss, in another those with vision loss, and in the third those with speech loss.

School outside
School outside

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The Lithuanian sign language

Here is the first video from the trip!

The Lithuanian sign language. A couple of phrases and several basic words.

The heroine of this video is a deaf girl who graduated from school in Vilnius several years ago. Now she works together with her colleagues on creating a Lithuanian sign language dictionary.

I’m sharing the link to the dictionary again: http://gestai.ndt.lt/

P.S. Soon, we’ll film a video with the same material, but in the Russian sign language, to compare them.