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Post by Huntress on Aug 25, 2019 6:38:36 GMT -5
Meanwhile Tallinn is the only proper tourist hotspot in the country but said hotspot is literally just the Old Town. It's like a flytrap: it draws in all the tourists and keeps them nicely confined while the rest of the city goes about its business elsewhere.
So every now and again I'll see tourists on the bus we take home (home here meaning 'borderline Russian ghetto, but in a good way' as I like to call it) and I always wonder what their story is this time. Are they going on an adventure with a bus pass? Is their airbnb somewhere in the area? Are they trying to find their way to the Seaplane Harbor? Are they headed for the beach and nearby hiking trails? Are they just incredibly lost and slightly panicky? Are they looking someplace interesting to eat that wouldn't be ridiculously overpriced old town restaurants with their €5 beer? (I mean, we have a pretty awesome Azerbaijani restaurant in a nearby mall but good luck finding it if you don't know the area.)
...but then the contrast between the theme-parky Old Town and the places where people actually live is so stark that if I was a tourist, I'd probably also wander off on a crazy adventure just to see what the city is really like.
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Post by Celestial on Aug 25, 2019 14:17:12 GMT -5
Gelquie, Ginz ❤, both of you raise great points. Checking out the less touristy parts of a place is great and can easily be awesome! That said, it is hard to come to my home city without planning it. The capital of the country is six hours away by train (481 km/300 miles in terms of distance). So to go all that way just to come here, to see maybe a few parks, some "interesting" architecture and some museums and churches, just does not seem worth it. There's more interesting spots in Ukraine to go to. I am sure they had their reasons for being here. Admittedly, I am also very used to my city, despite its size and importance for industry and culture, being obscure and nobody outside Ukraine knowing of it. So I tend to be self-depricating about it.
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Post by Huntress on Aug 26, 2019 2:12:27 GMT -5
Gelquie , Ginz ❤ , both of you raise great points. Checking out the less touristy parts of a place is great and can easily be awesome! That said, it is hard to come to my home city without planning it. The capital of the country is six hours away by train (481 km/300 miles in terms of distance). So to go all that way just to come here, to see maybe a few parks, some "interesting" architecture and some museums and churches, just does not seem worth it. There's more interesting spots in Ukraine to go to. I am sure they had their reasons for being here. Admittedly, I am also very used to my city, despite its size and importance for industry and culture, being obscure and nobody outside Ukraine knowing of it. So I tend to be self-depricating about it. true story tho, if I was ever anywhere near Ukraine, I'd make a point of tracking down that specific city for the explicit purpose of finding that statue with the five dudes and the fridge. Granted, I'm a pretty weird tourist and then I'd also use the opportunity to squeeze you for all pointers for all worthwhile foodplaces/sights/equally weird landmarks in the area, and then it might just become a specific subset of "having people in the area".
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Post by Celestial on Aug 26, 2019 3:47:27 GMT -5
Gelquie , Ginz ❤ , both of you raise great points. Checking out the less touristy parts of a place is great and can easily be awesome! That said, it is hard to come to my home city without planning it. The capital of the country is six hours away by train (481 km/300 miles in terms of distance). So to go all that way just to come here, to see maybe a few parks, some "interesting" architecture and some museums and churches, just does not seem worth it. There's more interesting spots in Ukraine to go to. I am sure they had their reasons for being here. Admittedly, I am also very used to my city, despite its size and importance for industry and culture, being obscure and nobody outside Ukraine knowing of it. So I tend to be self-depricating about it. true story tho, if I was ever anywhere near Ukraine, I'd make a point of tracking down that specific city for the explicit purpose of finding that statue with the five dudes and the fridge. Granted, I'm a pretty weird tourist and then I'd also use the opportunity to squeeze you for all pointers for all worthwhile foodplaces/sights/equally weird landmarks in the area, and then it might just become a specific subset of "having people in the area". That statue no longer exists due to the massive wave of decommunisation that happened post-Maidan. Neither does Lenin point towards the toilets anymore. We do have a ridiculously tacky fountain of a jazz band of monkeys though. And one of the finest examples of constructivist architecture which, despite being very ugly, was not torn down due to the fact that it it literally indestructable. You're still welcome to come. We'll just take you to the dacha and stuff you with shashlik and fresh veggies until you can no longer move.
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Post by Gelquie on Aug 27, 2019 3:25:09 GMT -5
Honestly, given the variety in small towns, depending on what's there, it could be possible to wind up there out of interest. Especially if there are other towns nearby to visit that also have their own air of uniqueness. xD
(I also just get really bored with the Tourist Sell eventually. Long enough there, and I go "okay, but all the residents don't sing this song and dance all the time," and try to find someplace more humble and honest where I can actually get a feel for what the culture is like.)
-- When writing my to-do lists, I generally try not to make snarky remarks that would be ribbing if I didn't actually get it done. (Like, I don't go, "this is so super easy and you should get done with this no problem or else I don't know what to tell you you doofus face!", because if it turns out to be harder than I thought, stuff crops up, and/or my mental health takes a downturn, then what I told myself is an extra slap that's usually not as deserved as my brain makes it out to be. Especially since I'm not the greatest at estimating good workloads for myself.)
Even so, given the opportunity for an utterly obvious one, I just couldn't help it this time.
[Class] HW1 - Reading "It's 3 pages from a small book. You have 2 weeks to do it. C'mon."
(I suppose it'd be easy enough to forget about, but that's why I have a to-do list.)
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Post by Twillie on Aug 27, 2019 20:55:30 GMT -5
Why does the mini fridge in our dorm room constantly sound like it's suffering? >>;
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Post by Thorn on Aug 28, 2019 2:06:25 GMT -5
Me, webshopping: "Hey broski, do you have Nolzur's marvellous pigments?" Him: "Eh I dunno. I don't remember."
(Three hours pass)
Me: "It's right here...you literally just took the mini out and chucked the rest in this box of junk??!"
(The set contains primer though, which is very exciting news for me!)
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Post by Twillie on Aug 31, 2019 12:27:33 GMT -5
While driving earlier...
Squirrel: *starts crossing four lanes of traffic*
Me: D=
Squirrel: *reaches the other side of the street as seen from my rear view mirror*
Me: ='D
Between this and birds flying right in front of your car, why do animals insist on doing this.
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Post by Gelquie on Sept 1, 2019 4:43:33 GMT -5
I blinked, and now it's September.
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Post by Huntress on Sept 2, 2019 1:51:04 GMT -5
My Facebook 364 days of the year: a mishmash of politics of foreign countries, Mexican memes, completely baffling ads, various tumblr reposts and an overall glaring lack of any actual original content posted by my actual original facebook friends.
My Facebook today: hey by the way, there's a husky theme park farm an hour's drive from you and they're hosting a Christmas village event this year.
It's like panning gold. AND THE GOLD IS HUSKIES.
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Post by Gelquie on Sept 2, 2019 23:38:25 GMT -5
So I re-watched an anime recently, one that I liked even though I felt it had a problematic element to it. I was in the mood for it and needed the catharsis, so I put it on, while thinking "don't read too much into the problematic element, there are other things of value here."
And I realized that the element I interpreted as problematic... Is still kinda so, but it's much less problematic because I realized there was a whole other theme I didn't even consider before, and it really changes the perspective of that element and makes it make a whole lot more sense.
(Also, 8 years ago me: "This is a really neat story!" Now me: "This is a really neat story in more ways than I initially interpreted but dear gosh is it bleak." I mean, not surprising; everyone said it was and even younger-me agreed. But I don't think younger-me fully comprehended all the horrors packed in and how many of them are familiar to real-world issues. I caught some of them, but not all, and dang.
Also, some of these kids seriously need a respectable adult figure.)
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Post by Celestial on Sept 3, 2019 6:28:15 GMT -5
Gelquie What's the anime? I am curious if I have also watched it and too would like a revelation on this theme.
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Post by Gelquie on Sept 9, 2019 1:01:23 GMT -5
((Re: Celes - Answered in PM.))
That moment when you realize that your favorite card games to play are the ones that require large groups to play, and you're an introvert.
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Post by Lizica on Sept 10, 2019 22:41:44 GMT -5
Hello, I would like to share with you this magnificent three-word excerpt from the Gordon Korman book I'm currently reading, completely and utterly without context: Grand Theft Vuvuzela
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Post by Celestial on Sept 12, 2019 6:38:02 GMT -5
I bought some yeast because I thought I would be using it for a recipe I was making for friends. Ended up not needing it as the recipe called for baking soda. So now I have a ton of yeast which will go bad in a few weeks.
But I am starting classes next week. And I have no classes the day before. So guess who is going to be the most popular person in class for bringing cinnamon rolls and other nice goodies to work?
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