Unique to Estonia is it’s love of music, being in nature and a general sense of unhurried calm. On this program Dennis Wholey speaks to a variety of guests in the Estonian capital of Tallinn about the experience of visiting and living in Estonia. After a visit to the historic Old Town district of Tallinn, Dennis Wholey visits with Justin Petrone an American writer living in Estonia, speaks with Marju Rink-Abel representing the Estonian American National Council and visits with Tõnis Siigur one of Estonia’s leading chefs to get a sense of Estonian fine dining.

What does #EstonianWay mean?

“EstonianWay means efficient and properly done with an almost Zen-influenced mindset,” describes Justin Petrone from his experience. “There is an efficiency aspect, as in Germany, but there is also a sort of fluidity to doing things, this is ease to doing things through collaboration. Once a consensus has been reached in the government or in the private sector, Estoians will very fluently start discussions with partners to work together towards the goals,” explained Petrone.

Justin Petrone comperes the experience to come to live in Estonia with bungee jump. He didn’t know a lot about the country before and he also couldn’t speak the Estonian language. But now, 15 years later, he has a successful writing career and a family here.

“I love that there is a little more trust and the kids take responsibility for themselves and they learn how to manage themselves. That is why you see here people who are like 23 years old as CEOs of companies, because they are used to managing things in a very young age and they have this confidence that “I can do it”.

Stress-free daily life from nature

“There is certain almost Zen-mentality in Estonia,” said Justin Petrone, an American writer who chose to move his entire life to Estonia. “That is a big part of society that people like to get close to the nature. They actually even don’t see the border between themselves and the nature. It’s not like a life-style, it’s who they are,” Petrone added.

Here you can watch previous episodes of This is America and The World:

• Interview with Estonian President, Kersti Kaljulaid
• Estonian digital country, innovation and business environment

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