So I find my seat in this special bus for the students from the city and sit down. A few minutes go by and this little blond girl greets me and says, "Hi, I'm gonna sit here then". Only then did I realize that I actually knew her, a fellow flutist as myself.
The trip on the highway is fun. We listen to the music that I have on my MP3 player and eat our sandwiches. When we arrive we are told the time and place to get back to by 3 pm to go back home. We memorize it and start our way to the Parliament building.
We all had to show our IDs and pass the metal detector. I had to demonstrate that the glasses inside my bag really did contain metal details and they let me pass. I don't remember all the details now but anyways we got to see the big hall where the hearings take place first sitting in the balcony of journalists and then we entered the hall and each student picked a place. I took the seat of a member from a rightist party right in front. First some older guy came and talked with us until either guy who was supposed to come to meet us came, one of the two vice speakers of the Parliament. When the vice speakers finally comes he says pretty much the same things as the tour lady before, some information worker.
I sat in the first row, second desk on the right, left side.
So basically what we all learned today is that the whole building is expressionist, there were 2 architects and that every single detail is there for something as a symbol. For example when you walk inside the building you see this super clear white ceiling which symbolizes clear thoughts as you come to work.
The next thing was meeting some 2 members of the Parliament from our county and it lasted another half an hour. It really wasn't too interesting. The cool part came when we were all climbed Tall Hermann Tower. You can imagine how narrow the inside of a medieval tower is...
This is the tower, the symbol of our independence as the flag is up there all the time, except at night. It goes up every sunrise. The view from up there is magnificent.
Anyway, after that we had free time. My blond friend and I went on to grab some food and this classmate of mine sort of just followed us thinking he was part of the company. I didn't care much but I really thought he should find his own activity instead of stalking us. After we ate he just sort of disappeared.
After 2 hours of free time we went back to the bus and here I am!
If you ever happen to come to Estonia and want to see how the Parliament works, why don't you go and check it all out? The hearings are public and there are special seats in the balcony for anyone who wants to see the hearing.
As for me, it was a nice experience. They really seem to do more stuff than the media wants to show us and it appears to be that they don't really have to be present since they all have TVs in their offices which shows what's going on in the big hall.
Oh well, this whole trip was for free anyway...
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