Meet Lisa Julius

Hi!  I am Lisa Julius, Senior Online Production Manager from Bonnier Winter Park, Florida.  I am currently in Tallinn, Estonia working with Web Development for Bonnier Business Press.  BBP handles web development for eight countries including Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria and of course, Estonia.   I started my GROW experience early at the request of my host country, so I have already been here for almost one month.   I have had opportunity to 'meet' (via Skype, of course, which was created here in Estonia) people from many different countries...and they have been very understanding when I sometimes mangle the pronunciation of their names.  I have to say, the people in Poland have been particularly welcoming and I really would like to manage a side trip there while I am here. 

I love my apartment here in Tallinn.  It is a very nice apartment in an area of lots of development...they are refurbishing many of the surrounding buildings.  It is in a good location both for getting to work or for a visit to Old Town, one of the best parts of Tallinn.  I really wasn't expecting such a nice residence here, but I think I benefited from the fact that they already had the apartment for a previous employee that left in March so it was easy to locate me there.   It is a great place with a nice view from the balconies and I am quite happy with it...once I learned to operate everything, that is.  I had a little challenge with the shower and also with the washer, which is not only in Celsius but also in Russian.

There is definitely a different dynamic in the workplace here than what I am used to.  It seems here that they are individuals doing their jobs but it really isn't a 'team' environment.   I think this is partly because of the Estonian culture, but also because the Bonnier office here is so small and everyone has very different jobs so there isn't as much dependency and interaction.   I have frequently heard that Estonian workers are 'lazy' but this is very much not what I am seeing here.  In fact, my boss Karmo is here when we leave at night and here in the morning when we all arrive.  I think he secretly sleeps under his desk and we just don't know that he never leaves. 

Estonian culture is certainly more reserved than in the U.S.  Things that are almost expected to be asked at home such as 'How many children do you have?' you definitely don't ask here.  Polite conversation, or 'chit-chatting' as we call it, is not done here...conversations must have a purpose.  So for those of you who know me, you can imagine it is an adjustment for this chatty, smiling American to be here.  But I am so glad to have this opportunity to experience a different environment.