Our Love Among Corona

Chapter 5 Hello Winter! I'm Back

I started to smell the snow. The fresh air of Estonia is often wet during winter. Snow filled the various corners of the road, white mountained.

I've been able to see it even when the plane hasn't landed. I can't wait to be outside the airport. I breathe as much fresh air as I want.

Lined among tourists, in front of the immigration counter waiting for the queue. Being in this condition often becomes boring for me. Can't play a cell phone of course. Chatting with other tourists is also sometimes not the right way.

Some of the faces look so tired. Maybe just like me, they came from far away to complain about fate in this Baltic country, or maybe just on vacation.

I tried to circulate my gaze and did not see the old couple who had been chatting on the plane with me. Maybe they got out first and finished with the immigration process when I went to the toilet.

I was used to going to the toilet every time I got off the plane, because I never knew for sure the condition of this queue. Sometimes it can be fast, it can be long. It depends on the queue, and there is a problem or not. If there are tourists who are in trouble then it often takes a long time.

Talk about holidays in winter and choosing a country like Estonia, just for those who are amazingly snow loving. Cold in this country is unmitigated, can drop to the level of minus 17. If it is severe it can be up to minus 25.

If it has reached minus 20 and above, the school is usually closed. They don't want the kids to be in such extreme weather and it is indeed dangerous.

There are people dying in the extreme weather in this country. Some even commit suicide, such as drinking too much alcohol and then dying in the snow due to falling or unconscious when the heart stops and no longer functions.

Suicide rates in this country are quite high and increase in winter. You could also die from an accident in the snow and so on. Estonia, Lithuania, Russia ranked high in 2019 for suicide rates.

In spite of all that, Estonia is a beautiful country. Winter holidays in this country can be an interesting option. There are plenty of places to ski, play in the woods and lakes, and enjoy the magical city of Tallinn with its beautiful Christmas market. You can also visit viking villages and various events during winter that steal the attention of tourists.

"What's your purpose in coming to Estonia?" ask the immigration officer.

I explained as usual and handed over some of the requested documents.

"Wait here, we have to check all your documents" and the officer disappeared from his booth.

I don't know which room he's going to and will need to verify which documents. Obviously I've written all the numbers that can be reached there. Starting from my boss's number to my friend's number that will hold me for a while.

"Don't worry, just write down my number. I'll answer any questions if they call later" said Alin, a close friend of mine who will be my family host.

I'm not really worried because it's not the first. It's a lot easier because they can see my track record of coming to this country. Already flown here several times, it should be able to get away with it easily. But somehow it took a long time.

Estonia is very careful in accepting foreigners in its country. Because they only had a few people, so fought in such a way as to protect his small country.

They are also one of the countries whose cyber security is also high. So powerful to protect the country, especially in cyber security. So I understood all these strict and neat processes.

The officer came back and told me that they would not allow me to enter his country, in other languages, I was rejected and had to return to Indonesia.

I was shocked and seemed to want to faint, how could. It's totally beyond my expectations. I have all the necessary documents, how can I not be accepted in Estonia.

My mind floated on all the risks I had taken by coming here. I quit my job for my new job in Estonia. How would I live if I came back in this state.

I have dependents on my mother and my sisters. Back is not the way, no, I can't go back in this state. How am I going to explain to everyone that I have failed before I even started my struggle here.

"Please tell me what is the reason? I have all documents you need" I cried in front of this officer and wished him to be destroyed.

"No, you look suspicious and your documents are incomplete. We've had problems with Asians coming to work here. You're like them".

"No, I came by following all the conditions you gave me. I'm not illegal here. Please let me in". I was really crying loudly and everyone left in the immigration row was whispering.

"Security!" This woman calls security, no God, what will happen to me.

"Hello, you good? Oi...." The woman clerk knocked on the window and woke me from my daydream.

"Oh hello, sorry" I'm still in a daze because I just got into my daydream and forgot where I was.

"You can come in. Thank you". The woman in charge of checking all my documents put a stamp on my passport and let me out of the custom area.

I smiled with relief at him. I must be crazy to imagine a scene of rejection that I might have to accept. But thank goodness everything went well.

"Lord!" I said. That's a thank you in Estonian. I put my smile on him.

Estonia has a beautiful language in my opinion. The population of the country is about 1.3 million and they have their own language called Eesti Keel.

I like their language very much. Sounds so beautiful and soft. I want to learn this language later. Besides the Eesti language, they also speak the majority of Russian.

They were once colonized by Russia, and the second largest population here is also Russian. Since the main language is not English, all instructions such as products are mostly written in Estonian or Cyrillic letters.

Take my suitcase to the terminal waiting room. I can't wait to meet Alin. He must have been waiting since. A native Estonian woman who is not only an ordinary friend to me, but also a family.

She is the woman I consider the older sister, who is from this faraway country. I will stay with him for the first month and move to my apartment the following month. Happy to have him here, so I didn't take care of these early struggles myself.

Alin is married and has a handsome son. Although only 8 years old, his son is very smart for his age. Hanno, the man she married was her close friend first.

Throughout the marriage of more than 13 years old, I did not witness much, although through the story, they have become a favorite couple.

"Hey! Alin!" I slammed into his arms.

"Hello my dear, how was your flight?" he greeted me with a warm smile. I miss this hug.

"Was great. I enjoy it. You came alone?"

"Yes, the two men are waiting for us at home. They're in charge of preparing dinner, I'm picking you up" he explained.

"Oh! Eesti. Can't wait to get home soon".

We walked out to Alin's car park. Scraping my suitcase in the snow is a great muscle workout. Especially because the parking area is about a few hundred meters from the arrival room.

"Oh, you must love your current room. We changed the color. Guess what color?".

"Yellow & green?".

"Yellow and partly with your favorite color, red. Hope you like it". Alin looks so excited, because he knows very well I like the color red.

"Oh wow, sure, I like it".

Happy to return to this land. Although I have come and lived here several times, I always keep my misses well. Estonia has become my second home.

Alin played our favorite song. Fly me to the moon and we started singing along the way. It was as if all the memories on this path were reoccurring.

I remember, no matter how sad our hearts were, we always listened to this song and shook our bodies. He would take my hand and then take me dancing. We will both laugh again. So many memories between us and this song. Fly me to the moon and let me play among the star.