90 years of Esotnia

Few days ago I came back from a trip to small, but very interesting country of Estonia. I was there as a Deputy Speaker (something like a co-chairman) in BEST General Assembly and had a great experience. The whole event was organisied to the finest detail and it exceeded expectations of most if not all participants. There were to many things to mention here and to many emotions to make it clear.

But there is one thing I would like to single out. This year is the 90th anniversary of Estonia as a country. Since BEST is not only about working and.. hm.. drinking.. but it's also in big part about culture, during this event we had a chance to meet Estonian culture rather well. Specially on one evening, they showed us their history, from the prehistoric age, to the present. During this 3 hour show in which they played out most important historic events (while above them there was a movie showing the same, together with the story) emotions of 400 people watching got stronger and stronger, until they finally reached climax during reenacting of the '90 and breaking from Soviet regime. In this moment many people started crying remembering how it felf in their countries, others just felt connected somehow and we all were swaying from one side of the room to another. Four hundred people as one. So powerful. In that point everything ended with a song "Welcome to Estonia" and all 70 organisers jumping in the middle with huge satisfaction on their faces and then.... "Simply The Best" for all of us and catharsis for the end of wonderful show. I, as many others, was left speechless, specially knowing that this was done by my friends, not by some entertainment professionals, but by students of technology.

This evening will stay in my mind and in my hart forever as one of the best and BEST moments in my life.

Once again, thank you BEST Estonia