As an American living in an ex-second world country, I daily come across differences in culture, beliefs, and norms that shock, amaze, or just amuse.

* I understand why a traffic light flashes yellow before it turns red. It warns cars to slow down and be prepared to stop. What I don't understand is why Estonian traffic lights turn yellow before they turn green. It's not like the cars can start moving, but only very slowly, until the light turns green. It is bizarre indeed.

* My friend always points out a club in Old Town that he'd like to go to. It's called Mata Hari and is an oriental-themed strip club decked out with hookahs and red lights. I've always walked by this place at night and been somewhat mesmerized by the atmosphere. Then, when I was strolling around yesterday, I noticed Mata Hari in the light of day. I was shocked to see "Creperie" plastered on the front window. Crepes and naked women? Now that is a club.

* One of the best things about working in Estonia is having 28 days of vacation per year. To me, this is amazing. At my last job, I had 10...and many people thought that was pretty good. Now I've almost tripled that. Granted, I don't have sick days, but I usually didn't use more than 4 of those a year anyway. Last week, one of my co-workers was complaining about lack of vacation time. Boy, did I tell him how good he has it. My co-workers seemed very sad for me when I told them the vacation policy in the US...and I felt sorry for myself.

* There are a ton of great restaurants in Tallinn...pretty much everything you could want. Sure, the burritos have pickles, but I think Est-Mex is even better than Tex-Mex. Anyway, there are a few things to remember when eating out. First: Don't believe anything written on the windows, door, wall, or menu. Just because the hours are posted, there is a Mastercard sign in the window, and the menu lists Coca-Cola light, don't assume without confirmation that any of these things are applicable. Second (which compliments the first): Although a restaurant is open during normal hours, don't conclude that the kitchen is serving food. This kind of jumping to conclusions can be very frustrating to the waitress who is too busy lounging behind the counter to explain why the kitchen is closed. Third: You don't have to pay. You have to request your check or you won't receive it. Once, when I was drunk, I left without asking for the bill, assuming I had already paid because I'd been sitting around for so long. Well, I hadn't and nobody stopped me from leaving. Please note that I am not condoning this behavior.

* I've never before received a nasty look from a driver while walking on the sidewalk until living here. Apparently, the sidewalk is not the domain of the pedestrian. It's the parking lot.

* My favorite Estonia story so far is the paintball/sauna story. Wait...those two things don't go together! Well, here apparently they do. I went to play paintball with my co-workers my second day of work. I was the only girl at that point, so it was funny in itself that I was decked out in camo, and pretty much kicking ass at paintball. Afterwards, my boss busted out the beer and chips. I was in heaven. Then, my friend Krister tells me I should go ahead to the sauna. I was shocked that the rundown paintball place would have something as classy as a sauna, plus I didn't understand the urge to go in after getting hot and sweaty playing paintball in May. I really just wanted to drink beer and hang out, play pool, keep my clothes on, etc. Well, no one could believe that I didn't want to go in! Finally, they decided I had missed my chance and made their way inside. They emerged wearing nothing but towels and proceeded to stay that way the rest of the night, making numerous reentries into the sauna. For awhile I considered going into the sauna, to enjoy this cultural event and to not seem disrespectful. I learned that men and women go separately into the sauna and then everyone goes together. This seemed okay to me until I found out everyone gets naked in there. Nudity and co-workers just don't seem an appropriate combination to my American mind, not to mention paintball and sauna. When I asked about these odd mixtures, Krister brushed off the nudity and then explained, "I have never played paintball without afterwards going to the sauna. It would be weird not to get in the sauna." Eh, nothing wrong with that.