"Stinkin' Esto"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is finally official. I am an Estonian citizen. I have an Estonian passport and I'm enrolled to vote in Estonian elections.

Now all I have to do is learn Estonian and spend some time in Estonia (preferably at least a year) - earning Estonian Kroonid and paying Estonian taxes.

It always amazes me when people ask me why I would want to do such a thing. They can understand the idea of getting the passport (EU and all that), but if you can get the passport without speaking a word of Estonian or setting foot in Estonia, then why not? What possible reason could you have for wanting to learn such an obscure language or go to such an obscure place?

Apart from the fact that I've grown up wondering about the place my grandmother came from and I've always wanted to go there and see it for myself, there's a little something I like to call "fairness", mixed with a touch of "politeness" and just a dash of "respect" and "decency".

The same people who want to know why I'd bother learning the language if I don't have to would find it a bit rude if someone tried to become an Australian citizen without any intention of learning English. The same people who would, apparently, quite gladly accept a passport from a country without ever intending to set foot in it would be disgruntled by the thought of someone waving around an Australian passport if they have never been in Australia in their life.

Here in Australia we have this newish thing called the "citizenship test". To become an Australian citizen you have to have a certain base amount of English and be able to answer questions like "who was the first prime minister?" and "What is our national floral emblem?" (Barton and golden wattle, respectively). Now, I'm sure there are a number of loop-holes for the descendants of Australians which would allow them to obtain citizenship without any basic knowledge of the culture or the language, but there's something deep inside the heart of every Australian that would like to say "Hang on, that's not quite right."

Now, most native born Australians who grew up and attended school here would probably struggle with answering a lot of questions on the citizenship test (not because they were never taught, just because they couldn't be bothered remembering what they learnt in Year Five). By the way, if anyone is interested, the information that an Australian citizen is expected to know (and appreciate) has been compiled in a booklet that can be read here.

As an aside, I think it's worth pointing out that the "Australian Values" mentioned in the booklet (such as "Freedom of speech", "Freedom of association" and "Tolerance, mutual respect and compassion for those in need") are not constitutional rights, and are therefore not legally enforceable. They're just things that all Australians should think are pretty good ideas.

But, as usual, I digress. The point I was trying to make is that we think it's only fair that someone who wants to be an Australian citizen should a) know a thing or two about Australia, b) Be able to talk to other Australians in the "native" tongue and c) think about visiting Australia once in a while. That's not too much to ask, in my book. (Feel free to substitute the name of your own country for "Australia" in this paragraph if you want it to be more relevant to you).

If someone technically didn't have to do these things to get Australian citizenship, we'd probably think it was only polite if they did anyway. Someone who wants to get something from us without even so much as a "how d'you do", on the other hand, would be regarded as a "bludger". It really shows a lack of respect to try to get the privileges of being a country's citizen without making any effort to "belong" to that country in any way.

So I'm learning Estonian (even if the grammar is, quite frankly, ridiculous. Fourteen cases! Who on earth needs fourteen cases?), I'm learning a bit about the culture (the national floral emblem is the cornflower) and the history (they were independant for a whole four days after the Germans left and before the Soviets took over in 1944), and I'm planning to visit. Next year I want to go over for a couple of weeks for a holiday. The year after that, I'm hoping to find work over there and spend some time living as an Estonian.

In my mind it's only fair. It's my way of showing my basic respect for a country that has given me a passport and told me I can go to it's embassies if I need help.

If that seems weird an unnecessary to you, then perhaps you need to think a bit about what it means to be a citizen. Treat it lightly if you want to, but make sure you apply to same standards to everyone who would claim citizenship in every country - even yours.