International Student Checklist Tallinn, Estonia is one of the most wonderful places in Europe – easy to navigate, communicate, and integrate. There is a ton of information online to give a good sense of what it will be like once you are here and the team at EKA is absolutely outstanding before and after your arrival in helping you get settled and feel like a member of the community – at school and in the city. Here are some tips that you might find helpful (note, some may only be applicable to students from the US): BEFORE YOU ARRIVE: o Secure your Health Insurance: there are several companies that are good for the international student and most offer a variety of plans and price points. Be sure to print 2 copies of your plan with proof of payment (1 for you and 1 for use in applying for your Temporary Residence Permit Card (TRPC). • Swisscare: https://swisscare.com/international-student-insurance • Ergo: https://www.ergo.ee/private-clients/health-insurance • Salva Kinslustus: https://www.salva.ee/et • Inges: https://www.inges.ee/?id=3&aid=16&bid=71 o International Driving Permit: If you would like to drive here, you should secure your international driver’s permit before arrival. In the US – you can go to any AAA office and complete the simple application and include 2 photos. This will guarantee that you can legally drive not only in Estonia, but in most countries in Europe. Be sure to also bring your license from home to compliment the international permit. o Schedule a meet and greet with your department coordinator, it was really helpful to have a conversation about the upcoming semester and get some advice for next steps before the semester began. Be sure to Ask for an explanation of the SIS from your program coordinator o Begin to learn Estonian! Although literally almost everyone here speaks English, it's important to learn the local dialect. However, Estonian is a particularly challenging language. There is a fantastic free website to help: http://www.innove.ee/en/language-examination/keeleklikk and the Memrise app is outstanding. o Know the address and contact information with your home country’s embassy, and you can notify them of your arrival once in Tallinn. I found this particularly comforting so that they knew a US citizen was here and they were helpful with several items in the first month I was here. o Make sure that your bankcard is chip enabled as almost every terminal here requires it, and everywhere accepts cards. Renting an apartment: If you aren’t going to stay in the dormitory, renting an apartment in Tallinn can be a bit of a challenge – especially if you haven’t been to the city before. I found it helpful to stay in a few Airbnbs in different neighborhoods to get a sense of where I might like to live and get an idea of where things were in relation to each other, etc.

Some folks rented an apartment totally online before coming, but I would recommend doing so in person so you can double check location, noise, transit, amenities, etc. If you are coming for the fall term, you should come in July – August is far too late to find the better priced apartments. The method most popular here is online, there are several sites that you should use: o City24: http://www.city24.ee/en o Kinnisvara Portal: http://kinnisvaraportaal-kv-ee.postimees.ee o Tudengi Kodu: http://www.tudengikodu.org You should also look to Facebook and join any expat/foreign groups – these are great resources in general, but they do post apartment and roommate listings as well. WHEN YOU ARRIVE: o Meet with your contacts at EKA o Register with your local consulate. o Transit Card: Get one of the green transit cards so that you can ride all the fantastic public transportation in the city. Though it is easy to walk most places, things can be quite spread across the city and the transit is incredibly frequent and easy. Go to: https://www.pilet.ee for full details. I found it helpful just to get the unlimited monthly card for 23 €uros so I didn’t have to worry about reloading. o Temporary Residence Permit Card (TRPC): You should apply for your TRPC as soon as you can when you get to Tallinn, if you didn’t do so before. It takes two months to receive and the sooner you have in hand, the better. Read the application and guidelines carefully and bring copies of everything required that you can leave with the agents. You can take your photos at the office, so no need to bring them. For full details: https://www.politsei.ee o Register with the City of Tallinn: Once you have your TRPC, take a copy of lease/housing agreement and head over to register with the city as a resident. Once you do, you are then eligible to the free public transportation o Spend some time in all the different neighborhoods and see what makes this city so wonderful: Kadriorg, Old Town, Kalamaja, City Center, and Pirita to name a few. Each is uniquely different and offers exceptional opportunities to learn more. OTHER TIPS: If you are shipping boxes into Tallinn, be sure to mark all items carefully so that duties/customs are applied correctly, or not at all if applicable. It can be a challenge to find things you are used to having at home, some not at all, so if there are items you just need to have (particularly for your studies), ship them in if they won’t fit in your luggage. o Cell Phone Service: you will need your TRPC to get a full-on phone plan. Cellular service is incredibly reasonable in Tallinn (inexpensive even). • Elisa: https://www.elisa.ee • Tele2: https://tele2.ee • Telia: https://www.telia.ee o WiFi: It really is almost everywhere in the city and that makes it super easy to be online and for little cost. Note, if you have to set up an account in your apartment, you will need your TRPC in order to avoid a heavy deposit of 500 €

o Banking: There are a number of banks in Tallinn, but the two most popular seem to be Swedbank and SEB. You will need to make money transfers. Note, to set up a bank account, you will need your TRPC or you have to pay a heavy fee of 250 € • Swedbank: http://www.swedbank.ee • SEB: http://www.seb.ee • Krediidipank: http://www.krediidipank.ee • Danske Bank: http://www.sampopank.ee o Sign-up for Transfer Wise! It’s like the PayPal but for foreign currency. It is a super cheap way to move money and saves you serious money in bank fees, which is essential when you first arrive and don’t yet have a bank account. For more: https://transferwise.com o Get the taxify app! Its super convenient and makes your rides even less expensive, plus it's a nice option to Uber. o Ask EKA about the international student (admitted to EKA) specific scholarships – there are lots of opportunities available that require minimal time to apply. SHOPPING: o Grocery Stores: Food in Estonia is quite delicious, and the grocery stores around the city offer an awesome array of goodies (local and international). In order from the best to the most everyday (and priced from high to low): Stockman, Kaubamaja, Solaris, Rimi, and Selver. All of them offer prepared foods near their delis and this has been an excellent way to try all the local foods. o For major shopping, there are a number of malls in the city that offer a little bit of everything and make things super convenient. The largest are: Ülemiste Center, Viru Keskus, Kristine Keskus, and Rocca al Mare. And all of them have major grocery stores in them which is super surprising, but convenient. o Household goods are available at a variety of stores, here are some of my favorite: Koduekstra, Prisma, and Jysk had almost everything I needed. There is also a great delivery service where you can order things from iKEA in Helsinki and they will go to the store for you and then deliver your order for a very small fee. For more, go to: www.ikeast.ee o Vintage / Used goods: there are lots of great vintage stores in Tallinn, Humana is one of the most popular, but there are also some great spots to find household items as well. I found Uuskasutus and the Depoo are the best. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: • You can reach the ambulance (kiirabi) by calling 112. • 24-hour medical counselling is available by calling 1220. • Emergency room (erakorraline meditsiin) is open 24 hours and you may seek help from them especially at weekends and at night, when the family physicians are off duty. You do not need to make an appointment to go to the emergency room. The visit costs 5 euros. The emergency room in the city center is situated at Ravi Street 18, phone: + 372 620 7040. • Police (urgent): 110 • Municipal Police (non-urgent): 14410 HELPFUL WEBSITES:

Visit Tallinn: https://www.visittallinn.ee Study in Estonia: http://www.studyinestonia.ee Settle in Estonia: https://www.settleinestonia.ee