The Soviet Union: Estonian Interview

My teacher asked me to think of up to five questions, and then ask them to one of the visitors we had that came from Estonia and lived in the time of the Soviet Union, when Joseph Stalin was in power. Previously, my teacher assigned me to read a book called Breaking Stalin's Nose. (I know, crazy title, right? But believe me, that really was the title.) Anyway, here are the five questions I came up with and I paraphrased all the answers.

1. Do you know anyone who was imprisoned druing the Soviet Era?

Answer: Yes, my mother's uncle was imprisoned.

2. In your school, did the naughty students have to sit in the back?

Answer: No, actually, they sat in the front so the teacher could see them.

3. Were you taught that Stalin was a hero or a villain?

Answer: Well, everyone called him a hero, but they knew he was a bad man; but my father, he was from Ukrane, and he considered him a hero.

4. At school, did you ever learn anything about Capitalism?

Answer: No, but my mother did learn about it.

5. What language did you speak?

Anwer: Well, in Estonian schools, we learned a little bit of Estonian but whether you were Estonian or Russian, and you wanted a job, you had to leard Russian.

Okay, thanks for your time.

The Ned Kelly Interview

At school, after my class and I learned about Ned Kelly, my teacher assigned me to talk to someone I know from Australia and ask two questions about Ned Kelly: Have you heard of him? If so, do you think he was a hero or a villain? I have e-mailed my family friend and asked him about Ned Kelly, and got the quite a shocking answer:
Yes I have LOL.

My Grandmothers family used to hide Edward & Dan Kelly  as well as the others from the gang.

A lot of people know the  story of Ned.

A lot didn't know that he nearly drowned as a young boy. Also that a lot of his trouble came about avenging an attack on his mother & sister. Both arrested & jailed.

They became wanted after the shoot out at Stringy Bark Creek, (you should be able to google that one)

Myself I believe that he was a trouble finder, a bad tempered Irish boy. didn't know when to walk away from a fight.

He once got into a fight in I think it was Beechworth or Mansfield,  the other man & Ned had a boxing match (for want of a better description)

30 rounds of fighting. That is what gave Ned his reputation as a fighter.

I have also gotten a chance to ask Daniel, who I have already introduced in my previous post, about Ned Kelly and got a different answer, which was almost a no. He has heard of the name, but remembers as much as I do about him. Almost nothing, except for the shootout with the police and his brother gets killed and Ned was the only survivor.
I event got a third answer from his mother, who said: "Ned Kelly was a hero." Interesting.