Helle Wichman (27) from Lansing, Michigan, and Keili Moore (24) from Montréal, Quebec, became friends at Jõekääru summer camp, independently decided to go live in Estonia, now work at the Estonian company Wise, and have never looked back.
Helle Wichman grew up in an American-Estonian family in Lansing, Michigan, speaking Estonian with her parents, but far away from one of the North American Estonian hubs.
What was different for both of them was that they did not see the Toronto Esto (Estonian) crowd of their own age every week or two in Toronto…
Keili Moore grew up speaking Estonian in Montréal in a Canadian-Estonian family, with less of the Estonian infrastructure around that one would find in Toronto. However, in the summer, they both attended Jõekääru Laste Suvekodu (children's summer camp) and Kotkajärve laager (camp) as hellakesed/gaidid (translated as “darlings” and “guides”). Helle also went to Seedrioru laager. Spending many summers together, they became friends. What was different for both of them was that they did not see the Toronto Esto (Estonian) crowd of their own age every week or two in Toronto, but rather, spent the six weeks in summer camps together with their Esto friends.
Both Keili and Helle speak very warmly about their time at Jõekääru Suvekodu, how the campers were from all across North America, with a few even from Eesti, and many camp counsellors from Eesti. There was a very positive vibe at the camp about Eesti.
Growing up, Helle had visited Eesti four times and Keili three times. For Keili, these trips were primarily for visiting family, and for Helle, for attending Laulupidu (the Estonian Song Festival). They enjoyed these trips and have good memories of Estonia, but never really got to know many local Estonians. Although, Keili had numerous close relatives (an uncle and five first cousins) living in Tallinn.
The thought of moving to Eesti was in her mind and she was trying to reach a decision about what to do next in life.
But life went on. Helle attended and graduated from Queen's University in Kingston, and Keili attended and graduated from McGill University in Montréal. Helle decided to stay in Canada (she says that Toronto is a more exciting city than Lansing) and went to work at, as it was then known, the Toronto Estonian Credit Union. She had decided to set herself a goal of staying there for two years (which she did). During her last year of working in Toronto, in 2021, she was thinking of moving to somewhere outside of North America. The thought of moving to Eesti was in her mind and she was trying to reach a decision about what to do next in life.
As Helle had made her decision to move to Estonia, she mentioned this to Keili, only to find that Keili had also decided, upon graduating from university, to move to Eesti. The move to Eesti was Keili's one-year plan — to see if she liked living in Eesti/Europe.
They began coordinating their move to Eesti. As they arrived two weeks apart in Eesti, they did not end up renting an apartment together but found accommodation separately.
It was almost too good to be true, but Keili and Helle began work at Wise on the same day.
Keili had visited her future employer Wise during her Back to our roots trip to Estonia. She liked what she saw and thought that perhaps one day she would like to work there. Helle has a friend who works at Wise and via him, applied to work at Wise. Helle had signed her employment contract with Wise just a few days before moving to live in Estonia.
It was almost too good to be true, but Keili and Helle began work at Wise on the same day.
Both Keili and Helle emphasize that what made moving to Estonia very easy was having Estonian citizenship and an ID card. This made complying with legal formalities easy, signing an employment contract straightforward, and opening up a bank account simple.
When Helle and Keili were asked if they would recommend other Canadian-Estonian or American Estonians to move to Estonia, Helle said very firmly, “Just do it!” Keili said that one is never 100% ready to make such a huge decision, and this applies to all big things in life. Both confirmed that the feeling has only grown that this was the right decision. If it had gone badly, one could always leave Estonia.
They were both very positive about working at Wise. They very much liked the atmosphere, the fast pace, the professionalism, that it was a young company, and that one could be promoted quicker than in North America (the author notes that both Keili and Helle have been promoted at Wise). They enjoyed meeting many Estonians and people from around the world and being part of an Estonian multi-national (Wise has offices in 22 countries). Work travel with Wise has taken them to Tampa Bay, Florida, and Budapest, Hungary. They found the company events to be fun, they met their colleagues from around the world (who were flown in for the parties), and even found the parties a bit extravagant (but tons of fun).
They were both asked if salaries were comparable to Toronto levels. They both gave the same answer, that there is a healthier work/life balance. Benefits are better in Eesti, although salaries are lower. There is more vacation time, shorter working hours, and more flexibility. There is the ease and cheapness of travel in Europe. It is cheaper to live in Tallinn than Toronto. One gets share options and with promotion, even more share options.
As an example of the flexibility their work possesses, both Helle and Keili are going for six weeks to Asia, but will be working remotely for three of them, from Singapore and Bali. The remaining three weeks is full-on vacation time.
In the interests of full transparency, Helle and Keili both say that Keili having an uncle and five first cousins (about the same age as the two of them) has made life easier and helped them both make more friends than perhaps they otherwise would have made.
…when she returned to that small village near Paide where her roots were, there was a strong feeling of life having come full circle.
Both Keili and Helle commented on returning to “the old country” and neither have plans to leave Estonia. They like living in the old country. Keili's grandparents had been forced to flee Estonia during the Second World War and when she returned to that small village near Paide where her roots were, there was a strong feeling of life having come full circle. Helle remarked on how proud her grandparents would have been of her if they were here to see it.
