Islanders’ sense of humour

One thing that cannot be left unspoken when talking about Saaremaa and its people is their unique sense of humour. When speaking with an islander one can never know is the islander joking or not. For example, you might ask the islander the way to Kuressaare theatre, but he gives you a weight at Orissaare community centre. The joking job has been one of the oldest occupations in Saaremaa and in truth there has never really been a pause in that. Just like when the great fun famine struck mainland Estonia in the end of 17th century, most Estonians were fun-starved, and the grimness spread like a wildfire, the islanders came to the rescue with their jokes and humour. During the period of Soviet occupation, the islanders’ sense of humour was a thorn in the flesh for the red power. The doctors received an order to cast all the funny bones of the islanders, but the islanders made the surgeons laugh so hard before the operation that they laughed themselves to pieces and had to be taken to the hospital. There is not a thing that islanders cannot laugh about, but their favourite topic is the people from the neighbouring island Hiiumaa and mainland. During the humour barometer measurements in 2012 in Estonia it was discovered that Saaremaa is the most humour-infested area in the country, where people have fun up to their eyes. In an average Estonian county people only have fun up to their necks. In every four years International Funner Games are held in Kuressaare Olympic Stadium.