randomness | Estonian? (Reply)

I had an odd conversation with the customer service rep at my phonecard company, www.dialaroundtheworld.com*. The CSR asked me if I were originally from Europe, and when I asked why he said my last name was a Baltic name.

"Lithuanian? Latvian? Estonian?" I asked.
"Estonian," he said. "I'm from Estonia, that's why I ask."

His English was quite good but he did have a faint accent which I would have identified as Russian had he not volunteered that he was Estonian.

I didn't have the heart to tell him it was translated from 馬, so after deciding not to start a conversation about how nice I thought Tallinn was, I thanked him for the information and wished him a nice day.

*pointer to which provided long ago by