The (Former) Editor's Letter
Mare Maxwell, now living in Tallinn, was a visitor to Edmonton in April 2003. During her 14 years here, she made many contributions to EES. Mare started our newsletter in 1989 and named it "Ajakaja". Each issue was newsy but also reflected her graphic arts and design talents. Since returning to Tallinn in 1996, Mare has worked with legal translation and language immersion programs. She is the proud and busy mother of a wonderful, almost three-year old daughter, Johanna. It was a pleasure to have Mare visit us again.
Dear Edmontonians:
I had the pleasure of visiting Canada in April 2003. Following a brief stop in Vancouver to visit friends, I flew to Edmonton where I stayed and stayed and stayed with Eda McClung. Finally the ice storms abated, and I flew into Toronto for work and pleasure. Then back to Tallinn where I now live.
The work part of my trip involved being a part of a delegation of Russian-language school representatives from Estonia. Four schools in Estonia will introduce Estonian language immersion to Russian-speaking students in grade six this September. It's called "late immersion" with the idea that by the time these kids graduate from high school, they will also be fluent in Estonian. However, they would not have lost their mother tongue in the process. So we visited a school where late immersion is offered. Hopefully now our educators have a better idea about the path they are embarking on. You are welcome to get more information on Estonian immersion at our website.
Looking back at my Canadian visit, I can say it had many highlights: the first for sure was meeting 'old' friends, in this sense it was like homecoming. I fondly remember my fourteen-year stint in Edmonton. Though my visit was brief, I did have many wonderful reunions. Like seeing Eda again and putting her patience to test as I was unable to leave her home for days due to the ice storm in Toronto. And meeting many friends from the Society at the Fairmont. Thank you Eda and Külliva, for getting us all together. In Toronto I met with Viivi Rita Piil (a friend from EES days) and her family. Again, I somehow made her son Matti wonder if I was going to be sticking around for a long time.
The second part of my trip was education and work related. It made me feel that the program we are supporting will benefit both the kids who are acquiring Estonian language and the Estonian state which acquires more loyal and able citizens.
A bonus was discovering that my daughter Johanna did well during those two weeks, staying with my mom and dad. I survived the separation too. She seemed so much more 'grown up' after two weeks.
And last but not least this little story is about Ajakaja. A newsletter that Eda and Viivi and I started many moons ago. It was much slimmer in those days but we had a lot of fun putting it together and getting it out to you. I congratulate all those that put time and energy into Ajakaja today, who have broadened its scope and really brought together the small Estonian community. It's like a little ribbon that unites the more active and also the not-so-active. I am glad to see that it has been published with added value for so long. Congratulations and happy reading for many more issues.
