On 8 December a Christmas reception was held at the embassy for the local Estonian community and the embassy’s cooperation partners. Traditional Estonian Christmas foods were served and the Baltimore-Washington Estonian Mixed Choir performed Christmas songs. Guests were also able to view Jaanika Peerna’s exhibit “Wind and Light”, which was on display in the embassy.
On 10 December a children’s Christmas party took place at the embassy for the third year in a row. It was organized together with the Washington Estonian Society. Since the Washington Estonian School was launched this year, most of the children in attendance were students of that school or the Baltimore Estonian School (there were 70 children altogether). All the children received packs of Kalev candies as gifts. Jõuluvana (Estonian Santa Claus) was also in attendance. The embassy received a donation of 22 pounds of candies from the Kalev confectionery company and the remaining candies were purchased with the embassy’s funds. The remaining 132 pounds of candies and cookies were brought from Tallinn to Washington over the course of several months by the family members of embassy employees as well as other officials and parliament members who came for visits. The embassy would like to thank everyone for their help!