Hello from Estonia! Tere!

The blue colour is explained as the vaulted blue sky above the native land. Black symbolises attachment to the soil of the homeland as well as the fate of Estonians — for centuries black with worries. White is connected with hard work and other more abstract human values. There is also a historical metaphor for the Estonian national colours: The blue in this case represents ancient freedom, black symbolises lost independence, and white promises a brighter future. Our flag

Our national anthem The Estonian national anthem ”My Native Land...” is a choral-like melody arranged by a Finnish composer of German origin Fredrik Pacius in In Estonia, Johann Voldemar Jannsen’s lyrics were set to this melody and sung at the first Estonian Song Festival in 1869.

First verses of our anthem Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm, kui kaunis oled sa! Ei leia mina iial teal see suure, laia ilma peal, mis mul nii armas oleks ka, kui sa, mu isamaa! My native land, my joy, delight, How fair thou art and bright! And nowhere in the world all round Can ever such a place be found So well beloved as I love thee, My native country dear!

Climate As in other northern countries, seasons vary widely in Estonia. The length of the longest day in summer is over 19 hours, while the shortest winter day lasts only six hours. It is not completely dark at night from the beginning of May until the end of July. The temperature in the summer months (June–September) is typically 15…18ºC; in winter, –4…–5ºC. Estonian weather offers many surprises. Temperatures may fluctuate by 20º C; in the early morning the thermometer might read –12ºC and by afternoon it may already be 10ºC. Although it doesn't always snow in winter, there tends to be about 10 cm of snow on the ground consistently from late December through to the beginning of March. The sky over Estonia is cloudy for about half the year. The snow cover in Estonia is characterised by large territorial and temporal variations. The average duration of snow cover during winter is 75–135 days. Estonia is located in a region of humid climate, where the amount of precipitation exceeds the total evaporation. The annual average of the relative air humidity is 80–83%. The annual average wind speed in the inland parts of Estonia is less than 4 m/s; on the coasts of the open seas it is more than 6 m/s. Bigger still are the differences in the frequency of storm winds. In the inland, storm winds (more than 15 m/s) are rare, occurring only a few times a year, while on the coast and islands of the open seas the frequency of storm winds reaches 30–45 days/year.

Nature

Estonian currency The national currency of Estonia is called the Kroon and is abbreviated as EEK. 1 kroon = 100 sents.

RUKKILILL Our national flower is the cornflower – RUKKILILL

SUITSUPÄÄSUKE Our national bird is the swallow – SUITSUPÄÄSUKE

The capital of our country is TALLINN

Greetings in our language: Good morning = Tere hommikust! Good afternoon = Tere päevast! Good night = Head ööd! How are you = Kuidas käsi käib?

There is a long tradition of song festivals dating from the time of the National Awakening in the mid-19th century

Salted Baltic herring Clean and wash the fish, rub with salt and let stand for a few hours. Then put the fish in a prepared bowl in turns with a layer of salt and sugar, then a layer of herring etc. On the top of it put a clean board of a light-weight. Serve with sour cream, chopped onion and hot boiled potatoes. Ingredients: 3 kg fresh Baltic herring 300 g coarse salt 4 tbs sugar Recipe

KRISTINA ŠMIGUN – the Snow Queen KRISTINA ŠMIGUN – the Snow Queen FAMOUS PERSONS

ERI KLAS - Conductor

ERKI NOOL - Decathlete, Olympic gold medalist

MARK KALEV KOSTABI - Artist

ANDRUS VEERPALU – Skier ANDRUS VEERPALU – Skier

CARMEN KASS - Supermodel

MART POOM - Soccer player, goalkeeper

Good bye! Hüvasti!