The beginning of December is always the opening to a fabulous time of the year. That also applied to Estonia, Hargla and the Youth Center. While I had an advent calendar with sweet cookies or gingerbread when I was young, the youngsters in Hargla had a different activity focused around Christmas every day to up to the 24th this year. We obviously started with decorating the rooms on the first days but the most fun activities for the kids and me were when we made a traditional German advent wreath and birdseed cookies.
And while I thought for my whole life handcrafting a wreath is a pure display of skill, I again encountered the magics of the modern time. The World wide web. There are tons of people just eager to tell you how to do it. So some youngsters and I put on our jackets and got out into the snowy area in front of the youth center to gather some green. Thinking about this I’m sure a was just minutes away from my hands dying because of the freezing temperatures, while the kids with me started to open their jackets because it apparently was too warm for them…
It was strange to learn that the Youth Center would be closed for 3 weeks from December 14th. Because I have been volunteering for 2,5 weeks. To be honest, although I have just started working at the Youth Center, it will annoying not to be able to see the children for 3 weeks due to the corona. Besides, there were tasks that Madis gave me.
Although the youth center was closed, I had to continue my volunteering work at home, outside or at the youth center. It was really difficult to do all the planning for each task alone. Because open-ended plans and activities where you can definitely use your creativity.. I saw what I can do thanks to Madis. 😀 I will tell you how I had a pleasant time in Estonia despite the new bans due to Korono. Are you ready?! Let's go! .. 😀
…that’s what I sadly realized this month. While at the beginning everything was fine and I enjoyed my new freedom of not being locked in like in Austria, the middle of December had a surprising turn. Since Corona cases rose in Estonia, not only schools but also youthcenters had to close. Oh no, what should I do now? I was a bit disappointed because I already looked forward to Christmas time to make some cool Christmas craftings with the kids. Also, I wanted to prepare an Austrian Christmas celebration and cook something traditional.
Well, at least in the beginning of December we were able to bake Gingerbread and some typical Austrian Christmas cookies called “Vanillekipferl”, before we had to close. Honestly, I was confused if I would have to stay in “homeoffice” now, but luckily, I got the chance of working in Valga Youthcenter. There were no kids either, but many cool youthworkers instead and a lot of things to do. While on the first days I had to create some emoji quizzes and posters for the youthcenter’s facebook page, the next tasks were more of physical work, since we intended to renovate the house by scratching off paint (and pieces of the wall (lol)). The week before Christmas we started a project, which I really enjoyed: We made Christmas presents for old, lonely inhabitants of Valga.
Oktoobris käima lükatud rahvusvaheline meediaprojekt "FinEst Media" näitab esimesi tulemusi – välja on antud pressiteade ning valminud Valga, Tõrva ja Otepää piirkondi tutvustavad lühivideod.
Ajavahemik oktoobrist detsembrini on olnud tegus, põnev ja õpetlik.
