That may mean the gifts listed in this week’s gift feature are just right. Regardless, though, consider how paying for someone’s subscription to this publication, Eesti Elu, could be what you’re looking for. Either as a centrepiece gift or a “stocking stuffer.” But actually, a newspaper rolls up perfectly into a Christmas stocking.
I’ll be upfront. Of course I benefit from this newspaper doing well, having lots of subscribers and interesting content. Everyone working for Eesti Elu wants it to do well. But lend me your eyes and ears for a couple of paragraphs to tell you why you and your loved ones should consider this gift. Objectively speaking.
I guarantee there’s at least one person you know who would have fun doing these things and making their heritage part (or a bigger part) of their life, but don’t know where to begin.
Global Estonian has shared that according to the 2016 Canadian census, “24,530 Canadian citizens or residents considered themselves to be of Estonian origin.” How many of those people are in your personal network of friends, family, and acquaintances? Is Estonian culture part of their lives? Do they all have the ability to participate in Estonian traditions and activities if they’re interested? Do they cook Estonian food at home? Do they speak, write, or read Estonian?
That isn’t of interest to everyone, but I guarantee there’s at least one person you know who would have fun doing these things and making their heritage part (or a bigger part) of their life, but don’t know where to begin. That’s where Eesti Elu comes in.
There’s a big wide internet out there with lots of info. For someone who is just starting to connect with Estonian culture, for example, sifting through all of that information to make sense of your heritage can be daunting. The most obvious solution, moving to Estonia, is a major change. Travelling there is expensive. But whether you’re looking at Eesti Elu in print or online, a selection of educational, entertaining, and useful stories and resources are all laid out for you. Curated, researched, or even drawn from contributors’ own lives.
If you’re close to a hub of Estonian community activity, you’ll find out what happened and what’s to come for Estonian events (see the Events Calendar) and organizations without having to sift through lots of unrelated topics. That way you can take part moving forward, stay in touch with your peers, or just keep tabs on something that you’re curious about.
Content is quickly covered over by newer content with each passing day… articles, resources, photos, videos, recipes, and podcasts… for subscribers, we’d really encourage you to dig deeper online into what we’ve published since 2002.
If you’re far from an Estonian community or, like many of us, your time is just too constrained to commit to more extra-curriculars, then Eesti Elu is even more useful. You can read, watch, and listen at your own pace. Read some Estonian language articles, test your vocabulary and comprehension, then flick/click over to something in English as you please. We haven’t reinvented the wheel, but we have packaged it all up so that this connection to heritage keeps adding to your life over weeks and months.
And don’t judge what you’re getting based on one week of content alone! Content is quickly covered over by newer content with each passing day. That’s to the dismay of content creators, when one thinks about how many hours go into every article, resource, photo, video, recipe, and podcast.
But for subscribers, we’d really encourage you to dig deeper online into what we’ve published since 2002. Within each category on the site, click back to older pages and see all of the content, a good deal of which is evergreen, such as Estonian language learning material to learn or practice with. Likewise, type in a topic and the words “Eesti Elu” into a search engine or our site’s search bar and chances are you’ll find something worth reading or looking at.
To give the gift of heritage, head over to eestielu.ca/subscribe and under Holiday Gift Subscriptions select either “Digital 1 Year” ($90) or “Print + Digital 1 Year” ($135), which are discounts from the usual subscription prices.
The recipient shall be a new subscriber or one whose subscription ended more than three months ago. When you send this gift, your gift recipient will register their own account as they receive their gift.
This gift subscription offer is valid until December 31st, 2025.
