This year, 212 year-old Kalev
kondiitri/tööstus/ettevõtte (confectionary company's)
advendi/kalender, seen here, and in fact its entire Christmas collection for kids, uses funny word play. Photo: kalev.eu
Tere you know,
tali is the same thing as
talv – winter. But put together, they form a word pair used (mostly verbally) to express dissatisfaction or an unpleasant surprise similarly to: "Imagine that!" or "Hello!" (As in: you've got to be kidding). Estonians also say "
Noh, halloo!", but "
Tere tali! ", as well as "
Tere talv!" are widely used, reflecting the fact that winter's arrival is quite often a (pleasant) surprise.
Jõulud novembris? Ei noh, tere tali! (Christmas in November? Come on!)
You might've thought you spied an
õige/keelsus/viga (grammar error), because in Estonian, you begin a letter with a direct personal greeting by inserting a comma:
Tere, Triinu! Yup, a comma and an exclamation mark. "Tere tali" does not qualify for this rule, but
Tere, kallis Mõmm! would. "Mõmm-mõmm" is the sound Estonian bears make and hence their nickname
karu/mõmm, which along with
kaisu/karu = teddy bear. Another pet name for a bear is
mesi/käpp (honey paw), but that's another Kalev candy! And
šokolaadi/tahvel and ice cream and cookie...
In addition to possibly having a calendar window to open each morning during the month of
detsember or roughly the period of advent leading up to
jõulud (yule), the majority of Estonian kids leave a
suss (slipper) on their windowsill at nightfall starting on
1. jõulu/kuu, into which a
päkapikk leaves a treat. Kalev even makes special tiny
sussi/šokolaadid for this occasion, similarly to North American mini treats made for Hallowe'en, which Estonia does not have for its
mardi/päev (St. Martin's Day beggars). Check out the Christmas goodies at
www.kalev.eu. The advent calendar is already
läbi müüdud (sold out) online.
The advent surprises continue after school, when Estonian Public Broadcasting's ETV2 shows a new episode of a children's
jul series each night. This year, the Scandinavian
jul tradition is from Denmark – a new episode of "
Juleønsker" (Christmas Wish, 2015), every evening from 01.12 until
jõulu/laupäev (Christmas Eve). A few years ago, a similar
norra (Norwegian) series with Estonian
sub/tiitrid was shown. Swedish public broadcasting has been producing such kids' advent "Christmas calender" tv (and radio!) series since 1960. But Estonia has its first ever children's Christmas movie coming to cinemas on 7. dets. Watch the trailer of "Eia jõulud Tondi/kakul" (Eia's Christmas at Phantom Owl Farm)
http://www.heafilm.ee/eng/Even...Riina Kindlam, Tallinn
