Paperjam: Please, introduce yourselves.

Mairis Minka and Mari-Liis Kivioja: We’re Mairis and Mari-Liis, Estonians living in Luxembourg for more than 20 years. We both initially came to work for one year only, but it has evidently become a much longer period.

We are both very active as volunteers in the Luxembourg Estonian Society here in Luxembourg. Mairis is organising a lot of cultural events like plays and concerts and is a teacher at our Estonian School. Mari-Liis is managing the school and is the folk dance teacher of the Estonian Folk Dance Group “Laiali.” She also organises the activities of three European Choirs of Estonians--small children, children and women--whose members are from all over Europe and who usually gather for singing weekends in Luxembourg.

Tell us about the Luxembourg Estonian Society.

The Luxembourg Estonian Society (Association Luxembourg-Estonie), or LES, was founded in 1998 by an Italian professor, writer and translator, Giorgio Pieretto, who was a big fan of Estonia. He contacted the 10 Estonians living in Luxembourg back then and, with the help of the Estonian embassy, founded the LES. The number of members of the society at that time was approximately 20-25 people from different nationalities, including Luxembourgers. Over time its activities dried up, but then we got new momentum in 2004 when a lot of Estonians arrived here to work in the European institutions [editor’s note: Estonia joined the EU in 2004]. These newcomers, together with the Estonians already living here, revived the association.

The LES’s mission is to unite, coordinate and organise activities for the Estonians living in Luxembourg, to keep the language and the culture alive, and to introduce and connect Estonia to Luxembourg.  brings together information about the activities and events of the association and practical tips for Estonians living in Luxembourg.

And could you tell us more about your events?

We have three main events every year: a celebration of our Independence Day (24 February), a big midsummer party with a bonfire, music, singing, dancing and games (23 June) and a Christmas party. In addition, we organise numerous Estonian plays and concerts, meetings with writers and other events.

There have been years with about 35 different events and calmer years with about 10 events.

Thirty-five is a lot! Any other projects besides events?

Yes. We have several other activities running under our association. Among the biggest ones is the Luxembourg Estonian School, which was founded by the two of us in 2012 when we realised that our own children, who were attending the local schools, needed more contact with other Estonian children. The aim of the activities of the school are to develop the children’s Estonian language skills and to deepen their knowledge of Estonian culture, literature, history and traditions, as well as their understanding of Estonian society and topical issues there.

All Estonian children living in Luxembourg or its surroundings are welcome to attend the school. The age group differentiates the schoolwork, of course. School lessons take place once a month during the weekend and all our teachers are working on a voluntary basis. In addition, there is a baby-parent singing group that gathers almost weekly.

Then we have run the Estonian Folk Dance group “Laiali” since 2014. Laiali has performed over the years in Luxembourg (e.g., at Europe Day celebrations and the international bazar) and abroad in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and the UK. Laiali also participates of course in the big folk dance events in Estonia like the upcoming Song and Dance Celebration taking place this year on 3-6 July in Tallinn.

Every year, Estonian movies also take part in the Cineast film festival, or Central and Eastern European Film Festival, in Luxembourg. The festival has grown a lot and is a much-anticipated event in the autumn.

In 1998, there were maybe ten Estonians in Luxembourg, you said. How big is the community nowadays?

There are about 660 Estonians living in Luxembourg, and out of that around 100 are members of the LES. But non-members are also participating in our events. Membership is open to everyone, regardless of their nationality.

What’s one place in Luxembourg that reminds you of home?

Our homes! And pine trees in some places. The birch tree in my garden. Although the forests here are actually very different from in Estonia… maybe some of the cobbled streets in the old-town of the city remind just a bit of old town in Tallinn.

For people coming from Estonia, what is the strangest thing about Luxembourg?

How traditional Luxembourgers are--but that is no wonder if you consider their national motto, Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn--we want to remain what we are. In a way it explains very well the mentality of Luxembourgers. 

When there is a party, it’s almost always the same food (sausages, beer, cremant) and the same way of organising the events (long tables, buying the carnet of food tickets in advance).

Also, when we arrived in Luxembourg we were surprised how un-digitalised it was. Especially compared to Estonia. This has developed a lot though in the past 20 years, but there is still a long way to go.

And the most amazing thing?

There’s a lot! Let’s name a few…

It’s admirable how well-kept the old farmers’ traditions here are. Festivals of plums, apples, nuts, pumpkins and so on. When the fruits are ready, nice local gatherings are organised.

And there are a lot of popular and well-organised local events, like Eimeischen, Buergbrennen (wonderful, very big fires and each municipality), Liichtmessdag (we have similar traditions in Estonia, but in November), Kleeschen (in some smaller municipalities Kleeschen even comes to every home to bring gifts for the small kids), the nut fair in Vianden, etc.

Then, how the Luxembourg municipalities organise free concerts and events, like the Summer in the City concerts in Kinnekswiss park and other big open-air concerts. They’re absolutely great, well-organised and with very famous stars performing--open air opera and so on.

And the free public transport--great! Well done Luxembourg! Other countries should follow that example!

And the very well-organised and lively brass bands and in every municipality.

Another amazing thing is the general politeness people show towards each other… people greeting strangers on the street or on the forest trails. Cashiers in the supermarket conversing with clients. That’s something you unfortunately don’t see in Estonia, or maybe only in small villages. Just to add a fun fact about Luxembourg: butchers will give a piece of Lyoner sausage to kids in the shop. How nice.

We also love the varied landscape: the Ardennes in the north, Little Switzerland in the centre, the vineyards, the Moselle. And all the marked hiking trails. And the panoramic elevator in Pfaffenthal, the walk in Grund and Clausen, the casemates, the grand ducal palace, Chemin de la Corniche--the most beautiful balcony of Europe--so many wonderful places to bring guests.

The list could go on!

How about the food, the weather?

Estonian food is actually quite similar to German and Luxembourgish food. Luxembourgish wines and crémants are excellent. A nice aperitif snack for foreign guests is pâté Riesling.

As for the weather: spring and autumn in Luxembourg are usually wonderful. Spring comes much sooner than in Estonia. Blossoming magnolias, Japanese cherry trees… beautiful parks with daffodils and tulips, just wonderful, and forests that are fresh light green, full of anemones. Daffodils cover even the green spaces next to big roads so you can enjoy the view even from the car. Autumn is usually warm and colourful.

But we miss the nice snow that you can have in the winter in Estonia. Here the snow rather creates huge problems as people are not used to it. If you live at the top of a hill, the morning surprise with snow sometimes is not at all good news, especially if you need to go somewhere on time.

Back home, what are the stereotypes about Luxembourg?

Most people think that Luxembourg is a rich country. Sometimes they’re confused about whether it’s just a city or not. They often mix it up with Brussels. The older generation knows Luxembourg because of Radio Luxembourg, which they secretly listened to during the Soviet occupation.

And the other side of that question: what’s something that people here usually don’t know about Estonia?

That the deep-rooted, still-living Estonian cultural traditions are those of singing and folk dancing. We have big taking place every five years, where over 40,000 participants take part as singers, musicians and dancers. For the dancers there is a weeklong rehearsal period before the three performances and the singers (a choir of 30,000 people singing together) rehearse for two days before the two concerts take place. The procession of all the participants follows a five-kilometre route from the city centre of Tallinn to the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Most of the participants are dressed in our . There are more than 100,000 spectators gathering to enjoy all that. All three Baltic states have similar big celebrations.

Our re-independence [editor’s note: Estonia reestablished its independence in 1991] was a singing revolution.

And what do you miss most about Estonia?

Estonian culture, theatre, concerts, nature, lakes, sea, islands, fresh food from our greenhouses (like tomatoes, small cucumbers and we make the salad with lot of dill and sour cream), mushroom- and wild berry-picking in the forest.