It is not an everyday event when a president comes to visit you at your workplace. Right? Luck was on my side yesterday. I was able to take photos of the Estonian Republic’s president Alar Karis’ visit to Tartu College. This organization is a well-known Estonian temple of culture and research. Acting also as a dormitory, offering students from all around the world accommodation in Toronto. Plus offering a home to hundreds of Estonian-Canadian personal archive collections and thousands of books. Tartu College has worked hard for tens and tens of years to develop the preservation of Estonian culture and heritage in Canada.

President Karis met with local Estonian organizations, society and group leaders, who all had a chance to introduce their present activity and their history. It was time well spent and hopefully, good relationships between Estonia and Estonians in Toronto will arise from this meeting.

After the meeting, a panel discussion took place at the Tartu College hall, which was packed with people, who all wanted to meet the president and take part in the discussion. The stage was taken by Laas Leivat, Juku Gold and Alar Karis, and the panel was moderated by Reet Marten-Sehr. Most of the questions circled around the war in Ukraine, but there were other questions asked, such as: “I want to go to Estonia, what can I do to make that happen?”. The president’s answer was: “Get airplane tickets first.”

The visit was short, as usually, such visits are, so it was really difficult for Mr. President to leave for the airport. As many wanted to speak, take pictures with him or show him around. So much to do, so little time. But the time was well spent and the result was a wonderful evening with merry Estonians enjoying good company and good Greek food catered by the Master’s Bufferia, which has their buffeteria opened in Tartu College.

Please take a look at the gallery HERE, before I will put together a small overview of the event.