You look like a cucumber today.: Teacher's Day

The first Sunday of October is Teacher's Day in Ukraine, another one of those holidays from Soviet times. It was interesting to see from Facebook status updates how different schools celebrate the day. From the looks of it, some schools really play up the Soviet aspect by dressing as Pioneers. I liked the one status update that said that the 11th form was teaching all of the classes for the day and that the teachers participated as students during the lessons; throwing airplanes, answering cell phones...

My school was really tame. A little too tame for my liking. Though there was talk of going to a bar in the evening, either it fell through or I was left behind. AND there were no cognac shots in the teachers' room, which I took as a given for such a day. I guess I should be thankful that my school is dry. In the morning, students greeted their teachers with flowers and chocolate, individually wishing us health and a good year. I'm constantly taken aback by the generosity of people in my community. There's this one group of boys, eleven and twelve years old, that make sure to present me flowers on any occasion. They make my heart melt.

At school, the classes were shortened. Older students taught younger students while the teachers hung out in the teachers' room. I kind of wished I could see what was going on during these classes but watching the satisfaction of the teachers sitting back and gossiping became my entertainment.

In the afternoon, there was a conference of teachers from the entire rayon. For about an hour and a half, there were some speeches by the administration and awards for new teachers and so forth. I didn't always understand what was going on, I have this problem that's gotten much worse in Ukraine of not paying attention when someone is speaking, especially when it's in Ukrainian. I did learn a lot though, the one speaker was very candid about the children in the rayon. I now know that there are about three thousand students in my rayon and roughly three hundred and fifty teachers. I now know where the dormitory/orphanage is for at risk youth (not in the rayon center where I live) and some of the work social services does (which I didn't think existed in my rayon). After the conference, a folk ensemble performed for an hour. I, and I think most people, had no idea this was going to happen. It was amazing, really good singing and dance moves that make me wonder if the origins of break dancing can be traced to sixteenth and seventeenth Hutstuls. It was a world class production.

Signs made by classes to celebrate Teacher's Day

Bukovynian folk group from Chernivsti entertaining the teachers of the rayon.

Yet another round of flowers attained this week! Don't make fun of me, I took this picture this morning after waking up. All of these flowers are from students' gardens.

Roses from my birthday in their final bloom. Love living in the south!

Delicious Dinner. Celebrated Teacher's Day with these, though I could barely finish them. There's definitely something different about American food and its calorie content.

Earlier this week each class was invited to make a exhibition of gifts from the harvest. The best part was that afterwords all the apples, pears, and grapes were put in the teacher's room.