Today is September first. Today is also the first day of school for everyone in Ukraine. And in true Ukrainian fashion it is a day of celebration… and a half day for the kids filled with parades and festivities. Back in June when I met the English teachers and the principal at the high school, one of the English teachers explained that I should come by on the first day because it was a huge celebration, and maybe an interesting cultural moment for me to see. So I tucked this bit of information away in my head all summer and this week at work told them that I was going to go to the high school on the first day. I wanted to see the festivities.
This of course spiraled into a situation where my boss demanded that someone take me to the high school. I tried to say that I could call one of the English teachers and ask them, but for some reason, whenever I say something like I can call one of the English teachers for help, my boss jumps in and says ‘No’. We will help you, which then results in my boss telling one of the ladies in the office to help me. And then I fear them resenting me for creating ‘more work’ for them.
So I had to meet my counterpart at the school at 12:30. I am positive that the words 12:30 came out of her mouth. Apparently the 12:30 was in the sentence, but apparently what was said was that the kids go to school from 8:30 to 12:30 on the first day. I knew something was wrong with that when as I was eating breakfast I could hear music and national anthems from the elementary school next door to me. So I figured maybe she said 10:30 instead of 12:30 since 10 and 12 can sound similar if said fast. At 8:50 I got a pissed off phone asking me where I was. Why wasn’t I at the high school? This is when I found out that it was supposed to be 8:30. Hey man, don’t get mad at me if you didn’t double-check that I understood the time.
I ended up standing around like a stalker watching the festivities until I saw the English teacher and latched on. She politely berated me for not calling her all summer then grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the principal’s office. And then we proceeded to drink for two hours. Hey it’s Ukraine, and the first day of school is a celebration. You have to start it off with a bang.
There were many toasts and at one point the English teacher grabbed me and said, after this we will visit the semen tree. I was clearly confused, so I kept a straight face and asked her what a semen tree was. She told me it was where they buried there loved ones after they died… Ah, the cemetery. Good, I didn’t know where the cemetery was and after living in Starry Belous where there seemed to be a cemetery every corner. I was a bit confused as to where the dead people went in my town. I should also note that after I told her that I would like to visit the cemetery, she didn’t make the mistake again.
Quick note about the cemeteries here. This was the first time I actually entered a cemetery in Ukraine. I’ve walked by them sure, but I haven’t really been inside. The cemetery in my town is actually really nice. The stones have a picture of the person who died etched into them somehow. I was curious about this so I ran my fingers over the picture to see how it was done. My friend explained to me that the pictures are on the stone because it is a Christian tradition that if the spirit sees it’s face it won’t come back to haunt the living… or something along those lines. I wasn’t aware of this tradition back in the states, but it seems to be a huge tradition here since each and every stone had a picture perfect face on it. I’ll have to go back and take a picture some time.
So goes a really eventful first day of school Oh, and I also have a future invite to the banya… which is apparently not in my town, but in the area of my town. So I am looking forward to that.
I am still working on an entry for the last two weeks, a training in Kiev, good friends, a camp, a super first class train ride, and lots of sausage. All coming up soon.
