This past week was our last week of school before our Christmas vacation. As in the United States, this meant end-of-semester grades, tests, and holiday celebrations. Although the date on which Christmas and New Year are celebrated varies throughout Moldova, in my town Christmas is celebrated on the traditional Orthodox date of January 7th, while New Year is celebrated on the 14th. In some towns, the main celebration or perhaps a smaller celebration will take place on December 25th, but January 7th is the primary celebration in most areas.
On Thursday, one of my fourth grade classes surprised me with balloons, singing “Happy Birthday” in English, and a card. We had mentioned a few weeks ago that my birthday was on the same day as Christmas is celebrated in the United States, and they had remembered and planned the surprise all on their own. It was so sweet of them and I really appreciated it!
I was excited that we were able to do a couple of lessons this week in which we were able to talk about Christmas and winter holidays in the United States. In our third and fourth grade classes, I taught the students “Jingle Bells”. I was surprised and amused when we got to the refrain and all the students seemed to know it quite well. In one fourth grade class, we finished teaching the song, and they all broke out simultaneously into the Romanian version of the song, which I wasn’t aware existed. In our ninth grade classes, we had a lesson on Christmas. It was primarily focused on Christmas carols and songs, which was a lot of fun. I shared some of my favorite Christmas songs with the students. They particularly seemed to like “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”. In one class, one of the boys stood up and started dancing, and in both, they asked me for the names of the songs. I could hear several of them humming or singing along to the songs later in the day. In one of my ninth grade classes, two of my students sang one of their traditional Christmas carols in perfect harmony. It was truly beautiful, and I think the students really enjoyed the lesson.
On Thursday, after classes, the older students had a concert and performance. The fifth through seventh graders had their celebration first. There were hours of songs, dances, and games, all organized and put on by the students. I swear that children in Moldova know how to dance before they can even walk or talk. Practically all Moldovans dance well, particularly the traditional dances. I’m always so impressed by my students when they dance or sing.
One of my favorite performances was done by my seventh graders. Two of them sang, while a few others danced. The song is also super catchy, you can find it here if you want a song stuck in your head! After the more formal concert, and scattered throughout, there were different activities.
One was that two students from each class (a boy and a girl) had to do a traditional partner dance. As far as I could tell, the students were not pre-selected and hadn’t specifically prepared, but they all danced so well! There was also a game where four students were selected and they had to blow a balloon until it popped and then there was a paper inside the balloon with an activity they had to complete: select a partner and do a dance, what is a talent you have and share it with the audience (dance, sing, etc.), give a few compliments to each teacher in the room, and another activity I don’t remember. The M.C. insisted that they had to give my compliments in English (in case you’re wondering, I’m beautiful, smart, and friendly). At the end of the celebration, there was some dancing with Moș Crăciun.
After the 5th-7th grade celebrations, there was a break so people could go home and eat and such. At 4:00, I returned to the school for the 8th and 9th grade celebration. This was much the same, though with a bit more variety of performances: dancing, singing, and instrument-playing, as well as skits.
See more photos and videos here: https://goo.gl/photos/kS3BSueZrfdT57cs8
Once again, I was amazed at their ability to dance. There was also one performance that I have to admit I still have no idea what it was (song? skit? dance? comedy?). One of the 9th grade boys dressed up as a girl, including wig and makeup. Two other 9th grade boys accompanied him and there was a very interesting performance that followed. Beyond that, I really don’t know how to describe it. Sorry. It was truly interesting, confusing, and everyone was laughing very hard. They had the same activities after, and this time the student who had to give compliments had a bit of a harder time because he just recently started at the school and hadn’t had many of the teachers in the room. They tried to tell him that he needed to give mine (he does have me as a teacher) in English, but he didn’t know any of the words (if you’re curious, this time around I was “beautiful, a good teacher, and American”). This time around the celebration ended with a typical “high school dance”, complete with a disco ball, dimmed lights, and loud music.
I was really glad I went to both of the celebrations. I usually only get to see and interact with my students during class, and it was nice to see them have fun, use their numerous talents, and interact with one another. It was also a nice reminder that teens and pre-teens are similar in many ways, regardless of where in the world they live. Sometimes it feels like the school system here doesn’t really allow kids to be kids, but during these celebrations, everything felt a lot more relaxed.
The Oke Den 