Graduation and Beyond

The graduates, or "vipuskniki," as their sashes say.

Misha just completed his podgotovitilni year, which six-year-olds attend to prepare them for first grade the following year. Their graduation ceremony was an involved affair, full of congratulations and smiles as well as a large dose of nostalgia that had all the parents choking up. The children performed a wonderful concert of songs, dances, and poems. My favorite was the class waltz:

Misha and his princess partner.

Promenade!

The wall reads "Soon to School."

A cute grin.

Then it was onto the games, such as this balloon-popping rumpus. When the music stopped, each child grabbed a balloon to pop, retrieving a slip of paper from inside. They then had to read out their future profession. Misha's slip revealed "televedushi" - a T.V. host.

In another "musical chairs" type of game, the kids danced until the music stopped, at which point they grabbed a card on the floor. These cards foretold the grades they would earn in their future studies. In the school system here, 5 is the best mark, on down to 2 as a truly shameful mark (called a "dvoika"). Nobody really gets a 1 unless they don't do any work at all. Notice that all our graduates will only receive 4s and 5s in school!

In a rather touching ceremony, the graduates tied school handkerchiefs around the necks of the students who will take their place as the new podgotovitilni class.

Then we took a trip outside to make wishes and send them floating into the sky with hot-air paper lanterns. This plan was a bit ambitious, as the sun was beating down with a vengeance, causing the lanterns to float up just a little way before coming back down with their fiery contents!

The school administration gave incredibly thoughtful presents to the students, including a school portfolio with photos of all the students and teachers, a laminated scrapbook of individual drawings and writings that each student had completed, and a thick children's encyclopedia book with interesting articles on everything from "А до Я." (Я is the last letter of the Russian alphabet.) Here is Misha beaming with his scrapbook.

While outside, we posed for some more photos, with Daddy ....

and Mommy. I decided to dress up because, after all, how many times does your child graduate from kindergarten? Certainly not more than twice. Last year he graduated from the Saudi Arabian kindergarten, and this year he graduated from Kygyzstan's podgotovitilni group. In his three years of preschool, Misha has written his name in three different alphabets. What a kid!

A shot with his teacher, Olga.

Then it was back inside for cake!

Misha and Sebby finished out May at Pochemuchka. Their last day was June 1, Children's Day - a party for their last day! Misha's class took a trip to the city square and got their photo taken with the mayor. Sebby's group played games at the school. Both boys came home with a big bag of toys - from balloons and bubbles to cars and kaleidoscopes.

Here they are with all their loot, ready to go home.

Sebby gave his teacher Gulnara a big goodbye hug. She has told us many times how much she will miss him!

Misha made a nice thank-you card for his teacher.

Earlier that month, Misha's class put on a short English play. Since Misha's English skills are unrivaled, he played one of the main roles, the "old man." Another boy was the wicked hunter (or "vikid hunta" as the children say with their cute accents) and the other children were animals. The play included many cute songs and dances. We were amused to note that when performing the play, Misha spoke English with a Russian accent, so as not to stand out. He told us that otherwise, the songs wouldn't rhyme the right way if he pronounced the words differently! It was so funny to hear him speaking exactly like the other children.

Misha's the white-bearded old man on the right.

Misha in his little house in the woods, with the hunter knocking on his door.

Since the weather has been so pleasant in the evenings, I have been walking the kids back from school in the evenings. If I walk by myself, it takes me less than half an hour (one way). However, with the kids, it takes about an hour, sometimes an hour and a half! Sebby likes to go slowly, stopping to throw leaves in the gutters and walk along little walls. We also stop to get snacks if we are feeling hungry - such as blinchiki (crepes) with chocolate or fried doughnuts with powdered sugar!

Misha by the doughnut machine.

Sebby watches the blinchiki being made.

Sharing the doughnuts

Sebby loves dropping leaves in one side of the tunnel, then hopping across the sidewalk to watch them come swirling out the gutter on the other side.

One day, we stopped to admire someone's pet tortoise on our way home.

Pochemuchka has been a really wonderful school for Misha and Sebby both. They both settled in so well after only a matter of weeks, having found encouraging teachers and fun classmates. We were sad to leave the school, but Misha has outgrown all the classes that Pochemuchka has. For fall, we require a school that has a first grade for Misha as well as a sadik (day care) for Sebby. I spent much of April checking out and talking to (in Russian, I'm proud to say) different schools, and of those, we managed to enroll the boys in our number one choice. The biggest reason that it's my top choice is the fact that it's a five-minute walk from our apartment. (Hooray!!) However, on top of that, the school is private, small, respected and rather difficult to get into. As is the Kyrgyz way (and really, the World way), it simply takes dedication to going back again and again, making your face known, being polite and friendly, until they magically find a place for your children.

They just finished their first week at their new school, Ak Bala. Ak Bala is a Kyrgyz name (although the school is taught in Russian), which literally translates as "white boy." A truer meaning for ak, however, includes all the figurative meanings of "white" - including good, clean, honest, proper, and things along that positive train of thought. 

I was amazed at how well the transition to their new school went. Sebby only cried once all week long, and now he walks into his class ready to see what's going on that day. Both of the boys' teachers seem sweet and welcoming. Misha likes the fact that he's not the only "new kid" in his group - all the children are just getting to know each other and learn each others' names. He already tells us how he loves his new school. The summer session is fairly laid-back, treated as more of a "summer camp" for the small group of kids who still attend. In the fall, the group will increase for the official start of first grade. For now, the students do a lot of outside activities, art projects, and math and reading review. Also, twice a week, Misha and his classmates have the option of going to a water park to swim in the afternoons. After an outing earlier this week, Misha came home telling us all about the cool water slides and jacuzzi.  It works out so nicely that the boys have a chance to socialize and be active while being in a Russian environment for the summer. Misha will be in good shape for first grade! Already, Misha's and Sebby's teachers are impressed with their Russian skills.

All in all, our summer is shaping up to be pretty relaxing. We walk the kids across the street to their school around 8:30, then we spend our mornings taking our Russian and Kyrgyz classes. For the summer, we aren't teaching much - just on an as-needed basis for the school. In the afternoon, we pick up the kids and play outside with friends. We're hoping to do a bit of travelling around Kyrgyzstan at some point in our summer, to see more of what's beyond Bishkek.