Teacher's Day

5/10/2011

Teacher's day is a day that recognizes the value of teachers. Today, the schedule was different from normal. All the classes were held, but they were only 30 minutes long. Also, the break in between classes was only 5 minutes instead of ten. However, there was some chaos because on Tuesday, students were told that they would have only the first four periods. Both teachers and students were not a 100 percent sure what was going on. The school day ended around 11:30.

I was actually late to school today because I thought that the classes were the same length they usually are. As I don't have a first period class on Wednesday, I got to school at 9:15. Basically, that meant that my 2nd period class didn't exist. Oh well.

The students were dressed nicer than usual today, and in some ways it reminded me of how they were dressed on September 1st. The students also gave flowers and gifts to the teachers. Some of my students gave me flowers and another gave me a rose. I like roses, but the thorns can be annoying. Two of my 6th grade students gave me chocolate. I can't see American students giving their teachers such nice gifts. I don't know if the idea comes from the children, their parents, or their homeroom teachers.

After school was a teacher's meeting. Some of the students in some of the classes had provided a lot of food. There was sausage, chocolates, champagne, fruit, cheese, and wine. Before we got to eat any of the food, the Director adjunct thanked us for our hard work (I think, she was speaking in Romanian). After she spoke, each of the various departments gave a little presentation. The teachers were divided into language teachers (including Russian and Romanian), primary school teachers, math and science teachers, arts teachers, social studies teachers, and humanities teachers. One of the teachers from the arts group sang a song. The primary school teachers had some of their colleagues look into a box and describe what they saw. Apparently in the box was a mirror. We were told it was a picture. After the presentation, we were able to eat the food.

Overall, it was an enjoyable, if a little chaotic, day. Moldovan holidays are a great way to learn more about the culture.