Bohemian Pomp and Circumstance

Well, at long last the maturita exams are behind us. I tested 50 students last week, and all of them passed. I couldn’t be more proud of them. It was an exhausting week to say the least, but it was good. I realized last year about this time that I had officially made the transition from college kid to old man when I found joy in a week of tests. As mentioned previously, the maturita exams are huge and terrifying… but in a strange way they’re kind of fun. The novelty of a new schedule coupled with finally seeing my students tangibly rewarded for their efforts just makes for a good time.

The testing came to a close on Thursday evening with a final gathering of each class. We stood around in a large circle, some short speeches were made and tears shed, the students gave each teacher a flower (or bouquet of sausages), and we said goodbye. The teachers then retreated to a classroom-turned-dining room and sipped wine and munched hors d'oeuvres together.

The following day involved a traditional morning keg party across the street from the school (not kidding) followed in the evening by the traditional graduation ceremony. This ceremony is much shorter than its American counterpart, and involves a glass of champagne for each teacher and student in attendance. A pretty good deal if you ask me.

This year, the graduation ceremony was followed by a class party with my 4-year students. The party was held at a pub not far from the school and lasted until the wee hours of the morning. It was a good time, and a great way to congratulate many of the students I’ve grown close to.

A few short hours after finally getting to bed, I arose to play Badminton with Zach and two of our students. It was a lot of fun… but certainly sapped me of any energy I may have had left. The remainder the afternoon was spent preparing music with Boris. That evening, Boris’s band played a small pub concert with yours truly as a special guest. I played a handful of tunes suitable for a relaxed smoky pub, and was pleased to find that a number of students and a few other American teachers had come to see the show. A good time was had by all.

I’ve been staring at this computer screen for much to long now. I’m going to grab some dinner. I hope that you’re well and that those of you suffering a stuffy Ohio spring are keeping cool. I’ll talk to you soon.