When school starts in Russia as it did the beginning of September. Moscow changes from a summer city with whispers of children’s voices to a winter city that is full of the squeals and delights of children’s voices. In Moscow any parent that can get their child to a dacha or village and keep them there for the summer, they do it. It is considered good for the child and always there is at least one parent staying with the child. It is not a dump the kid program so that mom and dad can have fun. It is really a serious thing in Russia to get your kids to spend time in the country. Kids need to plant flowers and vegetables. They need to care for chicken, goats and cows. It is part of growing up in Russia…
So the start of summer is called Last Bell and the end of summer is First Bell. That is what I hear all the time around Moscow. If you hear someone proclaim first bell, then you realize that summer is almost over. Same for last bell, it means summer starts…
This is my Que as to what the roads will be like in Moscow. Summer is definitely a whole bunch easier to get around and find parking in Moscow. As compared to now after the first bell, the city is a blanket of cars on every sidewalk and grass spot… 🙂
It is also nice to see that all kids have a dress code. School in Russia is not the place to wear jeans and t-shirt. The boys have a dark colored suit, many times and or at least dress pants and a white shirt and tie. The girls wear dark dresses and or sometimes they are a grey/brown plaid type dress material with a white blouse. It is nice to see kids not walking home from school with their pants dragging the ground and t-shirts that say derogatory remarks about someone or something…
When I grew up we use to call it the same thing (First Bell/Last Bell) out in the country. I remember one day when I was little, I realized that it just made sense, because all day long you hear school bells going off at school. Bell for school to start, to end a class and end the day. So Fist Bell and Last Bell just made sense…
My favorite was the real bell that the teacher would ring by pulling a rope on the bell mounted on a pole…
Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!