September 11, 2021

Don't Forget Your Flowers and Bows


Don't Forget Your Flowers and Bows
Those bows! The first day of school in 2011 – but don't worry, the outfits have not changed since then. Panoramio user aadmitriew

The first day of school is a national holiday in Russia. Called the Day of Knowledge, every September 1 is met with great fanfare and the biggest bows you will see anywhere in the world.

The holiday is the biggest deal for children entering first grade and their families. After typically three years of daycare/preschool/kindergarten (detsky sad), six- and seven-year-olds head to school on September 1 as if they are starring in a beauty pageant. Boys wear their first suits (with ties!), girls wear black-and-white dresses with big white bows – the bigger the better – and all pupils bring bouquets of flowers for their teachers. We have no idea how teachers are supposed to get 30 bouquets home and into vases.

Those fancy clothes become the uniform for the rest of the year. According to statistics bureau Rosstat, a full set of school supplies for first-graders costs about 18,800 rubles ($255) for boys and 23,200 rubles ($315) for girls. For some families with one working parent, that is close to one full month's salary.

In the Soviet Union, the first day of school was elevated to the status of a religious holiday in another country. The Day of Knowledge became an official holiday in 1984. But a standardized first day of school, the first of September, was codified in the Soviet Union as early as 1930.

If September 1 falls on a Sunday, then the holiday will be observed on the following day. September 1 also marks the first day of fall, with government decrees choosing when the seasons change rather than the planet's cycles.

We just hope that you feel as positive about the start of school as this 1st grader, here.

You Might Also Like

Finding Her Russian Roots
  • July 18, 2021

Finding Her Russian Roots

How a conversation led one of 60,000 Russian adoptees in the United States on a journey to her past.
Tourism for Tykes
  • July 10, 2021

Tourism for Tykes

Youthful tourism ambassadors might be coming to a Russian region near you.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955