I had the good fortune of being invited to attend the graduation ceremony & celebration of Khamney's twelve 11th graders. I haven't really been to a graduation in Buryatia, Siberia, or Russia as a whole, so I can't really compare it to any of them. I've also never been to a really small-town HS graduation in the States, so I can't really compare it to that, either. All in all, I enjoyed the relative lack of pomp & circumstance the event maintained throughout, say compared to graduations I've been to in the States...and most every structured event I've been to in Russia. Maybe I'm just the overly cynical, sardonic, drab, relatively-privileged westerner, but I have a bit of a hard time with over-the-top ecstatic genuine sincerity when exposed in large doses. Sometimes I wish I could just embrace things whole-heartedly like a lot of people here tend to do. At the same time, all the brouhaha of fancy awards and long, drawn-out speeches at fairly minor events is still gonna be tedious, no matter how you slice it. As I mentioned, this particular event had only a limited number of short speeches (including an on-the-spot nervous well-wishing from me!) before the diplomas were given out. The students recited a poem which expressed their appreciation for their teachers, family & friends. It was quaint.
Following a nicely choreographed & carried-out waltz by the graduates, they launched an extensive slide show set to a steady-pulsing techno-beat. This took place around 7 PM which in mid June in Siberia was still very light out, so the slide pictures were often hard to see. I felt bad for losing interest after awhile, and made a point to pay attention till the end, or at least try to (meanwhile, many guests had already started eating what was on the table, and no longer looking at the faded screen at all).
I took special notice (and pictures!) of the food served, as it was what they considered "top quality" for "special occasions." There was more fresh fruit available that one day than I'd seen in my previous week and a half in town. As no one sitting near me showed any particular interest in the fruit tray, I imbibed rather heavily in it...which later proved not to be such a good idea, given the pouring rain that ensued and followed me to the hole-in-the-floor outhouse through the stinging nettles every time...
People seemed a lot more interested in digging into the sheep innards in front of us. It had been slaughtered the day before and prepared that afternoon to perfection. BTW, I've asked around, and nobody seems to eat the sheep's liver raw, fresh off the carcass. I guess our time was a bit of a fluke ;-)
Eventually the shot glasses came out, as with several bottles of vodka. I'd hardly drunk a thing since I got to Russia, so I did feel the effects of a couple shots, but not too badly. Some of the parents, teachers & the like were getting quite boisterously loquacious from the drinks, which I must admit, I found rather amusing. I've only come across a couple of stereotypical "town-drunk" individuals, who each struck me as lonely and a bit off-kilter; I wish there were something I (or most anybody else) could do to help...
The teens were allowed to take shots of sweet plum & apricot wine (which tasted like juice and, compared with the vodka, had no real effect on me). I sat w/ the grads & did a couple shots with them before Galina suggested we head home. I figured that was a good cue to take my bows and exit stage right, and let the real teens (i.e. not me, no matter how much I like to think I'm still 17) enjoy their newfound freedom.
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