My graduating class sits the Synak tomorrow. I wrote on the board "Two pens." A girl said, "Eje, you say it every year." Yes. It is because in 2005 a boy wrote the maths paper with one pen and wept in my corridor afterwards. His name was Bekzhan. He is now a clever man in Talas who writes on the Internet and I am proud of him, and he still brings two.
Go with God, children.
First semester exams this week. The corridor is full of children whispering dates. Next to the stove one boy was whispering: "751, 1864, 1916, 1992." I asked what he would do if the question were about 1727. He said, "Then I will write about the church." Good boy.
Heating note for parents: the heating is on from eight in the morning now. The glass in the 6th-class windows is new. Thank God.
The results of the Uluttuk Synak come in the second half of July, but the district sends the first marks for the written part by telephone to the schools. My 12th class: history average 71, the best in the district for the third year. I do not boast, I write it to remind myself, in winter.
One girl, Aidana, wrote the best essay on the Kokand period that I have read from a child. She wants to study law in Talas. I told her: law is only history that is still in force.
Fourth year of the National Graduation Test. My advice to the 12th class for the history paper:
Good luck, children. I believe in you (more than you believe in yourselves).