The King of the World and His Schultüte

On Friday Luke celebrated his Einschulung, or first day of first grade. And when I say, “celebrated,” it is no exaggeration. I’ve never seen anything like this in America.

But let me back up a little. First, just like when Claire started at German school, we had to spend a minor fortune on school supplies, including his new Schulranzen, or sturdy tank-sized industrial-strength backpack with ergonomically correct back supports and reflective safety strips. These are expensive (70 to 150 Euros seems to be the norm) but extremely well-made and expected to last through the entire Grundschule experience (first through fourth grades). Then we had to buy folders and book covers in European sizes (even their paper is skinnier than ours). Then we finished up with glues, colored pencils and watercolor paints that are more like what we would buy in art shops in the States. Again, it’s top quality that is expected to last. Not much is disposable. When a color is used up in the watercolor set, you can buy individual color refills to snap in. The kids use nice pens (fountain pens in second grade and higher) with refills. There is a little elastic strap for each colored pencil, pen, pen refill and eraser in a zip-up folder called a Mäppchen. And Luke’s teacher color-codes the book covers and folders for every subject, which really appeals to the teacher in me.

So, after getting supplies in order, we had to make a Schultüte (Shool-toot- eh) or Zuckertüte. This is a long cardboard cone that parents fill with candy and toys for the children to carry to their first day of school. Luke and I used a pattern to make a cool monkey one. Some kids had really elaborate Schultüte with things like 3-D robots, ballerinas, soccer players, flowers, feathers, and superheroes.

The day before the Einschulung, we went to get Luke’s hair cut and the barber put in blue temporary hair dye. He loved it so much that he wanted to keep it in for the first day of school. The next day when we woke up, though, most of the dye had rubbed out. So I took blue finger paint and mixed it with hair gel and reworked it to his satisfaction. He then continued to fuss over his hair like a teenage girl all day, and worried that if it rained his new do might fall flat.

Okay, now, let me get back to the first day of school. In Germany this is a really big deal. Daddies take off of work. Grandparents drive in from out of town. In our town, the festivities begin in the town church, where there was an ecumenical blessing and prayer service to start the school year. The local churches gave each child a hard-bound picture bible, made with pictures of crafts and drawings done by local children, many of whom are friends of ours.

After the service, we all processed to the city hall for a brief presentation by the principal and parent group president. Then the older kids in the school choir sang some international songs (in several languages) to welcome the new students. Then the classroom teachers took the kids to their classrooms for half an hour to get settled while the parents had coffee and cake in the courtyard. Each child was presented a hardbound story book by one bank, a lunch box by another bank, and a fresh-baked pretzel by the town bakers.

But that’s not all. All of the neighbors gave Luke gifts that day too. He got a mini Schultüte full of candy and school supplies, 15 Euros, a packet of alphabet noodle soup, a fresh-baked raspberry torte, and a gift certificate to a book store. It felt like a birthday.  We were all amazed.

That night Luke put on his gold cardboard crown leftover from his sixth birthday party, with his blue hair poking out of the top.  He crawled into bed and said, “Mom, today I feel like I am king of the whole world.”

How wonderful that starting school made him feel special and empowered instead of intimidated. And how absolutely refreshing it is to see a community really celebrate education. I couldn’t imagine a more fitting beginning to a school career.