Is September the new January?

by Sarita Rao

For the first article for her 'L word' column on wort.lu/en, Sarita Rao ponders whether the beginning of school is the real start of the new year in Luxembourg, as the summer fun makes way for well-known routines and autumn weather.

I’ve just been standing outside the back door trying to catch raindrops on my tongue with my eight-year old daughter. That’s about as exciting as it gets on a rainy day towards the end of a two-month summer holiday.

It has been a tiresome and long summer for us, thanks in part to a badly scheduled house move, which meant we spent the best sunny days unpacking boxes. When we did finally dispense with a retinue of repair men and painters, the weather turned a bit nasty.

For the two weeks we were on holiday proper, the days flew by, but for the rest – well let’s just say I have exhausted all outdoor pools, play parks, museums and free workshops that exist in Luxembourg.

So it is with great glee I look forward to sitting bumper to bumper on the Route d’Arlon on the school run next Wednesday.

It appears that in my 40s what I really crave are the routines of my childhood. The certainty of knowing what will happen each day, probably every week, even if I don’t like some bits of that routine – and we’re back to that school run.

In that sense, for me September is definitely the true January. It’s the start of the academic year that ruled my life from four to twenty four years old. It’s hard to shake off that feeling that New Year begins in September. New school bags, new shoes and coats and that wonderful feeling that no matter how bad your school report was, the slate is wiped clean once more. (As an Anglo Indian my report was all A for maths and C for sport.)

As a grown up, I miss it. Who wants to begin the year when it’s cold and dark, having spent a week watching too much TV and testing your stomach to the limit? It is by far nicer to make resolutions against the backdrop of red sunsets, late summer breezes and a spot of apple picking.

It’s for that reason I think the Schueberfouer is so timely – a last blast of fun before returning to the serious matter of study and work. Reading up on the history of this unique Luxembourg calendar event, I’ve discovered it was traditionally a time when the good people of the Grand Duchy would wear their finest new clothes, no doubt reflecting how good the harvest was or how many sheep were born in spring. So not unlike the new school shoes, clothes, coats and bags.

Normally back to school is received with a heavy sigh, but after a long summer, the kids are as enthusiastic as me to ditch the late lie-ins and embrace routine. After all it’s weird going to bed in daylight isn’t it?

Or maybe it’s the fact I’ve just said I’ll take them to Glacis on Friday.

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