Ahead of 1 December we put on a celebration for Romania's National Day.
A celebration at primary-school age means a great deal more than the day it is held on. It means rehearsals, a text to remember, a line you have to stand in and a moment when you look out at a full room and want to make yourself very small. The children go through all of it with their hearts in their mouths, and at the end they discover that it can be done — which, the first time, is a victory in itself.
That is how the holiday acquires a meaning, too. National Day stops being a free day in the calendar and becomes the day you sang, said something out loud in front of everyone and were applauded.
Many happy returns, fellow Romanians. Many happy returns, Romania.