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Nyan, of course, has been attending his primary school for a few months now. His old preschool, Modern Montessori International, is on a different annual schedule, so the kids who are going on to local schools (rather than the “international” school that Nyan goes to) have still been going to MMI, ahead of their new school year that starts in January (rather than the August school year start for Nyan’s school). Got all that?

The upshot is that in November, MMI threw its annual graduation ceremony for all the kids who are leaving. Nyan and several other kids who left in August came back and joined their classmates for the festivities.

Here’s the procession into the auditorium.

All the graduates, standing on the stage. So serious!

And the main event (for us anyway): Nyan bravely marching across the stage to get his diploma from Uncle Jimmy.

Before the ceremony, there was lots of hugging as all the kids got together. But there were also some nerves, methinks.

We’ve surely said this before, but MMI was such a great experience – great teachers and fantastic kids whom we really hope Nyan can stay in touch with.

Nyan goes to what’s known here in Singapore as an international school. It basically means it’s a private school that’s intended for kids of ex-pats (as opposed to the local school system, which is quite difficult for ex-pat kids to get into, unfortunately). Among the benefits of an international school:  your kid will certainly make friends from all over the world. The kids in Nyan’s class hail from places including Vietnam, Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, the U.K., the U.S., India, New Zealand, China and many more. It’s a great mix.

To celebrate all that diversity, the school held “UN Day” in mid-October. Everyone wore clothes representing their heritage; Nyan could have chosen the U.S., U.K. or Myanmar. He chose the latter, and wore his Burmese soccer shirt.

Here’s his class, parading around the school grounds

The highlight was a performance of a few songs that Nyan’s class had been practicing. It certainly attracted the attention of photographer-parents.

Here they are, taking the stage:

Here are the songs. A lovely piece about diversity etc. called Under One Sky, which Nyan had been practicing around the house for weeks:

And another one about all the different ways to say Hello in different languages. No mention of “mingalaba,” which of course is “hello” in Burmese, though:

Afterwards, the class posed for a group shot. Nyan had to be a goof, of course.