Danes, ko postajam pionir...*

On this day 25 years ago, I became a pionir. 

It was 1988, Tito was long dead, Yugoslavia was on the verge of an economic and political collapse that would cause a decade-long turmoil and various wars. But one of the most important rites of passage in a young Yugoslavian's life still claimed a lot of attention from teachers, parents and said young Yugoslavian. 

I was six and a half years old and in 1st grade, bored out of my mind in school because I already knew how to read and write and reading and writing was basically what I was supposed to be learning at that time. The annoying insufferable knowitall in me was having a smug moment, while my teacher was kind of furious. 

Joining the Pionir organization was a huge deal and almost as big a milestone as starting school. It blows my mind how much things have changed since then. 

Source.

A pretty navy blue pleated skirt, cool red neckerchief, a pin, a solemn oath and delicious cake were involved. Parents were proud and there was no homework that day. It was so cool.

"Danes, ko postajam pionir, dajem častno pionirsko besedo: Da se bom pridno učil in delal, spoštoval starše in učitelje, da bom zvest in iskren tovariš, ki drži svojo obljubo;

Da se bom ravnal po zgledu najboljših pionirjev, da bom spoštoval slavna dejanja partizanov in napredne ljudi sveta, ki žele svobodo in mir;

Da bom ljubil svojo domovino, samoupravno Socialistično Jugoslavijo, njene bratske narode in narodnosti in gradil novo življenje, polno sreče in radost."*

So tonight, I'll briefly celebrate. 

Cheers.

Jules

*The Pionir oath. In Slovenian, obviously. The message is actually pretty positive and there's no brain washing. Google translate to learn a piece of our history if you will, my dear non-Slovenian readers.