Latvia

Latvians are kinds and trusting with friends and networks that exist through friends and family. Latvians are reserved and have a preference for formality in public. The pride in their cultural heritage, for example the architecture in Riga, has helped Latvians build a sense of purpose and patriotism that is conveyed to their children. Lively discussion and dialog is now a strong part of the everyday life.

Introductions are done by giving their name and surname to the other person. A firm handshake with strong eye contact is the norm. With good friends a light kiss may also given. It is common for friends to use first names.

In the afternoon young people say: "Chau" (hello), if they know each other, "Labdien" (good afternoon) if they don't know each other. In the morning Latvians say "Labrit" In the afternoon they say "Labdien", in the evening they say "Labvakar".

Direct eye contact indicates sincerity and respect. Hand gestures are often used in conversation. Waving is not a common form of greeting. Eating and drinking in the street is not seen a great deal, except for ice cream.

The way the food is presented is extremely important, and after the meal, the gathering often breaks into song. There are more than 200,000 folk songs in the repertoire.

Shoes are removed at the door when visiting. Latvians appreciate a gift, especially flowers. Flowers may be given in odd numbers, as even numbers are reserved for funerals. Refreshments served may include liquor, apples, small sandwiches or maizites (meat-filled pastries).

Men wear suits, shirts and ties to work. Women wear dresses. For casual wear, people wear neat slacks and sweaters. The Latvians dress with an eye to recent European fashion. Young people tend to dress formally for special occasions, and even at school.

People often wear multiple layers of clothing in winter. Women like to wear jewelery, especially amber, which is found locally. Traditional costumes include wool skirts, white linen blouses and wool vests decorated to reflect the region.

The staple foods in Latvia include potatoes, onions, soup, poultry, fish and red meat. Summer fruits are imported to add to the local produce of root vegetables, apples, berries and mushrooms. Rye and whole grain breads are preferred. Beer and soft drinks are kept at room temperature, as cold drinks are seen to be unhealthy. A thick herbal/alcohol mixture balzams, is poured over ice cream or with coffee. This is believed to be good for health.

Eating together as a family is highly valued. Breakfast consists of bread and butter, tomatoes and cold meat, porridge, pancakes, bacon, ham or sausages, and tea, coffee and milk. Lunch is usually the main meal of the day, and is taken between 1 and 3 PM. The meal can include soup (zupa), meat (gala) and potatoes (kartupeli). Dessert is called saldais ediens. Bread accompanies every meal. A light dinner is eaten after 6 PM. The fork is held in the left hand, and the knife in the right. Napkins are left on the table rather than placed on the lap. A popular Latvian dish consists of karbonade or pork steak, cabbage soup (kapostu zupa) or beet soup (borsch).

The staple foods in Latvia include potatoes, onions, soup, poultry, fish and red meat. Summer fruits are imported to add to the local produce of root vegetables, apples, berries and mushrooms. Rye and whole grain breads are preferred. Beer and soft drinks are kept at room temperature, as cold drinks are seen to be unhealthy. A thick herbal/alcohol mixture balzams, is poured over ice cream or with coffee. This is believed to be good for health.

Several generations may share a single living space. Grandparents may care for children, and the elderly are looked after in return. Family members in the extended family help each other financially. The place of birth is important to people.

An early age children start playing many type sport, like: badminton, football, hockey, basketball, swimming, skiiing, and others. In school Latvian children play "national ball" (when, player arrives with ball beat out like handball), basketball, hide-and-seek, ping pong, "salt columns"( when player knock with a hand and he freeze) and others.

Before getting to school Latvian children are woken up by their parents. Their typical morning greeting is “Labrit” (Good morning), which they use to greet their parents and other adults; it is more likely they greet their brothers and sisters, saying “Sveiki” (Hi). After having got up, they wash their hands, brush teeth, dress up and are ready to have breakfast together with one or both parents and brothers or sisters. Some (but not all) families have a TV in the kitchen, so children are forced to watch morning news together with their parents or they are allowed to watch some cartoons. Many children do not like having breakfast at home before going to school, but the majority of parents insists on the importance of this meal. Parents usually prepare boiled or scrambled eggs, sandwiches with ham or cheese, yogurt, tea, Danish pastries and sometimes a fruit, usually an apple or an orange. Toasts, croissants and pains au chocolate are offered exclusively in cafés, but not at home. In rural areas some children must go out with a dog for the pet’s morning walk and/or help parents in the fields with larger domestic animals (cows). In such a case, children may be woken up by parents around 5:00 a.m. Getting to school varies, depending on a child’s distance from school. In cities parents almost always accompany children to school, as it is dark in the mornings in winter and there is much traffic. In some case a child’s schools is situated up to a 15 minutes walk from home. Those who live comparatively far from school get there by public transport (buses, trams, trolley-buses). Some parents take children to school by car. School buses are not common. There is only one or two school buses in Riga, which belong to a private school. Generally, school education is free of charge in Latvia, but there are some very expensive private schools.

School in Latvia consists of 12 years: 4 years of primary school, 5 years of secondary school and 3 years of high school. It is a general practice that pupils of all 12 grades study in the same building. Schools in Riga and other major cities of Latvia are bigger than those in rural areas. On average a school in a city has 500 pupils, while a typical town or village school has around 200 pupils. There are approximately 200 schools in Latvia, from which 100 are located in Riga, as half of the Latvian population lives in its capital. Schools in Riga are constantly renovated and improved both by private and public funding. Schools in rural areas are generally older. A typical classroom of a primary school has fifteen desks (each desk for two pupils). There is a big blackboard on the wall, a teacher’s table with a chair, several green flowers and a cupboard where some books are located. On a wall, generally near the entrance, there is an announcement board, where some of children’s drawings, announcements and Birthday congratulations may be placed. Generally, there are no toys, puzzles and TVs in a classroom. Every school has one specific classroom with computers, which, however, is available starting with secondary school for IT lessons. Classrooms are spacious and light. Even in old schools parents are often happy to volunteer for repainting floors and walls during summer holidays, in order to improve their children’s school experience. Not all the schools have enough study books and manuals to distribute to pupils. Therefore, they are forced to share one book for every two students or they are asked to acquire it by themselves. Books are comparatively expensive and not all the parents can afford buying them. Schools in Riga and other major cities usually have a well-equipped computer class, while schools in rural areas might not have computers at all or have very old computers. Gyms for physical education classes are well-equipped. Schools have enough staff to ensure children’s education. Quality of food in school canteens (cafeterias) is usually poor. While some children have lunch in a school canteen, many parents prefer to prepare a lunch box at home, as a sandwich prepared by parents is much tastier and healthier than a school canteen soup. However, generally a school is a well-equipped and secure place for children.

A usual school day of a Latvian child starts at 8:00 am and lasts till 13:00. Children go to school every working day from Monday to Friday. They have 5-6 classes with a 20 minute lunch break and a 40 minute class in fresh air during which they can play outside on a playground. Every class lasts for 40 minutes, and breaks between classes range from 5 till 20 minutes. On average, a primary school grade has 20-30 pupils. A primary school teacher teaches: Mathematics, Literature, Latvian and/or Russian (Russian is the first language of approximately 40% of the Latvian population). Physical education, music and art are obligatory subjects as well, which are taught by other teachers. Children do not speak English as a primary language at home, but English classes are offered starting with the first grade. Unfortunately, it is very hard if not impossible to learn English at school during all 12 grades in Latvia for one important reason: teachers are paid a comparatively low salary in Latvia. People who know English well prefer to work as translators or private English teachers, but they do not become school teachers. As a result, English teachers do not usually do not know the language, and therefore, they are not able to provide adequate knowledge to children. Almost all the children who complete the first 4 grades of school move on to secondary education; an obligatory school education consists of 9 grades in Latvia. Discipline management in schools depends on a teacher’s personality and character. Children do not respect all the teachers, but only those who manage to establish the right contact with them or who are so strict that children are afraid to be noisy. However, there are also those teachers where the class discipline is unacceptable. A headmaster is generally respected by pupils. He/she is a person who is able to solve difficult situations, but who children are slightly afraid of: in case a child does not behave in the appropriate manner during a lesson, the worst “punishment” a pupil may have from a teacher’s side is visiting a headmaster’s study. Uniforms are not obligatory in Latvia. Some schools, such as Pushkin Lyceum in Riga, create internal rules and expect boys and girls to arrive in black and white outfit on a daily basis. However, this is not a common practice. Children greet teachers and other adults by saying “Labrit” (Good morning) or “Labdien” (Good day), or their equivalent in Russian, depending whether it is a Russian or a Latvian school. The government has introduced a number of laws which no longer permit children from Russian families to get education in the Russian language. The majority of subjects must be taught in Latvian even in Russian schools. This creates a number of problems, as there are not enough Latvian teachers, but those teachers who have always taught their subjects in Russian often have a poor knowledge of the Latvian language. However, they are still forced to teach in Latvian, and it is clear that the quality of education suffers significantly. A typical lunch in a school canteen consists of soup, meat and vegetables, juice and a small dessert. Canteens of Latvian schools are known for poor quality food.

Almost every school offers an opportunity for children to remain after school for another 3-4 hours when schools lessons are finished. During that time they can do their home works, read books, draw, communicate with each other. These classes are supervised either by a school teacher or by a school librarian. Parents who work full-time prefer that their children participate in these classes, so they can pick them up at school at around 5 p.m. Drama, music school, dancing classes, sports, private or group classes of English (which are the most popular extracurricular activities of Latvian children) may be offered at school or other educational centers for a separate fee, and parents must make a decision whether they want their children to participate. Even if they are in the school building, such classes are usually managed by private entities. Physical training or sports class is an obligatory subject from the 1st till the 12th grade in Latvia. Children start doing athletics exercises, as well as they play several team games with a ball, which during the school life transforms into basketball and volleyball – two major sports practiced in Latvian schools. In some sports lessons children may play hockey in the school gym hall or handball.

Children’s free time in urban areas highly depends on their parents. Parents may bring their children to extracurricular classes after school and during the weekend, they can go for a walk with them in a city park, visit a museum, zoo, theater, or simply play at home together. In rural areas children are often outside on their own or with their neighboring friends – it is much safer for children to play on their own outside in rural areas than in cities.

When children get back home from school and extracurricular classes, they usually have dinner (usually at 6-7 pm). They usually eat fish or meat with potatoes and some vegetables, a fruit and/or a small dessert. It is not a common practice to drink water during the meal. Pasta can sometimes substitute potatoes, but it is not considered to be the first dish. After dinner children may do home work, if it was not already completed, they play on their own or with parents, they watch TV or play computer games, they draw, then take a bath or shower. They go to bed at approximately 10 p.m. A child usually says Lavbakar (Good evening) when it is dark outside and Arlabunakti (Good night) before going to bed.

Education definitely plays a central role in the lives of children in Latvia. Almost all the children go to a kindergarten, where apart from playing, they may start reading, counting, drawing, singing, dancing and/or doing sports. Generally, parents try to educate children at home as well, but certainly there are many exceptions, particularly those where parents suffer from alcoholism. Music, art and hand craft are obligatory subjects in a Latvian school. Drama and dancing are often offered as after-school disciplines for a separate fee.