Yesterday, after hearing about it since the beginning of the semester four weeks ago and watching the kids practice sometimes during class time, was finally Sports Day. This Sports Day just involved the students at our school, not other schools like the Sports Day I briefly attended when I visited back in March.
But that didn’t stop the pomp and circumstance from making its way into the day. The whole thing, of course, was kicked off with an Opening Ceremony and a parade which the school band had been practicing for. There were dance performances by the cheerleaders for each of the four teams as well. And then things got underway.
The first half of the day was devoted mostly to the running events. There were individual dashes for both girls and boys for 1st through 6th grade. There were relays for both girls and boys in each grade. Finally there was a set of individual “long” distance (200 meter) races and relays. Winners were recorded and periodically there were “medals” awarded. The medals were coins wrapped in foiled paper of different colors.
After all the races were run, the 4th through 6th graders assembled into their teams and drew numbers. I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen next, but then I saw some students bringing out a big rope. It was time for a tug-o-war. First the Blue Team and the Yellow team faced off, twice, with the teams switching sides. The Yellow Team won both rounds. Then it was the Red Team and the Green Team’s turn, which the Red Team won. Finally, the Yellow Team and the Red Team faced off, with the Red Team winning the whole deal.
Then it was lunch time which lead into some volleyball games. After volleyball, was soccer. It all ended around 2 p.m. with a Closing Ceremony and money and chips being awarded to the different winning teams. And of course, since the sound system was already set up, I joined the teachers as we sang karaoke in the field until it got dark.
