Sports Day

This was unlike any sports day I've ever been to, and certainly much more enjoyable. The majority of the events weren't competitive and, of those that were, most of the children took part. This alieviated the boredom of sitting around for your race, and the child of every parent took part in almost everything, so the parents also behaved! And to top all it off, everything was done to music, be it cheesy 80's themes or something more modern.

There were a few opening speeches: one by the Principal, and then one each by two of the children. All were done bilingually. There's something about seeing one of the kids you've taught doing something like that. I have no idea why, given that I had absolutely no part in helping them. But it does make you think "why can't you do that for me?!?"

The first event was "English Radio Exercises" which everyone (including the audience) took part in. It was some sort of strange, old-sounding workout tape with a man giving instructions and then counting "1 2 3 4 ...". Quite strange.

Then came the "Warm-Up Dance" which all the children did to "I Like to Move It!". It's quite impressive seeing them all lined up and doing the same actions. Some novel choreography as well.

Then came a skipping routine by the second years. I took a few videos of them doing that. Not so much skipping as them twirling it around the place.

The first "race" of the day was the hurdle relay. There were only 3 hurdles, and then some hoops and cones to weave through, so more of a mini-obstacle course. All the kids took part in it, with them all being split into teams names after planets.

Then they did a really cool parachute dance with one of those huge coloured parachutes (believe it or not). The teachers had joined in, though, and looked like they were putting in most of the effort to lift the thing off the floor and into the air.

After a quick drink break came the true obstacle course. This race was strange in that it was lots of little mini-races, as opposed to a relay race, which is what it looked like it should have been. The positions of each team in each race were taken together to give their overall rank after everyone had had a turn.

The kids then did two G-ball routine (those big rubber balls), one of which was to "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis. The second one was cool as it was more upbeat and fast.

We were given bento boxes (like ready made lunches in a box) for lunch as psuedo-employees of the school. All the parents had brought picnic mats and their own food. So we sat around and ate, before going off to explore the adventure playground that they have there. It's pretty amazing the things that they have at the school. They even have their own tea ceremony room complete with water wheel, and a pottery room.

We switched to sitting by the side of the track after lunch, and it felt like we were much more involved; egging the children on as they ran past. The next race was a parent & child one involving a three-legged stint, wheelbarrow and piggy back. They also had to blow up and tie balloons, which proved a challenge for more than one parent, so we had a few on standby in case they were in real difficulty. Then they had to run to the end and pop it by sitting on it. Brendan and Drummond had to take part as some fathers couldn't make it, with Brendan carrying his kid for most part of the race!

Then came a round-robbin tug-o'-war game with the longest rope I've ever seen for such purposes. The kid at the back even had to tie the rope around themselves, like professionals. Most didn't last very long, but there was one of two closely fought victories.

The last race was the baton relay which was totally continous from start to finish. There were many changes of fortune during the race, which is what having 16 runners to a team tends to do. One girl even knocked over her own runner whilst handing over the baton, which meant they fell far behind and never caught up. I think they all still enjoyed it though.

Finally, the closing dance was a full participation event again with everyone doing the moves along to the Macarena. After this there was the trophy presentation to the winning team (Mars the red team) and a few more speeches. James and I were the only ones of us left at the end with the others having caught the last bus, so we helped put the tents down.