I don't know what to write here: Sports Day

Ah, sports day. Classes cancelled, world flags flying over the school, and an overall feeling of festivity was putting me in a great mood.

Notable differences between here and field day when I was a kid:
1. Teams. The entire school is divided right down the middle, and students are either on the blue team or the white team (each grade is divided in half). During the day, the teams are pitted against each other for various events; whoever wins an event gains points for their team. At the end of the day, the team with the most points wins, and reigns until Sports Day the following year. I thought they were kidding, or that it was a ploy to get the kids more interested, but there was a flag presented to the principal during the opening ceremony with gloved hands. This shit was serious.

Another view of the warm up. You can see I've been spotted!

2. Structure and scheduling. Here, the entire school gathers on the soccer field, the only open space that can handle so many people. Instead of having 'game stations' that the grades would travel between (as it was in Connecticut), each grade had 3 events that would be staggered throughout the day. First, the races, with 5 students racing at the same time until the entire grade was finished. Second, the team event, where the white and blue members of the grade would compete to win points. Third, the performance. Each grade had a different routine prepared, using fans, drums, beach balls, etc. These were my favorite, since the kids had spent weeks practicing and were so focused on the choreography.

3rd grade Blue v White competition. Who can pass the ball over their heads down the line and back first?

2nd grade performance. One of my AS kids is in this group :)

6th graders preparing for war. Blue v White, trying to get plastic balls into their respective buckets

Kindergartners and their mothers performing a traditional dance wearing hanbok (formal traditional clothing).

3. Parents. So. Many. Parents. Maybe I have selective memory, but I definitely don't remember my parents being a part of field day beyond a chaperone capacity. I think every student here had at least one parent here. They were not only observers, but active participants. In fact, one of everyone's highlights of the day was a competition for fathers only. Volunteers from the crowd, on the blue or white team of course, had to wear a Shrek mask and spin 10 circles around a baseball bat with their head down. Then they had to run a straight line to a cone, navigate around, and pass the mask off to the next in line. It was absolutely hilarious to see grown men tripping over themselves to help their kid win a ribbon on Sports Day.

This is maybe 1/3 of the crowd. Do you see all those parents???

And believe me when I say these parents are competitive. I was in charge of stamping the first place winners for each race, and considering that we had a strict schedule and a lot of kids, it was a madhouse as soon as each race was over. Grab the kid, stamp the kid, and get out of the way because the next group is 2 feet from the finish line. Not only did I have parents trying to convince me that their kid was 1st and not 3rd, but when other teachers and I tried to give the kids space at the finish line so they wouldn't run into the crowd with their momentum, these mothers would not have it. Seriously, I had forty year old Korean women literally elbowing me out of the way so they can catch their kid on camera. It was insanity.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. During breaks in the schedule, I always found myself surrounded by students trying to sway me to their team, wanting me to race, or asking for another stamp. Two students even tried to introduce me to their mothers. Kind of. It was more like they dragged their mother by the hand until they were a meter away from me, pointed and said "Katherine Teacher", and walked away. Could this be the approval I strive so hard for? Even if it isn't, it'll have to do for now.