Well this past weekend was our second and last Undo Kai (sports day) in Japan. Last year both children were white team, this year both were red. We were lucky that both children were on the same team, other family's were split one red and one white. Basically the school is split into two teams 1 time each year to battle for supreme galactic playground bragging rights. At 6:00 am the community is woken up by fire works. It is nice to lay in bed and listen to the fireworks going off in neighboring communities. At 9:00 am the opening ceremonies start..
It took a minute but we were able to locate both children in the crowd. Maybe it is because they are our children, but they always seem somewhat easy to spot.
Once the opening speech is delivered the children move immediately into warm up stretches.
This year Liam was happy that he was old enough to help out with the event. One of his jobs was to carry the number one flag. When another child finished the race in first place he would walk with them to the organizers and make sure they got credit for their position.
The score was displayed throughout the day on the 2nd story of the school building. Red team jumped out to an early lead. Last year the white team trailed all day, but finally took the lead in the last event, the tug of war..
Liam participated in the 100 meter dash. He is noticeably faster this year, but so are the other children. He got edged out at the finish line and was able to place 3rd in his group.
Colleen did the Typhoon event. Three children have to hold a pole and run together around a course. Each cone they pass they have to circle around as fast as possible, thus the name Typhoon. I believe red team pulled off a win in this event.
Last year Liam really liked the older children's dance. He thought it would be cool to do it. At the time we did not think we would still be in Japan during the next Undo Kai, so we didn't think he would have the opportunity. Because we were extended by 3 months he got to do it this year.
He did a great job, and we were glad that he had the opportunity to participate.
Chihiro was a member of the Aka team cheer force. They led cheers throughout the day to rally the red team on. Of course there were equivalent members cheering on the white team as well. Chihiro's sister Chika was a member of the white team.
Some of the cheers would go back and forth between the red and white teams, but they were always supportive of one another, and always said do your best to the other team. It is nice to see the emphasis on sportsmanship.
The playground where the event is held is made up of a very fine gravel. As a result the children can get pretty dirty throughout the days worth of competition.
At half time everyone stops to eat lunch. This year we sat with the Shionome sans in the shaded area. The view from this spot is not so good, but it was noticeably cooler than being out in the sun. Since we stood in multiple different spots to watch the events, I believe this location for base was perfect. While we were eating lunch I told the children they could run faster if they pulled their shorts up higher. They didn't actually believe me, but I got them to pose for a picture anyway..
Just after half time the parents get to try to help their children win some points in the ball toss. You are given about 5 minutes to get as many balls into the basket in the air as you can. At any given time there are 2 red teams and 2 white teams competing against one another. Kate was not able to pull off a win in her round, neither was the next group.
Our team faired better and the two red teams competing during our event went 1 and 2. In the end white team parents got the best of the red.
The next event for Liam was the giant ball race. The children had to push the ball around the perimeter of the playground and then push it to a small pedestal. First team to finish was the winner. Red team just pulled it off.
Colleen also had a dance. She carried pom poms for her dance and was able to show off some wicked dance moves.
I think when she gets older she will be a good dancer, I don't think she got that from me or Kate..
The final event was the tug of war. Last year leading into the tug of war, the children were behind. They took two out of three and ended up winning the overall victory. This year they were only ahead by 5 points going into the pull. Colleen's team was up first. They put up a valiant effort, but fell short of the win.
Next was the 2nd graders. They were able to get the victory for the red team and that made Liam's pull that much more important. A win for red would mean an over all victory, a loss would mean they would give up enough points to lose the overall lead. It went on forever, but in the end the red team was able to best the white in the last event.
The ropes for the tug of war are huge. This video is only showing the red team. There is an equal number of children pulling on the other side of this image.
The award was presented to the winning teams leader at the closing ceremony.
At the end the children have to pick up all their things and carry their chairs up the steps and back to the class rooms. This also helps to build a sense of responsibility. Even though the children look beat, they all managed to make it up the steps with their things. This year, because Liam was older, he also got to help tear down all the tents and decorations. He was at the school probably another hour past the time we went home.
The following day I went to the Jitensha no Mori hill climb bike race. Kate and the children went to the rice field for harvesting.
The perimeter was cut and collected by hand. Kate said that Liam was really a hard worker and made a big effort to help.
Both children told me that there were tons of praying mantis and frogs. They also saw a snake at one point. Colleen caught a praying mantis that caught a grasshopper and ate it in front of her. I am OK now, but would have been a little creeped out by these when I was younger, but both children love them..
To finish up the field a motorized rice combine was used. Recently I have seen a lot of these. They have a tread like a tank on the bottom to keep them moving in the rice fields. These machines can tear through a field in no time. Once the rice is collected it goes through a number of processes before it becomes the typical rice that we see at the store. Taka san told me it takes about 2 weeks from harvest to finished product.
That is all for the post, have a great week..
No comments:
Post a Comment