Taikusai (Pics and Vids Galore)

Sports Day was last weekend. Something I was looking forward to ever since I recontacted for this second year. Last year I was along the side lines, as a "special guest" and I could only watch and judge certain events. Not this year however, once I found out what students and teachers were in charge, I sweet talked them into letting me be a member of a team. (The Red Team, with this awesome poster!) All this really means, is I had someone specific to holler for, instead of just cheering, "Go Everybody!", all day long.

I'm not going to go into a huge explanation of what Sports Day (or taikusai) is as I covered most of the bases last year, hich you can read by clicking here. Really there's not all that much that changed this year but the players. Most of the events were the same, so I will try to let photography tell the rest of the story.




What I will eleborate on is some of my highlights from the day.

...The Warm Up. Among many things, this caught me off-guard last year. Its the recording of some old guy, talking everyone through a calisthenics type routine which I think has been broadcast since the radio was introduced here. What's interesting is watching the teachers, who get into it, in comparison to the kids, who obviously think it completely asinine.

...Random Events.

How these guys students come up with this stuff I wonder. But here's an event I thought was particularly, entertaining. (Note: how the student closest to the cone, usualy swings as hard as possible to throw the end student off, even though they are racing to win)

...The tug of war. A testament to a teams true strength, this was why having a specific team (again for me it was RED) was so important. We came in second, after the blue team and their strategic "chant and pull method". But the great suprise this year was the 3rd grade boys versus all the male family members that came to watch. Now there was no way the kids could have one this, but they got all pumped up, and even put me at the end to anchor the thing (a sure sign of desperation). As imaginable we lost the first pull, but on the second, when more of the teachers helped out, we were victorious.

...The Team Dancing. Again, I love how the 3rd grade girls of each team for one day have the "authority" to dress up the boys however they like, teach them choreography to popular music and have them sing along at the same time. What cooler, is when the guys actually get into it as well.

...The human pyramid. One of the last events of sports day is when the boys and girls break up into groups. girls do a traditional routine with sticks that jingle and are about the size of the cardboard tubes inside of paper towel rolls. The boys do some random gymnastics and then finish it all up with a 15 person human pyramid. I witnessed four days of unsuccessful attempts to accomplish this feat. In my professional opinion, the fella towards the top, were in such a hurry to finish it up, they'd forget to step lightly.

...The Trophy. What is it all for? A shabby, old plastic trophy. The winning team, this year yellow, will put another ribbon around the top with the year, their team color and the team leaders and it will remain in their homeroom class for the rest of the school year. Of course in the end the kids don't care about the trophy so much as the bragging rights, which will last the rest of their school year

...The celebratory teachers party (or enkai). I write about these just about every-time I attend one. The reason is they have become a great indicators of how my life here is progressing. This particular enkai, a year ago, saw me sitting, shoving food and drink down my gullet in attempts to avoid conversation with anyone else. Because to be honest, it was only awkwardness for everyone involved. As for this year, let me preface this with my understanding is better but no where near celebratory. The major difference is I can field questions and ask more myself in the language. Of course, alcohol continues to be the great inhibition nulifier, for all.
Bottom line is it was a good night...the first enkai I've actually truly enjoyed and felt at ease.

Here's one more Video, just for good measure.