Sports Day

Okay.  I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry.  It's a long story, that I'm not actually going to elaborate on, because it's not really all that interesting unless you like whine with your cheese.  Instead, I'm going to say "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..." and "identify that quote."  Assuming she actually reads my blog, I vote Greykell Dutton for the win.

Anyway, what I want to write about is Sports Day.  They take that sucker pretty seriously around here.  It's pretty much how they view football in Texas, only it's field day... without the safety rules.

I'll admit it -  I was pretty annoyed when I was informed that we would pretty much be taking a week off in preparation for the big day.  "Why on earth do you need a practice day for field day?" I thought.  By the time practice day was over, I still didn't understand.  It wasn't until I saw the smiling faces of the entire community that I got it.  Practice day was needed, because there would be parents and grandparents jumping in everywhere, screaming and cheering.

Yes, that's right.  Koreans were taking time off from work to smile, laugh, and relax.

And then I got it.

Maybe to them, it's about encouraging their kids to be the best in the school.  But when I looked around, I saw a bunch of people doing what they most needed to do: Take a breather.  So now, I am a huge believer in Sports Day, even if I can hear every Maryland government official screaming about liabilities and wasted education time, because this is what life is about: LIVING and LOVING.

That being said, I'm going to show you some pictures and let you decide if it's worth a week of our year-round schooling:

The kids, lined up and at attention for the opening ceremony.

Grandparents came and got the full treatment: "50-yard-line" seats and food.  They were cute dressed up in their Sunday best.

A fun game where kids threw disks at poles.  The team that got the most disks on the poles won.

Every kid participated in a footrace, distanced by age group.

Even the youngest kids ran.

Parents waited at the finish line, with their fashionable parasols.

This game would never ever be legal in the States. :)

A parent-preschooler game.

Some cuties I made friends with.  They're the younger siblings of a student of mine.

A grandparent-student game

Yes, in true Asia-fashion, we involved a gong.

After a full day of activities, Sports Day ended in a tie.  I can't really say that I was upset, though.  There were much fewer kids to console this way.  

Even though I was cheering for the white team (they were the underdog all day, and I love an underdog), this little guy was way too cute. :)