SPORTS DAY @ JR HIGH

Well its my 3rd year, and my 3rd Sports day. And every year it still suprises me. Everyone still asks if we have "taiikusai" aka sports day back home, and nah we dont, i think its purely a japanese thing, dont even think they have it anywhere else. Kids train in grueling heat for about 2 weeks, classes are canceled. Sure doesnt bother me, less classes to teach.

All the parents and friends come out for this crazy event. Most of it consists of class competitions between each other, mostly comprising of relay races, some normal, and some not so normal aka the running of sports uniform and equipment, and the wierd dressing up of teachers (see pictures). Many relay races are by the normal standard of your own two feet and then there are the team relay races such as the ever popular "mukade" race aka centipede, where about 8 or more students are tied by the leg with rope and try to run together around the track without crashing and burning. Unfortunately when they do crash and burn its a painful sight to see. Then there is tons of other fun things they do too, but i will let the pictures do the talking.

Then sometimes they change up things year to year, they didnt have the cool horse battle where a kid jumps on the back of 3 other kids and tries to rip off the headband of another student, darn i liked that one. But then this year they added the human tower. Not quite as exciting, but interesting. Plus every year usually i just watch from the tent, but since i was practicing my photo skills they let me go around the field and be the aka ALT/camera man. So it was fun to take all these cool shots. When i was out there the soccer coach even threw me in to help out some of the 1st graders with a tug a war. Felt like the longest tug a war in my life! The battle was being lost so as anchor i tried to do the WWF Hulkster style and sling that rope over my shoulder the other way, it was working a bit and was quite funny as those funny announcer kids would say "look at cameraman Markane, fight fight fight". In the end our team had to tap out as we got dragged over the field, but hey it was the funnest Sports Day i had at my school.