School field day

Today was no ordinary Friday at the office, and boy am I glad! We had a sports day at school. The students had teams organized by home room class, so there were about thirty teams (of about thirty students each, yeah, my school’s huge), and they spent the morning running around our huge field which was set up with dozens of “stations” with various competitions. It was hilarious to watch the students and some teachers (myself included) joust atop a balance beam, or hula hoop with five hoops, or do the limbo, or the many other things. For a short time I posted up at the “kangaroo race” station where burlap sacks were used to hop across the court and back.

The students have been excited all week about this day, they made colorful signs and coordinated their goofy outfits and face paint. Some even had t-shirts made for the occasion! The energy was all good out there on this bright warm fall morning, happy screams from young teenagers and smiles all around. I was amongst those delighted to be out of the confines of the indoors and into the sun for the morning.

After a killer lunch of  yellow curry, daikon kimchi, chicken wings (yes, chicken wings) and a big fruit salad, the students had races. So from the warmth of my office I could hear mostly silence, then the pop of the track gun followed by thunderous roaring and screaming for about ten seconds, until someone won. Finally there was a teachers’ relay race (which I somehow missed the sign up for) and a giant game of tug-of-war before I was summoned up to the podium to call out some of the many the raffle winnings, and then…. it was over.

My school is quite shabby, it resembles more of a prison than an educational facility, with bars on the windows and steel grating that locks off hallways or stairwells, cement floors and the chill from year round open windows. In fact the school is the shabbiest in the district, and it’s getting demolished after the school year ends in February. However my school grounds are really pretty, and in a city this dense it is such a treat to have the big open space of the field and the walkways that surround it. Mature foliage and trees of all shapes and sizes surround the giant field, with benches tucked here and there to lounge on during mellow school days. Fall is upon us and the leaves are all kinds of warm colors, making the school grounds that much more pleasant.