Last week, I was able to experience what Japanese schools call a class match. For two days they have athletic competitions between each homeroom class in each grade. Sanwa had a variety of sports for both boys and girls (they like to keep the genders separated in all things). The boys played softball, soccer, and table tennis; while the girls played kickball, volley ball, badminton, and table tennis too.
The basic run down for the day is that the students meet up in homeroom for a roll call and a pep talk from their homeroom teacher, after which they all don the same class shirt and head out to the field for stretches and formalities. Because Sanwa is not my only school, I could only attend the first day of the class match. In the morning I watched the girls badminton matches. They are really good, especially the girl here that is ranked number one in our region! The force with which they zoom the birdie over the net is really impressive, seeing as when I play at home I can only manage to pop it up into a high arc. I was a little jealous and wanted to play, but these activities are for the kids, so I just watched and cheered on my favorite classes.
In the afternoon, I headed outside to watch the softball games. Again, all I wanted to do was play. At least this time I played catch with one of the kids to help them warm up a bit before the game started. I miss playing softball and it would be fun to find a community team when I get back. I know every time I write a blog it seems I want to find some other club or activity or something to keep myself busy when I get home. I don't really want to bury myself in an overwhelming schedule, but there are just so many things that I miss from home and the ease in which I can do things and find things.
It was a really great day, and while it was a bit dark, the weather cooperated and stayed cool, but held off on the rain! Days like this are the most confusing for me because I so desperately want to stay and experience this kind of camaraderie and happiness with my students, but I really am ready to come home and do some of these things for myself.
2 comments:
we are ready to have you home also. I look forward to playing games with you.
I really miss field day; it was my favorite part of the school year. Sadly, I am awful at baseball and softball; the hand-eye coordination is just not there...
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