Day 7: The Sports Festival

Since the beginning of the school year, in April, Notre Dame Elementary has been making preparations for their annual Sports Festival. The students practice several times a week and, as you may have read, the teachers and I set up many tents on the playground. After breakfast, Mrs. Hotta brought Junpei and I to the school. The school grounds were already becoming crowded with family members, students, and photographers. The atmosphere inside was one of great excitement. The students had their TV broadcast, and then all the classes were dismissed to the playground for the festival. Each student had to carry their chair from their homeroom to the tents outside. I took a chair from Junpei's class and sat with them. Each student had previously made their own flag and the teachers had strung them up over the entire width of the playground. It was amazing to see 1000 flags dancing in the wind.

The festivities began with an opening ceremony. The students marched to the band's music and the principal held up the trophies which would be awarded to the teams during the closing ceremony. It was only a matter of minutes before the events began. There were many relay races of different kinds. For example, the different grade levels each started in a different position, whether it be sitting, lying down, or turned around. The second graders performed a dance wearing bells and holding sticks in their hands; they were really funny to watch. Mr. Ayata let me fire the starting guns for an event in which the students stood in lines and pushed large playground balls from one end of the playground to the other.

For the lunch break in the middle of the day I ate with the Hotta family in the courtyard of the school. Every family was sitting on a mat eating a Japanese style picnic. Our bentos contained fruit, rice balls stuffed with salmon, and cold sandwiches. I later found out that the teachers had also prepared me a lunch, but they forgot to tell me about it.

One event that I found particularly interesting is called kibasan. Three kids hold up another student who is wearing a paper samurai hat. The teams are supposed to represent samurai riding horses. The object of the game is to knock off the samurai's hats off of their heads. Inoue Sensei told me that when she was in school they actually were supposed to knock the other teams' samurai off of the horse and on to the ground. The Japanese do not have the culture of suing like we do in America, but knocking students to the ground is still too dangerous.

In the afternoon there were many more races, dances, and gymnastic performances by the students. I fired the starting guns for the preschool and first grade students as they ran fun races of their own. They simply ran straight across the playground, but they seemed to be having fun. I have never seen such young children running as hard as they can, determined to win. I would yell, "Yoi!," meaning ready, and then fire the gun. I am amazed at the complexity of the event and the abilities of the students. The Sports Festival exceeded all of my expectations and I have never such an event in the United States. There were third grade students in the band reading music and playing flutes, children doing aerial maneuvers, and groups of students holding each other up three levels high! Everything about the festival impressed me. After the morning events, my team (red) was in first place, but by the end of the day we were in the second. The awards ceremony was short and sweet.

The families left and the teachers and I cleaned up the grounds a little. We took down the flags and picked up garbage left on the ground. The teachers planned a dinner in the lunchroom. I waited there with Sister Beatrice. I played the piano a little and Sister Beatrice pretended to sing to the songs I was playing. She is such a fun person. Dinner with the teachers was fun. There is a great sense of community amongst the staff here. We had some fish, tofu soup, rice balls, and potatoes. I was surprised to find that we were also given beer to drink. The teachers started giving toasts and the first year teachers had to share their thoughts about the festival. Of course, the microphone was handed to me next. I shared my thoughts about the Sports Festival and commended them for the amazing work they do. Yukari summarized my speech in Japanese for those who do not understand English. After dinner I helped the gym teachers move the soccer nets back onto the playground. They are all very kind and fun to be around.

Mrs. Hotta picked me up at the East gate of the school. Junpei came with too, but he fell asleep in the back seat before they arrived at the school. At home we sat in the living room upstairs and watched some TV. I was also working on some emails and Junpei was drawing. Mrs. Hotta presented me with another gift: a beautiful decorative fan. The Hotta's have given me so much and done a great deal for me. I look forward to giving them the gifts I have for them tomorrow.