Little Japanese Prodigies
My main school, Hikari Kindergarten, invited me to their annual Sports Day which was today. All schools, of every level, host these fun-filled festival-like days once each year; it's a great excuse to have parental interaction! In fact, there are even vendors selling food, snow cones, and novelty prizes at the Sports Days, which cements the festival atmosphere.Since Tressa wasn't official invited to any Sports Days at her own schools, I brought
her along to Hikari, where craziness ensued. Understand that preparation for this event has taken months: practising, organizing, choreographing, etc. - it's HUGE. Hikari had 5-6 parking lots FULL of vehicles by the time we pulled up at around 10:30am; likely 400-500 cars! The bus drivers served as parking attendants for the day, and one old chap saw me drive in and flagged me down. He proceeded to lead my car all the way to the front parking lot (steps away from the entrance to the school) where he removed a blockade from a saved spot: the spot, apparently, was saved especially for me!!Inside the school grounds we were greated by my good friend Mie who promptly handed us our bagged
lunches. She then led us to one of two giant sun-tents and asked some men to move so that the Eigo no Sensei (English Teachers) could sit in the shade and enjoy front-row seating (the grounds were packed). After feeling much like royalty, the head teacher rounded Tressa and I up to participate in an event!! OMG! 
So, we were gathered together with all the fathers (us, in our skirts and flip-flops; the dads, in their track suits and runners) for a race! hahaha. Actually, it was all in fun (everyone got a prize), but I managed to win out of my group anyhow. We had to strap large baskets to our backs, run a ways, bounce a soccer ball infront of us and duck so that it would land in the basket, and then run to the finish line. Miraculously, my ball landed in my basket on the first try (to which I received the ONLY applause from the immense crowd for the whole event)!! My prize: a tiny totebag that says "clickity-clack" and two boxes of Saran-wrap. Good times.Back in our special seats, Tressa and I stayed and watched the adorable events for
another hour or so. I swear these children are prodigies; the musical number they performed was better than many highschool exhibits I've seen and/or participated in! Seriously. The 5-age kids played three lengthy songs using a variety of drums, electric pianos, xylophones, etc. The little conductor was adorable. Absolutely amazing. I got an entire song on video, which I can 
email to those who want to see/hear it.Going in I thought this Sports Day would be boring, but I found myself unwilling to depart; alas, we had to go to Tsukuba this afternoon to shop and so that I could meet my student, Yoshiko. Next year I will definitely make a day of it! I guess the kids' events end around 3, after which there is some clean-up, and then all the teachers and some parents meet at an izakaya (pub) and drink the night away!! Maybe not on a Sunday... :P
Post a Comment