May I Present...CHILDREN!!!

As I am contractually obligated to be at my school today when there is no school in progress, I have nothing to do but update my blog for you. It's not so bad, I suppose. I consider myself very lucky thus far in my dealings with Korea, so having to come to school when contractually obligated is not a big loss. The biggest gripe I can see with it really is that I'd rather be sleeping right now or outside. It is a beautiful day today, as it was yesterday...on Sports Day!

Sports Day is like Field Day in the U.S., wherein all the children of the school get together and compete in a series of games (running, tug of war, relay races, etc) but with a Korean twist to it: there is an opening and closing ceremony involving rockets and each class does at least one dance, always involving props and some cheesy song. All the parents take off of work and spend the day watching their children compete. As one of the official photographers, I was able to get right up into the action and sneak a few pics with my personal point and shoot. I will let the pictures do most of the talking:

Opening ceremony involving the principal pushing the "Rockets GO!!" button. When they first brought it out, I thought they were going to do a fireworks show or blow some TNT, the way they were preparing it. The kids doing a dance involving the South Korean flag as their prop. Relay race. Notice the rocket hanging from the flag line in the pic below:After lunch, there was the "X and O" game. One teacher asks the students questions, O means it's true, X means it's false, or yes or no or whatever. I don't speak Korean, so cut me a break. One of the questions, as I can tell from lack of translation, was whether or not the American could kick his shoe farther than the P.E. teacher. I beat him, but just barely. And only because my shoe was bouncier.

The sixth graders had to compete pushing this oddly shaped ball around in a circle many times. Sidenote: the kid who is wearing the gray striped shirt in the middle there is the Undertaker. Always with the wrestling moves, that kid. Umbrella dance! 3rd and 4th grade.

Hurdles! When one kid would knock a hurdle over, all the kids behind him or her would just run through the fallen part and skip the hurdles completely. Cheaters!The day would not be complete without kids falling on what look like the most comfortable Sealy posturpedic mattresses mid race.

All in all, the day was a blast. I got a little sunburned, but that's to be expected when it's 85 degrees outside and sunny. I was given free food and drink at my request (and often before I even thought to request), everyone was in high spirits, comraderie was at a maximum, and I didn't have to do any real work. If my co-teacher ever gives me the pics, I will post one of me in the ajumma visor I wore all day. That way you get an idea of what I would look like if I aged 50 years and became a woman. The visors here are all high tech, with sweatbands and visors that swivel as though they were welders' masks.