So Friday was the much anticipated “Sports Day”. This past week most of my afternoon classes were canceled and many of my students didn’t show up to class. I did not understand why “sports day” was such a big deal and why none of the teachers seemed to care if the students attended class. I watched all week as students practiced various sports for hours after school (sometimes until 8 or 9 at night). Even the teachers had their own soccer and volleyball tournaments. On Thursday they began decorating the huge field in front of the school with tents, signs, banners, flowers etc. The students labored intensively on different colored posters and decorations. I could not believe how elaborate everything was.
On Friday morning we were asked to attend the “Opening Ceremony”. After the first 5 minutes I finally understood what they had been working so hard on and why they had been ditching class. It started off with a huge parade. The students were all divided up into groups, each represented by a color (pink, yellow, red, green, blue and purple). Each color group had its own “theme” with costumes, banners etc. The costumes were absolutely amazing! I posted some pictures so you can get an idea of how intricate and detailed they were!
After the parade there was a dance (or cheerleading) competition. The girls in costumes from each color group all did a cheer performance. This was followed by fire crackers, confetti, balloons, and the lighting of a torch (like the Olympics). The whole ceremony was incredible and lasted about 3 hours. The rest of the day was devoted to the actual sports competitions.
I finally get why the school opened early and why so many classes were canceled in preparation for this event. So cool!
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