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Published: November 20th 2006
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Sports day..or...sports meeting...or...track and field day....whatever the day was really called...it was spectacular...in every sense of the word. The preparation, the excessive town dignitaries who attended, the amount of water bottles and water jugs purchased, the semi-permanent stage erected in the middle of the basketball courts, the newly distributed, perfectly matching uniforms given to all staff (teachers, administration, and cleaning staff), the 40 page agenda detailing all races, racers, and racing times, the hour long opening ceremonies, the two hour long rehearsal of the opening ceremonies, the laminated number bibs for each participant, the cheering, the excitment.....all of it.....everything put american track and field days to shame.
I could have had a 2 day vacation...another 2 day holiday....to go off to someplace, well someplace else chinese. But before I realized that a vacation was possible I had already, somewhere in the middle of a translation, been signed up for a 1500 meter teacher race. Having run 3 marathons now, somewhere in my brain, I thought it was be so simple...but after a few days of contimplating and a few failed attempts to actually go out for a run, I began to scheme ways to renig my offer to participate.
Especially after a group of foreign teachers began to speculate about a possible week-end (thurs., friday) trip to Hong Kong....getting out of the race and the entire sports day became a top priority. But after seeing the 2 hour rehearsal complete with first graders dressed in tutu's and 4th graders shaking handmade noisemakers; how could I not be apart of it?
The day began early and lasted long, but nothing about it was dull or lacked excitement. Students ran and jumped far and high. Students cheered and played the role of the number one fan. Teachers were coaches, announcers, medics, and timekeepers. I was often lost in the shuffle, but managed to keep out of trouble and strike up a few converstations about what event the student would partake in that day. Often the conversation looked more like a game of charades, but at least it was something.
As the day 1 wore to a close, I thought I was safe, being as my race was scheduled for next morning, I was gonna take some last minute pictures and then call it a day. But at the last minute, I was pulled into the teacher relay to support
Morning exercise Performance
Each morning all the students do a morning exercise routine....this were the best of the best at morning exercise...they were chosen to perform in front of the whole school! my fellow grade 7 teachers. At that moment, I was not wearing my running shoes....I was wearing something like a pair of keds, but the teachers were not sure why my current shoes were not sufficient, because thats what 90% of the teachers were wearing. I stopped trying to convince them and ran quickly to my room, changed my shoes, got back just in time to start off the relay. Now, I can honestly say, I felt pretty confident. Since being in China, I have not seen 1 women actually exercise. I have seen them hiking in high heels, running in bare feet, stretching in a yoga class, but never have I seen one compete in athletics, so I thought I was a sure thing.
But out of no where, after the gun blast, came this my competition. A english teacher, named Poppy, gave me the race that I haven't had since junior year in high school. She almost beat, me but I was help to help my team gain an slight edge for the 2nd leg of the relay. We ended up finishing in 2nd place in our heat, 4th overall, due to a fall of one of
Opening Ceremonies
Everyone was in a good mood. our women teachers. Actually, she was one of many dramatic collapses, it seemed as if every heat had at least one or two collapses after passing the finished line or even sometimes before the line.
Day 2 started up the same, except that I was a bit more nervous and much more sore from my impromtu race. The majority of the student races were passing without notice, but it seemed as soon as the teachers took the track, so the student took up the stands. As I just made it to the starting line in barely enough time to hear the gun blow, I took off and as I suspected I was the only one were actually wearing running shoes. As I rounded the first corner, the edge of the track begame heavily filled with students cheering, so much so that I wondered if any seats were still being occupied. During the next 5 laps, the cheering became louder and more intense and I did everything I could from having the largest smile wiped across my face. I don't know if I have completely processed the feeling of having 1500+ students chanting your name. I know one thing....it felt
pretty good.
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Cindy A
non-member comment
The pictures are wonderful. I feel like I am there!