IrishOboe

I don’t think it was really a sports festival since they translated it as “ball game” for me, but I think sports festival is a good description. For two days all the students (sannensei have graduated so it’s just ichinensei and ninensei – they don’t get promoted until the first day of school) compete in various athletic events to determine the strongest class.Each incoming class is divided into classes (called kumi) of 40 students each and they get a classroom that they live in and teachers come in and out to teach the classes (so they all take the same class, mostly). So, students develop special bonds within their kumi and each kumi has an identity and not a small amount of pride. So, at the end of each academic year they have two days of tournaments where each kumi competes with all the other kumi. On day one the girls had a volleyball tournament and the boys had a soccer tournament. I’d never really watched soccer before, but it was completely fascinating! I want to learn! It was fun to watch the boys because some were very, very good. I was amazed at what they could do with their feet! My ichinensei nikumi won second in the tournament. Yeah! My ichinensei gokumi girls won first place at volleyball! I had great fun watching and taking pictures. I tell you, it was a hard day’s work!

The next day the girls played dodge ball, which was just about as unexciting as soccer was exciting. In Japan soccer is a boy’s sport, which is really funny since I know it’s very popular with girls in America. I asked why they boys go to play soccer and the girls had to play dodge ball and one of the answers was “it’s too hard.” Grr! I’m not much of a feminist, but come on!

I didn’t really remember how to play dodge ball from elementary school, but I thought there was more than one ball. Here they just sort of threw the ball back and forth and only go anyone out when they were being spacey or stupid. At the end of the game I couldn’t tell who won because nobody cared – they all walked off the court with the same apathy. Maybe if they got to play a real sport they’d care! Of course, maybe the boys take it too seriously . . . but that least to some very interesting basketball, which is what the boys were doing while the girls played dodge ball. I have to admit I spent most of the day watching the basket ball. Again, some of the boys were really skilled and it was very interesting to watch. I learned some helpful Japanese, too. This time the ichinen nikumi one first place! My ichinen ichikumi won second, and I can’t remember exactly what other classes won (the closing ceremony was all in Japanese and nobody was there to help me figure it out), but 6 ichinen classes won awards compared to 3 ninen classes! Yeah! What’s so interesting to me is how the Japanese do and don’t express themselves. On the court they are intense (okay, just the boys) and if they loose you can see them slink of the court and if they win they can get a bit crazy, but at the formal closing ceremony a polite applause was given for the winners by everyone. There were no exchanged glances of pride, no enthusiastic clapping or slaps on the back, no hoops or hollers. If I’d just come for the closing ceremony I’d have no clue which class was which! Maybe that’s why they all thought it was funny when I’d whoop an scream out the name of a student who’d just made a basket or goal. Crazy obnoxious American!

So that was the sports festival. It was great to see my kids in action doing something they loved. I got to see some personality in students that had been quite closed otherwise. I’m excited for the school Festival in June!