Weekend enkai and Sports Day

It's been awhile since I posted, but everything has just been busy these past few weeks. As I flip through my photos, there are a couple of things I can talk about.

Jiko Shokais for the new ALTs before volleyball

The first outing since my last post was during the last weekend before school started. This was the BOE enkai afternoon. The day started with some mini-volleyball. The name is deceiving because in reality, the balls were bigger than normal volleyballs. We were split up into 3 teams. The games were 24 point matches and best of 3. I think our team won at the end, but it was nice to actually go out and play a sport with our ALT supervisors and their coworkers.

My supposed brother and father.

Nathaniel and Joe being...well, Nathaniel and Joe

More BOE people
Little speech before the Banzai

After volleyball, we were taken to a place called Beer Garden. The name says it all, endless beer. They also had some good food available, mostly some yakitori and other fried foods. I sat with a bunch of the BOE workers and they were telling me that I looked like a brother of one of their junior members. I was also told that I looked like a son of one of the supervisors. So naturally, pictures were taken and everyone had a good time. At the end, we all did a Banzai for a good year.

At the superintendent's house, towards the end of the evening.

After Beer Garden, we were taken to the superintendent's house. I was told he has the biggest house on our island. I was surprised at the size of his house. It was about the size of my house at home. The first floor itself was bigger than my apartment. We were served some whale sashimi and other finger foods. Of course, more alcohol. However, I think I had my fill at Beer Garden, so I settled on water for the rest of that visit. He talked about how this year's group is very friendly and is looking forward to watching us grow this next year. They all seemed very genuine about having us make a difference in the way the island people view foreigners.

1 team to represent each grade

Teams lining up in formation for opening ceremony

Teachers opening the games

On the starting block
Relay race

Lining up for sprints

Cavalry race

The following morning, the ALTs went to Kamigoto high school (Kamiko) to watch Andrea's Sports Day. This was my first ever viewing of a Sport's Day and it was fantastic. Even though there was a rain delay and the field ended up being nothing but a mud pit, it was still very fun. It didn't stop the students any, they just ran barefoot. We were treated to watching relays, cheer leading competitions and teacher races.

Wrestling for the remaining tire

One event in particular I was amazed to see was the tire wrestling event. What happens is that there are tires of various sizes in the middle of the 2 teams. When the signal was shot, everyone tried to get as many tires on their side as possible. At first it was easy to grab some random tire. However, when people grabbed the same tire, a mini tug of war ensued. As people came back for reinforcement, it was an all out battle for a tire. I saw kids getting trampled trying to get position on a tire.

Chain gang race

Another event that was pretty funny was the chain gang race. 5 kids tied to their feet would run around the track while their respective flag bearers and teammates ran along side them cheering. If it's one thing about these kids, it's their support for one another. Each class was chanting some sort of cheer to encourage their teammates on the field.

Each team doing a cheer

The cheerleading event was also very funny. The students were very creative in their dance/cheers, utilizing modern music from pop/anime. There were also some traditional Japanese chants going. It was very entertaining.

We met up with Miliza, my filipino friend, and ate lunch she made. That day was so fun, I can't wait until my sport's day.