Sports Day is a tradition of Taiwanese schools, the one day where classes are forgotten in favor of schoolwide relay races, obstacle courses, and other athletic competitions. It's kind of like Field Day at American schools, an event I haven't thought of since the fifth grade. My fellow ETAs had been telling me about their schools' Sports Days, and I'd been wondering when I'd get to partake in this experience. It turns out that they saved the best for last because Jhennan Elementary's 2021 Sports Day was nothing short of epic.
My first inkling that our Sports Day might be a little extraordinary came last Wednesday, the day before the event. At 8am, the fifth and sixth graders piled into several tour buses waiting outside the school.
"Where are they going?" I asked Amy, my LET.
"They're running the Olympic Torch Relay," she elaborated.
Olympic Torch Relay?
Amy explained that the students would run a 6km path around Douliu City while carrying the ceremonial torches. Of course, nobody expected one group of students to run all 6 km, so the students had been divided into smaller groups to run a few hundred meters each, hence all the tour buses. We watched them set off on their relay, and I wondered what was in store for later.
At 10 am, the remaining students and teachers gathered at the front of the school to welcome the torches back to campus. Once the runners were in sight, everyone started screaming and cheering. A truck full of ceremonial drum players and a bubble machine proceeded the student torch-bearers, who ran triumphantly through the inflatable front gate accompanied by the loudest fireworks I've ever heard (seriously, they sounded more like cannons than fireworks). The whole scene was so overwhelming and I almost teared up at the sight of my sixth graders running so proudly with the Olympic torches. After carrying the torches around the school, they presented them to the principal.
Jhennan's Olympic Torch Relay
Turning to Amy, I asked, "So is this a normal Sports Day thing?"
"Nope, just at Jhennan," Amy laughed.
And that all wasn't even on the actual Sports Day! Thursday morning found most of my colleagues racing around to prepare the athletic events. The day officially began with the Opening Ceremony, which unsurprisingly, was equally, if not more elaborate than the previous day's torch relay. We teacher and student spectators were treated to drumming, dancing, and cheerleading performances by the elementary and even kindergarten students! Man, what was I doing in kindergarten? Certainly nothing this productive.
After the performances, a few local county officials gave speeches before the lighting of the Olympic Torch and another fireworks display. Having watched the Tokyo Olympics' Opening Ceremony this summer, I can honestly (but with probable bias) say this one was more exciting. Let the Games Begin!
Cheerleaders and dancers
Look at how in sync they are! These are kindergartners!
The morning's events were fairly low-key. While the older students ran foot races, such as the 60 m or 100 m dash, younger students participated in easier, more obstacle course-like activities. These included games where two students would run while holding a basketball wedged between two sticks. Closer to my typical Field Day fare from way back when.
Left and Center: younger student events, Right: a foot race
The principal treated the whole school to McDonald's for lunch which was amusing but not that surprising, since, every so often, we have it for school lunch. People keep asking me if I've tried Taiwanese McDonald's and while I can truthfully say I have yet personally order anything, I have tried it since they keep serving it at Jhennan! For the record, I haven't seen a huge difference between the Taiwanese and American versions. But I digress.
The afternoon held the much more exciting whole class relay. One by one, each grade participated; within every grade, each class wore a different color uniform. A kid from each class would line up on the track, take the baton and run, switching off with their classmates at each half-loop. The teachers had to wrangle the kids so that the next group would be ready by the time their classmate came running around the track. This got to be more difficult when some classes pulled away from the pack, so the teachers would be yelling “Yellow!” “Green!” and pulling those kids onto the track. With the energy high and so many people involved, I felt the adrenaline rush of watching a professional sports game. I didn’t think I could get so emotionally invested in a bunch of 10-year-olds running around the track but there's a first time for everything! The kids were pretty into it too; my favorite was this one kid who was about to pass off the baton, screaming “KUAI PAO!!!!!” (RUNNN!) at his successor.
The third grade relay--to the well-chosen soundtrack of "Livin' la Vida Loca."
The last event of the day was the teacher race. Doreen had warned me about this event and I was admittedly wary of what it might entail and whether it would involve me eating dirt in front of the entire school. But I figured, what the heck, and volunteered anyway. Turns out, I didn't have much of a choice. The emcee made an announcement that "All teachers under 30 MUST participate" and then started calling out individual teachers who fit that category.
All of us willing and unwilling volunteers divided into three teams for what turned out to be a soccer-dribbling relay race. That wasn't so bad, especially as I called on my many years of grade school soccer to compete it. After the intensity of the students' competitions, it was nice to end on something light.
Me competing in the teacher event :)
Finally, the principal presented the winning trophies and we all enjoyed the last minutes of the burning Olympic Torch and another raucous fireworks show. The 2021 Jhennan Elementary Sports Day: what an exciting, unforgettable experience!
Aren't these fireworks super loud?