"Taikusai"...aka. Junior High Track & Field Day

June 3rd was the Track & Field Day for all the Junior High Schools in Ishikari. I joined the school that I'm currently working at, and had a great day spectating and cheering on all my super eager students! It was unlike any sports day I had ever seen at home. In addition to the traditional 100m/200m/800m/1500m/shot-put/long jump events, there were also tug-of-wars, massive jump rope competitions, 36 person relays etc. All of the homeroom classes competed against each other, and the top class from each grade got a prize. Very cooperative, and very fun!



The students all line up with their class flags before the opening ceremonies...

















Boys lining up for the 100m...


















Seventh-grade girls (the coloured bands around their foreheads represent their class)...

















Some of my favourite 9th graders...

















And some more....oh, so many favourites! It's going to be hard to say goodbye, but as these girls told me "at least we've made sooo many good memories together this year, Christy!".

















Whole-class jump rope competition....the winning class jumped 54 times!


















In this competition, students competed class-against-class by lining up side by side, bending over so their backs were flat, and then having one person run across their backs....they did this the whole way down the field, with the back people running to the front as soon as they had been run over!

















Here, students ran in fours down the field, carrying a long bar between them. At the end of the field, they rounded a cone and came back. Once they reached their class, they lowered the bar and ran through the whole class, while everyone jumped over it! And repeat!
Running...

















After jumping, bringing the bar to the front again, and getting ready to repeat!

Asahiyama Zoo

May 28th....10 o'clock a.m....pouring rain...blowing wind....and three girls road-tripping their way two hours north to currently the most popular zoo in Japan. Apparently, the zoo didn't used to be very popular, but they are now trying to change a lot of the animals' habitats to make them more realistic and entertaining (for both viewers and animals).
So, despite the bad weather, we had a great day at the zoo, and added one more memory to our repertoire for my year in Japan.
Unfortunately, the pictures don't nearly do it justice. But here are a few anyways.


Saori, Momoko and I...

















Momoko with one of the big polar bears...

















Polar bear lounging in his little pond...

















The orangutans had to climb from their cage, up a big tree, across this high ropeway, and down into another "playground" area to get their food. As soon as their keeper showed up they started climbing!

















Mom and baby having a little play after their snack, and before heading back across the high-rope to their cage...

















And the penguins....my favourite! There was even this amazing glass tunnel underneath the water that we could walk through to see them swimming (but unfortunately no pictures allowed).