Sports Day at Joongang Girls High School!!!

Today was Joongang Girls High School's Sports day! For the past few weeks, I've heard about "Sports Day" otherwise referred to as "Field Day," but because Korea never ceases to surprise me, I still had no idea what to expect. In the end, Sports Day reminded me of camp, Jesse Owens Day from elementary school and a birthday party all at the same time. Yes there was competition, but nothing like the level of competition that we have in American high schools. Korean teachers and students kept asking me what games we played at "Sports Day" when I was in high school, and I had to say that we didn't have a day like that when I was in high school. The main reason being that none of us were deprived of sports and recreation on a daily basis, so there was no need to designate one day out of the school year to practice recreation. I played sports everyday after school and sometimes before school (basketball freshman year). I had to tell them that the closest thing I could compare it to was the track and field day that we had in elementary school, otherwise known as "Jesse Owens Day," but even that was more serious than today's sports day, because it was actual track and field competitions like long jump, 50 meter dash, etc. and we won medals and trophies. Today's activities included the following events: tug-of-war, dodgeball, badminton, a relay race, aerobics, jumping rope and cheering. Today was about games more than it was about sports. I showed up at school in my sweatpants, t-shirt and tennis shoes; whereas, many of the girls who ran in the relay race were not even wearing shoes (at least half ran around the dirt track in their socks.) I was ready to participate in whatever sports might be required of me, but I never even broke a sweat. The day was kicked off by an all-school showcase of an aerobics routine performed by the entire school (1200 students). While they performed the routine, the principal and teachers sat in the shade on the newly built deck observing them. Then everyone separated and competed in the events that I listed above. Each class was a team and competed against the other teams; they wore t-shirts with their team numbers on them and cheered all day long for their teammates. At one point the teachers played dogeball and tug-of-war against the parents (about 20 parents showed up to volunteer). We beat the parents in dodgeball, but lost to them in tug-of-war. I also was able to practice jumping rope with one of my favorite classes. I was very happy to see my students in t-shirts and sweatpants, getting dirty and enjoying themselves in the sun. It's funny though, there's no such thing as a "healthy tan" in Korea. These girls were deathly afraid of getting ANY sun on their faces. Some had towels wrapped around their heads and held in place with a clothespin under their chin. Most girls wore big straw sunhats and applied sunscreen throughout the day in order to keep their skin fair. I spent all day walking around, cheering for my students and enjoying the weather. At 4pm Sports Day ended with an awards ceremony... and guess what the students won? What do you think they give the winning teams on Sports Day in a country where toothpaste and detergent are often given as party favors at wedding? If toilet paper came to mind, then you are right on! For each event that they won, students were awarded with a huge Cosco sized package of T.P.! The funniest thing was how excited it made the students (it is highly coveted, because the bathrooms do not have toilet paper in them.) Some teams won as many as 5 events, therefore ending the day with 5 huge packages of toilet paper, probably totaling around 100 rolls! After the awards ceremony the parents held a catered party/dinner for all the teachers in the school cafeteria, where we toasted our school with soju and beer. At 6pm I stumbled home, feeling exhausted from the sun and soju, happy to see my students leaving school too, one of the rare days where they were able to leave school before 10 or 11pm.