November 8: School race

It’s a Saturday and I had to be at work by 8:30a.m. Sound fun? Well, I didn’t really have a choice because all the teachers had to be there. The students were running in a mandatory race; really, it was a test to make sure the students are exercising. The girls had to run 5K and the guys 10K.

There's a popular singer over here and he does this sign with his fingers and he says "Wish!" at the same time. It really doesn't make sense to me, but these girls thought it was pretty funny that I joined in and acted like I knew what I was doing!

I think I had to do a skills test like this in school, but I think ours was only a mile and it was definitely during a normal P.E. class period. These students didn’t complain (at least, not from what I could understand) and it actually got pretty exciting when the first round of students made it to the finish line.

If you're wondering about the tape on his leg....I'm not sure of the purpose. Maybe for extra leg support?


This kid carried that flag the entire race (6.2 miles)..impressive!

There’s this one student, named ‘Oyama,’ and he seems like a big teddy bear. He’s a Judo player and I teach him once a week (he’s in the “athletic” class, mostly Judo players who don’t care about English). I can tell he doesn’t understand a lot of what I say, but I feel like I want to take him under my wing. He just doesn’t seem interested in English, but maybe by the end of the year I can change his mind (then again, maybe not)! Anyways, the reason I brought him up is because he was the very last person to finish the race. He’s a lot bigger than the other kids and from what I understand, he walked the whole thing (with a slight jog every once in awhile). So, when we saw him approaching the finish, I started chanting “OYAMA,OYAMA” and “GOMBADE,GOMBADE!” (Fight! Fight!) and next thing, we’re all doing that and clapping. Yes, this was like a “feel-good” movie that makes you tear up a little bit. I wanted to give him a big hug, but I didn’t want to cross the line (with the whole teacher/student proper conduct). So, a couple high-fives did the trick! See, that’s how it’s going to be at the end of the year when he really starts to grasp the English language…I can’t wait for that moment!!

Oyama crossing the finish line!!

Everything was over by 1pm., and I got to go home a lot earlier than I thought. Brandon and I celebrated by going to McDonald’s! Plus, I get to take Monday off, for working on a Saturday.