うんどうかい Sports Day

There is an event every year in Japanese schools called undoukai, 運動会. Literally “exercise meet” but most of the time it gets translated to “sports day”. Its a big event in Japan and the students prepare for weeks beforehand. I never understood the appeal and I was never looking forward to it honestly. But after experiencing it on Saturday, and almost everyday for the past month getting the kids prepared, I understand the value now. And I am so glad our kids got to experience it.

It was a little different this year due to corona. They split the classes up into their own time slots and only one parent could attend. So Nathan’s class was at 8am, which Heather attended. And Caroline’s class went at 1pm, which I attended. And they didn’t allow anyone to even stand around the perimeter of the property to watch. I heard that usually its everyone’s extended family attending. People arrive early in the morning to hold a spot to take pictures and everything. But not this year. I talked to a woman at the event, and she said its a little sad this year, but taking pictures is easy! The funny thing is that since I didn’t know any better, I didn’t think it was sad at all. Everyone was cheering all the kids and it felt so lively.

Each class did relay races, choreographed dances, and followed orders marching around. As I said, they have been preparing for weeks. Both Heather and I saw the value in structure and discipline, but making it so fun for the kids. And they were so proud to show off what they had prepared. We even thought Nathan might be a little nervous, but he was not one ounce nervous. And it showed the power of preparation. He was just ready because he knew all the moves like the back of his hand.

We wanted to experience Japan as much as possible while we are here, so we try to travel and see as much as we can. But this was in our top experiences since we’ve been here.