Sports Day

I've spent almost every weekend this month attending some kind of undoukai (oon-doh-kai), or sports day. A few weeks ago, there was the Junior High one, then there was the village one, then this past weekend was the elementary school one. There are four elementary schools in Ogimi, and they all have their undoukai on the same day. Meaning I traveled to one school, show my face to the kids and teachers, then leave an hour later and go to the next. Next weekend is the kindergarten one.

Undoukais are like our field days...except it's on the weekend and parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents show up. There are relays, organized dance, tug of war, and other little things. The kids and teachers spent all last week putting on the final touches, so all the English classes were cancelled. But I was still required to show up and sit in the teachers room until 4.

I would like to touch on something I've mentioned in a previous post. The kids do EVERYTHING here. There are no groundskeepers at the schools. In the morning they can be seen moving dirt with a wheelbarrow, planting plants, and sweeping leaves. Because this was undoukai week, they were measuring and making lane lines on the track field.

I remember being told to pick up sticks as a kid and I would complain before I was even out the door. The teachers must beat the kids who get out of line with baseball bats.

Another thing that is different is there are no cafeterias. Lunch is eaten in the classroom with the teacher. The kids put on these cute white aprons and hats, and then do rock-paper-scissors to see who dishes out the food. Afterwards, they bring the dirty dishes to a wash room.

Where do they find the time to teach the kids if they are laboring all day? Easy, they stay till 5. I get to work at 8:15 everyday. Kids are already there. I leave at 4:15. The kids are still there. There is actually a lot of free time, where the kids run off (unsupervised) and do kid stuff.

So I would like to see American elementary schools bulldoze the cafeteria and fire all the janitors and lunch ladies. And instead of having kids leave at 2:00 and making parents who work spend money on after school daycare, use the extra three hours for child labor. It will save money AND build character.