Today was a good day (hot as Hades but good).
I arrived at Gakkuto Elementary School, one of my eight elementary schools, at about 9am and learned the students of each class had prepared various events around the school for a kind of Field Day. The object was to complete as many events as possible in a one hour period and receive a stamp on your given point card.
The first event I did was the Hoola Hoop Hop Scotch because it was fairly easy and there was no line of students waiting. The object was simple; hop through the hoola hoops using one or two feet as fast as possible. I got my stamp no problem.
Hoola Hoop Hop Scotch Race
The next event I tried was the Soccer Penalty Kick. The object was to score a goal from the PK spot with a fat, 4th grader playing goalie. I hadn't kicked a soccer ball in almost ten years, but I didn't think it'd be very difficult.
Sadly, I totally Beckhamed the ball, missing the goal completely, and beamed some unexpecting 3rd girl in the side of the head knocking her clean off her feet! All the kids were more impressed with the power of my kick than the poor girl, so they awarded me a stamp for the event while another student walked the crying girl to the nurses' room.
After that debacle I quickly rushed through the next three events; a Standing Tire Run (running down a line of half buried standing tires), a Shoe Kick (I proudly flung my shoe off my foot just over 20 meters), and the Umbrella Spin n' Dash. The latter almost made me sick after circling an umbrella ten times at top speed and trying to run about 15 meters to the goal, but I managed to stumble to the finish line without falling.
Next, I moved onto the Pole Climb. I could practically jump to the top of the pole, but it was fun to climb just to hear the "oooohs" and "ahhhhhs" from all the little kids.
Pole Climb
The heat started getting to me and I was running out of time, so I moved inside the gym to quickly run through a short Obstacle Course that consisted of weaving through three cones, jumping over a knee high pommel horse, touching the far wall, and dashing back through again.
A group of 5th graders were throwing scotch tape balls at a target drawn on a piece of poster board next to the Obstacle Course, so I gave it a try. I didn't score very well on this one, so I went next door to one of the nearby classrooms.
My last event was shooting a makeshift, chopstick rubberband gun at pyramid of Coca Cola cans. It took me a couple tries before I tagged one of the cans to earn my ninth and last stamp of the day.
Chopstick Rubberband Gun
If I'd had more time I possibly could've finished all thirteen events, but I did the best I could in a short period of time. Some kids got all thirteen, but I think they cheated.
My Point Card with 9 of 13 stamps
Anyway, this short Field Day was a great way to start a Friday. Everyone was in a great mood and it made my four lessons go off without a hitch.
TGIF.
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