The most recent such event was this past Sunday when the junior high PTA, as well as a bunch of students, got together to clean up the school grounds. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but it more or less amounted to lots and lottts of pulling weeds out by the sports field. I also had a chance to have some out-of-school interaction with a bunch of the 1st and 2nd years, which was nice. The beautiful weather was certainly a plus as well.
The level of community here is pretty ridiculous. Part of that is certainly due to the small-town / rural location, but I think it is also just a part of the makeup of the Japanese mindset as a whole. That's not even just baseless speculation either! It can be seen in the Nagasaki Kunchi Festival, one of the three biggest in Japan, where every year seven neighborhoods (out of 77 I think), train their hearts out and come together to perform in the three day celebration. The unity, the coordination, the balance, the dedication... You get what I mean.
That community aspect was even more apparent at the three sports festivals that I attended the other three Sundays. In reverse chronological order they were: Oshima Town's sports festival, the kindergarten's, and East Elementary's. I'll describe them in the order they occurred though, just to be difficult.
I have to say I had no idea really what to expect from East's undokai (sports festival). I figured since it wass a celebration of fitness I would at least dress the part though, so I showed up in track pants and runnings shoes. This turned out to be a good call, because most people were sporting similar attire. This is probably a good time to mention that I actually wear track pants and polos every day to work (because I can), thus making me look a lot more like a gym teacher than an English teacher.
My digression into poor fashion choices aside (it's practical!), I was completely surprised when they sat me in the center tent with all of the important people. By "important" I mean principals of other schools, leading (older) citizens, even the mayor of Saikai City! They served us tea!! What?!?! We also were called up to participate in one of the races though, which was pretty entertaining. We had to use a rod with a string and paper clip to "fish" a bag with presents in it. Woo presents!
At sports festivals the students are split into two teams, usually red and white but at the kindergarten it was pink and blue and at the town undokai it was split by neighborhood. The teams are based on the kids' reversable hats for their athletic uniforms, which they all wear when they go outside. This falls off in junior high though.
There is a whole series of events throughout the day, usually either some kind of standard footrace or a relay of some sort. The relays usually include lots of fun involvement from everyone there, not just the kids. For example there was a relay where the fathers had to go through a daily routine, "waking up" at the start of the gun and then walking around the track, eating breakfast (with no hands), washing their face, picking up lunch (hanging from a pole and using only their teeth) and then saying good morning to the principal! Pretty ridiculous, and lots of fun. The "taking food from a string hanging from a pole with your teeth" was actually a common thing at all three sports festivals, so I guess it's a big hit. I certainly enjoyed it at the town undokai when Nakayama-sensei and I were called out to represent Higashimachi!
The kids also practice and learn dances and songs for the undokai. At the elementary school they even had a cheer contest that I had to help judge! The Red Squaaaad (Mr Cannon?) totally won, no contest.
The three festivals were fairly different, given the main participants, but they all were a lot of fun. I am going to steal my friend Jess K's idea and say that it really is one of the only times the whole family can get together and have a day just to have fun. The parents and the kids both have such crazy busy schedules.
I only have vids / pictures from the kindergarten undokai, but you can check them out here:
videos: blogspot
foto: flickr
Jess also has a bunch of good shots of her schools' undokais. You should check them out here: blogspot
Okay, so perhaps only four Sundays in a row does not constitute "any given Sunday", but I think I can be allowed a bit of creative license.
extra speedy love from the future,
-greg.
ps: how do these things keep getting so long? i mean detail is good but i don't want everyone's eyes to fall out!
pps: i just found out that there are culture festivals both this coming weekend and the weekend after. man, the days are just packed...
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