Shan Ding Elementary School sports day
Yesterday was the kid’s school sports day. It is held on a Saturday so parents are able to attend and join in the activities.
To make up for having to attend on Saturday, school is out for Monday. I’m not sure what the working parents will do tomorrow.
The weather at this time of year is absolutely gorgeous. It is really the time of year to be enjoying the outdoors and yesterday was a perfect day for it. There was a band, miniature cauldron and flame and lots of parading.
They had running, relays, tug-of-war, 3 legged races and even an egg-and-spoon race.
There were lots of proud parents watching on.
An event like this can not go by without a fair full of food, game and trinket vendors.
Here is the paper fishing net fair game. A very flimsy sheet of paper is stretched across a plastic paddle. 1 paddle for 10 yuan, 6 for 50 yuan. You get to keep all the goldfish you can catch before the paper fails.
We are now a household of 8 new goldfish and two small turtles.
The kids still had their usual school provided meal so they returned to the classrooms during lunch time. They look pretty much like the classrooms I attended so many years ago on a very different continent.
Here is my daughter’s classroom.
And here is my son’s.
The rapid drop in birthrate is having a real impact on schools all over Taiwan. Elementary school covers years 1 to 6. Shan Ding has 6 year 6 classes by only 4 year 1 classes. Pretty much the demographics of Taiwan proper.
As so often happens, a few nervous young people shyly asked to take a photo of me and my daughter. Something I always oblige as I’m never without my own camera ready to reciprocate. Here are the shy English speakers of yesterday.
Though very different from the sports days I once attended, the essence of festivities and activities were still there.
Why they even had long standing at assembly listening to lofty speeches by the headmaster.
Hi, Im currently teaching English in four different elementary schools in Hiroshima, Japan. Im writing to ask if i can use some information and pictures you wrote about Taiwanese sports day as my open-class teaching materials for the inter-cultural awareness aspect of my demo lesson coming up in June. From your site, I was really surprised to realise how similiar taiwanese and japanese public educations are. My schools are all having their sports day in one or two weeks time and I think it will be interesting and rewarding for my japanese students to see wht elemtary school kids do in my lovely country, Taiwan!
Thanks ahead if my request is permitted. (dont worry, all your pictures and information will be properly cited or introduced during in presentation. )
Paula
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Stephen reply on May 27th, 2010:
Paula,
Please feel free to use the photos and text for you class materials.
I suspect the Taiwanese sports day is similar to the Japanese sports day thanks to the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan. Much of the school system ( indeed many of the civil systems ) still have a strong Japanese influence.
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