Sport's Day!

You guys remember last month when I went to the South for the BIG Sport's Day trip? Well this one was with my own school and it was a lot of fun!

In a sense, the Sport's Day is like a school's Field Day in America, except on a MUCH bigger scale. My school had four team colors: Blue, red, yellow, and purple. And the funny part was that I was purple and Jill was blue. We had fun with that, let me tell you. Heheh.

Each of the team colors were to create a theme, decorate their cheering bleachers, design a T-shirt, and figure out a set up for the opening parade. Red's theme was The Matadors, purple's Fantastic of Art, blue's Peace of Blue, and yellow's Pharaoh Topaz.

EDIT: There was a green team, but I seemed to have forgotten their existence and their name/theme...

Two weeks beforehand, the whole school prepared for this by shortening the class periods. That way we have about an hour or so at then end of the day to train, decorate, and basically get ready for the Sport's Day. Though Jill and I just kind of sat around during this time, which was quite enjoyable actually. Since we didn't have to travel far for this one (duh), we had this Sport's Day for three whole school days: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I split the days up on here accordingly:

Wednesday

Jill and I get up at 3 a.m. for one reason, and one reason only: To get dressed up for the school's Sport's Day parade! Since the Sport's Day is such a big event, all the students plan out a parade. Jill and I both got selected to carry a banner (that I still have no idea what it said) for the school all dressed in beautiful Thai clothing. Having gotten all suited up in June for that fashion show, I was quite used to it. But this was Jill's first time wearing a Thai dress. So I was happy she finally got the chance. It's a cool experience, and the results were awesome!

That's me on the left, and Jill on the right. Her hair is real, and my hair is fake, heh. Maybe this is a sign from God that I should grow out my hair.

While we were waiting, we got to see the rest of the parade go by. I was so happy my purple team had a horse! A real live horse with a guy riding on top holding a purple flag. Take that, Jill! Blue might have pretty T-shirt's, but purple has a horse!

After the parade we met up with Atsushi and two other AFS students who had come to his school about four months after we did. The one named Amy is from Italy and the other Seline is from Germany. I think it goes without saying Jill was happy to be able to speak German, heh. We all went out to eat at a nearby restaurant that served Western food at a cheap price. The new students were quite happy to see their favorite foods from the Western world not priced at 500+ baht. Even though he's Japanese, Atsushi seemed quite pleased with food too. I think he might be European on the inside, hah!

Thursday

This time, Atsushi's school was having the Sport's Day parade. Apparently it's a well-known fact that their parade is ALWAYS better than ours, so we weren't the only ones who stopped by to take a look.

(Yes, Jill, I am stealing your pictures~)

The two girls from Europe got to be in the parade, but poor Atsushi got left out somehow. I felt bad for the guy, really. It's not everyday you get to be in a parade. Though he said he didn't really care, so I guess I can't feel too bad, right?

Jill and I then went around the school, talking with the students and seeing all the cool things their school had. I was kind of happy my school had a pretty fish pond and theirs didn't. Although I think they have more room to have sports and such. People at my school sometimes have to go outside in the parking lot to practice their sports, heh. Also, their school had six colors instead of just five, adding on pink. I somehow get the feeling their school is bigger than ours, even though our school is older. Not quite sure how that worked out, heh.

Friday

Last day of the Sport's Day was quite interesting. Since Atsushi and the others couldn't come visit our school again, both Jill and I were able to watch some of the matches. In the morning, we watched Thai boxing matches. It was funny because the first pair went after each other constantly and kept punching each other without thinking. And then the second pair that fought were so hesitant to even throw a punch, hah! It was all good fun in the end though. And Jill's team lost both times, hah!

Once the matches were over we went out to a large field where people were going to play Tug-of-War. It was nice because blue and purple were never against each other, so Jill and I each cheered for our teams together. I will unite with you just this once, Jill...

It was quite brutal. Even more brutal than the boxing. People slipped into the mud, fell over, and got bruised. One girl even passed out! But at the end of the day, it's all part of the fun. Oh, Thai Tug-of-War, how complicated you can be.

We got around to watching a few more sports until the end of the day finally came. Now it was time to announce which team was the winner. We all waited in the large field while different names got called out and awards were given. Then it was the moment of truth...

Would it be blue? The team I despised so much, yet was my best friend's color. Or would it be purple? The team I was destined to belong to.

...

Agh! The winner ended up being blue! Wah! Okay, I'm not really that mad about it. You win this time, Jill, heh. With the winner announced, it was time for everyone to join hands and sing this song I THINK is about being together. I hate it when I can't understand an important song... It was really touching nonetheless though. One thing both Jill and I have noticed about Thailand is the people are all united. We say we are one school, one town, one nation. Something I have never seen in America.

I like this feeling. I really do~