June 22, 2012
Jesse's Undokai experience!
Jesse here!
The fabled Japanese “Undoukai” is the sports day that has the coolest sports, but is also strangely regimented and formalized. You begin the day by showing up to the ground early, meeting with your home room and then everyone lining up together [Jesse shares his Japanese homeroom with Nicolas, in 1C - this is Seta Sensei's class and it was in the Yellow group - Peter]. So far, so normal.
Then everyone starts to march in place, ok… stay calm, act cool. This ends, and you bow, as is the tradition in Japan, and listen to a short speech with the usual “がんばれ” (Good luck/try hard) in it. Then you assume that it’s over, and you all now split up and start to do sports. No, don’t be ridiculous. IT’S SERITZ TAISO TIME!
Everyone moves a few meters away from each other, and does the strange dance-gymnastics-stretching hybrid that is Seiritz Taiso. It’s both humiliating and oddly relaxing, in that you look like an idiot, but everyone else does too. And then, and only then, do you split into your groups and finish the opening ceremony.
After the Ceremony has finished, you don't do running or traditional track and field events like at home- they are more like games that test you in a sporting way and encourages team work.
I had fun!