Last Saturday was Hana's elementary school's un do kai event or Sports Day. They called it Field Day when I was in elementary school. Sport's Day is a big deal in Japan and probably the biggest event of the year for most public schools. It's a right of passage for students, but also a big deal for parents. I went to the school grounds at 7:00 in the morning and put down a family sized tarp with our name on it on the ground to reserve our spot. The event is all day long from 9:00 a.m. to nearly 4:00 p.m. All grades (1st-6th) are mixed together and put into 4 teams, red, yellow, blue, and green. Hana was on the green team. Each team is then divided into smaller groups of 5-6 students for races and such. First they had races, then various games. I liked the giant ball game, where each team had to move a giant bouncy ball from one end of the field to the other. They had fishing game race for younger students with giant cardboard fish. There were several relays and good old fashioned tug of war. Mixed throughout were songs and performances by different grades. Everyone has a picnic lunch with families at noon, before continuing in the afternoon. Mothers often go all out making lunch. Hana's grandparents came, too. It was all really fun, but personally, I felt, too long. I got really red and my eyes hurt from the sun. The whole family took a nap after coming back. What a big day.
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