Undokai Time.

I'm in full swing at my schools though my actually teaching time has been minimal over the last two weeks due to their Undokai (Sports Fests.) As with every other Japanese event, they are heaped in ritual and ceremony. Due to the ages of my kiddies, I can't (and won't) show any pictures of them close up but I do have some intriguing long-shots.

This is a Shima-Hebi (striped snake), a meter-long non-venomous reptile that took refuge in the shoe box of one of the Grade 2 kids during the festival rehearsal (probably just to get away from the noise.) One of the teachers picked it up with a pair of long tongs and tossed it behind the school. I was rather pleased for, apart from some roadkill, this is the first serpent that I've seen in Japan.

Here is the flag-raising ceremony accompanied by the Japanese National Anthem.



I took several other videos of the ceremonial proceedings but they're a bit too revealing of the children.

Instead, here are some prints of the kids' birthday logos that they'd designed.

Happy Birthdays!