sports day

Her bright orange tutu flounced up and down as she ran across the finish line and claimed the victory in the race. Dejected, the other runners returned to the bleachers to shimmy and shout for their own teams in the coming heats. true story.
- Teacher Lita









Yesterday was Sports Day. It's actually been more like Sports Month, though. The Pink, Orange, Green, and Purple Teams have been competing in various events since the end of December for glory, fame, and plastic medals.

Thai cheerleading looks nothing like American cheerleading, we learned. It's more like Halloween crossed with a dance recital. Like American cheerleading, it has little or no effect on the athletes' performances or the crowd's enthusiasm.

I was supposed to run the 100-meter dash for the Pink team, but I got sacked immediately before my race. As in, a Thai teacher ran up to me and said, breathless, "They want me to run instead of you. Can you do the rice sack race in my place?" To which, of course, the only correct answer is, "Yes! I would love to hop around in a giant rice bag!"

The sack races were cancelled in the end, so it all worked to my advantage.

Overall, Sports Day was hot, sticky, and kinda miserable. We did get a half-day out of the deal, which gave us a chance to rest up for Christy's birthday celebration that night -- free BBQ at a restaurant on Sukhumvit. Bliss! The place does free food the last Friday of every month, and we were all wondering why we haven't been attending for the last seven months.