Sports Days

It seems every primary school has a sports festival around this time of year. Ours went from December 21st-23rd, meaning that instead of having classes, the students were free to run around and do whatever for three days. And at some stage they played a sport.


Here are some highlights:

* This kid, strumming away on a traditional two-stringed guitar during the volleyball. He was quite good and barely stopped for the whole morning.


* A bunch of my grade 5 girls. They just wanted to sit me down and interrogate me with questions about girls - quite a feat, considering they can't really form many English questions yet, and my Thai is non-existent. They were doing so well that I couldn't help but sit there and answer.


* The half a dozen games of volleyball which I ended up commentating. The Thai teachers were doing a good job of it, but I think the novelty of an English commentary was too much for them to resist. I didn't mind - it was fun - but I suspect it was a bit distracting to some of the kids, hearing me prattle away in a language they don't understand. Fortunately, every now and then, one of the Thai teachers translated some of the key words I was using, so the kids were able to follow... somewhat.

* My camera. Every time I took it out I had kids swarm into the picture. Here are a modest one or two of some of my grade 3s:


* Tug-of-war. Some kids were practising, so I grabbed one end of the rope and started pulling. Before we could take more than a few steps back, a pack of kids appeared out of nowhere and started pulling on the other side. It was myself and two others versus about 12 kids, and it was pretty even. That is, until my grade 5 girls appeared to my team's rescue. With the sudden force of about six extra team members, the other team was sent sprawling forwards to the ground. Victory tastes sweet.

* Talcum powder? Some of the students were smearing each other's faces with white powder. I'm not quite sure the reason, although I've heard they do this at Thai New Years too. I managed to escape it for one day, but they got me in the end.


* Dancing. I spent a fair bit of time in the stands with my team. On the last day all the teams had music blaring, so the students were singing and dancing on the rickety stands.


* The parade. Of course, as typical of Thailand, I wasn't told any details about the parade whatsoever - only that there was one on the morning of the last day. I got to work at 8am and went up to the office to drop my bag off, but my boss commanded me downstairs in a frantic hurry so I could check the Asean flags lining up in the parade. Then the parade started and I was left to haul my bag along with me.

This shouldn't take long, I figured. We'll go out one school gate and back in the other.

I underestimated Thais' need to show off. The parade, a procession of thousands of students and teachers, lasted over an hour, cutting through downtown Ubon and stopping traffic entirely. We certainly got everyone's attention.

We'll just do a block then head back, I thought. Ohhh. Nope. We're going on the main street. In peak hour. Rightio.


There were several marching bands spaced out through the parade. They set off several car alarms as we walked past. It was quite an amusing parade. You see, in Thailand, everything is about showing off. As long as things look big and pretty, no matter how impossible or impractical they are, you earn people's respect.

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On a separate note, what a year 2011 has been!! Usually at this time of year I realise how fast the year has gone, but it feels like a lifetime ago when I was in Okinawa touching that snake. To top it all off, I've still got another 10 or so months here in Thailand to look forward to. I consider myself extremely lucky.

So Happy New Year, everyone, and I wish you all the best for life in 2012 and beyond!