Its again many of 'firsts' so far in my work at an international school. Guess that's partly why I am invigorated at times, cos there are many 'firsts'.
So after 3 mass practice in the past 3 weeks, first was 2 periods where they practiced the first part of mass warm-up and class rope jump. Then there was another 2 periods on another day where we walked to the stadium and more aspects like how to disperse together after certain cermonies are over, and moving from event-to-event. Then the final full-day rehearsal where everything is ironed out with the full programme practice as well as how the students were helping out in the logistics of the events.
Today was the real deal. So I slept earlier last nite and didnt go to gym again... too hungry and tired. Settled for sleeping earlier. Set my alarm clock at 5am. Actually woke up easily. Got dressed and ready and headed over to the hawker centre to eat breakfast. Many stalls were not open still yet there were quite a number of unhealthy stalls already opened. In the end I settled for Lor Quay Tiao and Ice coffee. Then as it was only 5.45am, and when I went to the bus-stop, the first bus wasnt here yet. So I decided to walk to my workplace. I had a load of time on my hands cos I was only supposed to get to the stadium (also nearby to workplace) by 7am. Walked slowly at an unhurried pace and took about 20mins of strolling to reach. I was the second to arrive. So I went online to kill half hour and headed by walking to the stadium.
Along the way I decided to get a 1.5litres of plain water. In the end I bought 3 small tins of waffers rolls. I walked and arrived around 6.45am and there were already collegues there. So I went to help out in the Equipment that I was assigned to. Also helped to carry other section's stuff cos many hands make light work. After quite a bit of carrying stuff (really think I got my workout), even met my ex-collegue from my contract school and he's still there. Looks more aged than what I remembered him to be.
I sat down and watched while the Sports Day started with the opening ceremony. I recorded certain elements using my lousy hp video function. Its still amazing that they can get into the houses very quickly and orderly, to gather, disperse quickly, and all in the Blazing Hot morning sun and into the hot afternoon sun, up until the final dismissal.
This is my first time in a long line of Sports Day where I actually get to sit down in the shade and watch. All my past ones had me running around all over the field, venues settling logistics, over-seeing stuff. Really nearly killed me with fatique doing all those. Now its a welcome change, so I appreciate it alot. But my other jap collegues and homeroom teachers had to do those stated above but its carried out in a way more efficient manner. Had students helping, roles divided clearly, all groups have a person in-charge and they are the main ones running the show. So everything ran very smoothly with little hiccups.
Side stuff that I did. My waffle rolls helped to satisfy our own hunger and also to help 'bribe' my collegues 2 very active young kids (2-3) to stay in-line for a little short while. Also it was my snack before dinner, cos hungry by then.
The other side was to help out with the bento boxes distribution for students and teachers. A jap collegue asked me to help out, so I agreed, no harm helping out when its obvious I dont have much to do during the events. So I headed out to the stadium area where the refreshment tables were set up. Saw an amazing sight...
There were several bento boxes delivery vans that came in during that period and unloaded boxes and boxes of bentos. From what I heard, the bentos cost easily above 10s. Premium bentos. Then saw another sight of the cooperative housewives who form the Parent support group, distribute Pokari Sweat and bentos into the numbers for the classes. Also settle the distribution of their own bentoes. Imagine a guy wheels several large stacks of bentos over and boxes of drinks, then see them being distributed and packed infront of your eyes. Fantastic teamwork.
Ours came late, such that it was quite a rush, students were lining up to get their bentos. So I put my set of small pieces of paper, which actually writes down the names, class no of students and also their bento type, slide inbetween the rubberbands enclosing the bento boxes. It made distribution faster. Students pass a paper with the same details and I find and match their levels, student number. So finished distributing quite quickly.
Then it was the teacher's turn. Also easy cos lesser bento sets but some were quite busy so they didnt collect, I ran over with their bentos for a couple of teachers. Then I settled down to eat my own. Its the nicest and most delicious bento I had in a while, and the best Sports Day meal I ever had so far. Dont even want to remember the crappy food that Educators usually end up with for such events where budget is non-existent or so paltry. Really had a good lunch, finished everything but that meant I slowed down after that cos all the blood went to digestion.
After the event, did the school bus dismissal, then helped to carry equipment again. That's my job, so helped out as much as I could, carried as much as I could. So that's really my workout for today. After everything was loaded onto the lorry, I walked back to workplace. Timing was tight due to the dinner. So had to get ready quickly, luckily got a ride from another collegue's husband. So good to have someone willing to drive you around. That's a perk of marriage.
The after-event dinner wasnt good, it was really so-so, some shanghai style food. Also I sat at the table with two of my bosses who kept asking me why I wasnt drinking. I paid for the non-alcoholic fees, so I dont think its fair for me to drink alcohol. There was alot of bottled Tiger beer, some red wine, white wine, even Jap umeshi. So I had to turn down politely and also smile and be less serious. Genuine reasons like 'on diet', 'beer has high calories', 'prefer to make cocktails for others', 'dont drink at dinner', 'prefer Draft beer instead'. But I am not such a good conversationalist I guess, cos my spoken is still not there. Easy sentences yes, more topics, cannot. Didnt eat much, didnt taste good, really so-so though its supposedly nice for the Jap. Jap quite like the taste of the dishes, and it was one of their common restaurants to visit.
I was feeling hot and tired after. I asked to leave at 8.30am cos I had a long day. Told P, VP and headed home. Didnt get to bathe after sports day. I went back to workplace, used a wet towel to wipe down cos time was tight due to the dinner. Then changed into fresh clothing. The weather was quite hot and by the time I reached home near 9.40pm, I was feeling very tired and sweaty. Felt more revitalised after a bath, washed hair, washed face, drank several cups of water. Time to blog and sleep soon. Really can feel the fatique catching up.
No comments:
Post a Comment