运动会--sports day!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I've had a cold for the past few days, and it's kept me from wanting to do much besides lay around and watch movies. I'm on the mend, though, so I'll try to post a bit more frequently.


Last Friday, my school had a 运动会 (yun dong hui--a sports competition) for the international students. Each class competed in a variety of events, including (but not limited to) a jump rope competition, a three-legged race, and a tug-of-war.



The whole thing was kind of funny. We all imagined it was going to be a kind of laissez-faire kind of event, but as we are learning, in China, there really is no such thing. There was actually an opening ceremony, where each team had to march around the track while this grand march played over the stadium loudspeakers--like the Olympics, only there were only about 10 people in the stands. Some school leaders gave speeches, none of which we could really hear or understand, and then the events began.


We were mostly reluctant participants when it started, but it turned out to be a lot of fun, thanks largely to my friend Miguel (the guy being kissed in the third picture down) and his overwhelming enthusiasm--he led our entire class in cheers and chants throughout the competition. And then the whole thing turned out to be a little too long (four hours!) to be much fun any more--I was definitely ready for the thing to be over long before it actually was.

On the upside, the event provided a lot of good photo opportunities. I took a lot of pictures, but here are some of my favorites.