sports competition

MVI_4092 a video by jami inholt on Flickr.

sports competitions in china really differ from what i have seen in american schools. the local classes and my oldest international class practiced for a few weeks for different games, marching drills and what i call "dances". i'm not sure what they call them. the video above is an example of the "dance".

the students all wore matching shirts to differentiate between them. a few children (well, 10 or more) would compete against each other in different sporting events. these events were really bizarre. one of them included wearing giant shoes and walking on a balance beam. not that safe... :) kids kept falling down and hitting the beam. i felt sorry for them! they would get all embarrassed.

they also raced with flags, carried bottled water across more balance beams and threw sticks over a net. all of this was in front of a big audience of other students, PTA members and even some members of the Shanghai soccer team! 

my babies had to sit there for an hour and half and not get to participate. they were great sports waving their little red flags :) but after about 30 minutes, they lost all patience. i didn't mind. i just played with them!

jia jia. too cool for school :)