What a day, what a DAY

Today was field day at my school- where to students compete in track and field events. It was all day today and it will be tomorrow morning as well. Each class has a few students compete in each event, so not all students end up competing but instead cheer their classmates on and get some free time. The Opening Ceremony began at 8 am this morning- of course I could not miss it. 

My school logo

Each class from the school had a little 3-4 minute performance in from of the podium and then did one round around the track. There are 3 grades in the Chinese high schools: Senior 1 (10th grade equivalent and the grade I teach), Senior 2 (11th grade) and Senior 3 (12th grade, the final year- the entire year is spent studying for their final examination, the gao kao). There are 18 Senior 1 classes, and 20 Senior 2 and Senior 3 classes. Each class has around 50-55 students. For the parade, each class had matching outfits that they chose especially for today.  

Many of my students spotted me and waved and shouted "MS. SASKIA, HELLO" with glee 

After the run around the track, they lined up on the field.

There jackets were "Marlboro" jackets... classic. 

All Senior 1 classes lined up- 1 through 18. All of my students, right there :)

The Senior 2 and 3 classes got really creative with their performances. Most classes would either sing a song, do a small dance or a chant. But some went above and beyond.

One class tied a bunch of balloons to a Chinese flag and let it go- this got huge applause from everyone. Pretty cute :) 

Now that my students know my favorite fruit, I often have a student run up to me, hold out an apple, and run off as soon as I thank them and take it. It's pretty great. On good days like today, I even get two apples!

There it is, folks. All 3000 students of HuaRong YiZhong lined up on our field. 

One class threw glitter for their performance- which was beautiful at the time, but then the students realized they had to clean it up for the races. It took quite a lot of sweeping.

Some Senior 3 students invited me for a Hot Pot lunch. The boy in the yellow shirt is an actual friend of mine, we often have lunch together. Great kid.

This afternoon I was asked to give an hour long speech to 200 13-14 year olds at Chaojun Middle School, a school about 40 minutes from Huarong city way in the countryside . It was a beautiful little school with very old buildings and a lot of trees and vegetation around.

Trees with IVs. "So they get more nutrition" 

Chaojun Middle School

I was the first foreigner any of them had seen and it was quite the experience. The speech went well, the students were extremely excited and very brave in asking me questions and  I have never felt more like a celebrity. While this group photo was being taken, there were about 100 kids surrounding the people taking the picture... 

The crowd that had surrounded for the group picture

In the evening, I had dinner with the principal of our school and about 10 other leaders of some sort in a countryside restaurant. Luckily, my liaison and one other English teacher were along, so they could speak English to me, but the rest of the men couldn't speak a word. The food was delicious. It was a long day. My cheeks are sore from posing for SO many pictures, I can't even begin to imagine how many pictures I've taken with people today, my eyes are tired, my voice is gone, and my belly is full. It was a good day.