Savannah's Undoukai (Exercise Event)

Savannah had her Exercise Event a few weeks ago. We got up on Saturday and headed to the Takanezawa Shougakko (elementary school) at 8:30 AM or so. It was already getting hot. As the day progressed, it got very hot. Many of the schools in the area cancelled the event due to heat, but our school decided to keep the schedule. We finished up around 4:00 in the afternoon so it was a long, hot day. We really felt for the kids. My shirt was soaked with sweat throuhtout the day and I was not even exercising.








Savannah with a couple of close friends from the neighborhood.







All of the kids lined up for the opening ceremonies.








This is the first graders. The kanji character on the sign is the symbol for year - ichi nen sei (first graders).










Savannah is one of the tallest kids in her class so she ended up in the back of the row since they lined up based on height. If you look close, she is four from the back.










I snuck up on Savannah as she waited for her running race. I wanted to tell her how proud of her I was.










Denny hanging out with one of the vitamin drinks they have for the kids. He did a really good job behaving. There wasn't a whole lot for him to do all day except play with the other kids. We should have brought some toys... all they had was a slinky that we bought at our Torisen (Supermarket). If you have ever played with a Slinky, you know they get tangled up. I spent half the day untangling it.





The school is divided up into two teams, Aka-gumi and Shiro-gumi (red team, white team). You have probably figured out she was on the red team. I am not sure how this is decided, but all of Savannah's friends were on the same team which was nice. This picture is of the team leaders getting them psyched up for the event. The girl in black was the leader.




I mentioned that it was hot... I was sweating just standing in the sun. In Japan, women really try to take care of their skin so they are often covered up. This woman had jeans, sweatshirt, towel around her neck and a hat on. Unbelievable.







Tug-of-war




The kids on their way back to their seats under the tents. Savannah comes in near the end of the movie.





Intermission dance. Black outfit... hot day... the kids did a really good job.




This was one of the events for the older kids. I thought it was interesting so I took a movie of it.





Throughout the day, the kids shouted their chant, cheering for their team. "Fure, Fure, aka-gumi"





Savannah's running race. She made it out of the blocks a little late, but was able to catch up and got in fourth place.




This event was interesting. You had to throw soft balls into the bucket on a stick. The adults got to do it too. I opted to try it out. It is harder than it looks. I also have had people come up to me on the street who recognize me from the event.




All of the kids marching out from the tent area. I was stunned to see how many kids actually went to the school. Savannah's school is grade 1-6. Seems like a lot of kids.