Teacher Sports Day

"The trick is growing up without growing old."

- Casey Stengel

You know how I said I had my last day of teaching? I lied. The school uncancelled half of the classes and I had to do my goodbye lessons again. Knew I wouldn’t get off the hook that easy.

The cancelled classes made time for a big ceremony for the retiring teachers. All government officials in Thailand (teachers fall under this category) have to retire when they turn 60. The highlight of the ceremony was when they showed pictures of the retiring teachers as students. The auditorium of 3,200 students went nuts.

Saturday was also the inaugural “Teacher’s Sports Day.” I don’t think that’s the real name, but it was exactly like the sports day we had with students, except with teachers. It kicked off with a gathering of 4 schools at the Phra Pathom Chedi in downtown Nakhon Pathom. Many of the teachers wore elaborate costumes, complete with banners, batons, and floats. Check it out.

The biggest Chedi in the world!

After several long speeches, we began a parade to the school where the competitions would be held. Our route was about 2 km through the blocked off roads. The heat was brutal as we marched through the afternoon sun. But the band motivated us with motivational pep songs such as “When the Saints come marching in,” “I want to hold your hand” by The Beatles, and “Feliz Navidad.” These three songs played on repeat for about an hour.  I don’t know how “Feliz Navidad” made it into the set list but it was surprisingly uplifting.

Parade through the downtown. 100 degrees. Nice clouds though.

There was an opening ceremony with everyone standing on the field. Much like the other sports day, it only took about 10 minutes before people started passing out from the heat and needed to be carried off the field. Heavy band uniforms/costumes in 100 degree weather don’t mix well apparently.

And then the sports began! All the competitors were teachers from the schools. It was kind of fun to see the teachers cut loose and get really into the games. I was up first in the free throw shooting contest. After absolutely killing it in practice (I made two baskets), I had a complete collapse and went 0-7. Needless to say I was benched for the volleyball game.

Our school rebounded as we won a nail-biter volleyball match. The strong showings continued as we placed second in the potato sack relay race. My shot at redemption came at the tug of war. We smashed the two teams we played, winning four wars in under 20 seconds every time. I will admit we did have a bit of an unfair advantage. The combined weight of me and the Nigerian teacher on our team was probably the same as five Thai men. But a victory is a victory.

Prepping for tug of war

Champions!

Teachers doing a potato sack race. Fantastic.

I was fighting a bad cold the whole time and decided to head home after finishing the tug of war. I was a little bummed to miss the deciding event of Bocce Ball (or “Woodbon” as the teachers called it). Still, a very fun day.

This next week will be fairly busy as I get ready to leave! Packing, cleaning, giving things away, grading, job applications…it’s going to be a chaotic end to my time here.

Also in one week, Mom and Dad arrive in Thailand! I’m super excited to see  them and show a bit of what my life has been like here. I’m sure the waterworks will be flowing when I pick them up at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Next week will be my last post for a while as I’ll be travelling during all of October. It’s going to be as cool as it sounds.

Mark