Sports Day at NSYSU: March 25, 2009!

Today, a Wednesday here in Kaohsiung, was Sports Day at the University. This is a pre-planned day; classes are cancelled for the day and students are encouraged to participate in a number of sports activities, such as badminton, volleyball, basketball, etc, and at the day's end is a ceremony with trophies distributed to the winning teams,etc. Basically, participation in the sports events is voluntary; but being a part of the opening day parade is strongly encouraged!


Ted and I reported, along with the students (about 40) in Human Resources, to the Department's office at 7:45 am, where we all had a casual Taiwanese breakfast. We had warm soy drink (actually quite tasty) and our choice of a number of different dumplings. One had a meatball inside (you never know what is going to surprise you when you take a bite!) and was very tasty. Even Dr I-Heng Chen, Ted's sponsor here, joined in the festivities. You see him waving there! Another was a very traditional Taiwanese dumpling; it had all sorts of finely chopped veggies in it moistened by a soy sauce. Also quite good.

Then we all donned our blue shirts, to identify us as the Dept of Human Resources in the Business School and practiced the chant we were to say when we got to the parade.

Each school, we learned, creates a little mini-performance to do once their group parades and passes in front of the reviewing stand, where the University President was behind a big podium.(This President is well-liked; Janet said he is fairly new, here two years, and when he first arrived, he made it a point to visit every single professor to see how they were doing, if they had any concerns, etc.).
"Our" department had to scurry, a la the Stanford Marching band, into a sort of V formation, as shown on the handout given to each of us (Ted and I were at the head of the line that is in the darker circle area) and then say this little chant, which began in Taiwanese but ended with us all raising our right hands into the air and exclaiming in English:"Woo-Manpower!"
It was a riot. I will let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves, as you can see how the different departments costumed themselves for this parade, from the funny to the more dignified (us). The mini-performances included archers shooting, in a fairly brisk wind, at balloons to pop them; med students pretending to care for a person with a bum leg; the school of Marine Biology wearing flamboyant Hawaiian-like long bermudas, to another department acting out a circus routine,etc.
Just good fun and good community spirit for the campus!