Each year IBM Taiwan hosts "Sports Day" for all the employees and their families. The employees participate in the sporting events while the families cheer them on and eat local delicacies such as grilled squid on a stick. Now really, who wants to miss out on that? But seriously, this was a very nice event. Sports Day took place at National Taiwan University of Education (NTU). My family has dear friends who went to school there - what are the chances that I'd wind up in that very spot?! I am not sure where the students were that day, but the grounds were opened up to hundreds of IBMer's, vendors, a DJ, gamers, cheerleaders, etc. They were totally set up for fun!
This is the main logo for "Sports Day 2008." Each team had an animal mascot, color and gathering place. Matt's team was the panthers. They had gray shirts and hovered under orange tents to keep out of the sun. Some poor soul even dressed up in a big, woolly Pink Panther costume for a little while (this was no small task as it was at least 90 degrees out!). How's that for team spirit? Speaking of spirit, there was a cheerleading contest that was taken VERY seriously...costumes and 10+ hours of practice per week. There was definitely no shortage of spirit here.
You can see a couple of the different colored shirts here.
Matt & Adam, (Adam is the biggest guy in Taiwan and everyone wanted him on their team!), looking out onto some of the fun stuff for kids of all ages! Matt is already geared up in a pinny for his 1st event, tug of war.
Matt & Robert Parsons (fellow expat) leading the way to the team's 1st tug of war victory!
Come on guys, pull!!!
Wooo-hooo! They won! Matt also participated in dodge ball, but quickly found that the rules of the game in Taiwan are totally different than those in the US. He really didn't get a lot of playing time...maybe next year (if they let him back on the team!).
Other fun, neat stuff...
Caitlin & I arrived after the festivities were in full swing. We weren't really sure what kind of an event this would be so we hung at home until Matt gave us the final go-ahead. Should I bring the stroller or not? Do I need food, water, etc. or are there supplies on site? Now that we've been on excursions where we were super prepared or not at all, sometimes it's best to send one of us out to assess the situation ahead of time. Stroller - check. Snacks and drinks for Caitlin - check. We hailed a cab and were on our way.
Paparazzi. Despite all the activities going on around us, as soon as we arrived on site Caitlin had become the new center of attention. There were people and cameras everywhere...almost unable to escape it without the rescue of a fellow expat. It's flattering and very strange all at the same time. Luckily, Caitlin doesn't seem to care all that much. She doesn't sit still for pictures, but these people were determined to get a good one so they pressed on. We should start charging a small fee for these Kodak moments. I can't imagine how many random people have pictures of our little girl...I guess that's okay until we see her on a billboard somewhere in Taiwan.
Concessions. Well, they're not what you'd find in the US. There were dumplings (not sure what was in them, but pork is most common), grilled squid on a stick, fried mushrooms (they just can't touch the ones at the little league games in Kennet Square, PA...and the shrooms were totally different), fried stinky tofu on a stick, fried squid balls on a stick, cotton candy, pop corn, sausage on a rice & bean bun with some sort of sweet sauce, fresh grape tomatoes and some sort of apple/pear thing all sliced up, a whole bunch of stuff we couldn't figure out and fruit juice. We tried the fruit juice and with a stroke of luck we wound up with passion fruit juice and something lemony with probably a prune floating around, but it looked like a turd to me. Caitlin just loved the passion fruit juice. Her outfit enjoyed it too!
Making friends. Caitlin met up with this little girl who didn't speak English. They played with a ball, held hands and ran around on the field together. It was very sweet. Caitlin tried to share her snacks with her, but the girl didn't know what they were. I told Kirsten what they were and she translated for us. The little girl accepted the snacks and would then run off to ask her mother if she could have them. It was funny. I was so busy keeping Caitlin safe on a stool that I didn't really notice if she ever ate them. I wonder if raisins, Goldfish and animal crackers are familiar flavors for kids on this side of the world?
Yes, he ate squid on a stick.
1 comment:
Tara, It was so great to catch up on your posts!! What a gifted writer you are. Ever think about writing a book? You had me laughing along with you after your latest excursions and your oven experiences!!! Haha!! It is exactly the same here in Okinawa. The first year, I wandered around in my own little world ~ unable to understand the language, the noise, feeling overwhelmed by the traffic/cars etc. At this point (2 1/2 years into our tour) I tend to ignore all of those unusual sounds, music, loudpseaker annoucements etc. It is funny. Most Okinawan homes do not have stoves either but our experience is a bit different in that we live in a Japanese-American home on base. Basically, it is an altered Japanese home with American customs (like yours somewhat). One day you will look back on all of these days and it will be a great source of comedy and fond memories for your family! Have a great day!!
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