Sunday, April 7, 2013

PE in China

I have observed kids running laps around the track at school.  They do this at wierd times, like before school.  Kids will dump their book bags and do a couple of laps.  I have only seen younger kids do this, on a small track that is at best an 1/8th of a mile.

I think that there is some emphasis being placed on physical fitness by the school.

Several times a day, I am roused from my various states of dozing to the sound of a chinese man leading calisthenics on the field near my apartments here in Wuhan.  Today, they were doing something with hula hoops.  When I looked out, I spied some kids whipping each other with them.  Picture a field of kids with hula hoops, led by a the booming voice of a chinese man.

They also play music.  I think that this is mostly for little kids.  One is like the hookey pokey song, but different.  It has been seared into my mind, but as I write this I cannot recall the lyrics.  I may amend this post later with the lyrics, so be sure to stay tuned.

I observe the younger kids doing their PE down on the field near my room.  When they are doing the hokey pokey type dance thing, I am treated to the songs played over a loud speaker, which I can clearly hear in my room.

They must be doing something right, because I have not seen many over weight chinese people.  There are some hefty folk here, but they are few and far between.

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