It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that people in Australia are pretty fit. I know there is officially an obesity problem here, but you’d never know it in Sydney. You do not go a day without seeing adults and kids running, cycling or swimming. One day, soon after we had first arrived, I was at the gym in some boot camp type class when the instructor asked us to separate into slow, medium or fast runners. I went to the medium group where I just about died. Not only was my heart racing one minute into the class, but I was almost run over numerous times. I was actually becoming disoriented because it was so difficult to think while my body was working so hard. I quickly realized that a medium paced runner here was not the same as back home.
When you see the amount of time dedicated to sport at the schools here, it is no wonder that these kids are such great athletes. They have school competitions and ‘zone’ meets. Even the year 1 classes have gym once a week, but they go over to the oval 4 times a week to run. This along with us walking all the time has really been great for Lana. For a kid who had a really difficult time walking a few blocks when we first arrived, it’s really nice to see her skipping and runnning all the way to school now.
Yesterday her school hosted a school Sports Carnival. I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that the parents were invited to come down to watch from 9a-12a and that we could sit with our children for morning tea (snack). Nuno was at school so I packed some bagels to eat with my friends while we cheered on our house color. Just like in Harry Potter the school gets divided into houses. Lana is in Monterey, which is yellow, this explains why she is wearing her Mighty Ducks t-shirt (thanks Auntie Zira). I too wore yellow. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that it was a ‘just for fun’ day. No competition, no adding up points.
It was such a super day. The kids were having a blast. My husband normally rolls his eyes when I cheer for people I don’t know, but man I tell you the kids were soaking up all the attention. A child may have been coming in last in a race, but with the moms and dad’s cheering them on, it seemed like they were coming in first with the smiles that appeared on their faces. Just gorgeous. This is my favorite picture of my Might Duck…Quack Attack!!!
