First off, I want to say that if you did not, or could, not join the 4th Mission Games, you REALLY missed out on a fun day! I have been to several “team building” experiences and this was one of the most fun. The organizers were well prepared, the game ‘marshals’ did NOT change the rules half way through the game, there was no yelling in anger, and yes, no broken bones. (Although I saw one colleague later in the day with her leg propped up and on ice. I asked her if she fell and she said, “No somebody sat on it.” Sympathy took the back seat as her comment made me burst out laughing)
We all met up on the central field as teams—each named for a different famous mountain in the Philippines. The DCM (the second in command at Post) gave opening remarks which ended in us following her in a cheer that said, “Play Hard, Have Fun, Don’t Break Bones!” Hahaha. Two staff members sang the Filipino and United States’ Anthems A-cappella. We really have some talented people we work with every day.
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| Plotting on how to win! |
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| Philippine National Anthem |
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| American Anthem |
We then were off! As a team we did a tug-a-war over a mud pit and when our opposing team started to lose and get to close to the pit of mud they just let go! TWICE! Chickens, who came to this thinking they would stay clean???!, we shot free-throws (the girls on our team put us guys to shame), put together an enormous puzzle, caught eels with our bare hands, grabbed flags on a greased bamboo pole, built a hut with palm leaves in 5 minutes, carried “toxic” grape juice with ropes and a board, moved cotton balls with our noses, built hex-nut towers with chopsticks, fished out of a raft in the pool while someone hosed us in the face, stabbed watermelons with playing cards and did a team cheer! PHEW it was a GREAT DAY!
In the end we all got some medals for different events. Here are some photos to enjoy!
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| Watching instructions on the games (Minute to Win it) |
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| "Are you sure this works?" |
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| "Guess it does!" |
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| Using a tape measure at 4' to get a pingpong ball into a cup |
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| moving cotton balls with your nose. |
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| She is a PRO! |
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| Steady, Steady... |
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| Serious stuff... |
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| Counting points |
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| Putting together the puzzle |
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| The Helpers...see a camera and all else stops! LOL |
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| Tug-a-war! |
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| The Anchor! |
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| SLOWLY, SLOWLY |
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| Fishing for eels |
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| Building a hut out of bamboo and palm fronds |
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| One eel down...several more to catch |
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| RUN! |
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| "It doesn't look sanitary to me!" |
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| Ok...so the women on the team kindly backed out of this game. So 5 of us guys did it. My problem is that I cannot hold on with my handicapped right hand--I forget that I have that issue until things like this and it is not until I am literally knee deep in muddy water when I think maybe I have "grabbed more than I can handle" So one handed and the sliminess of the eel...not a good mix |
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| I dropped it half way to the bucket and could not pick it up again! I was chasing it on my hands and knees through the grass...there was plenty of screaming provided by the teammates (glad they have my back!) |
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| Still chasing it...poor thing. |
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| He make it look so easy |
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| So you had to paddle out to the floating raft and styrofoam blocks that had points attached. Hook a block then paddle back...easy right? HAHA! Then they spray you in the face the whole time with water! |
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| She could not understand why we were telling her to put her feet in...even when she could not do anything but sit there. HMMM |
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| Then unbelievably, the next guy did the SAME THING! It was hilarious watching him try to paddle like a little princess sitting daintily with both feet off to one side...hahaha |
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| MAYDAY...MAYDAY...we are taking on water |
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| The drummers that kept things up beat...I was having fun listening |
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| Then I decided to join it! It was a blast! |
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| I couldn't have ALL the fun |
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| Starting team cheers |
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| "Not TOO HIGH! Not too HIGH!" |
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| The team cheer judges |
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| Our team even had Pom-poms |
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| We went FULL on chearleader style--building and everything |
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| They did too! |
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| So this is team cheer that won...I don't want to be a hater, because their team leader (although just having fun) can dance better than me any day BUT it is called TEAM CHEER---NOT "ONE TEAM MEMBER TAKE THE SHOW AND THE REST WATCH" ......BRMP |
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| Still one guy...does this look like a team cheer to you? |
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| Spelling the name of their Mountain...Not sure what it says/. I looks like O.L. mmm maybe a B? |
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| Spelling their Mountain too. Let's see-- H.U.S.O.K (I just googled it and there is no Mount Husok so not sure again) |
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| La Salle Dance Hip-Hop dance team. They were so good you could feel the beat in the ground |
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This is the Ati-Atihan dance group (all men)
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| The crowd laughing at the dance groups...ah lets say not-so-G-rated-dance-moves |
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| Getting our award for catching the most eels and building the fastest hut! (Which is good because we really failed shooting the basketball) |
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| Excited they won one of the games |
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| Accepting the team cheer award that wasn't really a TEAM cheer |
