Angaur, Palau Environmental Portraits
13 years ago
30 August 2010
24 August 2010
EISA - Day
I'm off to the community center in a few minutes to prepare for tonight's eisa - singing and dancing meant to send the spirits of families back to rest for the next year.
It's going to be a long night, lasting at least five hours at least. At the moment, my lower back isn't cooperating (I always get hurt this time of year!), but I've got some medicine and I'll see how it goes.
In addition to doing my best for the sake of dancing, I'm going to try to capture some photos and video when I get a chance (hopefully my friends who are coming up tonight can do it for me). So check back tomorrow for an update.
いやささ！
はいや！
It's going to be a long night, lasting at least five hours at least. At the moment, my lower back isn't cooperating (I always get hurt this time of year!), but I've got some medicine and I'll see how it goes.
In addition to doing my best for the sake of dancing, I'm going to try to capture some photos and video when I get a chance (hopefully my friends who are coming up tonight can do it for me). So check back tomorrow for an update.
いやささ！
はいや！
07 August 2010
Okinawazumo
Friday marked this year's 海神祭 (kaijin matsuri), a small festival held to pray for a year of good catch for the fisherman. Several events were lined up for the festival, such as...
ハーリー (ha-ri-), a kind of old-style boat racing where teams use (relatively) small paddles to propel their vessels;
グラウンドゴルフ (ground golf), a cross between miniature golf and croquet, played by old and young all over Okinawa; and
沖縄相撲 (Okinawa zumo), a hard-to-place wrestling style that relies not just on strength, but also on skill (video was pulled from Youtube and has no connection with the tournament I participated in).
Quiet unexpectedly, I was asked to participate in the sumo tournament that afternoon. I was one of ten wrestlers, ages ranging from 23 to 30 (I think I was the oldest).
Okinawa sumo pits two people against each other in a sandy ring. The contenders hold on to cloth belts wrapped around their competitors waist and utilize strength, balance, skilled moves, or a combination of the three to get their opponent on their back, scoring one point. The first contender to score two points wins the match.
I watched the first few pairs wrestle and kept note of some things, like foot placements and what moves the guys tended to use to get their opponents down. When it came time for me to wrestle, I still had no idea what to expect. I was nervous leading up to my first match. Once we started, though, that nervousness passed.
My first opponent and I started off equally, both of us hitting our shoulders on the sand at the same time, resulting in no awarding of points. It was during that first throw, however, that my back got pretty well stretched (I'm still feeling it as I write this, five days later). We reset our holds and started again. This time, I did my best to keep him from moving, mostly by staying low and maintaining a firm grip. When he tried to move, I pulled him in and placed my right leg behind his left knee. I pulled my right leg toward me, hooking his leg in the process, then pushed him over and won my first point. The second point came through sheer pushing and I moved onto the second round, winning 2-0.
My second match went faster and I came out with a 2-0 win again.
The final match put me up against a co-worker at the board of education. He scored the first point, I scored the second. So it came down to the last. I didn't want to rush, so I just held my ground. When he moved a bit, I'd firm up my grip and stop him. I'd move a little to test him, too, not really changing stances much. Figuring that either way the outcome went, I'd had a good time and a respectable tournament, I went for the throw. We tangled a bit and I landed on my back, smiling at my opponents well-deserved win. I received 5kg (11 lbs) of rice; he received the same, plus a 1.5L bottle of 泡盛 (awamori, an Okinawa liquor). In that sense, I'm glad he won, because I never would have drunk the stuff - it's just too much alcohol.
I had a great time and I was excited to participate in an event that was so closely related to the community. Often times during the summer, I do lots of traveling or hanging out with friends in other parts of Okinawa and miss these kinds of opportunities. Perhaps out of many of the things I've done in Okinawa, this sumo event, held in the small neighborhood of my small village, will stick with me for a while. It didn't hurt to have my students coming up to me and congratulating me on - not my second place finish - buy my strength ("Wow, you are strong!").
It's events like this that also make me realize how powerful the JET Programme can be in enabling interaction between people that otherwise never would have met.
ハーリー (ha-ri-), a kind of old-style boat racing where teams use (relatively) small paddles to propel their vessels;
グラウンドゴルフ (ground golf), a cross between miniature golf and croquet, played by old and young all over Okinawa; and
沖縄相撲 (Okinawa zumo), a hard-to-place wrestling style that relies not just on strength, but also on skill (video was pulled from Youtube and has no connection with the tournament I participated in).
Quiet unexpectedly, I was asked to participate in the sumo tournament that afternoon. I was one of ten wrestlers, ages ranging from 23 to 30 (I think I was the oldest).
Okinawa sumo pits two people against each other in a sandy ring. The contenders hold on to cloth belts wrapped around their competitors waist and utilize strength, balance, skilled moves, or a combination of the three to get their opponent on their back, scoring one point. The first contender to score two points wins the match.
I watched the first few pairs wrestle and kept note of some things, like foot placements and what moves the guys tended to use to get their opponents down. When it came time for me to wrestle, I still had no idea what to expect. I was nervous leading up to my first match. Once we started, though, that nervousness passed.
My first opponent and I started off equally, both of us hitting our shoulders on the sand at the same time, resulting in no awarding of points. It was during that first throw, however, that my back got pretty well stretched (I'm still feeling it as I write this, five days later). We reset our holds and started again. This time, I did my best to keep him from moving, mostly by staying low and maintaining a firm grip. When he tried to move, I pulled him in and placed my right leg behind his left knee. I pulled my right leg toward me, hooking his leg in the process, then pushed him over and won my first point. The second point came through sheer pushing and I moved onto the second round, winning 2-0.
My second match went faster and I came out with a 2-0 win again.
The final match put me up against a co-worker at the board of education. He scored the first point, I scored the second. So it came down to the last. I didn't want to rush, so I just held my ground. When he moved a bit, I'd firm up my grip and stop him. I'd move a little to test him, too, not really changing stances much. Figuring that either way the outcome went, I'd had a good time and a respectable tournament, I went for the throw. We tangled a bit and I landed on my back, smiling at my opponents well-deserved win. I received 5kg (11 lbs) of rice; he received the same, plus a 1.5L bottle of 泡盛 (awamori, an Okinawa liquor). In that sense, I'm glad he won, because I never would have drunk the stuff - it's just too much alcohol.
I had a great time and I was excited to participate in an event that was so closely related to the community. Often times during the summer, I do lots of traveling or hanging out with friends in other parts of Okinawa and miss these kinds of opportunities. Perhaps out of many of the things I've done in Okinawa, this sumo event, held in the small neighborhood of my small village, will stick with me for a while. It didn't hurt to have my students coming up to me and congratulating me on - not my second place finish - buy my strength ("Wow, you are strong!").
It's events like this that also make me realize how powerful the JET Programme can be in enabling interaction between people that otherwise never would have met.
01 August 2010
3 Years
Today marks my three year anniversary in Okinawa.
I was talking with a friend last night who's been here just as long and it does not seem like it's been three years at all. The timeline of memories blurs together and it's hard to tell sometimes just how long it's been.
But it feels good, too. My handle on Japanese is getting more and more solid everyday. I'm enjoying karate and the other cultural exposures I get on a daily basis. And depending on the spot, Okinawa can be breathtaking.
I'm here for at least another year and there's the option to stay for a fifth. I have no idea what I want to do yet. There are so many other options, too, like heading to Taiwan to learn Chinese. I'll have to figure it out in the next year or so, but until then, I'll keep enjoying where I am now.
I was talking with a friend last night who's been here just as long and it does not seem like it's been three years at all. The timeline of memories blurs together and it's hard to tell sometimes just how long it's been.
But it feels good, too. My handle on Japanese is getting more and more solid everyday. I'm enjoying karate and the other cultural exposures I get on a daily basis. And depending on the spot, Okinawa can be breathtaking.
I'm here for at least another year and there's the option to stay for a fifth. I have no idea what I want to do yet. There are so many other options, too, like heading to Taiwan to learn Chinese. I'll have to figure it out in the next year or so, but until then, I'll keep enjoying where I am now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)