Ungami

On the 15th, I drove my 5th and 6th grade Tsuha Elementary boys up to Shioya, one of the small districts within Ogimi. It was that time of year again: where some old fishermen carry an enshrined sea god down to the sea and some old ladies pray for a good harvest of fish. The festival is called Ungami, which I'm going to go out on a limb and say means 'sea god'.

But as the earliest party planners of Okinawa learned long ago, the reason to have a festival/party is nothing more than an excuse to have fun. My kids weren't excited about praying for this year's harvest of fish, they were excited to watch the awesome hari (canoe) races!



I raced in a hari two years ago, and I have to say, there is a reason they are used for ceremonial races only...they easily sink.


But the colors and designs are beautiful, and as they race, the women wade out into the water beating drums and chanting to cheer their men/team on.



During the race, there was a separate hari carrying the sea god. The god had been brought down from Yakko and taken across Shioya Bay . Then the old men (oji) got out of the boat, all dressed in their finest drinking clothes, and continued to make their way to the beach where the old women could finish the ceremony. At the beach, the women, dressed in all white ceremonial robes, prayed for a good harvest of fish for the year.



Not too sure what everything meant, but the oldest looking lady poured water (sake?) onto the ground, and then when the tide came up, some dude with a wooden spear ran to the water and stabbed it. Take that Poseidon!



The spear thing surprised me because of its quickness and randomness. At first, I thought the man had spotted dinner and went to stab an octopus. But then I realized that was the closing of the ceremony, and everyone was walking back back to where people were preparing for the Okinawa sumo tournament.

In Okinawa sumo, one grabs their opponent's belt with both hands and is not allowed to let go. His job: to throw his opponent to the ground.


First were the elementary students, then the junior high kids, and finally, the giant Shioyan fishermen. These guys were huge, but I had to drive my students back before I got to see them wrestle.

Obon Superstition

Last Thursday, I had a day off from school because of Obon. Okinawa celebrated Obon, or Kyu Bon (旧盆), this year in September because they follow the lunar calendar. I made an Obon post two years ago, but to do a quick summary, Obon is the time when dead ancestors come visit the homes of their living descendants.

The oldest son of a family keeps a Buddhist altar (仏壇) in their house to pray (うーとーとー) to their ancestors. During Obon, all the family's relatives will come to this house to sit around, eat food, and use the altar to pray. When the oldest son and wife die, the altar is passed on to the next oldest son. I was told it is difficult for a woman to marry an oldest son (長男) because she is responsible for serving and preparing the food for everyone during this time.

There are also many Obon superstitions held by Okinawans, such as the claim that many accidents occur to people who don't show proper respect. For example, a teacher of mine tore a muscle in her calf last week when playing tennis on Obon. She said it was because she hadn't prayed at her family's alter yet at the time. I asked her if she had stretched and she said no.

The biggest no-no during Obon is that one is not suppose to go swimming. I originally thought it was because when the ancestors travel from Heaven to Earth, they go by sea. Then I asked an Okinawan if that means Heaven is in the ocean. The answer is, no, the ancestors that come by sea are only the ones that have died at sea. So if one goes swimming, they have a chance of being dragged down by some angry drowned fisherman making his way to land.

As all my ancestors are wandering around North Carolina, I spent my Obon afternoon riding my friend Vaughn's motorcycle. I really need to get a bike.

I then went down to Nago in the evening to take photos of eisa groups. I learned taking pictures of moving objects at night is quite difficult.

Click on the photo for more pictures!

Bacon Flu

I've spent the month of August (summer vacation) at Ogimi Elementary working with my English Club. The kids will be taking the Eiken Level 5 in January, so I've used the summer break as a time to drill them with worksheets and practice problems.

However, my club (and summer) was interrupted two weeks ago when I woke up with a 38.5 C (101 F) fever. I went to the hospital and they shoved a thin q-tip up my nose and ran some sort of test. The doctor came back and said the results were negative: I didn't have the flu, just a fever, and I should be okay to go to work tomorrow. Then one of the nurses came running in holding a white plastic thing (looked like a pregnancy test) shouting, "Wait, wait!" She showed it to the doctor and he looks down at the ground, shuffles his feet a bit, and murmurs, "Well...hahaha, you DO have the swine flu."

I was then told I was not allowed to leave my apartment for a week.

The swine flu is currently spreading through Okinawa like a...plague. There have been five deaths in Japan from the flu (as of this post), with the first death being in Okinawa. 77 schools in Japan have been shut down, with 63 of them being in Okinawa. A school has to shut down for a week if two or more teachers catches the flu. I became the second teacher at Ogimi Elementary, and I think the doctor told me I should contact the school and tell them they had to close up. As I wasn't 100% sure on the Japanese, I just called the school to let them know I did have the flu and let them decide what to do with that information. (They didn't close down.)

In short, the swine flu felt like any other flu. I had a fever for a couple of days, which sucked, but as I was just laying around watching TV, it was no big deal. Honestly, I rather have a fever than a cold. With a fever, I'm weak and immobile, but a fever doesn't annoy me. With a cold, I am still expected to go to work and have to sneeze and blow my nose constantly.

I got over it pretty fast, though. I remember taking a run after only a couple of days. I had friends drop by with food, books, and DVDs so that I didn't have to leave my apartment. One of the teachers told me today she was going to come cook for me, but then her husband told her no, because he didn't want her catching the bug from me. I guess the gesture itself is nice.

***

Today is the first day of the new semester! One month of summer vacation really is too short...

A few random updates that I haven't blogged about.

I bought a plane ticket home for Christmas. I leave on December 21st, and I'll be in the States for about 2.5 weeks.

I got my motorcycle license back in June, but that isn't anything special because I don't have a bike yet. I think I will have one by October/November.

Also, after climbing Mt. Fuji (partly), I went to Fuji Rock and saw Weezer. Fuji Rock was a 3-day music festival but I only went for one day. Definitely want to do all 3 days next year, because it was so awesome.

And finally, Okinawa experienced a 94%-ish solar eclipse a couple of weeks ago. Check out my pictures!