Being the "Other"

This assignment was to go be the "other" in a place that is foreign to you. Here's what went down:

            Last night I went to the BYU Luau. I had heard it was quite the cultural shock to go and experience a little bit of “poly pride” on BYU campus. When I first arrived there was an instant recognition of being the other.  The whole Wilkinson center was full of Polynesians. There was nowhere to sit because the whole middle and the most part of the side sections were full of family of the cast. Now thinking back on the situation I remember thinking, “Man, Polynesians have big families.” As if I don’t have a big family.

            Before the show started a woman introduced the performances with the reminder that we were “not at a church meeting, so audience participation was encouraged. From the very first performance I found out what she meant. The room was loud, yelling, and cheering, and inappropriate cat calling, continued throughout the whole performance. I realized that this was how the show was supposed to be enjoyed, participated in, and responded to. It just didn’t seem right in my cultural view to scream “Chi-hoo” at the performers while they were performing! I thought about being a performer and how distracting that would be.

            About half way through the performance I was able to muster up the courage to let out a good, “woohoo!” The man next to me, old white man, necessary to say in this context, looked at me funny.  Was I not aloud to join in the fun because I wasn’t from Samoa? I only let out noises when they issued a call and response portion after that. Even here though there was trouble in not knowing the language I was responding in.

            The next incidence that occurred was when people from the audience started going up and putting money on the performers hats and in their costumes as they danced. I recognized someone I knew and thought about going on stage and giving her a buck or two.  My immediate reaction was, “What a fun tradition?” and then I got really nervous. In my notes on the experience I wrote, “Maybe I missed something about this tradition. I’d do it wrong.” What was it that I was afraid of? Some people looking at me like I was some white chick that didn’t know what she was doing? Not really, I felt like I could perform the tradition fairly well. I knew I’d stand out, that couldn’t be it, but somehow the combination of the two made me sit in my seat thinking.

            The flirtatious nature of the dancing made me really want to open up and express how I feel more often. What’s wrong with being proud of being a woman? In my notes I actually wrote, “Do I need to be more flirtatious?” Ha! The show had me thinking all sorts of thoughts. At the end of the night I thought it would be fun to be a part of this next year. After all there were some skinny little white chicks that were in it. They stuck out like sore thumbs, especially the red heads.

            I went up to a performer and said the dancing looked so fun, I think it would be fun to do. Her response: “You should, we accept all types, you saw them up there.” This may have been the first time I remember where I was a “them,” an “other.” It shook me for a minute. I didn’t particularly want to be the “them.”

            In my future classrooms I realize now that it could just be uncomfortable to not want to do things. I think often we feel we don’t know enough, or that it’s easier to not stick out like a sore thumb, or that the combination of emotions just leaves us unmotivated. We can admire from a distance and not explore.

            The luau was fun, and I did enjoy myself but I definitely had the moments where I sat trying to understand.