7/12: Storytelling

 We begun our day by walking together to our "classroom," which is about 5
minutes from our hotel. On our way to the classroom, it begun to sprinkle, which was unexpected, since we have been experiencing temperatures over 90 degrees during our time so far in Okinawa.

When we arrived at the classroom, we were introduced to Fija Byron, our guest speaker of the day. Fija is currently an Okinawan linguist and activist. His mother was Okinawan and his father was American. Growing up, he struggled with his identity. He had people label him as both Uchinaanchu (Okinawan people) and American. He had many nervous breakdowns and even an identity crisis.

Fija had spent some time in the U.S., but he eventually returned to Okinawa, where he heard some traditional folk songs and realized that he identifies as Okinawan. From there he had the urge to learn the Uchinaanguchi, which is the Okinawan language. He taught us that there are 6 languages (not dialects!) and that there are "varieties" of each language. Fija didn't have many people to teach him the local language. He learned by talking to elderly people on the island as well as a famous actor. Fija soon mastered the language and now he is an activist and linguist of Uchinaanguchi. He hopes to revitalize the local language through teaching and learning to connect Okinawans to Okinawan culture.

We then discussed Speak, Okinawa in small groups. In my group, we found ourselves relating to the character in the book as we felt similar feelings about having identity crises. For many people that I have met through this program, we have felt like we don't "belong" and struggle trying to belong to a certain ethnic and cultural group. We find ourselves being judged by physiological features and being categorized based on how we look like. 

After hearing what people had to say and finding out that people had similar feelings, it made me think about storytelling and about the narratives/identities that are established about ourselves based on what we look like. Furthermore, it made me question how do we get our own stories and narratives out there? How do we get our voice to be heard past all of the judgements and societal pressures? This then made me think about the article we read: "Using Story to Change Systems." Fija had told his story to us and had to constantly prove to himself his identity. He had people tell him he was American and people who saw him as Okinawan. Through telling his story to others and learning Uchinaanguchi from Okinawan elders, he came to the realization that he is Okinawan. From there he used his story and his identity to revitalize the local language. Fija's story "builds community through empathy," and this is what made his story so relatable to people. His story changed his own personal narrative and cultural narratives that he was subjected to through others. 

After class time, we all had some free time to get lunch and work on our final projects. A lot of us went to the department store nearby and had lunch together in the basement!