Monday, Orientation Day

Today was orientation day, and we were the guests at a traditional ceremony welcoming us to the vanua. This ceremony involved a formal introduction and acceptance, a kava ceremony, speeches and a meke performance at the end.

Shots from the (very impressive) meke performance

The meke was fantastic, incredibly energetic and entertaining, and the level of effort and dedication required from the Conservatorium students was amazing. Practices are every afternoon, and classes include a range of handicrafts, including masi making and weaving. One of the students mentioned that this is so they are all capable of producing their own costumes, as well as weaving the mats they perform on, which is a really interesting way of preserving the more intangible aspects of heritage and culture. The knowledge that the students must develop in their three years of study is impressive in its scope. Though I'm not going to be involved in the Living Human Treasures project at the Arts Council, I was listening as the group discussed the brief, and this kind of preservation of knowledge and practice seem to be what that project aims to accomplish.

The formal introduction was, we were told, much abbreviated for our sakes. Despite the fact that we were all English speakers (and the guests not Fijian speakers), however, the introduction and acceptance was performed in Fijian. Accepting the welcome and speaking on our behalf was Jeff, a Fijian lecturer at the Conservatorium. We were then welcomed with an elaborate kava ceremony, the kind reserved for high chiefs and distinguished guests. This reminded me of an assignment I did for Introduction to Pacific Languages. It was an analysis of Maori rituals of encounter, a breakdown of the same kind of welcoming ceremony. The article associated with the assignment described the use of English in the ceremony as 'an insult [...] at worst, a foolish mistake at best', and the ceremony was disrupted by the hosts. Though English was used in the speeches, it wasn't in the formal sections of the ceremony, no doubt for the same reason. When the group being welcomed was not Maori or had no Maori speakers, a representative was to be employed, just as Jeff spoke for us today. The Maori welcoming ceremony also had different levels of elaboration depending on the status of the visitors, just as the kava ceremony today. The comparisons between the two are interesting, and though there are definite differences between the form and style of the ceremonies, the similarities were intriguing.

Preparing the kava

Though I have only glanced at Epeli Hau'ofa's 'The Ocean in Us', the content did seem to indicate a discussion of cultural similarities across the Pacific, and was certainly prefaced with a quote of Teresia Teiawa's which encompassed this concept. I'm not sure yet if this is a more general discussion, but after making these (possibly somewhat obscure) connections, it is an area that I will have to further explore after today – starting I think with 'The Ocean in Us', and the Teiawa article the quote was taken from.

Arriving in Fiji and Initial Reflections

I arrived in Fiji four days before the course began, as I was planning to do some diving in Rakiraki beforehand. Getting to Rakiraki requires a bus from Nadi to Lautoka, and then a bus from Lautoka to Rakiraki. The bus was an experience in itself, and took me through towns and villages, along road upgrades funded by Malaysian banks and miles of sugarcane fields, and past an astonishing diversity of religious buildings. Churches from several different Christian faiths stood within village limits, alongside Hindu temples and Mosques. Whether it was the area and the prevalance of sugar plantations, the proportion of Indo-Fijians seemed to far exceed my expectations. They were incredibly visible in the . By contrast, the resort where I was staying was owned by pakeha Kiwis and staffed almost exclusively by i taukei, while the Indo-Fijians were largely cleaners. It was a very interesting introduction to the kind of diversity that Cattermole discusses in her article, with some indication of the socio-economic dimensions that come into play. Interestingly, the role that rugby plays in this cultural melting pot was further highlighted for me in two separate observances. The first was a pick up game that I saw in the village of Rakiraki, where most of the players looked under the age of five. One of the locals I was driving through the village with mentioned that it was one of the first things that children learn, and certainly I don't think I've seen a school ground yet without a rugby field. It's a stark contrast to Australia. Though my school in Sydney was an all-girls school, it was a concrete jungle, and the all-boys school partnered with us was little better. In Fiji, a playing field seems non-negotiable.

The second observance was the attention garnered by the Sevens tournament. This was the only occasion I saw a television turned on at the place I was staying, and there were gatherings in the village to watch the games. The visibility of rugby continued here in Suva; today, we walked past another game in the park as we left the Fiji Museum, and the students with us told us excitedly about Fiji's Sevens win. Later, we walked past a display of seven rugby outfits in the windows of the Tappoo Centre. I think I thought that the Cattermole article might have been exaggerating somewhat, that Fijians probably weren't any more or less rugby crazy than Australians. After the last few days, however, I'm convinced – there was even some discussion about a public holiday being declared following the Sevens win. If only that would happen in Australia, it might have motivated the rugby union team to win the World Cup!