I could listen to this singing all dayweekyear. I happened to be listening to a similar album when I reading emails and thought I would share if people haven't already heard: David Darling & the Wulu Bunun. The music is Tawainese. Share your Fijian recos!
I taught just outside Suva for a year. Suva's a larger city on a polluted harbor, and not convenient to Fiji's famed beaches. Lucky that my family visited and we took the ferry (!) to a lovely island.
Singing permeates Fiji. I loved hearing the maintenance staff sing as they worked after school. When I dropped in on a small Methodist service one Sunday, the people said they'd heard me singing, and were surprised I knew Fijian. I had to admit I just knew the tunes and was winging it.
Back home, even today, when something goes sideways, we shrug and say, "Fiji!". In the stores, I look at not-quite perfect produce in a different light. When I buy something online, I recall a Fijian staff member telling me that the camera he got at the local store worked fine; an unspoken admonishment that one doesn't have to have "the best." As I get old, I remember how differently Fijians view aging and taking care of elders. Nursing homes? Never!
I wouldn't go back, but a lot of Fiji stayed with me.
you transported me to another world for a while... and made me step out of my daily busy dayjob hustle... The world is so much bigger ,so many creatures ,the ocean .fish men ...and then the songs in community brought me back to my job as a choir conductor. Maybe we are not thaaaaaat different at all. And I went to the rehearsal refreshed by an ocean breeze... ,hey wasn' that a manta ray just wagging his tail and greeting me from a far?!
I think it was brave and brilliant to write this message and to do so in the way you did: the not holding back from sharing an astute observation that feels that it might have to potential to cause pain and to do so in a way that acknowledges the potential for causing pain is so generous and full of real respect and kindness. I think it’s such a good point and Carson I also love your work
Saying this with care: the biggest thing that makes it “impossible to reverse course” is white folks thinking like that 🤷🏻♀️ especially if indigenous folks are showing you another way to be, I kinda think you have a moral obligation to learn how to imagine better and not just be amazed and then reflexively give up.
Signed, with care,
An indigenous person who loves your work and is also tired of how white people give up so easily, especially on the things that are their issues to fix in the first place (Whiteness, Western culture, colonialism, etc)
I could listen to this singing all dayweekyear. I happened to be listening to a similar album when I reading emails and thought I would share if people haven't already heard: David Darling & the Wulu Bunun. The music is Tawainese. Share your Fijian recos!
Thank you.
I taught just outside Suva for a year. Suva's a larger city on a polluted harbor, and not convenient to Fiji's famed beaches. Lucky that my family visited and we took the ferry (!) to a lovely island.
Singing permeates Fiji. I loved hearing the maintenance staff sing as they worked after school. When I dropped in on a small Methodist service one Sunday, the people said they'd heard me singing, and were surprised I knew Fijian. I had to admit I just knew the tunes and was winging it.
Back home, even today, when something goes sideways, we shrug and say, "Fiji!". In the stores, I look at not-quite perfect produce in a different light. When I buy something online, I recall a Fijian staff member telling me that the camera he got at the local store worked fine; an unspoken admonishment that one doesn't have to have "the best." As I get old, I remember how differently Fijians view aging and taking care of elders. Nursing homes? Never!
I wouldn't go back, but a lot of Fiji stayed with me.
Debbie Carson
you transported me to another world for a while... and made me step out of my daily busy dayjob hustle... The world is so much bigger ,so many creatures ,the ocean .fish men ...and then the songs in community brought me back to my job as a choir conductor. Maybe we are not thaaaaaat different at all. And I went to the rehearsal refreshed by an ocean breeze... ,hey wasn' that a manta ray just wagging his tail and greeting me from a far?!
I think it was brave and brilliant to write this message and to do so in the way you did: the not holding back from sharing an astute observation that feels that it might have to potential to cause pain and to do so in a way that acknowledges the potential for causing pain is so generous and full of real respect and kindness. I think it’s such a good point and Carson I also love your work
Saying this with care: the biggest thing that makes it “impossible to reverse course” is white folks thinking like that 🤷🏻♀️ especially if indigenous folks are showing you another way to be, I kinda think you have a moral obligation to learn how to imagine better and not just be amazed and then reflexively give up.
Signed, with care,
An indigenous person who loves your work and is also tired of how white people give up so easily, especially on the things that are their issues to fix in the first place (Whiteness, Western culture, colonialism, etc)
I totally get this and thanks for saying it with care.
Thanks for sharing!❤️
One can also cry reading about Fiji. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Oh wow, this is absolutely gorgeous. All of it.
I remember your report from last year's trip, as beautiful and inspiring as this time around. Just wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing Carson.
so beautiful, this SONG!
Thank you for sharing a little bit of this beautiful place and culture.
How beautiful!
I listened to your video clip and now I'm crying! It is so moving. Thanks so much for sharing!
Sounds incredibly beautiful. What a wonderful experience
I want to come next time. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
So interesting, thank you for sharing