They eat their Mangoes Green & other Cultural Differences

I have been wanting to write this blog for sometime but it turned out to be more difficult than I thought. Chuuk is culturally different in SO many ways, but yet holds random similarities to America. It has taken me a long time to learn the majority of their cultures and even just last week I learned a new one that blew my mind. So here we go, these are some things I have learned about Chuuk's culture, and yes they eat their mangoes before they are ripe, it is rather disappointing.

                I am sure you have all heard of "island time" the idea that nothing starts and no one is ever on time. The island of Chuuk practices this full force. Before I came to Chuuk I worked at a camp with a thee strike policy. Late once (even by a minute) it's a warning, late twice you lose your day off, late three times and you are fired. Needless to say I didn't lose my job, I like being on time to things. This was a big change for me but it was one that everyone told me to prepare for. It is not unusual for an event to start 2 hours after the said time. There was one time, our high school Christmas program, that was suppose to start at 1. I informed all my students 30 minutes ahead of time that they had, 30 minutes. at 1:10 I went searching for them, they were still doing their makeup, straightening their hair (with actual irons that you use for clothes), and other miscellaneous things. They were late to their OWN program by 30 minutes and that's only because I hurried them along. It can get pretty frustrating.

                Relationships work completely different here. I am still trying to fully understand them. Several of my senior girls have boyfriends (all at other schools) But they never see each other, and there is no official asking of, "will you be my girlfriend." One of my girls wasn't completely sure she still had a boyfriend or if she ever did. They almost never see each other, the only communication they get is a phone call once in awhile or waving as they pass by each other in their cars. girls and guys are NEVER to be alone together. If a girl is caught out alone with a guy it is common for their parents to take her shave her hair off (girls have beautiful long hair here) and even their eyebrows too. that way they are too ashamed or embarrassed to leave their homes. When in groups with their significant other no affection is to be shown, especially in front of relatives and parents. This is still true even if you are married. You never see couples walking around holding hands. At the wedding I attended there was no kissing the bride.

                Once married the man moves in with the woman's family. Families are big here because they keep growing in this way. Everyone seems to be related in some way. Also, if the wife goes off island and the husband is alone it is acceptable for the husband to have sex with the wife's sister. When husband and wife have kids it is also common and acceptable to give your first born to your mother to keep as her own. It is also common, especially in big families, to give your children to relatives. It is a form of adoption and they take on the relatives last name. In one case a family let their sister adopt their son and he took on their last name. The sister never came though so they kept their son. When they try to travel it causes problems because it looks like a couple with a random child with a different last name, but it is in fact THEIR child. It is also common for someone's kids to live at different places. I have 4 students who are siblings and 2 of which live with their parents and the other live with their aunt.

                Along with it seeming like everyone is related, they also have "promise brothers, sisters, aunts, etc." Anyone who means a lot to you or you have a special family relationship to can because a promise relative. I will be talking to my students and they will tell me they are related to someone and I will ask how and they simply say that they are a promise sister or other promise relative. It can get pretty confusing.

                Chuukese have a very unique "look." When I was in Guam over Christmas break I could always pick out the Chuukese islanders. The average Chuukese woman is usually pretty big in size. They wear what are called muumuus that go down to their ankles and then where a Chuukese skirt underneath it that goes down even further. A Chuukese skirt is a skirt paneled together using any color or fabric wanted, whether or not they go together. I have one and it is kind of handy because I can wear any colored shirt I want with it because the skirt has every color possible. Everyone wears flip-flops which are known as slippers here. Woman almost always wear their hair in buns and use special combs to secure them up. It is also common to see females with flowers (fake or real) in their hair. I could tell the Chuukese men apart in Guam because of their betel nut stained teeth (a kind of chewing tobacco). It is pretty uncommon to see girls wearing jeans or short skirts here. Every once in awhile you see it, as Western culture is becoming more and more of an influence here, but it is still uncommon.

                Some other random cultural differences are that you should never throw someone food. I was in class giving a quiz in which I threw candy to the student with the right answer. They all started yelling at me and told me to stop. They wouldn't even touch the food I threw. They apparently think it puts some sort of curse on it. Touching people's faces is offensive. All Chuukese people can speak Chuukese, their language is very alive here. Using the word "faggot" to describe a homosexual is acceptable and not an offensive term. My student used it once and I immediately said they were to never say that again, but they explained to me that it is acceptable here in Chuuk. Everyone spits. They open their car doors while driving to spit, my students ask me if they can step outside real quick so they can spit, and sometimes they even spit inside. They also eat LOTS of cool-aid. They take the little packets (no water added) and just eat it. Their fingers are almost always stained red from it and assignments turned in hold evidence of this.

                One thing I love about this culture is that they are very sharing. They share EVERYTHING. Their paper, their pens, their food, their water, their combs, etc. If a student comes to class drinking a coconut it will then be passed around to everyone so that all may have a drink. During lunch you find them gathered around in groups eating from one container. They love to share. They also almost never use silver wear, just their hands. Even when they eat ice cream, that was probably the most shocking to me, they just eat it straight from the container with their hands.

                These are just a few of things I have learned about the Chuukese culture. Hope you enjoyed!