GHS208-05 Fall 2019 China and the Islamic Middle East

To complete the hours for the ICR credit, I chose to do it with the IACA or Indiana Association of Chinese Americans. I and other classmates helped them out at the International Festival that was being held at the State Fairgrounds. The first day at the International Festival was very fun and learning opportunity I was able to share with some of my fellow classmates. Upon arriving to the fairgrounds, I wasn’t too sure what I was going to see, I thought maybe it wouldn’t be busy on Thursday evening, because we went at 7pm and stayed til 9pm when it closed. My first guess of it not being busy was correct, because it was a school night for all of the kids, and it was only the first day of 3. If I had to guess I would say around 40-80 people were watching during this time. This time frame 2 performances went on, the first one being Master Ling’s (https://lingtaiji.com/) students doing Karate and Tai Chi. This performance was very cool because it showed us the basics and the top level of each art style. The second performance we witnessed was Mediterranean Belly Dancing. This as well was cool to watch because the style of music was not your average music, we hear on the radio every day while driving our cars so it was an experience that other than going to the festival, I would not have experienced in my lifetime. Overall the first day was very fun, because we were able to watch 2 great performances that really opened up my eyes to what I will be seeing here, and being able to walk around and see all the different booth’s that were here.

 

Until next time,

Patrick

On Saturday, I went back to the International Festival and worked from 9-1. As some other classmates already discussed in their posts, the marathon made it almost impossible to get to the fairgrounds from campus. We seemed to keep having to backtrack and were wondering if we would ever make it to the festival. Luckily, we finally snaked all the way around the marathon and were able to get to the festival only 10 minutes behind schedule. Saturday was much more busy than the Friday night shift. There was a fantastic Tai Chi performance from the neighboring Chinese booth and a very interesting Bulgarian traditional dance as well. The best part of the day was the parade of nations. All of us volunteering for the IACA dressed up in traditional clothing which consisted of yellow silk pants, an orange/red sash, and a black shirt all of which Kwan provided for us. Michael and Kylie did a fantastic job manning the lion in the parade while the others waved the flags of the IACA. It was so cool to see all of the different cultures walking together. While the entire festival marched around the facility, Kwan and another IACA member played traditional Chinese martial arts music and the lion dance music on the drums on stage. The lion seemed to capture the most attention of the audience as people were constantly taking pictures and kids were hiding behind their parents because they had no idea what it was. I had a fantastic burrito from the Mexican booth and Kylie shared her dessert from the Turkish booth which was delicious. Overall, the International Festival was such a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about the lion dance and some of the Chinese traditions as well as seeing multiple traditional dances from different cultures as well. The food was fantastic and I just really enjoyed my time there.

My second day volunteering at the International Festival was in the evening. I definitely noticed more people were there than when I was there on Thursday, and there were more performances going on at the time. I was able to walk around the Festival and look at the different booths and even though I had walked around the day before, I saw things that I had not see before! There were so many different booths with different things on display at each booth. I think the IACA’s booth really stood out with the Lion head on display and the yellow-gold flags on display behind the booth. But a lot of the booths looked really good with many interesting aspects of their respective cultures. There were also lots of food that smelled really good, I was regretting eating before I had gotten there. That night we were able to watch some of the performances and the others I was with were able to try some of the different foods that were offered that looked and smelled really good. The different performances that night were very interesting to watch and it was interesting to talk to some of my classmates that I never really talk to in class.

Not going to lie, I was pretty confused reading this chapter of No God But God. I have never really had many opinions of Islam, because I never have been as familiar with it even though I have studied it before. But this reading did give off some of the vibes that people tend to couple with cult religions. This idea of Sufism sounds like a fraternity, maybe one that hazes. The ideals and good morals seem to be there, but the formalness of the brotherhood and hierarchical relationship with interpreting the message of God seems almost vindictive. I am not sure if I feel this way because of the radical ending of Sufism, or if like many aspects of the Christian religion, it is debated between modernists— in a way to integrate its practice into daily life— and old school traditionalists –looking to follow the path, or tariqah, of God’s intent. Now, do not be alarmed, as I am half joking; my view does not stem out of a place of ignorance and I would be equally skeptical of any religion and sub-sect. I also recognize that Sufism is not really a sect of Islam, but rather an extended dimension where beliefs are expanded upon and one’s personal experience with God is emphasized.

I am also aware of the hostility and persecution faced by Sufis in modern history, and can see the struggle for identity and belonging. In the text there are some inspiring quotes and messages to be learned, thus regardless of one’s views, the appreciation and respect should be integral. I also think that because Sufism draws from so many different religions that outsiders can see a part of themselves in this practice, therefore lowering the walls and opening up the boundaries. I think I struggled with this chapter because some of the quotes I did find to be cult-like and encouraging of submission to this one central control, while other parts regard reactionary movements and provide a sense of peacefulness. In order for me to understand more, I think I need to keep reading or perhaps hear it from someone else’s perspective and engage with additional interpretations.

This past Friday, I volunteered at the Indianapolis International Festival for my ICR as a part of the Indiana Association of Chinese Americans. Myself and a few other classmates worked the 7-9 PM shift and I personally really enjoyed the experience. We got there and there wasn’t much of a crowd, but this made it easier for us to walk around to all of the different cultural booths and explore the different foods and merchandise that the 40+ different cultures at the festival had to offer. There was so much food that I had never seen or heard of before. Cam tried a Turkish gyro that looked fantastic and there were homemade German sausages that looked delicious as well. The authentic Taiwanese food looked tasty as well with the variety of chicken dishes and rice noodle variations.There were also performances being put on by the different cultures on stage that we were able to watch in our time there. Three ladies performed an ancient Japanese dance that was very interesting and another young lady from South Korea performed a cultural dance as well. Our two hours went by quite fast but it was a very fun time.

Last week on Monday, myself and a few other class members that are apart of IACA (Indiana Association of Chinese Americans) for our ICR credit joined Kwan, who is one of the IACA members, to rehearse the lion dance for the international festival that took place this past weekend. It was really interesting to see the lion and see all the small working parts that you never really get to see such as the eyes and ears that move as the person in the lion moves around. It was fun to learn the simple routine that Kwan showed us, making 3 bows to the audience before the performance, moving the lion head up, down, left, and right as you move around the stage, and then bowing three more times at the end of the performance. One thing I didn’t really realize is whoever is the butt of the lion has to stay bent at almost 90 degrees for the whole performance. You have to watch the feet of the person who is the lion head to make sure that you don’t trip and make a fool of yourself. We also got to see a video of a professional lion dance performance, where the performers were able to stand on each others shoulders mid-performance and make movements in the lion costume that I didn’t even know were possible. It was a very fun experience getting to learn bits of this tradition.

As part of the ICR portion of this class, I am volunteering with the Indiana Association for Chinese Americans (IACA). This weekend, I have been a volunteer for the IACA at the International Festival. Kwan, one of the people from the IACA we have been working with has met with us a few times before the festival in order to tell us what we would be doing. During one of the first meetings, he told us that he wanted a couple of us (us being those working with the IACA) to learn the Lion Dance, the theme for the booth at the Festival. Hearing that we were going to be apart of various performances at the festival, I was a little hesitant to sign up, because I knew that me performing a dance, or anything really, was not going to look very good as I am not very coordinated. But come the first performance on Thursday afternoon, it was only me and  Will volunteering at the time. When we got there we talked with Kwan and Eric about the performance. Kwan said that he and Eric would be on the drums and that Will and I could waive the IACA flags around the stage to add some visual interest to the show. Before the show, Will and I were able to walk around the festival and look at all the different booths. We were also able to try some of the food that was offered, but we did have to find a booth that took a card which not all of them did. Right before the performance, we all changed into gold pants and black t-shirts and Kwan helped tie sashes around us so that we all matched. The performance went pretty well, but there were not many people at the festival during the afternoon as most of the schools had left and other people were probably still working. Being in the performance was actually kind of fun but Will and I could not stay long after as we had to get back to campus for class, but we did help Kwan and Eric set up and tear down the stage for our performance. 

The first day we went to the festival we had to go in the evening because we all had class pretty late in the day. When we got there it wasn’t super busy, but I felt that it made it easier to see all of the booths and it wasn’t as overwhelming! Our booth was definitely one of the most colorful, with the bright red and yellow of the flags, it was super easy to spot! After we all went around and checked out all of the booths we noticed that some people were going towards the stage! There were a few different performances that we got to see!

There was a tai chi dance that was mixed with marital arts. They had super young kids breaking boards on stage during the martial arts performance and they had some older adults doing the tai chi movements. Their performance was one of the longer ones because they had so many different people involved. I liked how they had one of the ladies from the tai chi group gave some background to the dances before they were performed!

After the tai chi performance there was a Mediterranean belly dancing group that performed! They performed at least 5 or 6 different dances! Most of the ladies in the group were older, but there was one young girl in the group! They all looked like they were having so much fun! When they were dancing, the lady that was leading the dance was in the front and all of the other women were dancing with her and following her lead! My favorite part of their dance was when they used these long pieces of fabric in their dance! Each person had a long piece of fabric and they used it in their dance!

Overall it was a very fun first day!

This past week in class, we discussed the Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, when once in their lives, each Muslim should try and be apart of the annual trip to Mecca. The documentary we watched for Thursday’s class followed an ABC reporter through his journey as he was partaking in the Hajj. The Hajj is a five-day pilgrimage where Muslims from all over the world gather in Mecca to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad and Abraham. The Hajj is not always the safest journey to follow. There are occasions where many people while completing the fifth pillar of their religion, have died in the middle of their journey. One part of the Hajj consists of staying in tents and talking and praying together. Sometimes, in these tented communities, there are fires and some die or because of the large number of those who in Mecca at once there are deaths due to stampedes. It was mentioned in the documentary that to some, dying during the Hajj is viewed as one of the ways some would choose to die for their religion. Learning more about the Hajj in class and through the documentary, it got me thinking about if other religions, such as Christianity or Judaism, have a similar pilgrimage. I found that in Christianity, some people will go and visit different sites where major events in the Christian faith occur. This could include Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Vatican, or many other places. In both of these religions, there is no specific pilgrimage or trip that one should take. The five pillars of Islam could be related to the sacraments within the Catholic church, although it is common for people to not complete all seven of the sacraments.

So yeah, let’s talk about attention to detail yet again. Before Maddie and Pat picked me up on Saturday afternoon to head over to the festival, I was checking social media and saw one of my favorite local restaurants post a photo with a witty caption in regards to the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. I liked the post (which soon won’t matter), laughed, and thought nothing of it. Then in the car, only a couple blocks from my house near 46th Street we see traffic backed up to a stop. Then we see people running, orange cones, police traffic, and more taillights. Then it hit me, the marathon course probably extends this far north of downtown. We were supposed to be there by about 11:45am, and what normally is a 10 minute drive, soon became almost an hour of us sitting in traffic laughing that this would happen to us. So yeah, the take away message is that sometimes it takes an hour to drive 3 miles and you need to prepare for that. Even leaving at 11:15, we were still late. So late in fact, that we missed the decision for our group to join in the festival parade as opposed to us perform on stage as volunteers. We walked in right as the group was beginning to walk throughout the venue, and could not help but feel horrible. Thankfully, all went to plan and the group had enough people that the parade looked great regardless, and the real pros representing the IACA on stage did great as well. We talked with Kwan, one of our lead organizers, and he was very understanding which was greatly appreciated. Also, it was really cool to actually talk to some of the kids in our class that we never really interact with, and you see per usual, everyone is kind of in the same boat. It ended up being fun, and we still got to be a part of the bigger group, so no harm no foul.