Singing (Kéén)

People in Chuuk can SING. And when I say that I don't just mean that they do sing, I mean that they truly CAN sing, and they do it very well. You could easily stumble across a group of six and seven year olds sitting around singing together - each taking a different part and each harmonizing perfectly. Take just about any group of Chuukese people and they would likely be able to, at the very least, sing something nice sounding if not downright beautiful. I am often embarrassed to sing too loudly next to my students because I imagine that to them not being able to sing is akin to American kids not being able to ride a bike, or tie their own shoes - everybody learns how to do it so young that to not be able to must seem strange.

And it's not just the beauty of it, it's the frequency of it. Singing is an ingrained part of the culture and people sing for weddings, funerals, church services, to show allegiance to something, to represent their cultural backgrounds, because they're in love, because they're suffering, because they want to praise God, because they want to show thanks, because they're bored. In general, I suppose it's for the same reasons that people all around the world feel compelled to sing. But here there's a beautiful normalcy and publicness to singing. Singing isn't just for people who are "good" at it, it's a manner of expression for anyone. Although, as I mentioned above, nearly everybody is good at it...

Chuukese singing makes good use of electric keyboard accompaniment, and while that holds it's own uniquely Chuukese appeal, it's nothing compared to hearing acapella or ukelele accompanied singing. Listening to my students sing without any instrumental accompaniment (when they're really putting themselves into it) is almost other-wordly. It's spine tingling and tear-inducing. To my American ears, it's shocking that a group of young people who haven't been explicitly trained in singing can join together to create sounds that are absolutely perfect.

Singing is probably one of the things I'll miss most about Chuuk, however, it's also one of the things I'll be able to most easily bring back home with me to remind me of the islands.