Halau Hula Ayashichuo!

Junko, Sachiko, Yoko, Riho, and Sayaka up front.

After a successful turnout at the Hawaiian Night we held in August, we decided to start our own hula lessons at the church.  Starting about 3 weeks ago, ACC now holds a hula lesson twice a month for the local women in the community.  It's a great way to open the church up to those who aren't interested in studying a foreign language.  I'm really excited because I believe it shows a new side of God to the Japanese people.  God is alive, active, creative, and fun!  Hula is perfect because Japanese people have a great appreciation for it and it's a forgiving dance for those who aren't trained athletes.  Anyone can learn hula, no matter if you're young or old, fat or skinny, male or female, Hawaiian or Japanese.  It's also nice being Hawaiian and getting to celebrate my own culture with Japanese people at the church.

The lessons are taught by one of my English students, Sayaka.  Sayaka's been learning hula now for about 7 years and she's very good!  I studied hula briefly while I was a University student, but I pretty much forgot everything I learned.  Sayaka's definitely the expert.  It's also great that she can teach in Japanese rather than English.

We had our first lesson in October, and we just had our second lesson a few nights ago.  We had a good turnout the first time, but the second time was much smaller due to some women's work schedules.  It was still a lot of fun.  We've had a nice variety of ages, from high school teenagers to retired grandmothers.  So far we've learned two verses to a song called "Puamana."  It's nice that Sayaka chose a song about Lahaina, my hometown.  It's also a nice and easy song to learn for beginners.

So far, every student has said that hula is hard.  I think they're surprised by how hard it is.  You have to use muscles you normally don't use in everyday life!  I agree it is difficult.  But I think it's the right amount of difficult.  It's difficult enough to where it's a challenge, but not too difficult that you feel that you can't do it.  That makes it fun.

Hopefully after a couple months, we'll have the song down and can maybe even perform it in front of an audience.  It's really fun and I enjoy doing it a lot.  It's a lot less stressful than when I learned it in college.  Sayaka is very patient and an enthusiastic teacher.  My Hawaiian kumu in Honolulu was very passionate and, at times, dancing hula felt more like bearing the responsibility for the preservation of the Hawaiian history and culture rather than just dancing for joy.  It's probably why I quit after one semester, lol.  But this is a great way to bring more joy to the classroom.  Even Aaron said, "You've got something special here!'

I hope that we can continue this new ministry as long as possible.  And that as we continue for the next few months, it will grow.  That more women (and maybe even men) will show up and that everyone can be blessed by it.

Yoko and Sayaka have such beautiful pa'u.  Makes me wish I hadn't gotten rid of mine.  I guess it's time to find a new one!