Jay’s new nickname

Jay and I recently went to both the most awkward and one of the most entertaining Christmas parties I’ve ever been to.  Jay’s working part-time in the university archives and part-time for a records management company here in Anchorage.  As part of his job for the records management company, he spends several hours a week at a local Alaska Native corporation (as in aboriginal peoples), and he was invited to their holiday party.  We decided to stop by – Jay’s new and is only there part-time, but he thought it would be nice to attend and maybe get to know people there a little bit better.

The party was held at a nice hotel in midtown, and we just assumed it would be your typical corporate holiday party – buffet of appetizers, music, some mingling.  We figured we’d go for an hour or two, mingle, then go home since Jay only knows a few people there.

When we got to the party, however, we were surprised to see that it was more of a seated dinner (though the food was still served buffet-style).  That makes it a little harder for newcomers like ourselves – it felt like being new kids in the high school cafeteria.  We walked into the ballroom and tried to scout out two seats at a table.  It was very awkward because, while there were other white people there, we were the only ones the other people in attendance didn’t know.  We definitely stood out and got some funny looks like, hey, who are those people?  Most of the tables already had a lot of people at them when we arrived, and only one person that Jay knew was there, so we sat with him and his family (who are very nice).  There wasn’t any music playing or anything up through dinner, so we felt very awkward.

After dinner, however, things got really fun.  A local Yupik musical group performed – three guys and a gal (Yupik is a Native Alaskan people, and they are Eskimo).  First, they sang some Yupik-language songs a capella (though sometimes they accompanied themselves on small drums that look sort of like Irish bodhrans but are played with sticks instead of beaters).  Then they sang some Christmas songs in Yupik.  It was awesome – they are very talented.  The woman in the group had to leave after a few songs, but the men continued to perform, drumming, singing, and dancing (a combo of Native dancing and some goofy – but entertaining – riffs on non-Native dancing, like the “Walk Like an Egyptian” dance).  They were great and were really funny.  I haven’t laughed that much in a while.

The best part, though?  They got interactive with their performances as the night went on.  They performed a song/dance that was basically the reenactment of a seal hunt, with two of the guys from the group and a kid from the audience pretending to paddle a boat while looking for seals to hunt.  During the performance, they first pointed to a little boy in the audience, and the guy in the (pretend) prow of the boat shouted, “Look, a baby seal!”  Then they pantomimed the hunt, until someone else shouted “Illegal!”  (laughter ensued).  So they threw back their catch and tried again.  As they were searching for a new target, I saw one of the guys in the boat start pointing in our direction.  By this point, Jay and I were alone at our table (our table-mates left after dinner), so I thought, uh oh, he’s pointing at us!  Then the guy pointing started rubbing his face, indicating at Jay (who has a beard).  So the guy in the front of the “boat” caught on, pointed at Jay, and shouted, “Look, a bearded seal!”  Ha!  Jay turned redder than I’ve seen anyone blush before, and he didn’t know what to do – jump up and play along or hide?  He opted to stay put, stay beet red, and laugh.  It was pretty hilarious.

Jay also won a door prize – Native Yupik dancing fans, handmade with reindeer hair.  They’re pretty awesome and are now adorning our walls in our apartment.  So although it had an awkward start, it turned out to be a good night.

Jay’s new Eskimo nickname is “The Bearded Seal.”

Yupik Dancing Fan – Jay’s Door Prize

Not from the party, but a Native Alaskan ornament we picked up here in Anchorage. Cool, huh?

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