Pictures of Port of Refuge

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mo'unga Tulou 

Port of Refuge, Neiafu Vava'u

Tide Levels

Mofisi--the beginning of the turning of the tide as it comes in. 

Ufiafua--when the rocks at the edge of the reef disappear

Liku-- the area of the ocean between the beach 

Funohaki-- when the incoming tide covers half of the sand on the beach

Hu’a--The incoming tide when it gets deep. 

Tau--tide is full and is at its highest

Taumatala-- When the tide turns and it begins to recede from the beach. 

matuku--the tide is going out, and the sand is left further up the beach dry

Fonohifo--The tide has gone out more than halfway on the sandy beach

Tu’ungakiu--The big boulders at the edge of the reef are exposed, and the birds can stop and rest on them 

Mamaha--The tide is at its lowest leaving everything high and dry. 

Taumalie--A flood--the tide goes to the highest point on the beach that it can reach. 

Taul_o_fu’u--The tide is all the way to the low crawling weeds near the beach, and the waves rush in one after the next, as if they’re piled up one after another.

mamaha fu’u--extraordinarily low tide

mamaha pakupaku-- The tide is all the way out, and when the edge of the reef is left high and dry. 

A’afa or Hohoko--the tide just left and it comes back in. high tide is followed once again by another high tide

Fakalolo--the outgoing tide is low enough that the incoming tide comes in right away. (similar to a’afa or hohoko)

Fakafuli--the sea is rough with lots of waves and a strong current

Holidays

Uike Lotu-- New Years.  This is a week long celebration where there are a lot of feasts and church services


Falaite lelei-- Good Friday


Faka me-- Reenactments of the crucifixion.


Sune Ko Hono Fa-- Independence day, this is the day that Tonga was no longer a British protectorate


Suilai Ko Hono Fa--Tu'i Siaosi Tupou IV's birthday, also this is the day for Miss Heilala


'Aho Kalisimasi--Christmas day, December 25th


Tupakapakanava--this is a traditional ceremony that is performed at night and is held during times of Royal celebration such as a birthday or coronation of a monarch.

Ha'amonga 'a Maui

Notice the children sitting near the trilithon, you can see how large it is compared to them

The Ha'amonga 'a Maui was built in the 13th century by Tui Tonga Tu'itatui and weighs several tons. There are several legends around the creation of the trilithon such as being a doorway to a former palace, or one presented by the last king to be a way of marking the solstices. 

Ko e Sila 'o Tonga

Ko e Sila 'o Tonga
Created in 1875 by Tu'i Siaosi Tupou I

When King Siaosi Tupou I unified the kingdom and produced the first constitution in the year 1875, he also introduced the coat of arms and the beauty behind the meaning of each aspect of the seal. 

The crown at the top is surrounded by lou ifi, symbolizing that the people are subject to the king.  Below the crown we see the three stars representing the three island groups, Vava'u, Ha'apai, and Tongatapu.  The dove and olive branch representing God's desire for Tonga to be a peaceful kingdom.  To the right of the dove we see the three swords, symbolizing the three dynasties.  The scroll at the bottom reads, "Ko e 'Otua Mo Tonga Ko Hoku Tofi'a"  the phrase beautifully translates as "God and Tonga are my inheritance.

An End of Semester Journal Entry

One problem that I’ve been having is I’ve been far too analytical in trying to learn the language. I’ve been going into class as with an English speaker mentality. Having lessons focusing on explaining aspects of English grammar and then attempt to transition into Tongan grammar have me exploring mental tangents concerning the English language only.  The lessons are necessary and I am not saying they shouldn’t have been taught: Our class needed them, what I personally need to do is go into this learning environment with an attitude of a child.

Although, being like a child sounds like a spiritual analogy, it goes much deeper than having a teachable demeanor.  So far, in this class, I’ve been trying to tackle the Tongan language by translating what I’ve been learning to how it is in the English language, and obviously I haven’t been able to learn as much as I could have because of that mindset. 

The best analogy of the brain and language is that the brain is like the hardware of a computer--the computer alone (meaning no programs or operating system) is useless.  Language is like an operating system. It allows the brain to function, communicate and formulate ideas.  

My goal going forward is learning how the Tongan mind works and operates so I can become not only a Tongan speaker, but a Tongan thinker.  I need to find a way to partition my mind to have a place for Tongan thinking to be done, not just charging at the Tongan language like an analytical English speaker.

Another obstacle I need to overcome is my aversion to anything religious.  Although I haven’t explicitly mentioned this in class, I do not affiliate myself with any spiritual tradition formally.  Christianity is life for Tongans, and not just spiritual life, and I do not share that feeling with them in the least bit.  Not that I don’t respect and find that honorable, because I do, but I do not share those same thoughts and feelings. 

Looking back on our semester together as a class I wish I would have focused more on figuring out how the Tongan mind works and spending time on conversational skills, but I am looking forward to next semester and hope that my Tongan will get exponentially better. 

Malo Aupito

Princess Resort Beach, Tongatapu

Useful Tongan Language Links

Animals Learning Game

English to Tongan translator

Fruits and Vegetables Game

Hayleigh's Portfolio

Numbers 1-12 Game

Numbers 10-100 Game

Speak Tongan This is not a free service but there are sample tracks

Vocabulary Builder

Vocabulary Builder Game 1

Vocabulary Builder Game 2

Power Point Games

The links below takes you to Google Documents, the page will load and you can view the slides without playing them, or you can click the download button and view the slideshow in Power Point which will show the animations.

Who Wants To Be a Tongan Millionaire!

Jeopardy

Photographs

Below are several pictures of Ha'apai, and other islands from the plane traveling between Vava'u and Tongatapu.

Flying out of Tongatapu

Ha'apai

Neiafu, Vava'u

Neiafu, Vava'u

South end of Vava'u with the island of Tapana 

Letting Go in the Kingdom of Tonga

     This was an essay written for my intro to college writing course. 

beach on south side of Tapana

     The rusted machete fell with a crack I could hear over the engine and the sound of the waves crashing against the crowded boat.  The blade raised again in the air and fell with another crack as the rust became wet.  The third time the knife fell it successfully dislodged the top of the coconut.  With a genuine smile Pita, the hired hand of my travel companion’s family, handed me the seed overflowing with milk.

I took a sip, smiled, raised the coconut and said, “Malo.”  Pita continued to crack the tops off the coconuts for the rest of the family.   Our boat rocked back and forth while I sipped on the sweet milk, I looked out over the ocean to see islands dotting the horizon.  It had been just over a week since I had arrived in Vava’u, the northern most island group in the Kingdom of Tonga, and now I was going to be camping for two days on the island of Tapana. 

Three years prior to this moment I departed from the religious magical thinking I was raised around.  The pivotal decision to leave the religion of my family caused me to leave all that I knew in search for greater personal truth.  My search for a spiritual authenticity that fit with who I was had led to me lightly practice mindfulness and meditation. My journey also led me to many new people and experiences, like my friend Michael whom I was traveling with. 

I finished the coconut milk and began to relax.  The sound of the engine, the conversations, and rocking of the boat began to fall into the background and I was able to appreciate my surroundings.  Soon enough we had come around the north corner of a small island.  Pita jumped off the boat to secure it, and our camping gear along with two sea kayaks were unloaded.  

As soon as our things were on the beach, we said our goodbyes and our family was headed back to Neiafu, the main island in the Vava’u group.   We were alone with the ocean and the beach, the sounds of the water, and I felt like I was at home. 

Being a Utah native, landlocked for much of my life, being near an ocean is breathtaking experience, and I wasted no time to get in the ocean after our tents were set up.  Every ten or fifteen feet there was another mound of coral, each a miniature eco system under the water.  There were plants moving back and forth with the tide, fish of every possible color surrounded me, and poisonous vana with small fish darting between its sharp spines.  After hours of swimming the water began to cool and I knew the sun was setting.

The sky was turning a deep orange, sunburned and exhausted I sat on the beach.  In an attempt to meditate I recognized my breath, and began to look out over the ocean.  The sound of the waves brought me back to my breath as the splendor of the scene became overwhelming.  My natural instinct was to try to cling to the beauty, to make it last, to keep it as long as I could.  However, I went against my human conditioning, I let my self feel the impermanence of the scenery and let it go. Only then did I fully experience beauty for the first time in my life. 

Tapana Island

Sunday in Tonga

The majority of my life was spent in Utah Valley where there is hardly anything open on Sunday, so I assumed I would be prepared for the entire country shutting down.  I wasn’t, I didn’t have an easy time adjusting to not being able to buy a drink, or go to a restaurant on Sundays.

I arrived in Tonga in the middle of the week, and was in Vava’u by Friday.  Suddenly it was Saturday night around 11 pm it was announced we needed to go to the “Chinese store.”  While walking there it was explained to me that the only thing that is allowed to be open on a Sunday are the bakeries.  We bought enough food to feed the all of the family, and carried it back to where we were staying.  The tourist shops had recently gotten into trouble for operating, and the police cracked down on businesses violating the law. 

Sunday seemed to come early, 5 am early.  Instead of the roosters that had awoken me previous mornings, it was the choirs singing beautifully and loudly that had caused me to wake up. The congregations filled the island with graceful and touching praises. 

The few Sundays I was able to spend in Tonga were relaxing, albeit were probably considered extremely sacrilegious by those observing us.  In order to buy things, we had to pay off an owner of a store to break the Sabbath laws.  We went to beaches and swam at the wharf (with those of the opposite sex no less.)  I made sure as not to laugh too loudly, and to try to be more reverent when I was walking about and saw a congregation being let out of their services.  

The last Sunday I was in Vava’u, I planned on attending the Weslayan church with the family I was staying with.  I had a shirt picked out, and a tupenu ready to be worn, that is until I became violently ill.  Being as sick as I was, I had to stay home while other members of the family went to the services. Looking back I wonder what I did to deserve not being able to attend church services--was it the swimming on a Sunday, or buying beer on a Sunday? 

It wasn’t until last Sunday that I was able to attend a Tongan church service.  I chose to go to the Tongan United Methodist Church.  While I was driving there I became lost, rendering me 30 minutes late, but thanks to everything running on Tongan Time, I was actually 40 minutes early. 

Being the only palangi on the church property, I attracted a lot of stares and pointing fingers.   I waved hello to a group of women and gave a standard greeting. They laughed and yelled “The palangi knows tongan!” Continuing into the chapel I sat in the back.   The children playing in the front stopped immediately and pointed at me exclaiming “Who’s the white skinny guy?!” I laughed, gave the peace sign and stayed in the back.  The service was filled with beautiful music, and an impassioned sermon. Definitely something that I will look forward to attending again. 

Nuku'alofa Pro-Democracy Rally

Immediately upon landing at the Fua’amotu International Airport early in the morning on June 8th 2010, there was an energy on the island that I wasn’t expecting. A 20 minute ride landed us in the village (wherever Jaqueline lives) a mere five minutes away from Nuku’alofa’s city center.  Breakfast was served seconds after arriving, massive amounts of bacon, and an intimidating pile of toast awaited us in the kitchen.  Pleasantries were exchanged, and the family caught up while I was fed. 

Shortly after we finished breakfast, conversation headed towards the palpable energy I felt on the island when we landed.  There was going to a rally today in downtown Nuku’alofa. All the high school students were let out of school to march through the streets in to show support for having more commoner seats in government.  Currently, there are only 9 seats in parliament elected by the people, the rest are appointed by the King. 

One of the aunts volunteered to drive us to the city.  With the Royal Pacific Hotel as a backdrop, students from Liahona, Tonga High School and other secondary schools walked down the streets.  Marching bands played music as people cheered.  It felt like a parade for the students, and in a way it was a parade for the students. In a country that is increasingly influenced by western culture, it seemed to me that the youth have a desire to be more equally represented. 

Weaving through the streets and ally ways, I had a distinct feeling that I was witnessing history in the making. Children singing, smiling, and waiving. The energy I was feeling seemed to me to be filled with optimism, and possibility.  This was balanced by a reverence to the monarch.  There were no signs sharing political messages, but the knowledge that this was happening because the people desired to have more fair political representation.

The beauty of seeing the hotel being rebuilt with the rising generation parading in hope that they’ll have a government that the people will have more representation in gave me hope that in this small corner of the world their lives are ever improving, and will have brighter futures than previously thought.

Introductory Post

Until I moved to Salt Lake two years ago, I had no personal experience with the Tongan culture or language.  It seemed that within a week of moving here from Utah Valley I had very few friends who were not Polynesian.  Being immersed into a culture when you were raised with no cultural roots yourself is a fascinating experience, and one that I hope I can explore more deeply along with the study of the Tongan language. 

Through two years of conversations, I was able to grasp for just a second what it might mean to be Tongan  Growing up I was taught to dislike my extended family, whereas Tongans consider their first cousins siblings, and love their aunties and uncles like parents. I had no idea where my ancestors came from compared to my newfound friends who new which village their family lived in before coming to the states. There is a connection between family members that runs deeper than the palangi family experience.  There are many aspects of the Tongan culture that I view as a much better way of operating. 

Two years ago, never would I have guessed that I would have been able to be in Vava’u for three weeks to experience a culture and country that I have grown to love from the outside, nor would have I guessed that a life goal would be to learn as much as I could about the Kingdom of Tonga and it’s people. 

Being in this class has been not only a learning experience about the Tongan culture, but I have learned a lot about myself, my beliefs, and how I view the culture I grew up in.