Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Class of 2007!!!
Joey, the answer is, yes. I'm a graduate! I hope these pictures work so that you can see all the fun, too! Basically, I graduated on October 26th, from Liahona High School, Nuku'alofa Tonga. My class was 195-ish people big, The week before included Seminary Graduation followed by a stake dance, Graduation dance, and practices all week for the marching and singing. It was fun to hang around with all my friends before they all left. There were a few parties here and there, including a real kai me'akai for my friend Nata! I went by myself and enjoyed a genuine Tongan feast! It was my first one, and it was cool! Tongans can eat probably 4 times as much as any palangi I know!
Meet the President! This is Pasimi Mesuli, SB President of Liahona High! (He's obviously emotionally moved by the intensity of the night...)
Nancy, Shelia, and Me. Shelia was the Valedictorian, and Nancy was first runner up. Nancy was my marching partner. (Well, and she's my friend, too.)
This is Nesi, Michelle and me....with a bunch of dorm boys. After graduation, Mom said I could invite a few people over and have lemon bars. (Sometimes she doens't realize how much Tongans eat...) Anyway, no one was around except for the dorm boys, so they all came over for a while...Unfortunately, Nesi told them we were having a feast, so I think some of them were a little dissappointed when they got a small rectangle of lemon merangue. Oh well, I had fun!
I think the highlight for me about graduation was graduating with people I could really call friends. The idea of moving to a tropical island and leaving my friends behind didn't really worry me, because I knew I'd make more here. But at first I was a little worried because I still felt so much like a stranger, even after three months! I didn't feel like I belonged with my graduating class, but it's amazing what four months will do that three months won't. I was so, so happy on that night, because I could look back on all of my HS experience, and I was happy with all of it, but especially happy with the past four months. I still don't know half my classes' names, but that's ak, because I love them anyway. :) They're all my friends. Ok! That's all I can think of, so here are the pictures!!
This is Nesi, me, and Suka, a Fijian, on the night of Seminary graduation. They are two of my best friends.
At the Graduation dance, there was a special swing number, and this is some of the group. The colors are hard to see, but the matching colors indicate partners. (My partner is not featured in this picture...)
This is my best friend here, Nesi Latu. Her nice Grandma was the one who made that beautiful kahoa (lei) I'm wearing, and it was the first one I ever had that was made especially for me! (this picture even made it into the graduation DVD as the background for all the selections!) The green balloon says it all: LHS 2007! 
One of the funniest things about Tongans is that where the camera is, they will be. This picture group probably started with three people trying to get a picture together, and ended up with someone jumping in every second or two. But this is a good picture of lots of my friends and it captures the moment pretty well. 
This is mom, with her two Spanish students. When they were Saineha HS in Vava'u, she taught the very first missionaries departing for Spanish speaking missions. These are two, Brother Kupu (right) and Brother Kulu (left), and their wives. 
Here's my class at Graduation, with the straight A students wearing yellow at the front. All I can say is, I'm glad I came here, because I never would have been included in that elite group at Skyline!
At the Graduation dance, there was a special swing number, and this is some of the group. The colors are hard to see, but the matching colors indicate partners. (My partner is not featured in this picture...)
This is my best friend here, Nesi Latu. Her nice Grandma was the one who made that beautiful kahoa (lei) I'm wearing, and it was the first one I ever had that was made especially for me! (this picture even made it into the graduation DVD as the background for all the selections!) The green balloon says it all: LHS 2007! One of the funniest things about Tongans is that where the camera is, they will be. This picture group probably started with three people trying to get a picture together, and ended up with someone jumping in every second or two. But this is a good picture of lots of my friends and it captures the moment pretty well. This is mom, with her two Spanish students. When they were Saineha HS in Vava'u, she taught the very first missionaries departing for Spanish speaking missions. These are two, Brother Kupu (right) and Brother Kulu (left), and their wives. Here's my class at Graduation, with the straight A students wearing yellow at the front. All I can say is, I'm glad I came here, because I never would have been included in that elite group at Skyline! Well, I can't get this one to rotate, but this is me, seconds from receiving my diploma! (I also included this one because I think I look like Load Runner.)
This is all of us, after the ceremony, and right before things got hectic! Man, I love graduation in Tonga! Everyone was packed in the gym because of the rain, and everyone was giving candy and flower kahoas to everyone! Apart from the fact you could hardly breath, it was very fun, and my cheeks have never been so sore from smiling. 
Sorry, again, it won't rotate. (oh, wait! No, I was just laying on my side for this one! ....Jk) This kahoa was so special because I didn't think I'd really get one from the family, because no one actually knows how to make them, but Sneeky Mom and Sneeky Lani planned/made this for me, and it was gorgeous! It was easily the prettiest one I've ever had. 
Mom, me and Dad. Man, if you think that was a lot of kahoas, that was nothing! I eventually got so many they were falling off my shoulders! (Luckily, Tongans are as gracious receivers as they are givers, so as soon as the younger students made it into the gym--hence, adding to the confusion--it was easy to get rid of a few.)
Meet the President! This is Pasimi Mesuli, SB President of Liahona High! (He's obviously emotionally moved by the intensity of the night...)Nancy, Shelia, and Me. Shelia was the Valedictorian, and Nancy was first runner up. Nancy was my marching partner. (Well, and she's my friend, too.)This is Nesi, Michelle and me....with a bunch of dorm boys. After graduation, Mom said I could invite a few people over and have lemon bars. (Sometimes she doens't realize how much Tongans eat...) Anyway, no one was around except for the dorm boys, so they all came over for a while...Unfortunately, Nesi told them we were having a feast, so I think some of them were a little dissappointed when they got a small rectangle of lemon merangue. Oh well, I had fun!So there you have it. Graduation at Liahona. That's a lot of pictures, but I think it will make up for the fact that pictures haven't worked until now. (I think it may have something to do with the fact that I switched to gmail.) Love you all! O4A2!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
I am a Conformist
Well, everyone seems to be getting new email accounts, so I thought I'd join in the fun. I finally created a gmail account so that I can re-enter the world of technology. Please, send me something so that I get your email addresses! My new address: epe.lhs07 at gmail. (It stands for epeleli, Liahona High School, class of 07! (And my lucky number...)) You can still send stuff to my hotmail, but who knows when I'll get it. PS, dear skyliners, will you pass the word on? O4A2!!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
You Asked, Here Are The Answers
Sorry this has taken so long; I tried to post this just after you asked all of your questions, but the internet has been kind of temperamental again lately. Anyway, here's a quick answer to all of your questions. We'll try to post more detailed responses as the questions trickle in and we feel so inclined, but for now, here they are:
Peter: Tongans do celebrate Halloween, but not quite like they do in America. The kids in our ward came trick-or-treating, but the costumes were not quite as extravagant as most of the costumes that you probably saw.
-The school year is over, and so are all of the exams, which means the dorm kids have all gone home, and the kids who come down and stay with family have gone back to their islands, too. It's getting kind of boring; there aren't nearly as many people, and not as much to do. We're taking our "Mission Tour" of the islands in December, though, and I'm excited to go see all of my friends, and to see where they live. April and I are also flying to New Zealand to stay with the Mission President and his daughter for a week in January. I don't know what the other Tongans do during the summer, but we're turning into quite the travellers!
-Speaking of communication.... Our old hotmail accounts don't work still, but I set up a gmail account, which is mcmurray05@ gmail.com so you can all email me! I'll try to keep in touch better. But even if we don't, remember that we still love you!
Joey: Tongan is slowly but surely coming. Sometimes I can carry a basic conversation, and other times I think that I’m speaking an entirely different version of Tongan than these people. They’re all really nice about trying to help us learn, though, and I know we’ll get it eventually!
-What do we miss most from the U.S.? Well it’s kind of hard to pick something like that, because we have all of the necessities, and learn to live with whatever we don’t have. But I would have to say that I miss friends and family the most. Oh, and I really miss the mountains. Our island is totally and absolutely flat. I love the palm trees and the ocean, but I wish I could have mountains and snow, too…
-April has indeed graduated, but I'll let her tell you more about that, because that's her story!
Heidi: (I never told any boys I had a lip disease, so can I skip that part? Just kidding! :) Small items I wish I had… Well I can’t think of any specifics right of the top of my head, but I wish things were more conveniently located. There are little stores (falekoloas) close to our house that are pretty well-stocked with basic food and such, but if you want anything else, you have to go downtown and find a store that carries it. Mom misses Costco.
-Food craves: I love the fruit! I especially love the fresh pineapple. They’re so sweet, and you can even eat the core. It’s less sweet, but it’s still good. I love papaya, coconut, and bananas, too!
-April and I are both playing the piano in church. We play with another girl named Selai, so all of us play one song every week. We both took piano class in school, but April’s keeping it up a little more than I am.
Abe: Biggest differences between Americans and Tongans? That’s a really broad question, and it kind of defeats the purpose of this Q&A…you were supposed to ask questions that would not make us try to analyze such complex ideas… But in answer to your other questions, I think my favorite thing about the Tongans is how loving and sharing they are, even if they don’t have very much. My least favorite thing is probably how often you hear things blamed on “the Tongan way”. They don’t seem to understand that you can change if you think something should be different. And the boys are a little….overwhelming….
Matt: The beaches down here are mostly coral, which are fun, but not in the same way as sandy beaches. There are a lot of fun coral formations to climb on, and the blowholes are amazing, but they are different from the sandy beaches you might be envisioning. There are some fun sand beaches too, but they’re mainly coral.
Brad: We have tons of fruit trees in our yard. We have coconuts, bananas, papaya, Indian apple, breadfruit, and a mango tree (whether or not that actually gives fruit we have yet to discover). We also have sugar cane, and a tangerine tree hangs over the fence.
-We haven’t exactly acquired any pets of our own, but our neighbors chickens are in our yard so much that it sometimes feels like they’re ours. There are almost always new chicks, and it’s so fun to watch them get bigger. Our other neighbor has a rooster, and for those of you that are under the impression that roosters only crow at the crack of dawn, let me straighten you out. They crow ALL the time!
Peter: Tongans do celebrate Halloween, but not quite like they do in America. The kids in our ward came trick-or-treating, but the costumes were not quite as extravagant as most of the costumes that you probably saw.
-The school year is over, and so are all of the exams, which means the dorm kids have all gone home, and the kids who come down and stay with family have gone back to their islands, too. It's getting kind of boring; there aren't nearly as many people, and not as much to do. We're taking our "Mission Tour" of the islands in December, though, and I'm excited to go see all of my friends, and to see where they live. April and I are also flying to New Zealand to stay with the Mission President and his daughter for a week in January. I don't know what the other Tongans do during the summer, but we're turning into quite the travellers!
-Speaking of communication.... Our old hotmail accounts don't work still, but I set up a gmail account, which is mcmurray05@ gmail.com so you can all email me! I'll try to keep in touch better. But even if we don't, remember that we still love you!
Joey: Tongan is slowly but surely coming. Sometimes I can carry a basic conversation, and other times I think that I’m speaking an entirely different version of Tongan than these people. They’re all really nice about trying to help us learn, though, and I know we’ll get it eventually!
-What do we miss most from the U.S.? Well it’s kind of hard to pick something like that, because we have all of the necessities, and learn to live with whatever we don’t have. But I would have to say that I miss friends and family the most. Oh, and I really miss the mountains. Our island is totally and absolutely flat. I love the palm trees and the ocean, but I wish I could have mountains and snow, too…
-April has indeed graduated, but I'll let her tell you more about that, because that's her story!
Heidi: (I never told any boys I had a lip disease, so can I skip that part? Just kidding! :) Small items I wish I had… Well I can’t think of any specifics right of the top of my head, but I wish things were more conveniently located. There are little stores (falekoloas) close to our house that are pretty well-stocked with basic food and such, but if you want anything else, you have to go downtown and find a store that carries it. Mom misses Costco.
-Food craves: I love the fruit! I especially love the fresh pineapple. They’re so sweet, and you can even eat the core. It’s less sweet, but it’s still good. I love papaya, coconut, and bananas, too!
-April and I are both playing the piano in church. We play with another girl named Selai, so all of us play one song every week. We both took piano class in school, but April’s keeping it up a little more than I am.
Abe: Biggest differences between Americans and Tongans? That’s a really broad question, and it kind of defeats the purpose of this Q&A…you were supposed to ask questions that would not make us try to analyze such complex ideas… But in answer to your other questions, I think my favorite thing about the Tongans is how loving and sharing they are, even if they don’t have very much. My least favorite thing is probably how often you hear things blamed on “the Tongan way”. They don’t seem to understand that you can change if you think something should be different. And the boys are a little….overwhelming….
Matt: The beaches down here are mostly coral, which are fun, but not in the same way as sandy beaches. There are a lot of fun coral formations to climb on, and the blowholes are amazing, but they are different from the sandy beaches you might be envisioning. There are some fun sand beaches too, but they’re mainly coral.
Brad: We have tons of fruit trees in our yard. We have coconuts, bananas, papaya, Indian apple, breadfruit, and a mango tree (whether or not that actually gives fruit we have yet to discover). We also have sugar cane, and a tangerine tree hangs over the fence.
-We haven’t exactly acquired any pets of our own, but our neighbors chickens are in our yard so much that it sometimes feels like they’re ours. There are almost always new chicks, and it’s so fun to watch them get bigger. Our other neighbor has a rooster, and for those of you that are under the impression that roosters only crow at the crack of dawn, let me straighten you out. They crow ALL the time!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Dear Peter
Tongans do not celebrate Halloween. However, I think they all know what it is, and our ward primary sort of celebrated it. The English wards have done it for many years, and this was their first year to try it. But we made pumpkin cookies, paper michee jack-o-lanterns and ghosts to make our home a little more festive. My English teacher also had a Halloween party in class, and that was kind of fun too.
Now that school’s out, we plan to visit the other islands, and that’s what some people do. But most people don’t do anything over the summer holidays, and that’s not an understatement. If there’s no organized activity, you can be sure they won’t be doing much. Most Tongans will probably sleep, eat, play volleyball, and visit the local internet café all day everyday this summer. They will probably visit the beach once in a while too. The sad thing is, Tonga is not as quick paced as America, which is really nice most of the time, but it pretty much ensures that I will see very few if any of my friends over the summer, unless they’re in my ward, because they all stay close to home. No hang out/chill games for me. I suppose if I hear of any dances I’d go, and then I would see the kids of that neighborhood.
If I could do what I wanted to the school system here, I would start by rewriting the curriculum, and it would include regular and honors classes, so the few who are ambitions about school don’t get held behind by those who aren’t. I would also make a minimum grade to be able to participate in any sports. Nothing too high, but high enough that kids don’t enroll in school just so they can win a few medals. I would also give the student body officers more leadership opportunities. Right now, the prefects basically don’t do anything, and they are often worse students than anyone else at going to class, and not wearing their complete uniform…There are tons of things that need a lot of improvement, but that’s a start. The students are not incapable of learning more, and the teachers are not incapable of teaching better, but someone somewhere doesn’t agree with me, and it’s really taking a lot out of their education.
I haven’t kept in good touch with anyone really, because of our internet, but when I get the chance to check my email at school (three times now!) I write some friends from school, and a few of the ward girls. I basically just try and catch up my inbox, which is practically hopeless by now.
I always knew deep down that I was half Tongan. Yes, we have plenty of free time and we waste quite a bit of it. I know, it’s the beginning of summer, and that always happens in the first few weeks, and it didn’t help that we had dance practices half the day all last week, or final examinations this week and next. I’m sure we’ll get on top of things really well soon. Michelle and I have been helping our exam friends study, and we’ve also started working at the Health Center on campus, where we are dentil assistants to the new American dentist. It’s pretty rad; I’ve seen two root canals, countless fillings, a tooth/post reconstruction, and a couple of wisdom teeth extractions, and I only started working on Monday! Danny and I also help with this reading program they have for middle school kids, to improve their pronunciation and comprehension. It’s very sad, most of them are reading those skinny Richard Scary and Clifford books. These kids are older than Danny! But it’s nice to help out, and it’s a very interesting program.
Well, I hope that answers your questions pretty thoroughly. We’ll do another blog soon so you can get all your “juicy Temple details.”
Now that school’s out, we plan to visit the other islands, and that’s what some people do. But most people don’t do anything over the summer holidays, and that’s not an understatement. If there’s no organized activity, you can be sure they won’t be doing much. Most Tongans will probably sleep, eat, play volleyball, and visit the local internet café all day everyday this summer. They will probably visit the beach once in a while too. The sad thing is, Tonga is not as quick paced as America, which is really nice most of the time, but it pretty much ensures that I will see very few if any of my friends over the summer, unless they’re in my ward, because they all stay close to home. No hang out/chill games for me. I suppose if I hear of any dances I’d go, and then I would see the kids of that neighborhood.
If I could do what I wanted to the school system here, I would start by rewriting the curriculum, and it would include regular and honors classes, so the few who are ambitions about school don’t get held behind by those who aren’t. I would also make a minimum grade to be able to participate in any sports. Nothing too high, but high enough that kids don’t enroll in school just so they can win a few medals. I would also give the student body officers more leadership opportunities. Right now, the prefects basically don’t do anything, and they are often worse students than anyone else at going to class, and not wearing their complete uniform…There are tons of things that need a lot of improvement, but that’s a start. The students are not incapable of learning more, and the teachers are not incapable of teaching better, but someone somewhere doesn’t agree with me, and it’s really taking a lot out of their education.
I haven’t kept in good touch with anyone really, because of our internet, but when I get the chance to check my email at school (three times now!) I write some friends from school, and a few of the ward girls. I basically just try and catch up my inbox, which is practically hopeless by now.
I always knew deep down that I was half Tongan. Yes, we have plenty of free time and we waste quite a bit of it. I know, it’s the beginning of summer, and that always happens in the first few weeks, and it didn’t help that we had dance practices half the day all last week, or final examinations this week and next. I’m sure we’ll get on top of things really well soon. Michelle and I have been helping our exam friends study, and we’ve also started working at the Health Center on campus, where we are dentil assistants to the new American dentist. It’s pretty rad; I’ve seen two root canals, countless fillings, a tooth/post reconstruction, and a couple of wisdom teeth extractions, and I only started working on Monday! Danny and I also help with this reading program they have for middle school kids, to improve their pronunciation and comprehension. It’s very sad, most of them are reading those skinny Richard Scary and Clifford books. These kids are older than Danny! But it’s nice to help out, and it’s a very interesting program.
Well, I hope that answers your questions pretty thoroughly. We’ll do another blog soon so you can get all your “juicy Temple details.”
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Everyone Has a Kissing Story
But My story actually has to do with how I evaded it! I was going to be fair and go in order of who posted first with answering questions, but Heidi's question about my lip disease was too good to put off. (You guys are asking fabulous questions by the way.) But I'll recap the whole story for those who didn't get the first part of it:
So there's inter-server chatting, and it's all the kids ever do once they get to Computer class. The teacher says we're not allowed, but she doesn't really care, nor do any of the teachers, so it's quite rampant. So, while I'm still relatively new at this chatting thing(Tongan's call it texting), this stranger gets on and talks to me. He wouldn't tell me his name, or how old he was or anything, and no one in my class knew who he was. I finally bullied his name out, but I still had no idea who he was. One day, though, he got on and basically said, "Will you meet me in the back of the gym and make out with me? Because I need to be around people with higher standards." (Uh, and that will help your standards...how?) I hope you believe in me enough to know I said no to him. Naturally. Then he asked me why. "Is it because you don't know me?" (duh)
This is where my red horns and tail start to grow.
I answered, "Partly, but it's also because I have this lip disease and I would hate to pass it along." The next few days/weeks entailed conversations where he said some nice but funny things, like, "Can I do anything about it?" "Does it hurt? I can't stand it when people are in a lot of pain..." "Have you prayed about being healed?" "I'll check and see if I have any creams at home for you..." And my personal favorite, "Well, at least your lips don't look like they're infected or anything..." He even asked me the name of my disease, and I tried to evade that one for as long as I could, until I couldn't, I just made one up. End of part 1.
After a while, he completely stopped texting me, but I still wondered who he was. Then one morning, at one of our practices for the temple program, my friend introduced me and Michelle to two boys sitting nearby. When she said, "That's Charlie," I was entirely surprised, because he is the Stake president's son, and he's in form 4 (equivalent of 10th grade), and he'd been talking to me lately, but I hadn't known his name. Luckily for me, I acted indifferent and figured it would all take care of itself. Then a few days later at yet another practice, we were sitting next to each other, and he asked me the name of my disease again. I started to laugh and then apologized because it was all made up. He wasn't really mad, because for one thing, he said he hadn't believed me (yeah right), and for another, he deserved it! But it all turned out great in the end because I had a great laugh, and now we're friends, and I don't think he wants to kiss me anymore. Which is good, because I don't really want to kiss anyone, let alone a tenth grader. End of part 2
I hope you find that as funny as I do, because I still laugh about it when I think about it, and it happened forever ago. I'll answer some more of your questions soon!
So there's inter-server chatting, and it's all the kids ever do once they get to Computer class. The teacher says we're not allowed, but she doesn't really care, nor do any of the teachers, so it's quite rampant. So, while I'm still relatively new at this chatting thing(Tongan's call it texting), this stranger gets on and talks to me. He wouldn't tell me his name, or how old he was or anything, and no one in my class knew who he was. I finally bullied his name out, but I still had no idea who he was. One day, though, he got on and basically said, "Will you meet me in the back of the gym and make out with me? Because I need to be around people with higher standards." (Uh, and that will help your standards...how?) I hope you believe in me enough to know I said no to him. Naturally. Then he asked me why. "Is it because you don't know me?" (duh)
This is where my red horns and tail start to grow.
I answered, "Partly, but it's also because I have this lip disease and I would hate to pass it along." The next few days/weeks entailed conversations where he said some nice but funny things, like, "Can I do anything about it?" "Does it hurt? I can't stand it when people are in a lot of pain..." "Have you prayed about being healed?" "I'll check and see if I have any creams at home for you..." And my personal favorite, "Well, at least your lips don't look like they're infected or anything..." He even asked me the name of my disease, and I tried to evade that one for as long as I could, until I couldn't, I just made one up. End of part 1.
After a while, he completely stopped texting me, but I still wondered who he was. Then one morning, at one of our practices for the temple program, my friend introduced me and Michelle to two boys sitting nearby. When she said, "That's Charlie," I was entirely surprised, because he is the Stake president's son, and he's in form 4 (equivalent of 10th grade), and he'd been talking to me lately, but I hadn't known his name. Luckily for me, I acted indifferent and figured it would all take care of itself. Then a few days later at yet another practice, we were sitting next to each other, and he asked me the name of my disease again. I started to laugh and then apologized because it was all made up. He wasn't really mad, because for one thing, he said he hadn't believed me (yeah right), and for another, he deserved it! But it all turned out great in the end because I had a great laugh, and now we're friends, and I don't think he wants to kiss me anymore. Which is good, because I don't really want to kiss anyone, let alone a tenth grader. End of part 2
I hope you find that as funny as I do, because I still laugh about it when I think about it, and it happened forever ago. I'll answer some more of your questions soon!
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