learning journal 18

This weekend I went to church at the Polynesian ward!  I only went to relief society, but it was so fun to get to talk to a couple of the Tongan people there!  I was actually paying attention to the lesson more than trying to do participant observations or taking note of their behaviors, but I did notice a few things that were really interesting.  The first thing was when I walked in, there were no gaps between where people were sitting.  In my relief society it's like everyone is grouped with their friends and there are a few seats between each little group.  I don't know if it was because they were all just friends, but it was like they just didn't mind sitting by whoever.  When I walked in, I was late and a girl on the edge of the row immediately moved her stuff and motioned for me to sit by her.  It was really nice.

Another thing I noticed was that they talked to each other from across the room.  For example, when one girl was sharing an experience another girl hollered something from literally the other side of the room and then a couple other comments were made.  I loved it!!  It was like a discussion and it was totally informal, but the message from the lesson was still getting across.  And so many of the girls were hillarious! I know it's just as stereotypical to say "Tongans are all funny" as it is to say "Tongans are all jerks" (this is just an example, not anything I have ever heard anyone say!), but a lot of the girls made me laugh so hard, which was really nice!  One of the girls invited me to come to FHE and to a Tongan class they have on wednesday nights, so that was exciting!  I plan on going back to meet more Tongan people and to get the experience of being around people that I don't know and putting myself out there.

On a different note, I really enjoyed the readings for today.  I thought the one about "eating Christmas dinner with the bushmen was really applicable."  It made me think about how important it is to not think that everything the people do or say to you is because you are white, or American, or an outsider.  The guy in the story felt like they were being mean to him or whatever because he was an outsider, but when he started asking around he found out they all treat each other like that and it wasn't just him.He actually should have felt happy they were treating him like one of them, or at least that's how I would feel.  I think my goal is to not be viewed the whole time I'm there as a BYU student, or an American, or a white girl, or anything else like that, but rather to be treated like one of them as much as possible.  I know that's a pretty heavy goal, but I think as you build relationships and get to know the people individually, they will start to think of me as more than just another student.  And the reading about helping, fixing, or serving made me realize how important it is to keep in mind that we are no better than the people that we will be in contact with in Tonga and that we should remember how they are serving us just as much as we will be serving them.