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A few posts back I blogified about Samoan pronunciation and names. Now I’d like to do a little follow-up on ‘upu ‘afakasi — Samoan half-caste words. (more…)

Because I’ve lived in the islands for over 40 years, most people who know me might be a little surprised to learn I really like country and western music. A Samoan friend’s Facebook comments about James Taylor’s beautiful Carolina being one of his most favorite songs led me to make this confession. Actually, I have a very eclectic appreciation for all kinds of music, but my appreciation for the country genre goes back a long way… (more…)

I’m slowly going through some of my old back-up files (in preparation for donating copies to the BYU-Hawai Archives), and picked a few shots taken primarily for the Kaleo community newspaper or the Polynesian Cultural Center that I thought you might enjoy seeing. Some of these have previously been published, while others have only been seen by me before now.

In a recent meeting  (actually a Latter-day Saints testimony meeting) a young lady in our church shared a story of faith that involved praying for her car . . . which reminded me of two incidents where we did something similar years ago in Samoa: (more…)

…throughout Hawaii. At the outset, let me say I sustain my Latter-day Saint Church leaders, and will follow their directions, one of the most recent of which I just heard this evening — February 15, 2009, when our Laie Hawaii North Stake President Finau Hafoka announced… (more…)

For nearly the past two years I have been taking photos for Kaleo: Koolauloa News, the community newspaper of Laie, Hauula and Kahuku. While some of these were published either in the hard-copy or online editions, I usually didn’t have space to use all of them, so you’re seeing some of these pictures for the first time. I hope you enjoy them.

In my last entry, I went on-and-on about the Samoan language, and made a few comparisons with other Polynesian languages, which reminded me of a brief incident years ago that demonstrates the difference between many Samoan and Hawaiian names: (more…)

When I first started learning Samoan in 1965, I soon discovered:

• It is totally unrelated to English or any other European language, except for ‘upu afakasi — borrowed or “half-caste” words. Please note, Samoa does not have a caste system, but the word afakasi refers to someone or something of mixed heritage.

• English speakers can handle most of the sounds — except for a couple of sorta’ new ones and some dipthongs (vowel combinations) as well as some completely unusual “swaps” (more on these below).

• Formal Samoan writing uses diacritic marks which definitely help second-language learners to understand better, but they are not included in most Samoan writing.

• There is a separate lexicon of chiefly language, bolstered by historical allusions, proverbs and socio-genealogical-geographical knowledge — all filtered through a prescribed centuries-old tradition of oratory — that usually only matai or chief’s learn to varying degrees. Ministers, Latter-day Saint missionaries, and other officials are considered to be chiefly, or just below chiefly rank; and as such, for example, I learned enough to interact with the matai in giving appropriate responses to greetings, addressing chiefs, giving thanks and, of course, speaking in formal situations such as church meetings. But it seemed to me that every skilled Samoan orator considers him- or herself an authority on this chiefly language, and like many foreign-language situations, sometimes one learned just enough to get in trouble. It must also be noted that some references actually say this manner of oratory is a separate language, but it’s definitely Samoan. (more…)

In May 2007 I accompanied the BYU-Hawaii Concert Choir as a writer and back-up photographer on  their tour of Urumqi, Xi’an, Beijing, Xiangkhe and Tianjin, China; and also Ulaabaator, Mongolia. It was an unforgettable experience. Some of these photos, along with the stories I wrote, are posted on the BYUH web site at:

http://w2.byuh.edu/alumni/blog/index.php

…and the most important part, type the word China into the keyword search window. Stories I wrote on my 2006 experience in China will come up first, or scroll down until you start coming to the 2007 China stories.

When my wife, Sally Ann, and I were on my East-West Center field trip in 1971, we stopped for a few days on the large, tropical island of Guadalcanal in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (usually abbreviated BSIP; the island nation would not gain independence until 1978). The place was particularly fascinating to me because of all the remnants of World War II.

Less than 30 years before over 6,000 U.S. and 24,000 Japanese troops lost their lives during the protracted 1942-43 Battle of Guadalcanal. Honiara was the capital and administrative center of the BSIP…and by 1971, although I don’t know about now, reminders of the war seemed to be everywhere. For example: (more…)