Learning Journal 28

So I have definitely been thinking a lot about service. Especially after listening to General Conference. I feel like a lot of the talks were about serving others and watching out for the needs of those around you. It made me think about how service is portrayed in our culture and how it might be different in a Tongan society. In our culture I think that sometimes service isn't readily rendered. Meaning that we either are too busy to notice someone to serve them or we feel awkward. I know I have felt this way many times. I see someone I could serve and then I don't serve them because I second guess myself and think they don't really need help. Or else I am just too busy with my life to notice. I feel like in many instances service requires a conscious effort. by talking to many Tongan's and other people that associate with them I have come to realize that service is just a part of their life. They live to serve others and are constantly watching out for others well being. In fact I met this Tongan and when I told him about my project he was already trying to find ways to help me with it. I am really excited to get into the culture and to truly learn from the Tongans.

Learning Journal 21

I went to the inquiry conference on Tuesday and it was really informative. I went to Educate a Girl, Educate a Nation: Changing attitudes about girls education in Wiamoase, Ghana. It was a very interesting presentation and it reminded me about a movie I watched in my anthrofilms class last semester. It was about microcredit and how it is used to generate wealth among the poor populations. The companies would only loan money to women because they knew that if they gave it to the mothers the whole family would benefit. If they gave it to the men they would just spend it on things that they wanted and it wouldn't benefit the whole family. It made me think about the power of women in societies. I know that T0nga is semi-dominated by women because of the Fau of the families. It made me also think about what ways I might come across women dominance or ways that women are better suited for certain jobs than men in Tonga. Also what ways are men and women's roles different or similar in the Tongan community.

Learning Journal 13

So a couple weeks ago I had an experience with my own culture. I was asked out on a first date by this guy in my ward via text message. I didn't really want to go but I thought it was common courtesy to give him a first date at least. I already knew I wasn't interested in this guy but I said yes anyway because that is just what you do if a guy asks you on a first date whether you want to go or not. I went on the date and I didn't have a bad time but it was definitely not the way I would have liked to spend my evening. I went because that is what was normal. I could have said no but I didn't because that is just not what you do in the "culture" I am apart of. This got me thinking about how many other things I might do just because it's the social norm or part of my culture. How many times do I find myself doing things to avoid going against social norms? It also really got me thinking about other cultures and their social norms. How many people do things they don't like just because it is part of their culture? Another thing is if social norms and culture are similar or if they are completely different. I defined culture as how a group of people believed, thought, and acted. When they act according to the social norms are they really just following what their cultural believes or what is culturally acceptable? Culture is an interesting topic to study and some things don't seem to have a right answer. The best way it seems to find out is to go and study a different culture.

Extra Credit Learning Journal 1

My experience at the Rafa Rafa activity was fun. It was very interesting to be put in a situation where I was not part of the culture and had to figure out what was culturally acceptable. I haven't ever been put in a situation like that so it was very different for me. I was in the Alpha culture. I figured out how to act in my own culture pretty quickly and actually won a couple times. But when I went in to the Beta culture I had no idea what was going on. They were making different animal sounds and trading cards. It was definitely different then what I was used to and I had no idea how to act. I even got shunned a couple times. When I went back to my own culture I felt much more comfortable and even enjoyed watching the people from the Beta culture try to interact with us. Afterward we all gathered back in our original room and discussed the activity. It was interesting to hear exactly what the Beta culture really was all about. It was kind of what we thought but then again it was a lot different as well. It was a good experience and kind of eye opening for me.