"Our Sea of Islands" - Epeli Hau'ofa

i came to new zealand knowing basically nothing
about the south pacific (i didn't even know
of tonga's existence until last year).

here are some interesting things
i learned this past trimester.

art in the pacific:

*spiritual meaning behind patterns, designs

and application of traditional oceanic tattooing.

*syncretic tapa-quilting practices

*ethnography & reenactment of cultural performances
*ethnographic collections & colonial museums

*paul gauguin's relationship with his 13 year old

tahitian girl-wife (tehamana)

anthropology in oceania:

*indigenization of christianity

*negotiation between tradition and modernity

*agency of pacific peoples in interacting with

western modes of economy, politics, religion.

*tongan diaspora and identity

*papua new guinean women breastfeeding pigs
*middle class & individualism

the pacific heritage:

*whakapapa(genealogy)

*haunani-kay trask & illegal annexation of hawaii

*language nests & language extinction & revival
*tws's 3 rationales for pacifc studies

*epeli hau'ofa's vision of "a sea of islands"

not "islands in a vast sea"

*pacific islanders imagine their universe

as composed of both land and sea;

sea not a barrier, but a highway

connecting PI peoples, cultures, heritage.

* atomic testing, expired medicine,

disease, belittlement from the west.

*poly, mela, micro- nesia

*migration from taiwan
*o oe se a?

aims and ideals of maori education:

*the history of maori education after

british colonization

*cultural assimilation policies

*problems with pedagogical approaches

to "multicultural education"

*indigenous education; comparison between

new zealand, taiwan, belize.

*peace education; pedagogy of hope

*paulo freire's pedagogy of the oppressed

*education for liberation 

overall, i have never had such passionate
teachers. they were all part pacific islander or
maori, except one (but he is cook-islander at heart)
they all poured their hearts into teaching us.
i've noticed many of their lectures were really emotional.
i am glad i picked the classes i did.
i will end this post quoting my
favorite professor in new zealand,
j. kidman: "blood is just blood."

study study study.

i went over to emma's building to study.

we spent most of the time discussing leprosy

makogai!

a'oa'oina oe ai lava

ina ia e malamalama ai

i aga a isi atunu'u

ia aua fo'i le avea lou iloa

ma mea e fa'agalo ai

lou iloa o tu ma aga

a lou lava atunu'u

tofotofo i mea fapapalagi!

"life is beautiful. nothing is perfect. 
enjoy it"- jxy.

miramar peninsula adventures.
on the way back, we somehow we ended up
walking along the back wall of wellington prison.

the time we went snorkeling on

pangaimotu island; nuku'alofa, tonga.

we swam with tropical fish, took pictures

with morgan's underwater camera and got our

legs cut by coral & ship rust.

this is one of the first pictures i drew

after i discovered that i liked drawing

in 11th grade. i had just won a box of

really nice colored pencils

for getting "honorable mention"

for a design i drew & submited to a

teen poetry magazine cover contest.

^i was sitting at my computer and casually

turned around and saw a little girl

standing at my doorway with a parakeet

perched on her shoulder. my mind was

elsewhere so i turned back to the screen

without comprehending what i just saw.

then i paused, and slowly turned to look

again and she was still there.

so i drew this picture because i was

inspired capture the peculiar moment.

i just remembered that one of my biggest
dreams is to illustrate a children's book.
i hope i do someday.

i am having the best time here in aotearoa

but tonight, i feel so so far away from home.

so i am going through old blog posts

and remembering how i used to wear these on my eyes.

i love this picture. i look like a

little boy (with a bowl-cut) trying
to give a mangosteen to my dad.

he brought back my sister and me some

fruits from singapore&malaysia 20 years ago. 

i am really excited to be going to

singapore&malaysia in a few weeks.

 the first time i saw a pukeko:

hannah took this picture when we were

on waiheki island on our 2nd day in new zealand.

we were walking and froze when we

saw these birds running across the road

with their dinosaur-like feet.

you can't tell in the picture, but they
are dark blue with bright orange beaks.

shaanxi erhu.

today was such a happy cozy day.
the weather was freezing,
we walked through a labyrinth of life,

& spent some time hanging out on this tree.

a kiwi lady offered to take our picture.

 dowse days are here.

 we ventured into hutt valley today.

it was a very strange little town.

somehow, nick and i missed 2 buses,

so we gave up and got coffee.

“There are thousands of paths.

They all lead nowhere.

You must ask yourself one question:

 ‘Does this path have a heart?’

If it does, the path is good.

If it doesn’t, it is of no use.”
- Don Juan

lea wearne started following me on pinterest.

she has so many interesting original ideas & designs!

(like an edible gingerbread book cover

that you have to eat in order to read it).

in the spirit of final examinations.

monica, our ra, walked around the building

pushing a shopping cart full of "study packs"

made by HUGE, the school christian group.

she knocked on everyone's door and handed us one.

life is good.

in between writing my last paper,

memorizing a poem in samoan (o oe se a?
a'oa'oina oe ia lava, ina ia e malamalama ai..),

i am squeezing in time to read this book.

the bookmark is made from tapa cloth
(pounded paper mulberry tree bark)
i got it at the nuku'alofa market in tonga :)

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y 
E L L E N!

i hope you have a wondrous, beautiful + happy day!

 "though [6,742] miles may lie between us we
are never far apart, for friendship doesn't
count miles, it is measured by the heart."

inspirational & life-changing professors;

one thing i've noticed about them is that

they always cry on the last day

when they give us a farewell speech

about how much they enjoyed

teaching this course and

send us off into "the world"

with new knowledge,

perspectives,

and hope.
:)

-paulo freire in

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

you can never go wrong with a sandwich.

“increased military spending and

decreased funding for education reflect

violence as a dominant fiscal priority"

-paulo freire.

E d u c a t i o n
F o r
L i b e r a t i o n.

to celebrate finishing classes at victoria,
i got some daffodils at the farmer's market :)
its fragrance is wafting around in my room.

strange times are here.

someone should write an ethnography on

elderly chinese fashion and address

the wearing of silk pjs on the streets

& intensity of floral mix n matching.

maybe this will be a project
i could embark on in a few weeks..
 
 in the meantime, here is a fun site.

somehow, i found my professor's mom's

cooking blog & i am now reading her recipes..

apparently, she is also a famous nz author
and has published a lot of novels & poetry.

i even looked one of her books up on amazon
(it got 4/5 stars).

2 weeks until my last final exam.

7 weeks until singapore & malaysia

8 weeks until china.


winter-> summer-> winter-> summer.

"take

a

glorious

bite

out

of

the

whole

world."

neimeng.

“The other day when I was walking

through the woods, I saw a rabbit

standing in front of a candle making

shadows of people on a tree”

— Stephen Wright

haunani-kay trask.

finished my 3,000 word anthropology essay,

got tied up by james with his ropes

(which can also be used as a braid-wig),

ate some 60 cent ice cream,

picked up groceries,

watched a french

movie.