Finale Ah Siu Reunion 2024 in Samoa...

 

Yesterday was the culmination of our 4 day Ah Siu Reunion in Samoa. Everyone was encouraged to go to their own faith worship. 

We have many different faith journeys in our aiga (family), i.e. Catholics, Presbyterians, Seventh-Day Adventists, Evangelicals and some with alternative faith journeys.

Of the five 'clans, ' my great-grandfather Aialaisa was the eldest, and some of our family ordered some neat banners and decorated them with Christmas-like decorations that just added to the festivities.

After lunch and dessert, there was talk about where the next Reunion would be held, and the 4 places were discussed with pros and cons for each:

• back in Samoa again (easier access for those living in Samoa) but a logistical nightmare as we experienced
• over to New Zealand (where I spoke about having had our turn already in 2018) plus the fact that I know how busy we would be again
• Australia were very keen to host it as they had not hosted one before
• USA but the problem would be costs and airfares plus visas are not always easy to obtain

In the end it was Australia that won the votes as they hadn't hosted one and they were also willing to host it too. Great stuff! I must confess that I spoke was really keen to have it in Australia in having a rest for another term.

So Australia it is in 2027 during the holidays so that people can attend during work holidays and school holidays for the children too. I heard it said that it will be hosted in Brisbane! Yay! where my elder brother will be living with his children and then we can see more of our families in Australia attending too...

Reflection on Lefaga beach...

 

Today our Reunion organisers had a day at a Lefaga Beach with beach fale and a spell of rain and hot shining sun.

It was sad to also reflect upon missing the funeral of my elder sister, who passed away in Auckland, but we couldn't be there with her children and sent financial support and our love.

Returning would have been a logistical nightmare with skyrocketing airfares during the holidays, and seats for all four of us simultaneously would have been horrendous to find.

To keep it simple, I watched it live-streamed in a hotel room with an aunt before taking off to the beach for our family reunion activities. It definitely wasn't the same, but it was in keeping with what we could do to support from afar.

It also reminded me of the importance of community. I advised some of the upcoming matai who wanted to have titles and explained that in my 24 years of being a female matai (high chief), it was important to be in the community, be it a Samoan church, regular family get-togethers like meetings, funerals, weddings and attending together etc.

I found that the biggest mistake that overseas matai made was not being in a community/s, i.e. standing independent and expecting people to follow instructions when not in the community. My father continues to be a shining example to me of how to do things in community, and he has been sadly missed at this family reunion as many have reminded me of the care and love he dealt with people.

He was one to coordinate and plan events, he delegated but also walked alongside, and he had a knack for getting things done on a budget with great results and success. I think I picked up that same knack and have been given opportunities to demonstrate this...

Aialaisa clan, Ah Siu Reunion Samoa 2024 Book Launch

 

Today was a very special day as it was the first official day of our Ah Siu Reunion 2024 in *Samoa. It was hosted at the Return to Paradise Resort & Spa in Lefaga.

In representing the Aialaisa clan (orange), my great grandfather's, my grandma Asia's, and my late father Fasavalu Faalavaau Aiolupo Uili's legacy.

The order of the day started with a sacred Chapel Service:

• Welcome by the Samoa Reunion komiti (committee) Leader and my Aunty Lomi, who with her husband are the resort manager/owner

• Lighting of candles for those who had passed away. I lit a candle for my dad, as did my youngest, who accompanied me, as it was the anniversary today of 3 years since he passed away and in remembrance of my elder sister, who passed away this week.

• Prayer by my Aunty Martha & Bible Reading that I read in English from Romans 8: 36 - 39 "... that nothing can separate us from the love of Lord Christ Jesus." We also had Holy Communion for those who were happy to eat a small piece of bread symbolic of the body of Christ and drink a symbolic red drink as the blood of Christ.

• Pese/Songs were sung at the beginning of the service, during and after. It was beautiful to feel the presence of God through Unity and love being shared together as a family, and the various parts of the service reminded us that we all served a higher purpose.

• Afterwards, we had an Ava Fa'afeiloa'i or a kava welcoming ceremony organised through my aunty's resort, with leaders from each clan welcomed and recognised through the ava ceremony. This was another sacred ceremony of the fa'aSamoa (Samoan way of doing things).

• We then moved into tau mafutaga or eating together, including dessert. Afterwards, the introductions began for each fale tama (house of children) clan member from the five siblings of Shing/Xing Ah Siu & Asialausapi Fasavalu.

• Birthday celebrations were interesting also that there were a couple of important birthdays at the Reunion and these were honoured with singing the birthday song, speeches and photos taken at the Photo Booth

• Therein, I was able to have a Book launch of my latest offering called "The Origins of Traditional Tatau (Tattoo) Samoa". The books were blessed by Dr. Rev. Peter, with 5 copies given away to each clan and 50 passed on to the resort in support of hosting our Reunion.

• Introductions were continued by each clan's leader, and it was interesting to learn about the gafa or family tree and how we all "fitted" into the family tree. We then finished with siva or dancing and a Prayer  

Tufulele village Pool project...

 

Back in sunny Samoa for our 2nd Ah Siu Reunion in Samoa for 2025. It was neat to drive into the town of Apia and check out the sites along the way.

There's been a lot of development over the past couple of years, and one that has piqued my interest has been the development of the Tufulele Village Pool.

I watched the development of the Tufulele Village Pool project each time we visited Samoa last year, and it was one such site that I was really interested in watching as it was a large freshwater rock pool they were developing.

Since my return, the CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 21 - 26 October (a couple of months ago) has already been hosted by Samoa. As we headed home after hosting international guests, we saw how each village decorated its roadside with bright lights, paintings, flags, and beautiful flora.

However, the Tufulele Pool project took it up another notch with railings and small faleo'o dotted around the pathway where people can have lunch near the rock pool with a nice scenic ocean view. Loving it back here in home-sweet-home.

Ah Siu Reunion Samoa 2024

 

It's all on! Getting ready for our Ah Siu Reunion, representing the Aialaisa clan (my paternal great grandfather) with bright oranges, although burnt orange was chosen by my cousin as she was quick off the mark. My choice would have been blues.

So next week, from 19 - 22 December, we're all converging in Upolu island in Samoa for a 4-day weekend celebration and getting to know each other with people flying in from the USA, American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand (I'm not sure of Hawaii?).

There are five fale tama (houses of children) or clans that my great, great grandparents, Shing Ah Siu (China) & Asia Fasavalu (Matautu, Falelatai), had with their eldest son Aialaisa being the branch that I come from.

My grandmother was his eldest and was named after her paternal grandmother and my progenitors. My father was my grandmother's eldest. So a small group from Auckland, New Zealand, will represent our family there. I'm so looking forward to it.

It will be interesting as this is our second Ah Siu Family reunion, with the first celebrated in Auckland in 2018, close to a year after my grandma Asia died. Her wish was for our families to fealofi or care/love one another.

So our family will be decked out in oranges (all shades as you can see in the pic) with complementing orange hat, orange ribbons, string and the list goes on. We're anticipating to have a lot of family members there with clan colours of: blue, green, red and purple.

Now starting to pack as there's so much to consider taking with the reunion starting next week on the Thursday on the 19th December which is a week from now. I've decided to even take a mini Christmas tree as we will be spending Christmas and New Year's day there. Roll on the weekend...

Evolution of Lolly leis...

 

I decided to write a blog on Lolly Leis and how I remember the evolution of where they started and how they came to be when I was growing up.

I remember as a youngster that the only time we would make up lolly leis was when we were going overseas, or we knew someone was going, and we would make up lolly leis for them.

This was especially in the 1970s (yeap! maybe even before then) when we would go to Samoa, or we knew someone who was going, and we would take them to wear on the plane.

Those lollies would then be gifted upon arrival to family or friends they would visit, as there were only a few lolly varieties sold there.

The story has now completely changed. Nowadays, there are a variety of leis, and some contain chocolates, bars of chocs and even money.

I also don't see them at airports anymore, but they are prolific, particularly at graduations where Pasifika students are, and they come in all different shapes and sizes. You can also coordinate the colours, like the ones in the pic with gold and blues above or with various coloured wrapping, like the ones below with a chocolate theme.

Even Tongan varieties have their own woven pattern that is not enclosed, draping them upon the recipient with ribbons. I even saw feathers (unsure if they were Maori), but they piqued my interest as it's the first time I've seen feathers used. I also saw one made into a type of hat. Now that was a first.

Suffice it to say that this won't be the first graduation to see innovation with feathers incorporated and even a hat whereby lolly/choc leis are a symbol of celebration, albeit at graduations where families celebrate their family member's success. Neither will it be the last...

Prize Giving and Success...

The busyness continues with the countdown towards Christmas and our trip away to sunny Samoa. However, today, we celebrated my youngest's success in the first year of high school at the prize giving.

It was where I learned to strive towards success, especially around prize giving, as I knew that my hard work would be rewarded.

I also have my parents to thank for always encouraging me when I was young, and now I pass on the same encouragement to my children.

It's an interesting year for my youngest as in a break from tradition, she is the only one of my close family who has gone to an inner city girls' grammar school.

My siblings and I went to the local high school co-ed with many Pasifika and Māori students and some European and Asian students.

At this particular prize giving, it was great to see many parents, grandparents, siblings and friends coming to the prizegiving and sharing this special time together. We got to give our lolly leis, flowers and best wishes to our youngest and also with other girls, some who were even related to us.

Now it's time for the holidays to start and it's something to look forward to as we count down with only five more sleeps before we board the plane to Samoa and soak in the sun in Samoa. Plus we have our Ah Siu Family Reunion. Not long now...

 

Brunch and family trips away...

 

I had brunch at 'The Gaff, ' a local cafe/restaurant with my eldest, and we both ordered an eggs Benedict with salmon. It came on two hash browns with a balsamic-type vinegar dressing.

I was catching up with my eldest as she had just returned from a trip with a friend to Rotorua (a 3 - 4 hour drive from Auckland) and told me about all the different rides they went on and the fun things they enjoyed.

She also recommended it for a family trip in the not-too-distant future, which I think is a great idea. I'm considering booking a family trip there sometime next year as something to look forward to.

I've also got a family trip to Samoa next week for our Ah Siu Family Reunion, so I am busy getting things ready with so much happening at this point in time. But it was good to catch up with my eldest over brunch as I try to keep up with what my children are doing, and I'm happy to support them whenever needed. Roll on the holidays...

Back to the gym this summer...

 

Can't believe how fast these past few months have been with Christmas just around the corner and planning to attend our Ah Siu family reunion in Samoa.

It's summer here and have finally made the decision to start back at our local gym complete with a swimming pool complex and outdoor pools as well.

I'd love to take up badminton again as that was one of my favourite sports growing up but unfortunately the fitness complex doesn't have provisions i.e. net to be able to play Badminton there.

But no worries there, as the treadmill (pictured left) and the weight machines are more than enough to keep me busy and enjoying the workouts again.

The gym was a place that I frequented many a time back over 5 years in my Uni days and before the kids so it great to be back with muscle memory and all that entails.

It's definitely something I'd encourage those over their 50s to consider, if not doing regular exercise as it keeps us health and fit (if we try and eat a more healthy and balanced diet) which isn't always easy as when one gets older, we kinda hang up our boots a bit (a lot).

So looking forward to what this new summer brings and especially in these last couple of weeks before Christmas. As I've finished all my marking with just a few small things to complete and then I'm home and away to Samoa. We're almost there....

Moana 2 at the movies...

 

Yesterday, I went with my youngest to watch the highly anticipated movie "Moana 2" at our local cinema. With our fave movies now, we pick up the tickets with the lounge chairs that you can chill into with your feet up and the chair back and relaxed.

Add to that some ice cream, popcorn and a drink (in a promotional Moana cup of course) and that adds to the atmosphere of enjoying the movie. In this movie Moana has grown into a young woman and navigator with a new slew of additional characters that brings more laughs to the movie.

I still prefer the first Moana movie as my fave with its iconic music and storyline but my youngest prefers this one better. I must say that it did feature some important Samoan cultural elements for me like the ava ceremony with the ava bowl that was featured twice with for her title bestowal and for welcoming guests.

The other Samoan element was the tattoos featured on both hands of Moana's mother which are similar to mine but only on my right hand and Moana features one extended upon her hand. It was also interesting to see the Samoan male tattoos called a pe'a or malofie on Moana's father that was featured in the origin Moana and also on the old man.

This is the topic of the next book that I hope to publish and launch sometime soon. It's about the origins of tatau or tattoo in Samoa. It is so neat to see women's malu lima or hand tattoo featuring on the movie. Interestingly enough they didn't feature the Samoan thigh tattoo that is very popular called the malu.

It gave me great pride to think that I came from a line of navigators who traversed the seas and conquered the Pacific Ocean way before any European ventured out into the oceans. It also confirms our identities as explorers and wayfinders, with our ancestral DNA continuing to this day...

"Proud to be Samoan" FREE Artwork/s by Doug Healy...

 

Check out "Doug Healy"s artwork that I came across on Facebook. When I saw this particularly print I saved it as the artist has written on his Facebook post, and I quote..."All my Art is FREE to use and enjoy."

Thanks Doug Healy as he's obviously an amazingly talented artist but to share his artwork freely for other to enjoy shows his generosity to the max!

I especially like this series of his artwork on "Identities". If you go to his Facebook site it showcases his talent by creating artworks that feature iconic images associated with the theme of the pic.

Take for example this one with the red, white and blue colours of the flag, frangipani flowers, coconut palm tree fronds, some traditional Samoan tattoo designs with the words "Proud to be Samoan." So why not check it out and see if he has an iconic image that summarizes your cultural identity...

P.D. at Mt Maunganui then homeward bound...

Had a great time at Mt. Maunganui just out of Tauranga. Really enjoyed meeting with our national team of kaiako (tutors/lecturers) for our professional development with a team of 8 of us.

It's a 3 hour drive out of Auckland and the weather was beautiful driving in and then 3 days later, driving out to Auckland.

We have four campuses offering the course of learning called: Kaitiakitanga (guardianship, protection, preservation etc.) Post Graduate Diploma of Bicultural Professional Supervision.

The campuses are at:

1. Tamaki Makaurau (Māngere, Auckland campus)
2. Mangakotukutuku (Hamilton campus)
3. Tauranga campus
4. Papaioea (Palmerston North campus)

I even got time to explore a lil' island with a walkway as pictured above and between meetings we were able to go for long walks, swimming at the hotel pool (I gave the sea a miss) or just chillaxing on our hotel balconies. 

Now ready for finishing my marking, closing the year and looking forward to visiting Samoa in a couple more weeks. Roll on Christmas...

 

Sun, Surf and sand at Mt. Maunganui...

 

I'm currently in Mt Maunganui on a 3-day professional development teaching focus with discussions on how everything went.

Mt. Maunganui is an interesting place to be as I remember coming down with my family a few years ago. 

It's become a real touristy town with lots of hotels/motels and private homes on 'Marine Parade' and many luxury Cruise ships dock at the harbour nearby. 

Across the road the beach with golden sands beckons us all to put down our tools and enjoy the sand, surf and sun but we're here for some professional development so all the fun starts after finishing the work. Gotta go and catch some sun, oops! I mean surf! oops! I mean work meetings...