Chocolate leis and celebrations...

This week, I went with my family to celebrate the PhD scholarship that my beloved received from AUT. It was an interesting event with people from many different backgrounds.

However, before we travelled there, I supported my middle child in making a bunch of what used to be called lolly leis, except that these ones were made out of mini chocolates.

I shared about the history of lolly leis (which I might have already blogged about earlier). I remember as a child, my mother and other ladies would make up lolly leis for those going to Samoa whenever we went to the airport back in the 1970s - 1980s.

It was interesting back then because that was the only place that I would see it. I also remember taking them to Samoa and seeing children enjoying themselves as NZ lollies were a treat back then.

I was interestingly surprised when I took my then young children to a South Auckland primary school and watched as children would go up to pick up their prizes, and their families would go and put on lolly (or chocolate) leis. 

I saw how much my children appreciated this all the way through to high school, where they continued to do so and now at University, they do the same thing with their friends who appreciate it. So we've become something of a machine when it happens. 

It was also interesting to see how much has changed, with Tongan women taking it to the next level with their neat designs akin to weaving. It's not a phenomenon unique only to New Zealand, as I've seen it in videos from Hawaii and the United States, though some people go to the extreme of consuming whole blocks or bars of chocolate. Let's not even get started on the money leis!

Now, it's more about celebration and chocolate; lolly leis have become a symbol of celebration in many Polynesian cultures. The funny thing is that although it is often given to one person, that person then distributes it to other people. It was the same when we went out, and I was given one, and then I passed it out to someone who didn't have one (that's because I had some when making it).

So let's give it up for the lolly/choc/money leis that have evolved and now are in the space of celebration and showing up whenever Pacific peoples are out there. Especially with the cheehoos that I heard my children shouting out when they saw their dad receive the award then added the choc leis!