P.22 Mixed cultures, better interactions
P.38 Celebrating diversity and clearing misconceptions
P.54 Humor: Key to dealing with cultural differences
BYUH and Church Culture
45 Dating culture: Managing dating expectations and embracing reality
48 Language as a cultural identity-maker
50 Discovering cultures through missionary service
52 Navigating life and faith as non-members
54 Humor: Key to dealing with cultural differences
56 Cultural bridges of faith
58 Building connections through cultural differences
60 TVA babies return to BYUH
63 ‘Huki’ canoe show returns to PCC
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ON THE COVER: Photo of Vimbayinashe Jennifer Mutsvanga and a collage of ornamental drawings. Photo by Yui Leung. Illustrations by Guen Ramirez. Graphics by Moevai Tefan. BACK COVER: Quote from Sofia Calderon. Illustrations by Guen Ramirez. Graphics by Moevai Tefan.
The Ke Alaka‘i began publishing the same year the University, then called Church College of Hawaii, opened. It has continued printing for more than 65 years. The name means “the leader” in Hawaiian. What began as a monthly newsletter, evolved into a weekly newspaper, then a weekly magazine and is now a magazine published 8 times a year with a website and a social media presence. Today, a staff of about 20 students work to provide information for BYU–Hawaii’s campus ohana and Laie’s community.
© 2024 Ke Alaka‘i BYU–Hawaii All Rights Reserved
Dear Readers,
In my Intercultural Communication class, I read about a society called Aceriema, where people use bundles of animal hair on sticks to clean their teeth and visit “latipsoh” temples for painful healing rituals involving sharp tools and burning ointments. They even use potions to change their appearance. As I continued reading, it hit me. Aceriema is America spelled backward. The animal hair on a stick? A toothbrush. The healing rituals? Hospital visits. The potions? Everyday products like makeup.
What I once saw as strange was actually common American culture reflected through a different lens. I learned how different cultural practices can trigger ethnocentrism, the tendency to view one’s culture as superior, because what I considered “normal” was shaped by my own perspective.
BYU–Hawaii has deepened my understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures. I used to wonder why Americans wear shoes in their homes, but now I find myself doing the same from time to time, and it no longer bothers me. I often think of the society of Aceriema to remind myself to respect other cultures in my interactions with others. My current motto is, “What I do isn’t necessarily right, and what others do isn’t necessarily wrong.” Every culture has its own unique practices, and that’s what makes them all beautiful.
This issue of our magazine invites you to explore and celebrate the diversity of cultures and the unique ways they influence our worldviews. Discover how generational slang is created and what sets the unique expressions of Gen Z and Gen Alpha apart on page 10. Learn how traditional pregnancy and postpartum care practices vary from your own culture on page 36.
We address common misconceptions about Africa as students shed light on the realities often overlooked by the media on page 38. You’ll also find insights on building meaningful friendships across diverse backgrounds and tips for better interacting with people from mixed cultures on pages 58 and 20.
Let’s all celebrate the beauty of diversity and the connections that enrich our BYUH community!
Mahalo, Bella Chimedbaatar Managing editor
Members of different generations explain how generational slang is created, what it’s used for and what is unique about Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang
BY MANHATTAN ETHINGTON PRIEN
There has not been a time in history where language has not been changing and evolving, explained Dr. Jeffrey Maloney, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Business & Social Work. He referred to the example of romance languages. “At one time in history, [the romance languages] were viewed as just a dialect of Latin, and they eventually flourished and took on their own forms … [like] French and Spanish and Portuguese.”
Similarly, each generation has created their own dialects of language, which they use to indicate status over others or share solidarity with members of their generation, said Maloney. “Humans are social creatures,” he shared. “We like to express a connection with other people - different groups we might want to be affiliated with,” said Maloney. When we use a term associated with a certain social group,he explained, we are indicating we are like the people in that group.
Dr. Mark Wolfersberger, a professor in the Faculty of Education & Social Work, agreed, “There’s this identity that comes with being a young person … and you want to show your in-group identity as part of that.” An abundance of slang in language is a common characteristic amongst younger groups of people, he said.
Audrey Sant, a paraprofessional teacher who works at Laie Elementary with sixth graders and a senior from California majoring in intercultural peacebuilding, said she sees students use slang to gain status or show solidarity with each other. She shared most of the Gen Z slang happens during interactions on the playground between students and is not really directed at her or other teachers.
Sant said Gen Z words like “alpha” and “sigma” are mostly used by boys who “are definitely wanting to be top dog.” She explained she thinks the students use slang because “it sets them apart from the older adults. They don’t want to talk like boring adults do. They want to talk like their other peers.” Using a shared language also seems to help students connect with their peers while learning, Sant said.
Maloney explained how each generation has had their own unique coming-of-age experiences resulting in a new shared culture that requires its own language and
expression. New generational language is created at the perfect time for new generations, he said, “You’re trying out new stuff. You’re exploring the world. You’re learning about the world and [exploring] new things or things that may be new to you.”
There are a whole host of factors that go into language creation, Maloney shared, including geographical, technological, social and political factors as well as ideas of ownership, language play and the transmission of language between generations.
Previously, language change would happen solely within shared geographic areas, Wolfersberger said. “But those boundaries have been broken down with technology, and now you can interact with people from all over the world from anywhere and be influenced by the language they’re using,” he said.
Maloney agreed, “[We] have different cultures and groups that are interacting and intermingling that historically never would have.” Technology itself also drives the creation of new terms, he said, as we often need new names for new technologies and the experiences associated with new technologies.
As Gen Z gets older, they will likely leave behind some of the slang they are using now, just as previous generations did, Wolfersberger said. However, “everybody will maintain some aspects of slang,” he shared, so there will be certain words that will carry on throughout the lives of those in Gen Z.
Some words will stick around and influence more than just Gen Z as well, Maloney shared. “There’s going to be certain terms that last and maybe get spread beyond age and social groups,” he said. Words from his youth as a millennial are still being used today, like “ghosting,” “low-key” or “LOL,” he said, explaining there’s “no clear cut-off,” when it comes to generational language.
Maloney said there is a lot more to the topic of generational language than meets the eye and encouraged people to consider the impact of culture on generational language. “Gen Z slang in Japan is probably different from Gen Z slang in the United
States versus the Philippines. Maybe there’s an opportunity there to learn some really interesting things,” he explained.
People get to explore these kinds of topics in linguistics and sociolinguistics, Maloney said. He encouraged anyone who is interested in learning more to “come talk to linguistics and TESOL professors because we love to have chats about this kind of stuff.”
In the 1980s, Wolfersberger said Generation X used words like “bad,” “rad” and “awesome.” He said he still uses the word “awesome” regularly, sharing, “[It’s] attached to my identity as someone who grew up in the ’80s, and it projects who I am.”
For millennials in the 2000s, Maloney said words like “totes,” “salty,” “throw shade,” “chillax” and “FOMO” were all the rage, although he shared while laughing, “I will neither confirm nor deny whether or not I actually used these or whether I just heard them.”
Older members of Gen Z may remember words that spilled over from the millennial slang and became part of Gen Z dialect, like “low-key,” “haters,” “YOLO” and “on fleek,” Sant said. “[I was] trying to think of our equivalent [to current slang],” she shared, “and I remember my mom being like, ‘What does that mean? Brows on fleek? On fleek? Is it French?’”
Younger members of Gen Z and the upcoming members of Generation Alpha use a whole new set of slang, Sant said, including words like “alpha,” “sigma,” “cap” and “per,” which is short for “perfect.” Sant said many of her young Gen Z students cannot create a definition for the terms they use. Instead, they define the words by “the action surrounding the word, the vibe,” she shared.
A collection of modern slang and their corresponding definitions can be found in the compiled dictionary on the next page. •
ate /āt/ verb refers to someone who did something very well. “Did you see Abbey’s presentation? She ate that up!”
aura /’ôr-ə/ noun used to compliment someone’s ability, perceived power, or sense of coolness and mystery. Often used to compliment athletes. “That play was so good! Bil has crazy aura.”
bed rot /bed rät/ noun spending extended periods of time in bed, often engaging in activities like watching TV or reading. “After a busy week, Ann was looking forward to relaxing with some much-needed bed rot.”
bet /bet/ noun in agreement with something, or used for okay or affirmative. “You want me to come to your study session? Bet!”
boujee /’bü-,zhē/ adjective rich, luxurious, fancy. “Bella grew up going to a boujee country club in the suburbs.”
brat /brat/ adjective a term coined by singer Charlie XCX in a tweet, positively describes a person, often female, who is genuine, selfpossessed, non-conforming, with a rebellious streak. “Camille is so brat.”
bussin’ /’bə-sən/ adjective something is really good. “Your cookies are bussin’, Valerie!”
Ccap /’kap/ verb and adjective lying or faking. “Guen has the best drawings. No cap.”
cooked /ko˘okt/ adjective something or someone that is done, exhausted, or doomed. “Andrew fell asleep during the lecture… He is so cooked.”
Ddemure /də' myo˘or/ adjective often paired with the words “cutesy” and “mindful,” originates in a TikTok meant to humorously emphasize attempts to be modest, reserved and conscious of others. “You see how Linda is kind to others? Very cutesy, very mindful, very demure.”
era /'erə/ noun often used in the phrase, “in my _____ era.” Describes a period of time characterized by certain interests, lifestyles, priorities, emotional states or achievements.
“Ice is in his fitness era.”
cooking /’ko˘okiNG/ verb describes someone who is performing well. “I’m cooking with this presentation.”
core /kôr/ suffix used in tandem with another word to describe a fashion and decor aesthetic or a trending lifestyle. Ex: balletcore, goblincore, cottagecore. “That skirt is so cottagecore.”
fit /fit/ noun short for outfit. “Sister Lambert always has the best fits.”
Ggassing /'ga-siŋ/ verb exaggerating someone else’s abilities, accomplishments, or qualities. “She’s already confident enough, she doesn’t need any more gassing.”
GOAT /gōt/ adjective an acronym that stands for “greatest of all time,” praising someone for being the best. “Myco is the GOAT!”
Iick /ik/ noun a feeling of disgust towards someone or something. “Naomi said it gives her the ick when guys never text back.”
LL /'εl/ noun loss, loser. “Manhattan didn’t study for the exam, so she just took the L.”
menty b /'mεnti-bi/ abbreviation for mental breakdown. “I’m going to go to Counseling Services to prevent having a menty b.”
mewing /' myōōiNG/ noun and verb a facial exercise technique involving proper tongue placement to accentuate a sharp jaw. “I can’t talk right now, I’m mewing.”
Qqueen /kwēn/ noun used to praise someone for looking good, doing something remarkable or saying something you agree with. “Yes Pim, go queen!”
rizz /'riz/ noun and verb short for charisma, the ability to charm a potential love interest. “Louis has so much rizz.”
Ssigma /'sigmə/ noun and adjective someone who is cool, successful and popular but introverted and possibly rebellious. It carries a similar meaning to the term “lone wolf.” “Ranitea is definitely a sigma. She’s so cool.”
simp /'simp/ noun and verb someone who is desperate for affection or romantic relationships, either generally or from a specific person. “Everyone simps for Moevai because she is so pretty.”
skibidi /skıbıdi/ adjective depending on the context, it can mean cool, bad or dumb. “You totally have skibidi rizz.”
slaps /slaps/ adjective amazing or excellent. “Nozomi’s new magazine design slaps!”
slay /slā/ verb doing something extremely well. “CJ slayed in her article about Culture Night!”
sus /səs/ adjective short for suspicious, suspect. “Winslette thinks she’s been acting kind of sus lately.”
Ttea /tē/ noun gossiping about something. “She knows everything and loves to spill the tea.”
W
W / ' d ᴧ bəlju/ noun win, winner. “Sai took the W on his paper.”
Yyap /yap/ verb to say a lot of meaningless words or to talk too much. “Time to stop yapping and get back to work!”
All definitions and example sentences from gabb.com.
All pronunciation diacritical marks from Oxford Languages and Merriam-Webster. •
BYUH students and faculty share how living as a “third-culture kid” helped them with more knowledge, confidence and love for different cultures and opportunities to serve
BY ANN GOEBEL
Camilla Marie Fajardo said after growing up in 11 places across the world, she never felt like she had to choose one identity or culture over the others. “I just felt accepted,” said Fajardo, a political science junior. “The greatest thing I have learned through my experiences living in different countries is you don’t have to choose just one [identity].”
Fajardo lived the life of a “third-culture kid,” a term that refers to children who are raised in cultures other than their parents’ or their country of nationality for a significant amount of time, according to Merriam-Webster.com. Celia Omae, another BYUH student and third-culture child, along with Jaimee and Jim Neel, two parents who raised third-culture children, shared similar sentiments with Fajardo, explaining how growing up globally can positively shape a person’s identity.
Due to Fajardo’s father’s job as a U.S. diplomat, she said she has lived in Utah, Washington D.C., Peru, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, New York City, Singapore, Germany, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates. Her parents also share an intercultural marriage, she said, as her dad is from Utah and her mom is from Brazil.
Fajardo said she credits her mom as the reason she was able to have such a culturally rich childhood. “She loves learning about new cultures and cooking. She’s super outgoing and talks to everyone. She would always be talking with people outside.” She said her mom’s outgoing and curious nature helped her entire family immerse themselves more fully in the local cultures where they lived. Specifically, Fajardo said she recalls the many Muslim friends her mother made in Uzbekistan and how even though there were established bases in Germany for families like hers to live in, Fajardo’s mother insisted they live among the locals.
Fajardo said of all the places she lived, Uzbekistan helped her grow the most as a person. She said practicing speaking in a foreign language could be intimidating, and when her family first moved there, she “was scared to speak with people.” She added meeting English speakers among the locals was rare. “Taking the taxi alone, you have to know how to say where you want to go in Russian. [When] going to the market, you have to [know how to say] ‘I want two bread.’” Despite how hard it was at first, she said it ended up being a good growing experience for her. “[It] really helped with my self-esteem. Before, I didn’t like attention. I wasn’t as outgoing,” she said.
Another aspect of living in Uzbekistan that helped push her out of her comfort zone was attending church, she said. “In Uzbekistan, the predominant religion is Islam. For church, we didn’t have a building or a place to worship.” She added there were only three or four families of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where she lived in Uzbekistan. Every month, she shared, one of the families would take a turn holding church in their home each week. She said she saw the contrast of their small meetings as opposed to large wards she had previously been in. She explained instead of spending time in church listening to and learning from more outspoken peers her age, she felt like she “had to take on more of a role of teaching other people and [her] siblings.” Though the church looked different in each country, Fajardo said attending church regularly helped her become more confident. Knowing she would have people to worship with each week provided her with a sense of stability during moves, she said.
One of the biggest lessons she said she learned by living in different countries was, “Heavenly Father wants every one of His children to return to live with Him. It’s not just one group, one religion or one people. He loves each and every one of us and each one of us has worth, potential and a role in His plan.”
Fajardo said she heard Muslim prayers daily, five times a day, while she was in Uzbekistan. She shared, “There’s someone who’s saying the prayer on the [mosque’s] speaker, and you can hear it all down [the streets]. It’s like this beautiful, almost music-like prayer.” She said though she did not understand the words of the prayers, it was “very peaceful.”
Fajardo shared her amazement at Muslims’ commitment to their prayer practice and how it helped strengthen her relationship with prayer. She said, “Even if they were driving and they couldn’t go to a mosque, they would pull over in their cars and put their prayer rugs down and pray ... That is just so beautiful.” She said their level of gratitude to God was inspirational because she felt like many members of the Church treat prayer as an item on a checklist that can be put off until the next day if too tired or busy. She said it is important to, “bring meaning back to prayer. It’s conversing with our Heavenly Father, showing gratitude for Him and all that He’s given.”
Jaimee and Jim Neel, both adjunct instructors in the Faculty of Business & Government, said they believe the opportunity to live all over the world was a wonderful experience for their four children. They were both employed by the U.S. Department of State in the Foreign Service, so their family lived in Brazil, China, Kenya, Egypt, England, Greece and Oahu. Jaimee Neel said each move created conflicting feelings for their children. “We were always really excited because we were looking forward to the new thing, but it [was] sad to leave behind friends. [You wish you] could have done more in the country.”
Jim Neel said while leaving international school friends could be difficult for their children, knowing they and their friends would be moving about every three years, “set expectations. And I think it contributed to this resilience and making the best of the situation.” However, Jaimee Neel said being members of the Church, a small community within the Foreign Service, created a unique situation where their family would regularly run into other member families. “There’s one family we served with three times,” she said. In fact, the Neels said two of their children have been able to reconnect with childhood friends at BYU in Provo.
Ultimately, Jim Neel said many third culture children they interacted with, like his own, wouldn’t be able to adapt well to growing up globally if they “didn’t know any different.” However, Jim Neel said he noticed young teenagers who had lived in America their whole lives and were uprooted suddenly to go overseas often struggled.
Jim Neel said it was a huge priority to them that their children grow up with a strong American identity. He said being associated with the American embassy provided them with a built-in American community. Though not all students at the international schools were American, teaching their children using American curriculum often drew in American teachers, other Americans in the community and American supporters. This created opportunities, “to do Halloween and trick-or-treating ... [Even non-Americans] were excited to do Fourth of July, and around the community there would be baseball, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts.”
Additionally, rather than traveling around the world when their work gave them vacation time, he said they would intentionally return to the United States. Experiencing things like rodeos and visiting family in Las Vegas, Hawaii and Utah helped their children form a strong American identity, Jim Neel said. Jaimee Neel shared she was also grateful their family and friends were eager to travel to visit them. “We had a lot of milestones for our kids overseas. Like our son got his Eagle Scout award in Beijing and family and friends came out to support,” he added.
Jim Neel also said their children seemed to develop a strong identity while living in Greece because of their history lessons on the history of racism in the United States. He said this educational experience overseas helped them to develop a more nuanced sense of national pride. “[Our children] have a much more wide-eyed view of America’s problems with racism, gun violence, lack of universal healthcare, lack
of welfare, lack of access to education,” Jim Neel shared. “For them to see those problems that America has and then still embrace it and have an American identity is a much more mature level of patriotism that I think most Americans don’t get to until they’re in college where they start to have critical theory about U.S. history.” Jim Neel expressed his pride for his children, nothing that for “[their children] to identify as American, they were viewing the most negative comments about America and then having to make their peace with it.”
Celia Omae, a junior from Papua New Guinea studying psychology, said although living in Tonga and Fiji during high school was difficult, she was grateful for the opportunity to grow and explore different cultures. “It was a good experience in which I learned to put myself out there with them. How to mingle. How to live together,” she said.
Having attended Liahona High School and Fiji LDS Church College, Omae said she was exposed to different Pacific Island cultures throughout her adolescence. With a laugh, she shared her experience of feeling tiny among her Tongan classmates as she would walk the school hallway with her backpack. She added she enjoyed learning how gender norms can vary from culture to culture. Back in Port Moresby, she said women
were expected to be independent and do everything by themselves, but she saw other cultures sometimes treat women as “queens.”
However, she said it was not all easy. Omae said learning to understand the Tongan sense of humor was difficult for her. She said she often felt offended and angered by her classmates’ comments. She explained, “They love to tease. It’s not common back home. If you tease, you tease to a certain limit, but if you go over that, that’s a totally different story.” Omae shared it was also hard for her to learn a new language. “I had to learn the [Fijian] language at some point because I lived with people who couldn’t speak fluent English ... I had to try my best to find ways to communicate with them,” she said.
Omae said she learned many lessons about cultural understanding the hard way during her experiences living abroad. Her advice to anyone moving to a new place with a different culture was to “put yourself in their shoes and walk ...You’ll better understand those different cultures, different people, their attitude, behavior ... Just embrace what comes toward you.” •
BY LINDA LAULU
In the Pacific, where traditions are deeply rooted and stories are passed down through generations, Lowell Laulu, an alumna from American Samoa, said the love stories of elders hold significant value. “For many, these stories are more than memories. They form the foundations of family, culture and faith,” she said.
James Laga’aia, Lowell Laulu and Lenora Tautiaga said they have heard loves stories directly from their grandparents that reflected their love, resilience and faith. As their grandparents shared these narratives, the grandchildren said they gave them insights into a time when their love was sustained through challenges, and family bonds were strengthened through their
Love at first glance
Laga’aia, a senior political science major from Samoa, shared his grandparents’ love story. During his grandfather’s lifetime, he was a
farmer, a hospital porter and a boxing trainer, Laga’aia said, and his name was Ielu Matavao Johnson. His grandmother, he added, Aiava Saolele, was a homemaker.
Before their passing, Laga’aia said they shared with him the heartwarming story of how they met. “They [first] met at the hospital where my Grandpa was a porter,” Laga’aia recounted. His grandfather’s job involved transporting patients, he said. During one of his duties, Laga’aia said his grandfather encountered his future wife, who had been admitted after being electrocuted while hanging up laundry.
“My grandpa was responsible for pushing her bed from the emergency room to one of the hospital wards,” he explained. Despite his shift nearing its end, his grandfather stayed to talk to her, he said. “He was supposed to finish his shift in an hour when my nana was brought in, [instead] he stayed the whole day talking to her,” Laga’aia said. This became a daily routine throughout her hospital stay, he added. Once she was discharged, they continued to see each other, he recounted,
and eventually they got married and raised six children together. His mother is the fourth oldest of the six, Laga’aia explained.
In 1982, Laga’aia said his grandparents joined the Church and sealed their family in the temple, marking a significant milestone in their journey together.
Laga’aia said his grandfather affectionately referred to his grandmother as his “maasoama,” which is “a word in Samoan that can be roughly translated as rock or foundation.” He said his grandfather always spoke of her beauty. He added, “The first time [my grandpa] saw her at the hospital, he knew she was the one.”
“My grandpa and grandma always talked about how happy they were as a couple raising their kids [with] my grandpa’s [parents and siblings],” Laga’aia said.
Despite not having the luxury of dates or much money, Laga’aia said, they managed to till the land and grow a family.
In their early days together, they lived on a plantation where his grandfather would work after his normal job, Laga’aia said “They
found happiness in all of [their experiences],” Laga’aia said.
Laulu shared stories about her deceased maternal grandparents, Siliva Lealao Sr. and Fiapito Lealao, who met each other in the village of Alao on the eastern side of American Samoa. She expressed her love for the humble beginnings of her grandparents’ relationship. “My grandfather was the first one to pursue my grandmother, writing her long love letters while serving in the United States Marines.”
Laulu shared, “I remember my grandma saying that my grandfather fell for her first, but she was not his biggest fan initially.” Laulu said her grandma used to tell stories of her future husband trying to woo her, but she had so many options to choose from, and the letters he kept sending were piling up. “I think it took my grandfather’s good looks and poems for her to consider him as a suitor,” said Laulu.
Lenora Tautiaga, a sophomore from Samoa majoring in computer science, said, “My grandparents [Huto Nan Yan from Moto’otua and Kirisitina Leota Nan Yan from Solosolo] met at a singing contest for the youth in the Saleimoa Ward in Samoa in 1978.” Tautiaga said her grandmother missed her youth group bus and caught a ride with another youth group on a different bus where she sat next to her grandpa. “He sugarcoated her with words and asked if they could date, but my grandma said, ‘Give me some time to think about it’,” Tautiaga said.
“My grandma had a very strict Samoan mother, so dating life back then was scary and intimidating,” Tautiaga explained. Her grandmother’s grandparents would usually call over the phone or meet up at youth activities, she said. She added her grandmother originally went to the youth singing contest to meet someone else, but she ended up meeting Tautiaga’s grandfather instead.
Laga’aia described his grandfather as “a bit of a hard man” who frequently got into fights as a young man. However, according to Laga’aia’s grandmother, it changed when they both became members of the Church. His grandfather, a semi-pro boxer, turned his life around and started a boxing club, training all his children, including Laga’aia’s mother, he said. In fact, one of his uncles represented Samoa in the South Pacific Games, Laga’aia said, after all the inspiration and motivation from their father.
Laulu said her grandparents decided to move to Hawaii with their 10 children for a better future. Her grandfather passed away when her mom, the youngest child, was about 3 years old, Laulu shared. “My grandfather took care of my grandmother and 10 children, and with his passing, [my grandmother] took on the role of both father and mother,” she explained.
Laulu said she admires her grandmother’s strength to move on after losing her husband.
cherished
Laga’aia said one quality his grandmother admired from his grandfather is his diligence in working . “He was also a very loving man who became a great chief of the family. He would help anyone who came to ask for food from his plantation and farm. My nana was always the peacemaker and was a very hardworking woman too,” he added.
Sharing some of her grandparents’ admired characteristics, Laulu said, “My grandmother was a beautiful Samoan woman. She was very independent, outspoken and was not afraid of confrontation.” She said her grandmother took her responsibility of being born as a high chief’s granddaughter very seriously and was known amongst their village as someone who did not shy away from a fight if it involved her family. “I imagine my grandfather saw strength, resilience and power in the way that she held herself,” Laulu said.
She added her grandfather was a humble, handsome and collected man. “What a match they are, and I am sure they are enjoying [each other’s] company on the other side of the veil,” said Laulu. They are the definition of love, strength and perseverance, she said.
Tautiaga said, “Grandma admired grandpa’s bravery, handsomeness, and being a man of God. While grandpa admired grandma’s humility, patience, and great cooking skills.” She said these qualities helped her grandparents get through difficult times, especially because her grandmother’s family wasn’t supportive of their relationship.
Advice for the generations
Reflecting on his grandparents’ advice, Laga’aia said, “They always focused on school, maybe because of how hard it was back then. They always told me that finding a wife is easier than finding a loaf of bread [or choosing a career]. So, choose wisely.”
After reminiscing on the memories shared by her grandmother, Laulu said although there are so many great examples her grandmother left with her, her siblings and cousins, the one that stood out to her was her grandmother’s love for the Lord. “She would tell me that the choices we make in this life would either make or break us. It has stuck with me through all these years, and it has guided me in so many forks in the road of my journey on earth. We must strive to put the Lord first in everything we do,” she said.
Tautiaga shared, “Grandma always advised, ‘Don’t be too quick to date because you will find Mr. Right at the right time and place’.” •
BY MYCO MARCAIDA
BYU–Hawaii assistant professor Mason Kamana Allred advises people to be ready to make mistakes when communicating using emojis. “Especially in humor which does not translate well crossculturally, it’s great training to tell people if a certain message comes off differently,” he added.
“It is also best to be aware that communicating with emojis is not always going to be a one-to-one perfect communication and may vary by generation and by gender,” he added.
He shared one experience he had conversing through text with one of his children. “I usually figure out what my kids mean, but every once in a while, I can tell that there is a depth to it. My daughter sent me a painting of nails emoji. She explained that it meant confidence and self-care,” he added.
A brief history of emojis
The first emoji was popularized by Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita in 1999 who worked for a developmental team for an early internet platform from DOCOMO, Japan’s main mobile carrier, says Wired.
Britannica says Kurita’s emoji was inspired by manga art and kanji characters. “Apple hid an emoji keyboard on the first Iphone in 2007 to attract more Japanese customers, but North Americans had discovered the keyboard, and now emojis are available and are translated across platforms
thanks to Unicode,” adds the site.
Unicode is a universal encoding standard which assigns a unique code to every character, symbol and script used in writing systems around the world, says Geeks For Geeks. “Text is consistently represented and understood across programs, devices and platforms because of Unicode,” adds the site.
In 2017, CNBC wrote an article about a person who makes a living decoding emojis. According to the site, businesses started reaching out to specialists like Keith Broni from Ireland. “He is the first person in the
the site.
Using emojis in conversation showcases one’s personality, said Jan Jeush Aries, a junior majoring in elementary education from the Philippines. She shared her five most used emojis on Facebook Messenger. “I use the almost laughing emoji without tears, the red heart emoji, the thumbs up emoji, the celebration emoji and the shy face emoji.” She said she thinks she uses them to show her personality and how she would react in real life if the conversation is set face-to-face.
“The truth is in a lot of situations, emojis are actually more effective showing more emotional presence.”
world with the Emoji Translator job title.” adds CNBC.
Specialists like Broni work for Londonbased Today Translations which provides translation services internationally, says CNBC. In an email response he wrote for the site, Broni explained emojis allow its users to show the emotional context of a statement. “Emojis allow us to imbue digital messages with the non-verbal cues inherent to face-toface interaction. Normally we’d use words but through emojis, we can convey vocal tone, pose or gesture rather than just words,” adds
According to Britannica, emoticons are letters, punctuation marks, and numbers used to create pictorial icons that show a sentiment or emotion while emojis are pictographs of faces, objects and symbols. The biggest difference between emoticons and emojis lies in how they look.
ScienceDirect says the absence of emoticons in a text leads to misunderstanding between sender and receiver. “Using a smiling emoticon in text was rated as more positive
than one without an emoticon present,” adds the site.
Edward Salazar, a sophomore majoring in business management from the Philippines, said the bad thing about emoji use is the confusion it gives to both ends of a conversation. “Because everything is online, a level of professionalism should be considered,” he added.
Emojis function like emoticons but show more human emotional expressions, says ScienceDirect. “Emojis are used for modifying tone, reducing interpersonal distance and formality, entertainment, and maintaining relationships,” the site says.
Salazar shared the first emoji he sent to someone was the ‘thumbs-up’ emoji. “I remember having a conversation with someone in one of the group chats I was part
of on Facebook messenger. Instead of replying ‘yes’ to agree with that person, I sent the emoji instead,” he added.
Using the thumbs-up emoji vary depending on the context of the conversation, explained Salazar. “It all comes down to who you are talking to and what you’re talking about,” he added.
The times have changed
Peter Suciu, a Michigan-based writer from Forbes, says a symbol can take on a meaning that is almost essentially a code of sorts to people. “Millennials were the first smartphone generation and Gen x popularized Internet use and flip phones. As these generations grew with technology, emojis were already a part of culture they embraced and helped evolve,” said Suciu.
Suciu added, “In the same way, Generation Z took the baton of the common way of using those emojis, by the two previous generations, raising it to another level, where the mixture of uses is what enriches communication.”
Allred said he tended to push back against using emojis too much. “I thought I was doing better if I said more. The truth is in a lot of situations, emojis are actually more effective showing more emotional presence.”
Allred identifying himself as part of Generation Y or Millennials shared his most used app on his phone for communicating is the text messaging app. “I tend to interact mostly with people who are close to me. I don’t interact or get a lot of messages from people I don’t know,” he added.
Learning how to show courtesy and respect to people from mixed cultures
BY MYCO MARCAIDA
ABYU–Hawaii professor and students from mixed cultural backgrounds stressed the importance of understanding the concept of liminal space and avoiding categorization. They said being aware of microaggressions is a practice of showing courtesy when interacting with people who have diverse cultures.
Understanding microaggressions
Keila Faaootoa, who is half Samoan and half American, explained people of mixed heritage like her are called “afatasi,” meaning half-caste or half of one. Faaootoa, a freshman majoring in political science from Utah, added, “That is what it’s called in Polynesian culture when you’re half, and I hate it.”
She said children who grew up being labeled as half of something usually identify strongly with one or the other. “You’re too much of one to belong fully to another. So I feel like I identify a lot as Samoan, but I’m very fair so I look palagi,” she shared.
According to Faaootoa, microaggressions are prevalent in daily conversations. “Comments like ‘Oh, you’re really white’ or ‘Oh, you’re Polynesian? That’s weird.’ Lots of little things are inherently racist but come off innocent because of ignorance,” she added.
Andrew Limobong, a writer for the NPR website, described microaggressions as subtle, everyday instances of racism, homophobia and sexism that are expressed as gestures, comments or insults.
Dr. AnnaMarie Christiansen, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts & Letters who is Italian and Maori, said she experienced
microaggressions from outside the community she identifies with and those in it. “We didn’t really have a word for it back then. It was based on internalized expectations that people try as much as possible to align to a Western ideal of beauty or economic power,” she added.
Having fair skin, dark eyes and dark hair makes one not readily identifiable as one thing or another, said Christiansen. “Sometimes in places I’d go to the U.S., people would speak Spanish to me because it’s their expectation when they look at me. When I lived in Idaho about 20 years ago, that happened quite a bit,” she shared.
She said she called this experience, “liminal space.” She explained, “[It’s] the gray area. No one could really figure out who I was, and when I was younger, I thought that was a big problem. I was uncomfortable with people not knowing who I was, and on the other hand, I also felt like it’s not my business to educate people about me.” Christiansen continued, “So the liminal space can be liberating because I get to choose who I am, and what and how I want to represent myself. No one else does.”
Jaron Narayan, an Indian-American junior majoring in business management from Colorado, said he didn’t know a lot of children who looked like him when he was younger. “In Colorado, it was mostly white or Hispanic kids. We didn’t have many Polynesians or Indians and not many mixed people. I felt a little out of place because there wasn’t really anybody similar to me ethnically,” he shared.
He said his father is South Indian but grew up in Fiji. “On the Indian side, we ate a lot of rice and curry with our hands. From the Fijian side, it was cassava and taro. And from my mom’s side, we had American food.”
A mixed person typically tries to be more like whatever the dominant race is from where that person is at the time, according to Narayan. “Back home, I catered more to the white, mainland majority, but now that I am here [at BYUH], I can express more of my Indian background. There’s a lot more people who look like me. I feel a lot more free to express myself,” he added.
Narayan said he served his mission in Washington for 10 months and served the rest of his mission in Bangalore, India. “I looked like the people, but I did not have the same background or experiences. People would see me and go, ‘Oh, you’re north Indian,’ but I wasn’t,” he said.
“I felt like I didn’t fit in with them at first, but I also felt like I didn’t fit in with the Americans,” said Narayan. The Americans he served with expected he had a prior understanding of the culture and the place already, he shared.
He advised people to become open-minded and stop categorizing people of mixed cultures, sharing, “People who are mixed grew up with different ethnicities so their identity is going to be mixed between those. People don’t really know what the mix is exactly. Just let them express themselves however they want.”
Sophia Calderon, a half Mexican and half American freshman from Utah majoring in political science and TESOL, said she struggled with her cultural identity the most on her mission. She said, “I felt like I did not relate to other Latinos because they couldn’t understand me.”
Calderon recounted, “At one point, I questioned how come I couldn’t just be white or just Mexican. I had to be both. I think people nowadays emphasize where we grow up. We don’t choose those things.”
Calderon said her dad is from North
cook
Mexican food from my father’s mother. But she did have her own twists with the food,” she added.
Calderon said her mother always wanted her to explore both sides of her heritage. “That is why I like it when people ask me about both of my heritages. Because for me, I have love and appreciation for both,” she said.
On her mission in Scottsdale, Arizona, and San Jose,
Calderon shared her struggle. “I was 19 when I left. I was inspired by my mom and my older sister who served. I was in a place talking to people in a language I was still learning, and I felt insecure. I realized I wasn’t just a representative of Jesus Christ, I was also a representative of my culture. But what culture did I grow up in?”
Reflecting on her struggles with the Spanish language, she shared, “I grew fond of the older woman we were teaching because I had spent a lot of time with her in the previous transfer.” However, she said she felt out of place, adding, “My Nicaraguan companion seemed to connect with her more, not only because of the time they spent together, but also their shared cultural background, while I often felt like the outsider as the American.”
Growing into adulthood helped Calderon gain more appreciation for her culture, she said. “I realized I needed to stop with this victim mentality that I had and take control of what I know now about my culture. I learned so many things here already and am still continuing to build my own cultural identity that revolves around BYUH’s diversity,” she shared. •
BY ANN GOEBEL
Referring to his rendering of Jesus Christ as an African in one of his art pieces, Lasisi Richard Olagunju, an artist, a lecturer at the Federal College of Education in Nigeria and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said, “As an African from Nigeria, I like my figures to be of me - to be African.” In his recent beaded artwork, “Jairus’ Daughter Raised from the Death,” he said he achieved this by depicting Christ with distinctly African facial features and even dressing Christ in traditional Yoruba clothing meant for royalty. In the piece, the Yoruba clothing He wears is called “aso oke,” Olagunju explained. “That color of fabric is called ‘alari,’ and it is regarded as the highest and most honored of all woven fabrics among the Yoruba people. It is regarded as being for kings,” he continued.
Olagunju said his art journey began at 10 years old when he learned to carve Yoruba effigies used to remember a deceased twin and protect the living one from similarly passing away. He said he then began creating beaded artwork. He explained, “I’m bringing my cultural background as a Yoruba man.”
Cyrelle Briz, a junior visual arts major specializing in graphic design from the Philippines, said learning about Baybayin, the ancient script of Tagalog that preceded usage of the Latin alphabet, helped her realize the importance of her Filipino culture. She said learning more about Baybayin and using it in her graphic design projects also taught her about
the physical environment of her ancestors. “They got inspiration [for the script] from clams or shells,” she shared. “[Characters] represent the culture, and since Baybayin was inspired by the clams, it represents where it came from because the Philippines are filled with natural resources.” However, Briz said she was not always appreciative of her culture. “Now that I’m away [from home], I realize how important it is to be aware of your culture.”
Similarly to Briz, Vaimiti Colombani, a Tahitian senior and visual arts major with a concentration in painting and illustration, said she loves featuring cultural elements within her art. “Pretty flowers, pretty carvings or pretty Polynesian outfits … If I have to paint myself, I’ll definitely go more for the Tahitian side.” Of her artistic choices, she said, “I feel like in Tahiti, we put a lot of value and expectations on looks and looking good … That’s why I like wearing [flower] crowns or looking pretty when I paint myself.” Having started drawing when she was in elementary school, she said her journey as an artist began in Tahiti and embedded those cultural values deeply within her art.
Colombani said she enjoys combining traditionally Western mediums such as oil and acrylic paints with both her Tahitian background and her husband’s Marquesan background. “I was working at the carving section at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and I wanted to include that skill I learned to try something new,” she said. After first applying multiple coats of primer to prevent her paint from seeping into a foam board, chosen because it would be easier to carve than wood, she painted herself and carved symbols. “Those are Marquesan symbols [from my husband’s side] … This [symbol] means creation or universe,” she said.
Culture is rarely static and isolated from other cultures, Briz shared, like how although Baybayin is a script for Tagalog, it has roots in South Asian Brahmic scripts. Additionally, she said Tagalog changed significantly when the Spanish came to the Philippines. She said she hopes the ancient script of Baybayin can adapt to reflect the centuries-long changes within the Tagalog language, and she wants to help, “influence Filipinos to appreciate Baybayin.” Though she initially had little interest in Baybayin due to its prevalence in tattooing and T-shirt designs, she said she has since wanted to help make its usage more widespread. She explained the government has already made efforts to “support Baybayin by including it on government IDs like passports and street signage.”
Briz plans to create a zine, a small-circulation publication with text and images, to bring awareness to Baybayin. Briz shared there are many mediums to choose from when starting a new project like her zine. “That’s the fun part,” she said laughing. She said since she is an experienced graphic design major, she would like to design a website dedicated to Baybayin and accessible overseas. However, she said apps are also great resources for helping this ancient script connect with a modern and tech-savvy generation. She added, “I’m actually learning Baybayin through apps!”
Olagunju said combining Yoruba motifs with spiritual themes from his membership in the Church is central to his work, such as in his piece about Jairus. For instance, he shared in Yoruba culture, animals such as birds, reptiles and bears are seen as intruders and impure. “I packed those symbols under the bed of Jairus’ daughter to depict that the home of Jairus was not a holy environment. However, Jesus Christ loves Jairus’ daughter and was still willing to enter Jairus’ home to heal her,” he shared. Olagunju said multicultural approaches to artwork can enrich one’s experience of art.
“Art generally has the power of connecting the viewer to read and to understand”
Comparing art to Christ’s parables, Olagunju said, “If you look at most art, there are lots of embedded truths. It is only the artist who interprets all the details of the art. And it takes time to understand artworks. [When you ask questions], you’re likely to understand it more than merely seeing it.” He said through time and study, viewers can develop a deeper understanding of complex and symbolic art pieces just like taking time to study Christ’s parables can reveal deeper meanings and lessons expressed within the stories.
“Art generally has the power of connecting the viewer to read and to understand,” he said, referencing “Jairus’ Daughter Raised from the Death.” He said if you first look at the piece of art and don’t understand the meaning, it will take a lot of time to find it. Gradually, you might start to notice things rich in symbolism, such as light, he explained. In that piece, he said, Jairus’ daughter has no light around her head, “but look at Jesus Christ surrounded by glory.” Olagunju said he feels art, whether his own or other people’s, “cannot be completely separated from religion.”
gratitude for the gifts God has given us by using them and being humble enough to realize we have them. She added painting has helped her see more beauty in the world, remember God’s love, connect with God and see divinity within herself. “[God] is the first creator … So [God and Jesus Christ] are like the artists. The originals. And when I paint, I relate to Them.”
Colombani said she views her artistic skills as a gift from God, explaining, “I couldn’t just know how to draw when I was 5 years old… I’m not a genius.” She shared she feels it is important to express
Though Colombani’s Tahitian upbringing and interest in art from a young age has made her aware of conventional beauty standards and value in looking put together, she said painting helps her to see beauty everywhere as God does. She said, “In different ways, everyone is pretty. People tend to have insecurities like their nose or anything on their faces.” However, when she paints, she said those insecurities do not appear unattractive to her. She loves unique features, she explained. “I like the pretty standards, but I also like finding everyone pretty.” In fact, she shared she often thinks, “God was really inspired to make those things,” when she sees something beautiful. •
“What
BY CJ SHINIHAH NOTARTE
-Rand Blimes
“Traveling makes you more of who you already are... It’s imprinted on me in a way that it became a part of who I am.” - Rand Blimes
“You can’t really get to know the culture unless you are in the culture.” - Antoniette Yee-Liwanag
BYU–Hawaii ohana members shared tips about traveling the world and exploring new cultures, explaining it requires wisdom, patience, humility and respect.
Antoniette Yee-Liwanag, a BYUH alumna from the Philippines, said the culture she brought home with her from her travels is the culture she was able to develop within herself. “I learned to be open and flexible to changes and be more spontaneous, which
makes traveling even more fun,” she shared. Yee-Liwanag said it is important to understand other people’s cultures, respect them and be patient because traveling is not easy. Traveling has a lot of twists and turns despite having well-planned activities, she added.
Jaime Liwanag, a senior majoring in social work from the Philippines and Yee-Liwanag’s husband, said he took parts of Brazilian culture to heart after his travels there. “People from Brazil are not scared to talk to anybody. If they want to talk to you, they will talk to you. They will ask you anything they are curious about,” he said.
Brazilians are not people pleasers, Liwanag continued, and if they are angry, they are angry.
Liwanag shared, “I saw it as a strength to be able to communicate with other people.” It was in Brazil he said he was able to develop an ease of communicating with others. “Brazilians are jolly people. Their vibe feels like they would start dancing anytime,” he added.
Dr. Rand Blimes, an associate professor in the Faculty of Business & Government, said he served his mission in northern Japan. As a missionary in his early 20s, he said Japanese culture was engraved on him in ways he was unaware of. He explained he and his wife have had miscommunications because he said something indirectly, which was how he would say it in Japanese. “It’s imprinted on me in a way that it became a part of who I am,” he continued.
Blimes said their family has two sayings they keep in mind when they are traveling. “Rule No. 1: Don’t do anything stupid. Assuming you follow that rule, then the second saying is everything always works out.” He continued as long as you use some judgment and be reasonable everything will always work out. “It’s an important skill to be able to forge ahead when you’re not 100 percent sure of what’s going on. That’s a skill that has helped me in a lot of things I’ve done in my life,” he shared.
“There’s a lot of skills you gain from traveling, especially [when visiting] places that are very different from where you are from,” said Blimes. Traveling is a long series of problem-solving exercises, he said, like how to get to a specific place, how to order a meal or how to bargain for a cheaper price. “It gets you really used to functioning under conditions of uncertainty. You never quite know what’s happening,” he added.
Blimes said he and his wife visited a city in Peru called Iquitos last summer. He said they wanted to visit a rehabilitation center for monkeys that were legally kept as pets, which was located in the Amazon River. “There was a dock where the boats left from. We went there, but it was chaotic,” said Blimes.
They asked around for help but some people did not know what they were talking about and some people “said things that were too much Spanish and I didn’t understand,” he continued.
Eventually, Blimes said a person walking by heard what they were looking for and signaled them to come with him. “We followed them and they pointed to a boat,” he said. “We got on the boat, and we waited for half an hour until people filled up all the way.” Although they weren’t 100 percent sure the boat was going where they were hoping to, it did, he continued.
Liwanag said he and his wife have now focused their travels on immersing themselves in the culture as if they were a part of the community. “Traveling does not have to be expensive,” said Yee-Liwanag. She said most of their travels were low-cost. “It’s not fancy, it’s not expensive because we travel smart,” she added. Liwanag explained instead of booking hotels and eating at restaurants, they stay at hostels, eat in local eateries and take public transportation.
Yee-Liwanag said people should not wait for their retirement to start traveling. She explained she and her husband might not have accomplished the hike to Machu Picchu if they had gone later when they were older.
Blimes said students should explore the world if they want to. He said the best advice he could give to someone who wants to see the world but is scared is to “just do it and start somewhere easy.”
Yee-Liwanag agreed, sharing, “Be open to opportunities for you to travel and explore the world because there’s more out there. The world is so wide. There’s a lot of cultures that we can adopt.” Traveling deepened their relationship as a married couple, she said. Liwanag said they learned from the lives of those they interacted with, especially their challenges.
“Traveling also taught us how to be understanding and humble,” said Liwanag. He said no matter how a person looks, what they eat or their state of living, people must respect them and understand them.
After Liwanag’s graduation, he said he plans to create social media content focusing on how to travel in an affordable way. “It is a way for us to explore and experience the different cultures around the world and share it with others,” he continued.
- Continued on page 30
-Antoniette Yee-Liwanag
-Antoniette Yee-Liwanag
The beauty of exploring
Liwanag said his passion to travel and explore the world started when he was 16 years old. He said he was part of a non-profit organization based in Hawaii called iHELP. This organization sends media photographers and videographers to visit different places in the Philippines, he explained.
Liwanag said a volunteer named James Astle, who is also a BYUH alumnus, got sent to his country, the Philippines, to do humanitarian work with him. Liwanag said he and Astle would visit remote places where they stayed at the homes of iHELP volunteers. “We would eat the food they offer, wear the clothes we are given and do anything they asked us to do,” he continued.
Liwanag said the experiences he had with iHELP and the exposure to the culture of the places they visited helped him decide what kind of traveling he wanted to do in the future. “It was not like the traditional way where the hotel is booked, a car is rented and all the activities are planned,” he explained.
Blimes’ passion for travel began when he was 10 years old, he said. As a child, he said he sat down with encyclopedias, some travel magazines and a globe. “I started making a
list of all the places that I wanted to travel to. After about two hours, I just quit because I realized I was making a list of everywhere,” he shared. Blimes said he is still working to find the true reason behind his love for traveling.
Before she got married, Yee-Liwanag said she didn’t like traveling because she wasn’t into adventures and thought it was too expensive. But once her husband introduced her to traveling, “That’s when it all started,” she said. Yee-Liwanag said being immersed in the country’s culture is what she loves most about traveling. “You can’t really get to know the culture unless you are in the culture,” she added.
Blimes said when you are traveling, you interact with people who are different from you in many ways and learn about their history, culture and food. He said, “What comes up time and time again is that the ways they’re different are actually pretty superficial. We’re really kind of the same.”
Blimes said the more he travels, the more he feels connected to others. He said we have connections within our community and with the people in our own culture, but traveling
helps people see the bigger picture. “I’m part of something really big. I feel the human connection as a whole rather than just people who are around me,” he explained.
People tend to think traveling opens them up, breaks down their biases and makes them more accepting of cultures different from their own, said Blimes. However, if they look at research about traveling, Blimes said they will discover that is not necessarily true. “Traveling doesn’t fundamentally change who you are. Traveling makes you more of who you already are,” said Blimes. •
Cowboys are known for their place in the wild American West in the late 1800s, but the Paniolo Preservation Society website says cowboys on the islands of Hawai’i were thriving in the 1830s, long before they were popular in the United States. “The paniolos are the original cowboys,” said Alpha Harper, a BYU–Hawaii alumna from Canada who did an honors project on the history of the pa’u riders, which are female horse riders who evolved from paniolo.
The history of paniolo is “not a story that’s commonly known,” explained Isaiah Walker, Academic vice president of BYUH and a historian. But “when you realize that there were other cultures that embraced cowboy culture even before there was an American West, you realize there are different flavors of cowboy culture. Hawaii has its own flavor.”
According to the National Park Services website, “These Hawaiian cowboys were called ‘paniolo,’ a Hawaiianized version of the word ‘español.’” Harper explained that Captain James Vancouver, a British explorer, brought the first cattle to Hawaii in 1793, and “once the food source had been introduced … they
A deep-dive into the history of paniolo, the cowboys of Hawaii
BY ABIGAIL ADAMS
needed a way to control them. The paniolos were critical to making sure everything could work in harmony and keep people safe.”
With an abundance of cattle on the island and little to no ranching knowledge, King Kamehameha III enlisted the help of Mexican vaqueros, or cowboys, from California who “taught the Hawaiians how to rope, slaughter, breed cattle, cure hides, about fences, grass and paddocks… [and] how to work with the horses,” explains nps.gov.
Harper said the paniolo were “vital in taking control of the situations brought upon the island by outside people.” The paniolo were also crucial in introducing the ali’i, or Hawaiian nobility, and the pa’u riders to horses, Harper explained. She said, “They developed horse handling and riding techniques,” and trained the horses for the ali’i.
“The paniolo culture, when they’re working with horses, there’s a camaraderie and a very great love and appreciation for each other’s skills and companionship,” Harper shared.
Walker said the paniolos skill in learning from the vaqueros showcased the strength of Hawaiian culture. “Hawaiian culture has adapt-
ed to a lot of things over time, and they’ve been really good at taking something and making it their own and moving forward with it in very progressive kinds of ways,” he said.
Nps.gov says three of the most notable paniolos were Ikua Purdy, Archie Ka’au’a and Jack Low, who competed in Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1908. In the steer-roping contest, nps.gov shares, Ikua Purdy came in first place, Archie Ka’au’a placed second and Jack Low came in sixth. It states, “Hawaii’s paniolo had defeated the best American cowboys and had put Hawaiian paniolo on the world stage.”
Walker said paniolos “like Ikua Purdy, who were going overseas [and] challenging so cial norms with race,” displayed the resilience of both the Hawaiian and paniolo cultures.
Another family who was influential in paniolo culture was the Parker family, Walker shared. “The Parker family was an American family who came to Hawaii,” he said, “but they quickly married into the royal family in Hawaii, and most of them became immersed in the Hawaiian community.” Walker explained the Parker family started the Parker Ranch in
1847 in Waimea on the Island of Hawai’i, and it remains one of the biggest cattle ranches in the United States today. He said Parker Ranch “has that cowboy feel to it, but it’s in a Hawaiian community … [It] was one of the first areas where it feels like a Western town.”
Evolution of the paniolo culture
Harper said paniolos were influenced by the vaqueros in ways other than just their riding and ranching techniques. She said the vaqueros brought guitars with them when they came to Hawaii, which led to the creation of the kī hō’alu, or slack-key guitar. “Nobody knew how to tune a guitar when the Spanish left,” Harper said, “so whoever had the guitar, they would all tune to his guitar. That’s why it’s called slack-key.”
While not developed by paniolos specifically, Walker said the steel guitar is an instrument from Hawaii that has been heavily incorporated into country music and Western culture. There’s a “parallel between paniolo culture and music,” he said.
According to seaparadise.com, Hawaiian paniolo have developed a culture separate from Western cowboy culture since the vaqueros left. “They sang songs accompanying
themselves on the ‘ukulele and guitar … Unlike the wide-brimmed hats of the American cowboys, paniolos often wore hats made of lauhala, a type of Hawaiian palm, adorned with lei po’o, or head leis,” it explains. Volcanovillageestates.com says paniolo wear colorful prints on light fabric, distinguishing them from traditional American cowboys and showcasing Hawaiian influence. Seaparadise.com explains modern-day paniolo continue to celebrate their culture through rodeos, parades and festivals. They exist all over the Hawaiian islands using “a combination of traditional and modern techniques to raise cattle,” seaparadise.com explains.
Students’ perceptions of paniolo
Amy Henrichsen, a sophomore from Indiana majoring in marine biology, said the only exposure to paniolo cowboys she had previously was through the movie “Castaway Cowboy.” It is about a guy from Texas who was washed up on Hawaii, and he helped everybody wrangle the native cattle, she said.
“There was a whole lot of nonsense thrown in because it’s an old [movie], and it’s the 1974 version of how island life is,” she shared.
BYUH students like Henrichsen experienced aspects of paniolo culture during the Banyan Dining Hall’s “Paniolo Hoedown” event on Sept. 11. Students who were unfamiliar with paniolo culture thought it was Western cowboy-themed, expressing how they enjoyed the event because of how familiar it felt. Malakai Lavaki, a junior from Tonga majoring in biochemistry, said the theme was “more Westernized, but I feel like everyone’s really familiar with it, so everyone’s a part of it.”
Walker said on Oahu, “Gunstock Ranch is where you’ll see a lot of Hawaiians working there doing cowboy kinds of things, but most people see the Big Island as the home and the center of paniolo culture.” •
BYUH students share what pregnancy care looks like, including superstitions and traditional practices from their respective countries
BY WINSLETTE QUIRAY-SANTIAGO AND BELLA CHIMEDBAATAR
Hannah Pineda, an alumna who graduated in exercise and sports science, said expecting a child is an exciting and sacred blessing in the Latin American culture. Though born and raised in the United States, she said her mother from Puerto Rico helps
“There’s a cultural practice we call ‘cuarentena’ where mothers are expected to stay at home for 40 days after giving birth,” said Pineda. Though unable to practice this because she was still in school, she said it is normal in the Latin American culture to not see mothers and their newly born child for a whole month. She said its purpose is to assist in the recovery of mothers and their babies, learn how to take care of their babies and replenish their energies.
Another thing she said she noticed from Hispanic people is exercising while being pregnant, in general, is not common. “Besides walking or biking to class, I never went to the gym when I was pregnant,” she expressed.
Eating soups, hot foods, and rice and beans is also encouraged, she said. “They feed you a lot more when you’re pregnant because of the idea of ‘feeding for two,’” she added.
Joanne Marie Eyo, a sophomore majoring in accounting from the Philippines, said eating healthy food is the most important selfcare during pregnancy in the Philippines. She said mothers avoid eating spicy food and having cold drinks. Pregnant women refrain from sewing their own dresses because it is believed to create difficulties for the baby’s development, Eyo said. “We also refrain from speaking negatively about others because what we said might happen to our child,” she explained.
During postpartum, some expect mothers to do household chores immediately, while some encourage mothers to rest in bed. Eyo said it was difficult for her to do everything just with her husband as they are both international students.
For those around postpartum mothers, she advised to limit their advice. “We need someone to lean on and talk to rather than just receiving advice.”
Onon Enkhee, a senior studying psychology from Mongolia, said having children is highly important in Mongolia because it upholds the family legacy and continues the lineage. She said, “That is why mothers are encouraged to take good care of themselves and their babies.” She said cultural do’s and don’ts during pregnancy can affect the baby’s well-being.
For example, she said expectant mothers avoid any form of sewing because “it’s believed that the baby mimics the mother’s actions in the womb, which could cause the umbilical cord to wrap around the baby,” as if following the motions of sewing. Enkhee also explained gently tapping the baby in a circular motion, following the direction of a clock’s hands, helps maintain the optimal position for healthy development in the womb. She also added two expectant mothers should avoid shaking hands because it could lead to a mix-up in their babies’ genders.
After delivery, Enkhee said Mongolians believe mothers experience a rebirth themselves alongside their babies, which is why postpartum mothers are encouraged to care for themselves as attentively as they do their newborns. She said some postpartum cultural practices include staying warm by wearing socks and shoes, covering their ears, and using belly wraps. “We also try to consume double portions for ourselves and the baby,” she said. Couscous and red meat are mostly recommended foods for postpartum mothers to boost milk supply, she added.
Vanny Sok a freshman from Cambodia majoring in graphic design, said Cambodia is mainly a Buddhist country. She said, “In Buddhist beliefs, pregnancy is a significant and blessed event where the family takes special care of the mother until the child is born.” She also said they believe Buddha takes care of the spirit baby inside the mother’s womb so the baby will be born healthy and strong.
“Cambodians believe putting a photo of Buddha near a pregnant woman will bring good luck to the mother and baby,” said Sok. Meanwhile, attending a funeral while pregnant is a sign of bad luck and is prohibited in Cambodian culture, she added.
“Having herbal remedies as treatment and spiritual offerings to God are some of the traditional practices found in rural areas to ensure a healthy well-being for the mother and the baby,” she said. According to her, pregnant women are also encouraged to eat nutritious food like rice, fish and vegetables but are not allowed to eat canned, spicy, raw and bitter food.
Chhaya Yadav, a junior majoring in social work from India, said their culture places high importance on the food women eat during pregnancy. “During the first trimester, pregnant women are not allowed to eat pineapple and papaya at all because it is believed to cause miscarriages,” she said. For its multiple health benefits, Yadav added, pregnant women are “encouraged to drink a lot of coconut.
“Some people in India also believed you should not cut your hair when pregnant,” said Yadav. Others, she said, also advise to keep the pregnancy a secret during the first trimester because there are people who dislike or are not happy it. “For those who believe in Hinduism, they tied their legs with a black thread and blessed it with a prayer,” she said. “They also do the same thing for the baby because it is believed to serve as a protection against the evil spirits,” she explained.
“In India, after giving birth, we are also not allowed to go out with the baby for 40 days,” she said. Mothers should also keep their hair tied with a scarf-like cloth and cover their body properly like a baby, she added.
Ellie Shek McKinney, a senior from Hong Kong majoring in TESOL, said foods like watermelon, herbal jelly, and Chinese vegetables are considered “cold” and are typically consumed only in the last trimester as they potentially cause premature labor.
She said expectant mothers are encouraged to stay home as much as possible. “We stay away from too much sensory overload… people might be pushing or rushing to places” because Hong Kong and China are more active than other [countires].
Attending funerals or weddings is also discouraged for expectant mothers as it is considered bad luck, according to Mckinney.
Taking a warm bath with some ginger helps as part of the postpartum care as “ginger protects your body from getting colder,” she explained. “We usually have our mothers to help us, but nowadays, people usually go to a postpartum care center where staff care for both mothers and their babies for a month,” she said.
Callie Fa’anunu, an alumna from Texas who graduated in exercise and sports science, said American pregnancy and postpartum care primarily relies on scientific evidence and medical research. She emphasized the importance of avoiding alcohol and drugs during pregnancy, as well as being cautious about certain foods. She said pregnant women avoid foods like deli meats, raw fish and sprouts, which could harbor harmful bacteria. Instead, she recommended a diet rich in protein. Fa’anunu said she ate a lot of salmon during her pregnancy.
She added engaging in activities familiar to pregnant women before pregnancy is generally safe. According to her, “There are old wives’ tales that suggest if a mother is sick during pregnancy, she might have a girl, and acne indicates the mother is giving her beauty to her daughter.”
After delivery, Fa’anunu said resting, hydration and nutritious food are important. She said postpartum mothers also take it easy as they gradually resume exercise, fo cusing on strengthening their core to help restore pelvic stability. •
BY WINSLETTE QUIRAY-SANTIAGO
Often spoken of as a single entity, the African continent consists of 54 countries rich in values and diverse in cultures. BYU-Hawaii students from Africa cleared up common misconceptions portrayed by the media about Africa and shared the beauty and cultural diversity found in each country.
around. People who are well-educated and have changed the world globally,” he explained.
Amos Ameyaw Agyei, a sophomore from Ghana majoring in computer science, said when people hear about Africa they think it’s just one country. “Because of how Africa is depicted in the Western world and the media, most people don’t know it’s divided into many countries with various cultures and more than 1,000 languages,” he said.
He noted people also think Africa is very rural. “There are some rural parts like Mwanza, Tanzania and Juba, South Sudan, which definitely need help. But, there are also other cities like Johannesburg, South Africa, and Cairo, Egypt, that are very developed and have modern technology,” he explained.
Recalling an experience where he spoke to some people called to serve their full-time missions in Africa, Agyei said they asked him if they would proselyte with animals around. “They would initially think of the jungle or the safari, but when they got there, they were like, ‘I didn’t know it was so developed,’” he said.
David Likita Likita from Nigeria, a junior majoring in intercultural peacebuilding and political science, also said the common misconceptions of Africa being very poor and full of conflicts are false. “Those are just some of the things we see online,” he said. “Africa is rich and has great music. We have good people
He said learning from other cultures also allows him to share his culture. He explained, “I have friends from Tonga and Fiji, and whenever we see each other, we teach each other words from our respective languages.” He said through these simple interactions with people from other cultures, he can share the beauty of Africa’s diversity and culture.
Coming from Nigeria, Likita Likita shared some people thought he was from South Africa. “Usually, people think Nigeria is part of South Africa, so I tell them that we have 54 countries on this African continent,” he said. “South Africans are lighter than us because some have British blood. Our culture and food are different from theirs, too,” he added.
He said Nigeria is divided into three major tribes: Hausa in the North, which Likita Likita said he came from, the Yoruba in the southwest, and the Igbo (or Ibo) in the Southeast. “In Nigeria, we have 36 states and about 4,000 languages found in every region,” he said. “We share some traditions. We also have some attires that are the same; some are not,” he added.
Vimbayinashe Jennifer Mutsvanga, a junior majoring in social work from Zimbabwe, said Zimbabwe is a beautiful land with good weather. She said it is a source of pride for the country to have one of the natural wonders, the Mosi-oa-Tunya or the Victoria Falls.
“There are two main languages spoken in Zimbabwe – Shona and Debele,” she said. As a person from Shona, Mutsvanga said they wear different African attires. She said Debeles originated from South Africa. “How they eat, the way they dress, and the language is similar to South Africa,” she explained.
“Debeles mostly believe in their ancestors and pray to them. They would go to their grandfather’s grave, pray and ask them to do something for them,” she said. “The Shonas, on the other hand, believe in God and are mostly Christians,” she added.
Agyei said Ghana has more than 50 languages, including the tribal ones. “We have two dominant languages in Ghana. One is called Twi, and the other is English,” he said.
One of the distinct cultural aspects found in Ghana is the traditional clothing called Kente, said Agyei. “Our traditional clothing represents the whole culture of Ghana,” he said.
“Ghanaian clothing has mostly red, gold, and green colors. Those colors also make up our flag, with each having a certain meaning behind it,” he said. The red color, he said, stands for the blood of their forefathers. He also said Ghana used to be called the “Gold Coast” due to its abundance of gold, represented by the color yellow. The green stands for vegetation, and black means “Hope for Ghana,” which means all is going to be well for them, he explained.
Despite the multiple tribes found in Ghana, he said the cultural diversity does not divide them because Ghanaians are very patriotic. He added they embrace other tribes and have practiced cultural marriages in their country by sharing and tolerating each other’s cultures and perspectives within different tribes. “Being Ghanaian is what unites us,” said Agyei. “They say, ‘No matter what tribe you are, you’re Ghanaian,’” expressed Agyei. “We love the nation. We always put the nation first before anything, and we are willing to sacrifice for it,” he said.
A people of peace and resiliency
Mutsvanga shared people from Zimbabwe are happy and resilient. She said they still find happiness even if they don’t have much. “One interesting thing I like about my country is we do not easily get stressed by the small things,” she said. Even though there are times people don’t have enough money to pay for rent or buy food, she said, people from Zimbabwe are resilient and can still smile.
Crime rate in Zimbabwe is also very low, said Mutsvanga. “In Zimbabwe, you can walk around while holding your phone. The place is safe,” she said.
Adopted by American parents, Likita Likita shared even though he has traveled around the United States and has not lived in Nigeria for a long time, one great value he has seen Nigerians possess is their tremendous respect for other people’s cultures.
“We respect and pursue our love for humanity. That is one of the fundamentals of our culture,” he said. “Any Nigerian you meet, no matter how poor or rich, he or she is humble and so respectful,” he added.
Agyei also shared wherever Ghanaians find themselves, they always think about Ghana and go back to invest in their own country. “We have a notion that wherever we find ourselves, we leave a legacy for the family. We are also there to give a good mark to those who would come after us,” he said. •
Members of
BY CJ SHINIHAH NOTARTE
Cultural superstitions are created to keep people safe and secure, according to Maria Fonoimoana Latu. Luckily, being grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ can provide more safety than superstitions will, even if it still doesn’t hurt to follow superstitions as a way to honor your culture, shared Latu, the academic multimedia lab manager.
Latu said even though she is well-grounded in the gospel, she never wanted to risk the warnings from superstitions. “There’s a lot of superstitions I don’t follow. But if it means I have to make somebody feel comfortable then I’ll do it,” she continued. Because of our knowledge of the gospel, “we seek safety and security in the sure places: the gospel and Jesus Christ,” Latu explained.
Timoci “Timothy” Kean, a sophomore from Fiji majoring in Pacific Island Studies and political science, said superstitions are heavily believed in his country. He said they mostly come from the elders who remind the younger generation to be careful of doing something that could lead to unwanted consequences.
Before Christianity began, in Fiji people had their own cultures, traditions and ways of worshipping, said Kean. “In Fiji, superstitions are passed down from older traditions,” he
shared. Although superstitions are not encouraged in his faith, Kean said, “I think superstitions are partly good because you just want to be safe always.”
Christina Ingleton, a senior from Utah majoring in anthropology, said superstitions are not necessarily true. “Some people have adopted [superstitions] to be part of their culture,” she shared.
Superstitions throughout generations
Polynesian superstitions have a history in their cultural folklore based on stories from the past, said Latu. She is not a superstitious person, she said, but growing up she was careful not to step on a crack because of the saying, “Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.”
When Latu was pregnant with her first child, she said she was consistently told what
Pregnant women are not to drink from a can
she should not do. “Pregnant women are not supposed to drink from a can. You have to pour the drink into a cup and then drink it,” she said.
According to the book “Some Modern Samoan Beliefs Concerning Pregnancy, Birth and Infancy,” it is believed that drinking from a can will result in the baby being “born with a crooked, large or damaged mouth.”
Latu said when Hawaiians go out to fish and they are on their way to the beach, you are not supposed to ask them if they are going fishing. “It’s a suggestion of warning the fish,” she shared. She said to just say, “Hey. Have a great day” and be on your way.
Latu talked with her co-workers about Pukane Night in Hawaii, which she said is “the night the Hawaiian warriors march from the ocean to the mountains.” She said this happens on a moonless night.
Latu shared a story from one of her ancestors about Pukane Night she was reading recently. “[My ancestors] had a home near the temple. He said in the evenings, he would see my great-grandfather talking to people in his room and he would ask, ‘Who are you talking to?’ Her great-grandfather would reply and say it was just his friends, Latu continued.
She said this only happened inside her great-grandfather’s room. Later, her ancestor found an old Hawaiian map showing the trails the Hawaiian warriors used to go up to the mountains, she said. “He said one of the paths went right through the corner where his father [her great-grandfather] stayed.”
Kean said one of the most common superstitions they have in Fiji is females are discouraged from showering at night. He explained, “The elders say an evil entity will come off the shower after dark.” Kean said another superstition is they are not allowed to sweep the floor at night. He said the act of sweeping, collecting and throwing away, is like “you’re sweeping away your blessings.”
Kean said superstitions in Fiji have a lot to do with respecting the land because it is a living thing. “When you shower before it gets dark or when you don’t sweep at night, it’s like showing reverence towards the land or the place you are at,” he explained. Kean said growing up with superstitions affected him in a positive way. “It kept us in line, and we [learned] to obey our parents.”
Some of the superstitions Ingleton has encountered were about Friday the 13th and seeing a black cat, she said, which both mean you will have bad luck.
Ingleton said she has heard about superstitions from Japan and Korea. In Japan, elevators do not have a fourth floor, she said. According to a website called Sakura House, the number four in Japanese sounds similar to death, which is why they omit the number in their elevators and parking lots.
Females are discouraged to shower at night
In Korea, it is bad to sleep with the fan turned on, said Ingleton. According to npr.org, old people fear “if you sleep with an electric fan in the room, you may never wake up.” Although this superstition has been debunked many times, the belief persists, says npr.org. •
Seeing a black cat means you will have bad luck
The stories of mythical creatures span across cultures and time, continuing to interest and influence people today
Shape-shifting lizard women from Hawaii. Human-goat hybrids from Texas. Mischievous goblins from Korea.
Mythical beings exist throughout cultures around the world and still influence modern cultures and people, according to members of the BYU–Hawaii ohana.
Mythical creatures are “a really important part of remembering, recovering and reinscribing culture when a lot of that has been lost over time,” explained Dr. Caryn Lesuma, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts & Letters from Laie. She said in Hawaiian culture, mythical creatures play an important role in bringing stories and language back into common knowledge.
Lesuma shared stories of the menehune, mo’o, Kamohoali’i and Nanaue, who are mythical beings native to Hawaii. Referring to Pukui and Elbert’s Hawaiian Dictionary, she explained menehune are a race of small people who build during the night, creating things such as roads, fish ponds and temples. “If the work was not finished in one night, it remained unfinished,” the dictionary explains.
Referring to the book “Ka Po‘e Mo‘o Akua: Hawaiian Reptilian Water Deities” by Marie Alohalani Brown, Lesuma said mo’o are water spirits who exist in lizard form. “They vary greatly in size, appearing as tall as a mountain or as tiny as a house gecko, and many possess alternate forms,” explains Brown. Mo’o are usually women, some of which have the power to transform into humans. According to Brown, mo’o akua refers to very powerful mo’o who, in early Hawaiian history, have held important political and societal roles.
Referring to “Hawaiian Folk Tales (1907)” by Emma Nakuina, Lesuma talked about shapeshifting sharks. According to Nakuina, Kamohaoli’i is a Hawaiian shark god with the ability to shapeshift into a human. Nanaue is Kamohaoli’i’s demigod son, who would use his powers to change into a shark and eat humans, Nakuina explains.
Accalia Stancliffe said her hometown in Texas holds celebrations commemorating the anniversaries of the first sighting of its native mythical creature. “There’s a cryptid from my hometown called the Lake Worth Monster. It’s a half-man, half-goat creature that was reported around Lake Worth,” shared Stancliffe, a senior majoring in visual arts.
Joo Young Hwang, a senior from Korea majoring in biology, said mythical creature stories evolve and change over time. “Korea has goblins [called doggaebi that] actually came from things that are really old … They like to play with humans. [They are] sometimes cruel, but sometimes fun,” she said.
Having fantasy stories about mythical creatures, “allows you to rethink reality because you get to step out of it,” Lesuma said. She said these stories provide a way to imagine new possibilities and explore new ideas.
Lesuma said hearing stories about mythical creatures allows people to indulge in the excitement of the unknown. “I think in some ways it’s comforting to think, ‘Hey, maybe they are there!’ even if we can’t see them. Maybe they are there as guardian spirits, or watching over us, or making sure that we’re okay, or giving us these possibilities to explore,” she shared.
• Translating to “pale fairies,” patupaiarehe are thought to be the first inhabitants of New Zealand, according to Maori folklore. They are said to have red or light-colored hair and pale skin and reside in the mountains and deep forests in houses made of mist. They only eat raw food and can be scared off by the smell of cooked food. Male patupairehe use the sounds of flutes, or koauau and putorino, to lure young women away from their homes in the middle of the night but eventually return them unharmed. Patupaiarehe are said to have taught the Maori people makatu, or magic, netmaking and atahu, or love spells.
All information received from tmrowe.com
• The toyols are described as agile and small green children with sharp teeth and red eyes. They come into existence when a shaman revives a deceased child using black magic. They are known for completing tasks for a master, such as stealing and causing harm. Because they are so small, they are able to sneak into houses easily without being noticed. They have the power to cause bad luck, sickness and accidents. Toyols are easily distracted by toys and shiny objects and are afraid of seeing themselves in the mirror.
All information received from warsandhistory.com.
• Originating in Hindu and Buddhist culture, apsaras are commonly described as celestial nymphs who dance in the heavens to entertain the Hindu gods. They were created at the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, an event where the Hindu gods and demons came together to churn the ocean to gain amrita, or an elixir of immortality. Apsaras are known for their beauty and elegance and have the responsibility of blessing marriages.
All information received from worldhistory.org, ankorguide.net and oxfordreference.com.
• Similar to “Bigfoot” in America, yowies are creatures that can grow up to 10 feet tall. Descriptions have varied over the years, but they are often depicted as being very hairy and resembling an ape. In Aboriginal folklore, yowies are said to have coexisted with humans in Australia, but there were incidents of violence. They now live deep in the forest, where they hardly come in contact with humans. Sightings have been reported since the 1800s.
All information received from allthatsinteresting.com.
• Translating to “Mother Water,” Mami Wata is a water goddess that exists across many African cultures. She is often depicted as a mermaid or as a woman with snakes wrapped around her torso and neck. She is said to possess powers of healing, fertility and prosperity, but when angered, she can cause bad luck, sickness and even death.
All information received from africa.si.edu and blamuk.org.
• Commonly known as the “Chinese Dragon,” lóng are very important in Chinese history and folklore. Unlike European dragons, Chinese dragons symbolize nobility, luck and protection. They have a snake-like body, camel-like head and tiger-like paws, and they breathe clouds instead of fire. Types of dragons include:
The spiritual dragon, which controls the wind and rain; the winged dragon, which represents rain and floods; the celestial dragon, which protects gods in the sky; the coiling dragon, which controls time; the treasure dragon, which protects hidden treasures; the underworld dragon, which oversees the rivers, seas and streams; the horned dragon, which represents power and controls the rain; and the dragon king, which is the most powerful and oversees all the seas in China.
All information received from study.cli.org.
• Originating from Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest of America, the Thunderbird is a powerful spirit resembling an eagle with two curved horns on its head. It has the ability to create thunder with the flap of its wings, lightning bolts from its eyes and rainfall. The Thunderbird can be observed at the top of many Native American totem poles as a representation of its power and strength.
All information received from spiritsofthewestcoast.com.
• Also known as the “Raccoon Dog,” tanuki refers to a real species of dog native to Japan, but they are also a shapeshifting creature in Japanese folklore that likes to cause mischief. Tanuki can transform into many different things, such as humans, trees, stones, household items, statues and monsters. They are often cheerful and cause mischief by playing tricks on humans.
All information received from yokai.com.
• Aswang refers to an evil shapeshifting creature in Filipino folklore. It can take the form of a vampire, werewolf, witch or even a human. Aswang like to feed on human flesh, especially the flesh of pregnant women, using their long, pointed tongues. They are said to only come out at night and can be identified by their backward-facing feet and bloodshot eyes.
All information received from medium.com and allthatsinteresting. com.
• Translating to “nine-tailed fox,” the Gumiho is a figure in Korean folklore with the ability to transform into a beautiful woman. The Gumiho’s greatest desire is to become human. In some stories, the Gumiho is depicted as having to seduce 1,000 men and eat their livers in order to become human. In other stories, she simply has to live as a human for 1,000 years to truly become human.
All information received from world.kbs.co.kr.
byuh / ChurCh Culture
Students and a YSA bishop say dating can be good but also challening and how differences in dating are shaped by both home country and campus cultures
BY FRANCE VALERIE LUCILLO
Stressful and fun, that’s what dating is like here at BYU–Hawaii, according to four BYUH students and a young single adult ward bishop. “Dating is really fun, though it is hard. But if you have the right mindset towards it, it ends up being a really fun and enjoyable thing,” said Joshua Fluckiger.
Fluckiger, a freshman from Utah majoring in psychology, said dating has changed a lot for him especially after coming home from his mission. Before going on a mission, he said the only dating he would do was high school dances.
“It’s the only date I’d do because I don’t really like dating,” he explained. Although he didn’t enjoy dating, he said he saw high school dances as a fun, casual way to hang out in a group setting. Fluckiger said he wasn’t interested in dating before because he felt it too much effortn to do. “I still think it is a lot of work, but I’m more willing to do it now,” he explained.
He said asking someone on a date is nerve-wracking and during dates, he finds
himself anxious and stressed because he is worried about what the other person would think of him. “You want to be someone they would like,” Fluckiger said.
Alipate Latu, a bishop of the YSA Laie 11th Ward, said one of the main struggles students face at BYUH is feeling uneasy about approaching others. “Because you might get denied, and it would affect your self-esteem,” Latu said. He counseled the students to go on plenty of dates so they would be able to know exactly who they want to be and be with in the long term.
Serving a mission helped Fluckiger realize that dating is something he should do now. He said dating is now a more formal way of making new friends and meeting new people. “I need to be in a position when, if a girl comes along, [she] could be my wife. And I would be ready to be married, whether it’s now or in 10 years,” said Fluckiger. He explained dating is a way for him to prepare when that time comes. Fluckiger said it is still stressful but worth the time as it will pay off later.
Aliah Flores, a junior from the Philippines double majoring in TESOL and psychology,
said her perspective of dating is influenced by the Church. “It is getting to know someone with the intention of marriage,” she said. Having a chance to date here at BYUH opened her eyes in dating, whether it be formally or without expectations, Flores shared. “Dating formally means you have an agreement to get to know each other. Dating with no expectation is more of a hang out,” Flores explained.
Kristine Jensen, a senior from Utah majoring in business management and Nakau Maunana, a sophomore from Kiribati majoring in information technology, agreed, saying dating depends on the person. Jensen and Maunana happily recalled the time they started dating. They said they met at the Kiribati Club’s opening social, began dating in Jan. 2023, and made it official by April 2023.
Jensen said there are a lot of ways to meet new people, and joining the clubs is one of them. “Clubs are good to meet people because you join based on what you’re interested in or have a connection to,” Jensen said.
Jensen and Maunana said there is nothing wrong with jumping into a relationship right away. “But it’s okay to take it slow,” Maunana
emphasized. He said he developed more patience to wait for Jensen because he liked her. Jensen said Maunana was more ready to be in a relationship, but he waited for her to be ready too. “It’s just building trust in the right order,” Jensen added.
Flores said there is a huge difference between dating in the Philippines and BYUH. “In the Philippines, when we say dating, it is a huge thing,” she said.
Flores said Filipinos don’t do multiple dates unlike in the USA where people can go on dates with different people, and it is not be frowned upon. “In the Philippines, if you are getting to know someone, you should be exclusive,” she added. “In Utah, dating is more of a ‘should.’ People go on a date just to date,” Fluckiger said. Comparing the mainland dating culture with the island culture, he said people here feel less obligated to date. “People from the mainland here [at BYUH] focus more on having fun as they treat it like a vacation. But people here long term, I think they date more intentionally,” Fluckiger explained.
When it comes to expectations, Fluckiger said people date to get to know others and more about himself. When he first got at BYUH, Fluckiger said he looks for people he connects really well with and who have admirable attributes. “By just being curious in a way that I’ll figure out what things other people do, that uplifts me or bring me joy,” he added. After being single again, Fluckiger said his mom counseled him to go on dates when he’s ready and be curious to help him figure out what helps him feel his best self.
Flores shared about dating, “My very own expectation of dating is I really want the guy to initiate the communication, make the first move and effort.” She said her views about dating have been influenced by the Philippines’ culture, where men have to win women over no matter what.
But Flores said living in Hawaii for the past two years helped her realize that it isn’t the case anymore. She said it was shocking
for her to see women can ask men out. “If you want to put out effort, then you put out your effort, regardless of gender,” Flores said.
Growing up, Jensen said she always assumed she would date people from Utah only. “But when I came here, and there’s so many students from so many different countries, my expectations changed a little,” said Jensen. When she started dating Maunana, she said the world became so big. “There’s just so many people from all different types of places and families,” Jensen added.
“I don’t really see the other person but [also] myself. And [I] expect the other [person] to be happy too,” Maunana said regarding his dating expectations of BYUH. He said he used to think dating should be fun with no struggles and being happy all the time. But he learned that is not the case all the time, and “that it is hard,” he said. “I learned the other side too,” Maunana said, which are dealing with and learning from disagreements and arguments in relationships.
The couple, Jensen and Maunana shared communication and understanding the context are some of the struggles of their relationship, especially during their first months. “There are different ideas in our heads of what’s normal. Then, when the other person does something we don’t understand, we get frustrated,” Jensen said.
Jensen shared the future scared her and that is why she wants to go as slow as possible, which is the opposite of Maunana’s goal in dating Jensen. “It’s hard if you both like each other,” Jensen said. She explained she didn’t want Maunana to think she didn’t like him. “I am just scared to date,” Jensen added. She explained dating could only go in two ways, either break up or get married. “Breakups are scary, and I think marriage is going to be new and different for me,” Jensen said.
Jensen and Maunana shared they overcame their struggles by getting to know each other. “The more you get to know someone, the more you uncover more things you didn’t know, even for yourself,” Jensen said.
“If you really like someone, you have to do your best to show that love,” Maunana shared. Jensen added they always think about how the other person might be feeling, saying sorry right away rather than being right, and
forgiving them first.
Fluckiger said he thinks people here are not pressured to date and the lack of pressure does not push them to go on dates. “Pressure’s good because it helps you to do something you’re afraid to do,” Fluckiger said. He even compared asking someone out to giving a talk at sacrament meeting, he said, it gets better every single time. “The more you overcome a fear, it gets a lot easier,” he explained. Fluckiger emphasized small things can eventually turn into something big. “It’s like catching fire, little by little, people here are going to go on more dates in a matter of time,” Fluckiger added.
Jensen emphasized expectations exist for a reason, and it is not always bad. “Sometimes, you are in a good situation, and you won’t be able to tell because you’re so focused on your expectations,” she said. Realizing what is important, knowing the person you are dating for who they are and not who you want them to be should be the focus, she added. “You don’t have to be upset if they do not match something that you made up in your head,” Jensen said.
Latu said it is a good thing to have expectations as having the same qualities and goals with the person you are dating. Having similarities in goals and qualities with his wife helped him grow by not doing the same things he used to grow up with, like spanking their children, Latu added. He learned how to say sorry first as well, he said. “It was hard because I am never the person to say sorry first,” Latu added, as he was growing up.
Flores said finding prospects at BYUH is difficult because some people are just dating too casually. “Although we are in school,… not everyone has the same intention,” she said. Being here has given her more opportunities to meet a lot of people than when she was in the Philippines, she said.
“I still get anxiety doing the first move, although it’s pretty normal here,” Flores said. She said she is still in the process of gaining more self-confidence and blocking out the “what ifs.” She added her friends advised her not to look for perfection and just allow people to learn and get to know each other.
She said the gospel also changed her perspective on dating. She said it connected it to the principle of faith and emphasized the greatest blessing of it, which is marriage. She said marriage is not freely given to anyone if
not acted upon. “God wants us to make an effort as well and He’ll magnify our efforts,” Flores explained.
Born in Tonga and raised in American Samoa, Latu said he was shocked when he and his wife started dating, as she was willing to display public affection. He explained public displays of affection were uncommon in his upbringing, especially since he rarely saw it between his parents. He said he eventually got used to it, being influenced by friends and things he saw in high school like hugging each other and holding hands. “It is normal. It is the American life compared to island life,” Latu said.
“[People] are going to be stuck and not be able to date someone, if they only focus on [finding] someone who should meet all their expectations,” Latu emphasized. He said students should approach dating by following what the Church leaders say.
“Following the Church culture will help you find more happiness in life,” he added. He said following personal culture has complications, especially if you are dating someone not from your culture.
In his own Tongan culture, Latu said one of the complications is when somebody marries someone, they marry the whole family. That is where the struggle comes in as one might lean on the family more than his or her spouse, he continued. “Follow your heart and whoever you want to marry, practice both cultures and have mutual understanding,” Latu said. Just because they are different in terms of culture, he said, it does not have to be “push” or “pull” on one side only. “It has to be 50/50 in understanding each other’s culture, especially in multiracial marriage,” Latu added. •
BY GENE CYMMER RAMIREZ
BYU–Hawaii students said languages they learned on their missions became a gateway to meaningful connections and a richer understanding of their identities. Through experiences with languages, they said developed greater empathy and patience towards others and strengthened connections with diverse cultures.
A study published by Psychological Science reveals learning a new language unlocks deeper layers of self-awareness and transformes people’s worldviews. Somaya Alshehri, a researcher, asserts language not only reflects who people are but also shapes how they wish to be perceived. This sentiment echoes through centuries, from Charlemagne’s famous adage, “To speak another language is to have another soul,” to contemporary research on language and identity.
Wabi-sabi
Scott Patrick, an adjunct faculty member in the Faculty of Arts & Letters, said he learned to speak and teach the gospel in Nihongo, a language he struggled with due to its differences from English, while serving as a full-time missionary in the Japan Kobe Mission from 1983 to 1984. “Languages like French, German and Norwegian are easier for me to learn as a native English speaker,” he said. While Japanese, Thai, and Korean are naturally harder, he said he was so bad at it that he called his attempts “Pidgin Japanese.”
Patrick found learning the language undeniably challenging, and just when he thought he had nearly mastered it, the U.S. government paid him to forget it upon his return home, he said. “They invited me to be part of a research project where they pay you to forget a learned language to see how long it takes,” he said. “By the time the research was over, I didn’t even know how to do the usual missionary door approach in Japanese anymore!”
Now, decades later, Patrick said he integrates Japanese and other languages into his lessons. “I learned to appreciate Nihongo and make it a part of my life and teaching,” he shared.
The lessons he learned from speaking a language different from his own have improved all aspects of his life, he said. “Because learning Japanese was hard for me, it made me exert more effort into mastering it,” Patrick said. “It taught me how to show empathy and appreciation towards those who find it hard to learn English, because I’ve been there when I was learning Japanese.” He said he learned patience, kindness, and gentleness, which helped him establish his compassion-focused teaching in English.
Today, one of the most unforgettable lessons he teaches in ENGL 101 is “wabi-sabi,” a Japanese word that conveys finding the intrinsic beauty in simplicity and minimalism. “Wabi-sabi taught me to appreciate imperfect things. It sort of has become a part of my aesthetic,” Patrick shared. In wabi-sabi, he said one can find a greater sense of contentment.
Joshua Tonga, a junior from Utah majoring in political science, said he learned “a new way of seeing people” while serving in the Seoul Korea Mission from 2021 to 2023. Hangugeo, the South Korean language, is divided into different forms depending on who the speaker is talking to, he said. “Because there are forms like the high form, which is used to converse in a very polite way, I learned to respect individuals no matter what their background.”
Ethan Smith, a biology major from Kauai, Hawaii, said he grew to love the Atonement of Jesus Christ during his service in the Colombia Barranquilla Mission from 2022 to 2024. “I thought the English vocabulary was very specific,” he said. “But when I came to Colombia, I realized there were things I could only completely explain through Spanish. When I speak in Spanish, everything just makes more sense.”
When Tonga speaks in Korean, he shared he can set a certain atmosphere for the conversation using words alone. “It has taught me to be professional and respectful, wherever I am or whoever I’m talking to,” he said. “While English humor often involves self-deprecating jokes, Korean jokes, on the other hand, don’t rely too much on sarcasm, which maintains a certain kindness in their humor.”
He said his favorite Korean word is “duettda.” He explained, “It’s something my companions and I would shout out when we accomplished a goal. It means that you’ve achieved something, and you’re celebrating it.” He added,“It feels so satisfying. We say it when we score in futsal. It’s like saying ‘Goal!’ in soccer.”
Through the Korean language, Tonga said he discovered a deeper perspective on politeness and respect, but he also yearns for something more in a different language. “English has always been my native language, but my parents speak fluent Tongan, and my last name is Tonga,” he said. “I’ve always felt some form of identity displacement because I’m pure Tongan, but I don’t know the language.”
He said he always felt that way until he studied at BYUH. “Coming to the university, even if I still don’t know how to speak the language, I’ve met people who can help me complete that part of my identity,” he said. “I’ve learned Tongan values and the Tongan culture, and it just feels great.”
Smith said learning and speaking Spanish made him smarter. “When I learned the language, I was able to understand a whole bunch of cultures. It felt like I could take an entire continent’s culture and explore each one of them,” he said. He shared one of the best things he loved about the language was the way it was used in music. “You can discover and be amazed by so many words by just listening to their songs.”
Smith shared that his favorite word in Spanish is “expiación” which in English translates to “Atonement.” Because of the word, he said he grew to love the Atonement even more. “It makes the Atonement more specific,” he said. “The word means ‘to replace something.’ While the word ‘Atonement’ is more general in a sense, the word ‘expiación’ is specific enough for you to appreciate the individual effects of the Atonement.”
“When I learned Spanish, my testimony of God’s love increased,” he shared. “I know that God truly loves all His children. In the last area of my mission, we often taught and lived with indigenous people. I didn’t know how to speak their language, but whenever they prayed, I could always feel the Spirit.” Smith said moments like that gave him more certainty that God’s love is infinite. •
Learning the culture of those they served helped them change their lives, say returned missionaries at BYUH
BY FRANCE VALERIE LUCILLO
From trying fermented food to saying hello to strangers, serving a mission gave students the opportunity to learn and appreciate different cultures, said three BYU–Hawaii coeds. They said the culture they got to live on their missions led them to learn the meaning of charity, generosity and politeness.
Jeremiah Shackleford, a sophomore from Tennessee majoring in psychology, said he served in the Washington Kennewick Mission between 2020 and 2022 and spent most of his time serving people in Washington from the Marshall Islands. “There are already differences between Tennessee and Washington itself, and adding the island [culture] on top of that just added more difference,” said Shackleford.
Serving the Marshallese people was so different, especially with the different food, he shared. “They have pig’s blood and fermented food, like breadfruit, where you mix coconut milk to make it sweeter.” People from Marshall Islands are big on rice, which is very different from where he came from, he added.
Charity is a big part of the Marshallese culture, and Shackleford emphasized how it affected his mindset on life. “You can be happy without having everything in the world,” he said. Despite having little themselves, he shared their willingness to give helped him learn about charity and be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Shackleford reminisced about becoming part of a family he served in the Marshall
Islands, saying, “I could walk into their house and open the fridge comfortably.”
Despite the differences in food, he said Marshallese culture reflects his own culture in Tennessee. Like people from Tennessee, Marshallese people love to party even if they do not know what they are celebrating because they are happy people, he shared.
Shackleford said he is still proud of his own culture but that does not diminish his acceptance of other cultures as well. Trying to accept and understand the good parts of other cultures apart from what people are accustomed to could lead to having the best of both worlds, he said. “There are some parts that I do not accept or adopt, yet being able to take good parts of every culture and adopt them to myself is really cool for me,” said Shackleford. “The more you become yourself, the more they will accept you.”
Shackleford still follows some Marshallese cultural practices because it is culturally appropriate like accepting food from other people, which he rarely did before his mission, he said.
Vanuatu and its generosity
Eve Austin, a sophomore majoring in elementary education from Idaho, said her mission expanded her understanding of the world and how differently people perceive it. “I had companions from all over the world with all sorts of different cultures.”
Austin served her mission in Vanuatu Port Vila Mission from 2022 to 2024, and she said language was the biggest adjustment for her as she had to learn Bismala and French. “Language plays a big part in culture as it is the way people express themselves,”she said.
Apart from language, she said mannerism plays a huge role in the culture of Vanuatu. Mannerism is how people act and the way they are, she said. In Vanuatu, Austine explained it was different from where she grew up. For example, she said, “People in Vanuatu raise their eyebrows during conversation,” to say yes or no.
Austin also said fashion is a big thing in Vanuatu. They have traditional clothing called the island dress, she shared. “They are all [handmade] with bright dyes, puffy sleeves and flaps on the hips,” she described, and they are worn for dancing as well.
Miles away from her home, Austin recalled how the Vanuatu culture is similar to her Idaho culture. “Family units are similar. The love they have is very powerful,” she shared. Austin reflected on the generosity of the Vanuatu people, recalling a moment when her companion gave her well-cared-for shoes to someone they were helping during a service project. “People are so willing to give, and material things don’t matter much,” she shared. Austin said serving on an island like Vanuatu encouraged her to be more chill “because we are on island time.”
In the United States, people don’t say “Hi,” to each other on the streets, but in El Salvador, people have to, said Jamis Schrinner, a business management sophomore from Colorado. He served in the El Salvador Santa Ana Mission and said if someone did not say “Hi,” to people in El Salvador, they would get offended. “I know a lot of people from El Salvador who do not go to church anymore because
the bishop didn’t say ‘Hi,’ to them,” he shared. Schrinner said he still greets people in the hallways after his mission to the point where people think it’s weird or too much. “I love that part of the culture. It is like here on the island,” he said.
Schrinner said it took him a while to adjust to the culture in El Salvador because people from Colorado are more chill, whereas people in El Salvador are more excited. “They are happier, more connected and emotional [in El Salvador],” Schrinner explained. One of the similarities between Colorado and El Salvador was the World Cup. “It is huge in El Salvador, and people in the streets will just be cheering and shouting,” he shared. Schrinner said it came to a point where it was difficult to teach, but it helped him accept the culture more because he loves soccer himself.
Experiencing the culture of El Salvador changed his perspective in life, he said. “I try to be more excited with more stuff,” Schrinner explained. People from El Salvador always talk about God, which he said helped him become “more fluid” in his faith. “It is easier for me to talk about God now.” Schrinner said he doesn’t mind being late to class anymore because he gets to spend that time being with people, “and that is what’s important.” Schrinner said he wants to live in Latin America because people there focus more on people and activities. •
Jeremiah Shackleford, Eve Austin and Jamis Schrinner pose for the camera.
Photos by Bilguun Enkhbaatar and Moevai Tefan.
Graphics by Moevai Tefan.
BY LINDA LAULU
Students who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but are attending BYU–Hawaii said they have focused on adjusting to the religious environment, which poses challenges and opportunities. Despite initial discomfort, nonmember students said they often find the supportive and diverse community at BYUH helps them grow personally, spiritually and academically
Adapting to a religious environment
Hikaru Ichikawa, an accounting junior from Japan who practices Shintoism and Buddhism, said he was surprised to learn about the beliefs of his classmates. “I didn’t know about the existence of another world or the role of Jesus. I was surprised that many Church members encouraged me to become a member.” He added, “A positive thing is that I’ve become more diligent because of the other students here.” He shared he is inspired by how his friends who are members do the best they can while living away from home, train to be more independent and live the Word of Wisdom. In addition, he said they have influenced him to be tidy at all times by cleaning his room more frequently.
Luaupu Ta’a’au, a junior from Samoa double majoring in biology and anthropology, said BYUH quickly became a place
of social and spiritual growth. She said most of her friends at home are Church members, so attending a Church university felt pretty normal. “Every day, I meet people from different places and learn something new.”
Ta’a’au said her time at the university has pushed her out of her comfort zone. “I wasn’t very social before I came here,” she said. Since coming to BYUH, she said she has started interacting with more people, becoming more active and feeling the Savior’s love through the community.
Ichikawa shared he is the only child in his
English and get a job here after graduation,” Ichikawa added.
Ichikawa explained he initially felt awkward about applying to a church-affiliated school but decided to proceed after hearing about the kindness and diversity of the student body. One of the requirements to be accepted to BYUH was to meet a bishop in his home area. “I was scared during the interview with my bishop knowing he is the leader of a different faith,” he said. Ichikawa said BYUH was the only school in the United States he applied to due to the manageable tuition. He said, “I just accepted and decided to go.”
Coming from a large family, Ta’a’au said “I have two brothers and seven cousins who I now call my siblings.” Growing up with two brothers and a lot of cousins helped build resilience and a sense of responsibility, she said. “I admired each of their strengths, and they were great examples for me growing up,” she added they still had petty fights, but she feels no one will support and love her like them. Now that they are miles away from each other, she said they are always in contact through social media, checking up on each other and getting life updates. “I am hoping one day we will all reunite in the home where we were raised,” she added.
Reflecting on her connections with the university here in Laie, she said, “I only heard a little about BYUH when I was in high school.” She said she wasn’t really interested because she thought it was exclusive for members. Ta’a’au said she attended Church College Vaiola in Samoa and was fortunate
to receive the PAIS scholarship, now renamed as the David O. McKay scholarship. With that opportunity, she said she applied in early 2022 and was accepted for the Fall 2022 Semester.
Terangahau Teihoarii, a sophomore from French Polynesia studying hospitality and tourism management and Pacific Islands Studies, said, “I grew up and was baptized in the Catholic Church. My relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was non-existent before coming here.”
Ta’a’au said the opportunity to experience life on her own was a driving factor behind her decision to attend BYUH. “The difference in religion wasn’t a challenge for me, since my parents come from different religious backgrounds and are very understanding of this choice,” she said.
Teihoarii shared some cultural differences that stood out during her freshman year. She said the clothing restrictions and the way students address the professors by “Brother” and “Sister” were a culture shock for her. Back in Tahiti, Teihoarii said she attended public schools where clothing restrictions were not as strict, and where professors are always addressed as “Mr.,” “Ms.” or “Madam.”
She said attending BYUH has impacted her life back home. “It gave me independence and a new perspective on myself, others, my culture and God. It emotionally affected my family because I came here alone, without knowing anyone. Over time, things got better,” she added.
added she has become more humble and obtained more wisdom from those around her. “I want to apply these values to my future endeavors,” she said.
Ichikawa said one of the benefits of his BYUH experience is learning what it is like to be part of a minority group. “When you’re in the majority, you can’t notice the characteristics of your community. But by being in the minority, you can understand your community’s and others’ different aspects.” It offers a new perspective, he said, allowing him to understand the differences in both their own culture and others. “This experience has helped me strategize my life through shaping my personal growth.”
Teihoarii said she first heard about the university from family members. “I came here because I heard of it when I was little, especially from my mother who wanted to attend this university but financially couldn’t,” she said. Teihoarii added she has always wanted to study abroad in an English-speaking country and BYUH was perfect for her.
Ichikawa said his friends’ norms are very different from his, like the habit of daily prayers. “They usually pray before meals and the start of every class in school, but I didn’t know what to say because I am not used to it.” Ichikawa said he felt some social pressure when meeting other students, especially if they discussed religion or missionary service. “When they asked if I served a mission, I had to say no [because] I’m not a member,” he said. Moreover, Ichikawa said taking religion classes has been a significant challenge. He said these classes are stressful because he doesn’t not have an understanding of the principles and doctrines being discussed and tested upon. “Having religion as one of the core requirements for graduating college concerns me, especially to maintain a great academic profile,” he added.
Socially, Ichikawa said he has to be mindful of what he says. “I have to consider what I should or shouldn’t say because they don’t drink, and they avoid coffee and certain substances. If I speak freely, they might frown at me.”
Ichikawa said so far, he has signed up for religion classes with professors who are convenient for him to participate in their classes. “So far, my strategy is to take the easier classes with easier professors based on my friend’s experiences as well as the reviews about each professor.” He said also finds balance by spending time with non-members. “Spending weekends with non-members helps me stay unbiased, he explained.
Teihoarii said participating in lessons with missionaries led to some pressure. “There were times when I felt challenged, not because of my faith, but because I’m a nonmember,” she said. “I wanted to learn more about the Church and how it works, but even after sharing that I’d remain true to my faith, I was often asked if I wanted to get baptized,” Teihoarii said. She said though she knows it is not their intention, she still feels pressured.
Ta’a’au shared, “Sometimes I get really discouraged and homesick, but my family has always been my source of inspiration. I believe that with God and my loved ones’ support, anything is possible.”
Even in those difficult moments, she said her faith remains strong. She said, “I know that the Lord is always there for us. It may feel like He’s far away, but in those times, He’s actually the closest. We just need to kneel down and pray.”
Teihoarii said she has found comfort through friends. She said,“I shared my feelings and questions with some of my friends here and found support in their words. Being here has drawn me closer to God.” Teihoarii
Looking ahead, Ta’a’au said she is determined to carry forward lessons she’s learned from her time at BYUH. “One thing I’ve gained from this ohana is to always be kind and look for ways to improve. Don’t ever limit your worth,” she said. •
BY WINSLETTE QUIRAY-SANTIAGO
Intercultural relationships are established between two people who come from different cultural identities and backgrounds and having this kind of relationship has its own benefits and drawbacks, according to the book, “Fundamentals of Communication by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network.” Despite having challenges, BYU–Hawaii students and researchers shared how humor can help build and sustain intercultural relationships.
According to Dr. John Gottman, emeritus professor at the University of Washington and psychologist, one of the effective ways to strengthen relationships with your partner is by sharing humor. He said, “Couples who laugh together, last together.”
Author of “Intercultural Communication in Asia: Education, Language, and Values,” Kimie Oshima also said, “Humor can assist in the understanding and deconstructing of social and cultural expectations.” She said it can also promote mental flexibility, which allows
people to understand and adopt new aspects of culture and communication.
In the abstract of the study “The Use of Humor in Intimate Intercultural Relationships” by Gabrijela Aleksic and Nadine Thomas, the authors note humor can serve as an effective tool for bridging intercultural and interpersonal divides when applied thoughtfully. They said how humor mainly serves two functions in intimate intercultural relationships: One for bonding and another for coping.
Daniela Ocampo, a BYUH alumna from Colombia, who studied elementary education, said as a Latin American married to someone who has Asian roots can be challenging sometimes. She said, “Because we could laugh and have humor in our relationship, it became one of the reasons why we decided to continue dating despite differences.”
Her husband, Martyn Cruz Hong, a junior majoring in accounting from Malaysia, said, “Humor is one of the main reasons that made me and my wife get along. Our humor matches, and we just clicked.”
Due to certain cultural differences, she said they learned to be more understanding of each other. Ocampo added, “My husband is really good at addressing our differences. We can look back at our silly fights and just laugh at it.” She said understanding cultural contexts is important to fully understand your partner.
In the book “Intercultural Communication in Contexts, 8th edition,” authors Judith Martin and Thomas Nakayama, shared some of the benefits in an intercultural relationship include “increasing cultural knowledge, challenging previously held stereotypes, and learning new skills.” Challenges may also occur due to differences between cultural identities that may create anxiety and tension, the authors say.
According to the authors, “Negative stereotypes may also hinder progress towards relational development, especially if the individuals are not open to adjusting their preexisting beliefs.” Hence, they said intercultural relationships may take more work to nurture, maintain, and need a combined effort, time and patience to help each other increase cultural awareness.
Humor is pretty complicated, according to The Gottman Institute website. “If we want to use it in a way that builds and maintains healthy, loving and strong connections, we must be mindful,” the website added.
Poliahu Wells, a junior from Hawaii studying biology, said there are also cultural aspects in humor so it is important to know what is considered offensive or not. She shared an experience when she and her husband, Simon Teng, a junior majoring in finance and accounting, were hanging out with some of her husband’s friends.
Because her husband is Malaysian and can also speak Mandarin, she said he can easily share the same humor with his Chinese friends. One time, when they were having fun, one of their friends asked Teng what his “pet name” was for her, a term for endearment.
“In America, we use ‘babe, baby’, and he was like, ‘You’re my whale, ’” recalled Wells. She said she was shocked when Teng said that. “I used to be a chubby kid and he had no idea. He didn’t realize how deep-rooted this was,” she expressed.
In the Western world, she said, “being called a ‘whale’ means being called ‘fat’.” She remembered looking at their Chinese friends, and she said they were all saying how it was cute and how the pet name fits her. “They were not phased at all. I got confused, and so I asked one of them to explain why it was cool,” she said.
Teng said in Chinese culture, being called a “whale” means that a person is unique. “It is considered a compliment because whales are rarely seen in China,” he explained. Wells added the symbolism of “whale” in Chinese culture is similar to being called a “diamond” or “gem” in the Western culture.
From then on, she said because she was informed of its cultural context, they began to integrate “whales” in their relationships such as using whale emojis and calling each other “whales” affectionately.
Language is a big thing in intercultural relationships, she said. “It took us a while not only to get comfortable talking to each other, but also for him to talk about his past or talk about deeper topics.” She said from that experience she learned sometimes Teng used certain words not with the intention of being offensive, but because that is the only vocabulary he knows.
Wells encouraged people, especially those dating interculturally, to make sure to try to learn how the other person communicates and show their interest or love. She said, “When you come from two different cultures and countries, it is important to do the simple things first and learn how to understand each other’s point-of-views.” •
Lessons of courage, conviction and confidence came from the cultural challenges BYU–Hawaii students said they had while living in countries with prevalent cultures and beliefs different from their own.
Aqeel Emmanuel, a sophomore majoring in business management from Pakistan, said he was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, where he learned to stand firm in his beliefs despite setbacks. He said Islam is the dominant religion in Karachi and the whole of Pakistan. “I faced several struggles, including limited job opportunities in government roles reserved for Muslims, social exclusion that led to feelings of isolation and discrimination in various aspects of life,” he said. Those experiences, he said, made him more resilient to challenges and empathetic toward others’ struggles.
Emmanuel said he worked in a private organization where he often struggled to request time off for Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter. “Each year when I submitted my requests, they seemed [to] overlook it or deny it,” he said.
This did not stop him from persisting, he said. He shared during one of their team meetings he decided to explain why holidays like Christmas and Easter were significant to him. He explained the traditions and family connections these days brought and how a more flexible holiday policy could benefit workplace morale and inclusivity.
Much to his surprise, Emmanuel said, many colleagues joined in to share their own stories about the importance of celebrating personally significant events. He said a constructive discussion was sparked and eventually resulted in the organization’s new holiday policy with more flexibility and inclusivity.
“This experience taught me the value of speaking up and working together to create a more inclusive environment,” he said. “It not only allowed me to honor my traditions but also made the workplace more supportive for everyone.”
Emmanuel compared the challenges he faced and the lessons he learned in Pakistan to the reassurance he felt when he started studying at BYUH.
A sense of belonging
Hei Pui Cheng, a senior majoring in computer science from Hong Kong, said moving to study at BYUH was a culture shock but also made him feel at home. “Living in Hong Kong, I felt out of place for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” he said. “When I moved to BYUH, I felt a sense of unity because of shared beliefs.”
He said he often felt like he did not fit in because his values and beliefs were different from the cultural and societal norm.
Though he continued to experience these feelings, he said he learned a valuable lesson on perception and understanding. “My sight was expanded... Other people’s judgments toward you don’t matter if you are doing the right thing,” he said.
Cheng said before BYUH, the feeling of indifference toward other people was something he always saw in the communities he lived in. “People won’t usually talk to strangers,” he said. After moving to BYUH, Cheng said he was shocked by the sudden change of norms and values.
“Living in Pakistan helped me appreciate different beliefs, [the] importance of open communication and how my challenges strengthened my faith and commitment,” he said. Now part of a community that shares his values and beliefs, he said he truly feels at home. “Living here has added much to my life and deepened my sense of who I am,” he said.
“Stay true to who you are and remember that your values matter... Each small step you take to express your beliefs can inspire others and create a ripple effect of understanding and acceptance. Keep going and believe in the power of your voice. You are not alone in this journey,” Emmanuel shared.
He explained, “Everyone [here] is so friendly, and we all share the same perspective in life.”
Cheng said when people are struggling with defending their own beliefs, that is the time they need to strengthen their own identity. “Just be yourself ... What matters is not how others see you, but how God sees you and how you see yourself,” he said.
BY GENE CYMMER RAMIREZ
Dandy Nugraha, a sophomore majoring in computer science from Indonesia, said he found the value of patience when he stood firm in his beliefs despite the many threats to Christianity in Indonesia. He said, “When I made mistakes in school, they blamed the teachings I got from the Church... But this made me a person who can control myself and learn patience, applying the teachings of Jesus Christ for myself and those around me.” He said coming to BYUH made feeling happiness, peace and the Holy Ghost much easier than it used to be.
Nugraha said he was raised to respect other people’s beliefs, especially because Islam is Indonesia’s largest religion and is part of the state’s culture. “I was taught not to be noisy when the Muslims were worshipping, and it was five times every day,” he said.
Though members of the Islamic community were often tolerant, he said there
Seongeun Lee, a freshman majoring in psychology from South Korea, said she gained the confidence to stand out and share her beliefs in South Korea while encountering the cultural challenges that came from protecting her faith. “More than half of the people in my city do not have a religion and dislike Christians. Those who are Christian themselves do not like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because they consider it a heretical church,” she said.
Lee said most of her challenges to protect her faith came from the Korean culture of drinking alcohol. “Koreans love drinking,” she explained. “People drink to foster friendships and share stories, but it always made me feel awkward because I was always the only person who didn’t drink.”
were times he felt threatened.
“Whenever we celebrated Christmas, the people around us were never supportive. During church celebrations, we needed police supervision because disturbances like bomb threats were a normal thing,” he said. Moreover, Nugraha said many members of the community he lived in didn’t like dogs because they believed they were impure. He said, “We always had to be careful and watch our dogs because our neighbors do not like them. One time, one of our dogs died because our neighbors fed him poison.”
Despite the challenges, Nugraha said he was taught to be patient rather than hold grudges. He said this principle eventually became the gateway to having rich friendships that endured. “Patience and respect made me stand out, and now I have many friends from different faiths who I still talk with today,” he said. “Though patience requires enduring for a long time, the rewards are worth it. I now
have friends who grew to accept me and are even interested in my stories and experiences when I served on my mission, despite their different religious backgrounds,” he added.
Nugraha said moving to BYUH made him realize all those moments of patience were worth it. “I am so grateful to live in a community that shares the same values and beliefs...When you feel like you are in a community threatening your identity, stay strong and show who you really are. Believe there will be a time when you will not feel alone anymore. Show love, care and respect to those around you. They will know you are not an enemy to them but a friend. I know it is not easy, but I know you can do it,” he encouraged.
She said she attended a short study program that made her feel embarrassed because she was offered alcohol and did not know how to react. “I did not know how to explain why I do not drink. I was not ready for the situation and did not know what to talk about first. Before I served my mission, I rarely talked about my religion,” she shared. This experience pushed her to prepare herself to answer correctly when faced with a similar situation again, she said. “I can now answer someone’s religious questions naturally and firmly,” Lee said. “I was confronted with the same situation again when my manager offered me a drink. I confidently talked about my faith, and she genuinely showed interest in the Church.”
She said she often asked for strength in her prayers to succeed. “It is important to
live according to your faith despite cultural challenges. People will take it naturally when you confidently share something you cherish... If you have difficulty sharing your faith, I recommend practicing several times. God will give you courage,” she said.
Lee said she felt more comfortable and confident when she started studying at BYUH. “My friends and co-workers are not uncomfortable with religious and cultural stories,” she said. “When I feel like my faith is wavering, I strengthen it by sharing my testimony with others... I learned to be confident and not embarrassed, which made me a better person,” she shared. •
The above drawings represent the architecture, practices and objects used by cultures around the world. Illustrations and graphics by
BY PIM HOOTINI
Forming friendships at BYU–Hawaii with people from other cultures has shaped their worldview and contributed to their personal growth, said BYUH students.
Kanchana Udomtawee and Kenona Baibatu said communication is key to building friendships across cultures. Baibatu, a freshman majoring in political science from Fiji, said, “Sometimes something is considered okay with my culture but not to [Udomtawee’s].
We understand each other more when we communicate openly about what we do in our cultures.”
Udomtawee, a senior studying elementary education from Thailand, added, “We should be open-minded too. Sometimes, we are tempted to think our culture is the best, but other cultures are just as great. Find ways to learn and enjoy other cultures. When we participate in our friends’ cultures, friendship also improves.
Baibatu said her friendship with Udomtawee started when they were assigned over a year ago to work together at Hale 10 as resident assistants. “When I was moving in, Udomtawee was cooking spring rolls with her friends and she shared them with me. I could tell right away cooking was her love language,” said Baibatu.
When sharing her first impression of Baibatu and Fijian culture, Udomtawee said, “Baibatu can have fun in any situation… even in bad situations.” She said Fijian culture is different from Thai culture. “Fijians are outgoing and love to party, while Thais tend to be more reserved,” she added. However, she explained both cultures share a value similar to Thailand’s “kham greng jai,” which means being considerate of others. One interesting thing they said they learned about each other’s cultures was marriage dowry traditions. Baibatu said, “Men in Fiji use whale teeth as dowry. The teeth are worth more than gold.” Udomtawee added, “In Thailand, we just use money, gold, jewelry and property as dowry.”
Udomtawee and Baibatu said their friendship has changed their assumptions about Thai and Fijian cultures. Baibatu said, “I used to think Thais are hard to communicate with. I have had experiences with other Thais where I [would] always have trouble with the language barrier. [But] I don’t face that problem with [Udomtawee].”
Udomtawee said, “I thought Polynesians are loud, tough and the type of people who we shouldn’t mess with. But then the more I spend time with Fijians, I know now they are kind and have big hearts. They are really fun to be around.”
Tzu Shuan Yu, a junior majoring in elementary education from Taiwan, said having roommates and friends from different countries enriched her life. Those friendships “taught me cultural differences can lead to deeper connections,” she said.
It’s interesting to learn something different from people with various backgrounds, she said. Participating in Tahitian dance for a cultural event helped her connect with friends from Tahiti, Yu added. “It was new to me. We don’t have this kind of dance back home. Practicing the dance helped me learn more about Tahitian dance moves… and brought my Tahitian friends and me closer.”
Yu said one of the things she enjoys doing with her friends is trying different foods. “My roommates from the Philippines and friends from Korea and Thailand often shared their traditional dishes with me. It was something I really enjoyed because the food was authentic and they tasted really good,” she explained.
She advised students, “Don’t be afraid to talk to people. Embrace different cultures. Participate in club [activities].”
When it comes to navigating different cultures, she emphasized the importance of acceptance and respect. “I’ve learned people have different ways of doing things, and I try to stay open-minded and respectful,” she shared.
“I also found there are lots of similarities in people and cultures,” she shared. “Although Taiwan and Thailand are different countries,” she said, “we both share a tradition of family-style dining, where multiple dishes are served to be eaten with rice.”
Hyun Kim, a junior majoring in computer science from South Korea, said he has been serving in the bishopric of his ward for nine months, most recently as a first counselor. Reflecting on his experience, he shared, “Serving as a bishopric counselor wasn’t easy because English is not my first language. It took me time to get used to it.”
Despite the challenges, Kim emphasized the importance of building relationships with ward members from diverse cultural backgrounds. “If people don’t have friends in the church, it’s hard for them to participate in classes and activities,” he explained. Creating an inclusive environment is key, particularly through activities that help people connect, he shared.
Kim said, “One of the highlights of my service has been observing how mixed-culture couples interact through ministering and activities [in the church].” He explained, “We get to learn about cultures from each other and the countries we come from.”
Through his service, Kim said he feels he has developed the Christlike attribute of charity. “When I learned more about their lives and backgrounds, I have more love and understanding of people,” he shared. “We may come from different cultures and backgrounds, but the culture of Christ can bring us together.” Kim cited Elder William K. Jackson’s talk, “The Culture of Christ,” in which Jackson said, “[The culture of Christ] unites rather than divides. It heals rather than harms.” •
Three legacy students share their connection to BYUH, recounting their experiences of returning to their birthplace to continue the educational journey their parents started
BY PIM HOOTINI AND BELLA CHIMEDBAATAR
Following in their parents’ footsteps, three legacy students, each born on campus while their parents were studying and living in BYU–Hawaii’s Temple View Apartments, shared their experiences of returning to the same university their parents attended. With a strong bond between past and present, they said they found inspiration in their parents’ journeys, leading them to choose BYUH for their own educational path.
Tutana Tunutu, a junior biology major from Tahiti, said she was born in Kahuku and her parents often talked about their time at BYUH. “They met here, got their education, and were involved in club activities…My dad even held me during his graduation,” she recalled.
Tunutu said her parents were highly involved in campus life, with her mother serving as president of the Math Club and her father leading the Tahiti Club. “They were very engaged in campus activities, and that sense of involvement inspired me to join club activities,” she shared.
Tunutu’s parents both majored in mathematics during their time at BYUH, but she said she decided to take a different academic path by pursuing biology. She explained, “My mother excelled in math, and sometimes I felt pressured to perform well in the same classes she took.” Tunutu said her goal is to attend medical school. By studying biology, she said, “I’ve found my own path, which has helped ease that pressure.”
A notable connection from her parents’ time at BYUH is Dr. Paul Hurst, a professor who “helped my mother secure a scholarship in science,” Tunutu explained. Having the opportunity to meet the same professor who supported her mother created a meaningful link to her family’s history at the university, she shared. “Every time we meet, it feels like he’s part of our family,” she added.
Miriam Palmer, a freshman from Hauula and Laie majoring in hospitality and tourism management, said she spent her first six months of her life in TVA. Although she doesn’t remember much about her experience on campus, she said she decided to come to BYUH because she wanted to attend a local university. “I think the fact my parents were here [for their studies] is just like a bonus. Not only do I get to get an education, but I also get to carry on this tradition of education [because] education is super important in our family,” she said.
She said education helps people contribute to the community and make better decisions. “The more you know the more [it applies] to other subjects. The wider your knowledge base, the better you can cope with the world,” she shared.
Palmer said her grandparents moved here in 1984 so her grandfather could teach in Hawaii. “He was only a professor for two or three
Left: Siblings Tu’iterai, Tutana and Teorahau Tunutu stand outside the Lorenzo Snow Building, recreating a photo taken at their father’s graduation.
Above: Tutana Tunutu smiles next to a picture of her as a child at her father’s graduation.
Right: Miriam Palmer smiles above a picture of her parents holding her at her father’s graduation.
years before he passed away. That’s the reason my dad grew up here,” she said. On her mother’s side, her ancestors came to Hawaii to work on the sugar cane plantations in the 1860s, Palmer said. “For me, it’s the culmination of several generations of work to get us here,” she added.
“Everything my ancestors have ever done has led to me being here. I would like to think that I am like my own person, my own product, but I think it’s really important to remember [where] we are coming from and everyone who came before [us]. We have a legacy to protect,” she said.
Palmer shared some stories about her parents’ time as students at BYUH. “They said the walls were really thin so you could hear everything,” she said. Her mom, who was pregnant, had to listen to the National Spelling Bee after their neighbor left the TV on all night, Palmer added. “[My mom] joked she should’ve just gone into his house and turned off the TV,” she said with a laugh.
Continuing a multi-generational legacy
Manu Tefan, a senior majoring in marketing from Tahiti, said he has a deep-rooted connection to BYUH. “Both of my parents studied here… Not just [them], but also my grandparents, uncles and cousins,” he said. Out of his three siblings born in Utah, Tefan said, as the oldest child, he was the only one born and raised in Hawaii for just over a year before moving back to Tahiti.
Reflecting on his decision to attend the same university as his parents, he said, “It gives me a sense of familiarity…It’s good to finally see what [my family has] been talking about.”
Tefan said his parents worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center during their time as students. He said his parents worked in the Tahitian Village as tour guides, and his mother also danced in the Night Show. He added, “One fun thing is meeting professors who knew my parents through work when they were still students. [Like] Sister Numaga, [an assistant professor in the Faculty of Business & Government] who knew my mother from the Night Show,” Tefan recalled. Tefan also has a personal connection with Sister Natasha Gillette, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education & Social Work, and her family. Gillette is the wife of Tefan’s father’s law school friend, who now teaches at BYUH. “Their son also attends school here, so we hang out from time to time,” he added.
Tefan said the school has changed a lot from his parents’ time to now. “But I love that it changed a lot. Changes are exciting, especially when they benefit students. I hope my kids choose to study here one day, and I can’t wait to see how much the school will change in the future,” he said. •
BY MYCO MARCAIDA
“The People, The People, The People” is what the Huki show is about. In an official press release from the Polynesian Cultural Center, PCC President Alfred Grace said the Huki brings Polynesia’s unique history and folklore to visiting guests.
In Hawaiian, “huki” means “to pull.” The PCC said the canoe performance, suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is back after four long years. The 20-minute show showcases six islands: Hawai’i, Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa, and Aotearoa (New Zealand).
From the legendary story of Maui pulling up the islands to the cherished history of Hukilau in Laie, the PCC website describes “Huki’s” powerful theme as running throughout the show, where fishing nets brought the community together. “Huki” beautifully illustrates that the ocean, rather than dividing people, unites them as one ohana or family, sharing the spirit of aloha, the website says
Malcolm Timoteo, a host and alumni from Nevada, said Huki is an introduction for the guests at the PCC. “In summary, it is about the villages and sharing each village’s cultures and beliefs with the people,” he added.
Huki was also an opportunity for students to work more hours during the summer, said Lorna Tuita, a freshman majoring in business
management from Tonga. “I am a night show performer, and I was tasked with participating in dancing [in Huki] for Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa. Other dancers danced for Hawaii, Aotearoa, and Tahiti,” she added.
Tuita expressed the difficulties she went through during practices and performing on the canoe. “Performing on a moving canoe was already difficult, and we also had to deal with the sun’s intense heat,” she added. She said all the practices paid off as soon as the launch of Huki happened. “It was worth every sweat and hard work all the performers and managers had to endure.”
Maania Spooner, a junior majoring in finance and political science from New Zealand, said her audition process differed. “Leaders from the theatre department wanted tour guides as hosts for the show. I auditioned and was given one of the spots,” she added.
Aljassier Zaballa, a canoe pusher and a freshman majoring in accounting from the Philippines, said rehearsing daily helped him visualize what the show would look like when it was time to perform. “Practicing for a month made me really comfortable and prepared,” he added.
“I
realized I needed to stop with this victim mentality that I had and take control of what I know now about my culture. I learned so many things here already and am still continuing to build my own cultural identity that revolves around BYUH’s diversity.”
-Sophia Calderon