Students Celebrate Mid-Autumn Chinese Festival: Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival took place on Sept. 30 as an important cultural heritage to Han Chinese, comparable to American Thanksgiving. The festival takes place on the 15th day of the eighth Chinese lunar month, when the moon supposed to look the brightest. Besides China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Mid-Autumn Festival is also a special practice in Japan and Korea.

Han Chinese has a special attachment to the moon. They associate the full moon and its completeness as a symbol for family reunion, and it has a tendency of making Chinese travelers homesick. Moon cake is the main traditional Chinese treat for Mid-Autumn Festival. Its shape is round like a full moon and is special to the festival.

According to K.C. Chang in “Food in Chinese Culture,” traditionally, moon cakes are made with sweetened lotus seed paste and preserved egg yolk. In southern China, some moon cakes are salty and filled with ham, walnuts, and pork.

To celebrate the festival, Chinese families will customarily get together and eat moon cakes. As they enjoy the beauty of the full moon, parents tell their children the story of Chang’e, the well-known Chinese folklore about the origin of Mid-Autumn Festival.

In a previous time, Chang’e was the wife of Houyi, a heroic king in ancient China. To protect the pill of immorality that was given to her husband by Jade, the Emperor of Heaven, from wicked people, Chang’e accidently swallowed the pill, as a result, she became immortal. She chose to live on the moon, the closest place to the earth, where she could see her husband. To remember his faithful wife, Houyi laid a table outside the house with fruits and treats that Chang’e had favored and to tell her he loved her deeply. Houyi’s people ever since then have followed the practice every year and called it the Mid- Autumn Festival, according to Haiwang Yuan in “The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese.”

Rebecca Yuan, a sophomore in marketing from Shandong, China, wished BYUH students “zhong qiu jie kuai le” – “Happy Mid-Autumn Festival” in Mandarin. She said her family likes to celebrate the festival with lanterns and moon cakes. In northern China where she is from, people also eat grapefruit, chestnuts, and taro for the festival.

“We eat barbecue in Taiwan to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival,” said Michelle Chen, a sophomore in exercise science from Taiwan. “When we eat barbecue, everyone in the family can gather together and watch the moon. We also eat grapefruit, Chinese mochi, and hotpot.” She recalled her favorite activities were playing firework and burning grapefruit peels to keep mosquitos away because of the smoke it made.

“We have a similar activity called ‘otsukimi’ in Japan. It means [to have] fun in watching the moon,” said Fujika Kinjo, who is the Japanese chapter vice president and a sophomore in communication from Japan. Japan holds the festival from Sept. 13 to 14 when the moon is full. She said people from Japan eat mochi and otsukimi dango because they are round and it represents the shape of full moon. “There is also an event called otsukimi dorobo. It’s like ‘Halloween’ in Japan I guess. Children are allowed to steal otsukimi dango from their neighbors and eat it secretly.”

Justin Sunwoong Choi, Korean chapter president and also a senior in marketing from South Korea, said Choo-seok – Korea Mid-Autumn Festival – is celebrated like Thanksgiving in United States.

“We give thanks to our ancestors by visiting their tombs or get together as a big family in one house, and set food there and eat them all together.” Like Taiwan and Japan, Korea has its unique food customs for the festival. “We have all different kind of jeons, something like meat jeon here in Hawaii, kimchi, rice cake, fishes, vegetables, tofu, and so on.”

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Yamagata Luncheon: Beneficiaries Thank Yamagatas and Share Internship Stories

More than 100 interns and students attended a banquet to honor Gene and Allyson Yamagata, of the Yamagata Foundation Asian Internship, at the Stake Center on Sept. 27.

The Yamagata Foundation provides students with scholarships to fund international internships. “The main reason we are here is to give thanks to the Yamagatas,” said Max Checkett, VP of Academics at BYU-Hawaii, as he opened the luncheon. He said, “When these young people [BYUH students] go back to their countries, these job experiences would help them to build the kingdom of God and to provide for their families.”

Student speakers were invited to share their internship experiences. Adhika Kusuma, a senior in marketing from Indonesia, said, “I was working in a marketing department. My co-workers treated me like a real employee and my boss gave a guarantee that I can work for him after I graduate from BYUH. I want to say thank you to the Yamagatas for giving me this opportunity.” Another student speaker, Nilo Manalo, a business management and supply chain senior from the Philippines, said, “It’s good to see the real world. I know the Lord is using his people to build His kingdom.” He participated in the Philippines Career Connect program. He said he appreciated the Yamagatas “because of their kindness, many of our students can do their internships.”

Gene Yamagata greeted the audience saying, “I’ve been told it’s supposed to end at 1 o’clock, so I am grateful I have zero minutes to talk.” The crowd was laughing as he continued, “I am grateful to be here. We have been doing this since 2003, almost 10 years. We started with a small number of students and we now have access to 300 students.” Yamagata credited his parents’ sacrifice for his success.

“As I look over the crowd, many of you seem to have come from countries that required sacrifices to be here and receive an education,” said Yamagata. He wished the students success and said, “I know the Lord is blessing us. He made this program a success and I know many of you will be successful as you go on to the world in the near future as graduates from BYUH. I hope to see you some place in the world again.”

After the luncheon, the Yamagatas took time to take pictures with students standing in line to offer their gratitude. They greeted each student with hugs and smiles. Allyson Yamagata commented after the event, “It was a wonderful luncheon. We were so excited that they [BYUH] asked us if we could donate our time and funds to create this foundation.” Gene Yamagata said, “we are going to continue to help students.”

Hironui Johnston, a political science senior from French Polynesia, said, “I am grateful for the Yamagata’s and their initiatives. If they ever need any of my help, I will be more than happy to return them the favor.” Johnston did his internship with the Presidential Cabinet of French Polynesia. It was the first time the Cabinet took an intern. As an intern, Johnston represented the Cabinet at events. “The Cabinet provided me a chauffeur with a car. I was considered as an employee. This distinction was earned as they saw professionalism in my actions and behaviors,” said Johnston.

Another attendee, Tiffany Henderson, a political science and communication senior from Japan, interned for an advertising company in Japan. She advised future interns, “don’t be too picky about where and what kind of internship it is. Take whatever experience you are able to get and be grateful for it. From my experience and hearing about others intern experiences, I think wherever you end up, we all have learned the same lessons necessary for real life.”

Wally Thiim, who is the LDS Philanthropies associate director and principle gifts officer for BYUH and Polynesian Cultural Center, reminded students who are planning for an internship to apply through BYUH Career Services. “Every student who does an internship in international countries, qualifies for the Yamagata Foundation.”

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Contributing to the community: Kupuans' service to Laie

Oftentimes students see their community as being BYU-Hawaii and not the entire Laie community. But people in the community are part of the legacy of the university and the town Here are some community members that have contributed to the Laie and its rich history.  

From a pioneer to a professional pareu maker 

Ura Behling, known as Auntie Ura to community members, has lived in Laie for more than 45 years. Her son, Tom Mariteragi, is a BYU-Hawaii electrician and her daughter-in-law, Katai, works in the cafeteria.

According to Behling, she moved from Tahiti in 1969, following a call from the LDS Church to serve as a labor missionary in the Polynesian Cultural Center. She worked as a dancer in the Tahitian village with two of her daughters. Se has worked as a nurse, a groundskeeper at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and now she is a professional pareu maker.

Pareu means to “wrap you around” in Tahitian. Her pareus are made of 35 percent cotton and 65 percent polyester cloth similar to a lava lava, which Tahitians use when they go to beach. She started her business back in 1989. Her main customers, besides BYUH students and Laie community members, included tourists from Waikiki and the PCC. She said “sometimes I just hang the product in my yard and people are attracted by the color. They are happy with the product, so they come back and order more. I love my job.” Charles Goo was born and raised in Laie. His father, who passed away in 2008, was the owner of the Old Plantation Store, nicknamed the “Goo’s Store”.

 

Goo’s Old Plantation Store

The Goo’s Store opened in 1913 and closed in 1946 for a short period of time. It was reopened in 1955 and remained the business until 1986. One half of the store was a snack bar and the half was a general store. It was located right across the street from the old Church College of Hawaii.

Goo recalled “I was helping in the store since I was 9. Our main customers were students and community members. High school students liked to buy pake cake – a Chinese pie cake - for breakfast. There was no Foodland but only us and the Sam’s Store. I watched the store and sometimes people stole candy, but back then Laie was pretty small and I knew the kids who stole. Usually I told them to put the candy back. If not, I called the parents.”

Goo’s father was praised by the community members as the “one man Relief society” for he provided and took care of the whole community. Goo said “my dad used to extend credit to community family, which means they could buy things in credit. He had a card to record the names, dates and the amount of money people owned. Some never paid, but I would say most people were honest.” Charles Goo also worked for years at BYUH before retiring.

 

Johnny Lingo’s Father-in-Law

Joe Ah Quin is best known as the actor in the 1969 LDS Church movie “The Legend of Johnny Lingo.” He played the role of Mahana’s father. Ah Quin was born in 1935 in Hawaii and has lived in Laie for years. He was a singer for 30 years at the Moana Surfrider Hotel in Waikiki and used to teach music in Kahuku High School.

“The actor of Johnny Lingo was actually older then me,” said Ah Quin. He recalled parts of the movie were filmed in Laie. “Johnny Lingo’s honeymoon hut was located in Hukilau Beach.” When the film director saw him, he asked Ah Quin to read the script. “While I was reading he said ‘You will be Mahana’s father!’ I was surprised I was chosen over the Waikiki professional actors.”

Ah Quin went to BYU Provo with the actor of Johnny Lingo in 1954. “I went to college for one year, but then I ran out of money. So I served in the Navy in Japan for four years and came back to Laie for school. It was the Church College of Hawaii. I returned home on Dec. 17, 1958, the same date President McKay dedicated the campus. So there was no one who came and picked me up at the airport,” he said.

Talking about his childhood life in Laie, he said, “When I was a child, men in the community would go down to the water and fish for four to five hours at Hukilau Beach. It was fun and exciting to see the fishes jump in the net. When the fishermen landed, they called everyone for help. They sent the rest of the fish to Honolulu, but first they would yell and get everybody lined up and share fish. We have nine kids in my family, and we could have 65 fishes per time. Sometimes we dried the fish on beach. I worked six to eight hours to dry the fish and prevented flies to lay eggs in the fish. We could eat the fish like candy. This was life.”

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Learning for Eternity: University's Computer Lab Brings BYU-Hawaii to the Philippines

Chad Compton, associate academic vice president in BYU-Hawaii, said he visited the city of Manila in the Philippines to establish a computer lab within the Manila Philippines Institute of Religion (MPIR) to help the young single adults (YSA) obtain a higher education and become more marketable.

 “The lab is a gathering place. We have some YSA in the Philippines who we think they would go to college if they have the right opportunity and support; but they can’t because of economic issues. Online education would help them. Part of the priorities of the church is to help YSA to get as much as education as possible. We are trying a pathway that we have never tried before,” said Compton.

From Aug. 31 to Sept. 5, Compton spent time with the YSA Institute teachers and local stake presidents to explain the concept behind the computer lab. “Internet and digital devices provide a dramatic change in communication. It drops the cost, but increases the need of new tools for instructional technologies and media,” he said.

Since not all YSA can afford the cost to own a computer, the lab provides free new tools to students that allow them to gain an education. “They are now available to study with technologies, but still decrease the cost,” Compton said.

For students who cannot afford college education, they can now earn an overseas college certificate or associate’s degree without leaving their country. A student can get a certificate from BYUH by earning 15 credits or qualify for an associate’s degree by earning 60 or more credits.

Compton explained how the lab benefits both people within the Philippines as well as students planning to attend BYUH. Students can take advantage of the lab by taking credits online that work toward their nine-semester plan. Students can also improve their English skills and be exposed to the United States education system before setting foot on campus. Students will more confident as they prepare to transition into life in America.

This Fall Semester 2012, there are 35 students taking online classes from the lab and the majority of them are taking at least two online classes, which include EIL, religion, student development, biology, music, and ASL.

In October 2012, senior couple missionaries will serve in the lab as mentors to assist the students. “Right now there are only institute teachers helping in the lab, but the church is planning to employ Filipino alumni from BYUH to help in the lab to provide technical and teaching supports to the students,” said Compton. “If we see success, we might build more labs. Our next plan might be to do something in China and New Zealand.”

“If you are in the Philippines, you’ll probably notice how eager we are to continue our education by all means,” said Sid Francis Balubal, a Filipino sophomore who is majoring in psychology. “Filipino customs treasure education as a key to success. An online class is a great alternative if they [YSA in the Philippines] cannot afford to come here. Filipinos will always be grateful of any help rendered to them, especially if it is for their own benefit.”

Agreeing with Balubal, Kit Alfonso Nadado, a sophomore majoring in English education who is also from the Philippines, said, “there are a lot of them [YSA] who dream of going to BYUH, but money is meager. Their parents cannot support them, so the dream remains just a dream.” He said it is a fulfillment of a dream to YSA in the Philippines to have this computer lab.

Holding a different opinion, Eugene Aloc, another Filipino sophomore majoring in supply chain management, said, “I know the online class would save them [YSA] some money; but in the long run, it is still too expensive because they won’t get I-WORK scholarships.” He said without the I-WORK scholarship, it is too expensive for YSA in the Philippines to seek college education physically at BYUH or through online classes. “My point is that because of poverty, they [YSA] wouldn’t have the opportunity to have it [education],” said Aloc.
 
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