Englishman falls in love with Samoa and her culture

By Aruna Lolani 09 September 2017, 12:00AM

The Samoan culture says a lot about the Samoan people.

That’s the observation of 32-yearold Chris Maw from Leicester England.

“The Samoan culture is awesome,” Chris said. “I mean more of the world should live in a way that these Samoan people are living. 

“They live together where as most people in England, Australia, Europe, they live separately. 

“If you live together, it’s easier to survive and too many people struggle around the world because they’re on their own. 

“If they had stayed with their families, it’s much easier to live and that’s why the culture is very good here.”

This is Chris’s first time in Samoa. 

He has been here for ten days but he’s already in love with the island.

“I love the country because it’s very beautiful,” he said.

“And besides that being one of the reasons why I chose to come here; I chose Samoa because I always see other countries being advertised and all looked the same; for example the beaches in Hawaii you know and that’s okay but for me I always wanted to go somewhere that’s still original, like still an original country that has not been changed too much by western world so when I saw Samoa, I felt like coming here.”

And now that he’s here, he has made some good memories to take back to England, not only that, he has found himself a Samoan family.

“I have been staying with a Samoan family at Vini Fou and they were good to me. They let me stay at their guest house and they had the best hospitality. They took me around the island and it was fantastic.

“It was the best and I would recommend anyone to stay with them if they are looking for a place to stay.

“I also stayed at Savaii in a hotel but I prefer to stay here with the Samoan family. I also prefer Upolu because there’s a lot more things to do but you know in Savaii they are building a lot of resorts when they need to have more activities, more tours and tour guides to take people around the island.

Chris loves umu, taro with the taro leaves and coconut cream (lu’au).

He even enjoyed the variety of shows in the Teuila Festival.

“I love the slap dancing (ma’ulu’ulu), I love the fire knife dancing because it’s really good. 

“I mean I’ve never been to Fiji or anywhere else but I know a lot of places do it and I’ve seen some before but it’s not as good as the Samoans, Samoa is better.

He went on “The thing is I don’t really see many tourists in Apia. 

“Tafatafa Beach is the only place I’ve seen tourists but in Savaii and every other places; I haven’t seen many tourists.

“But I would definitely recommend Samoa to other people because the food is amazing, the ocean is very blue and warm, it’s a beautiful country and the way you live together is something very inspirational and that’s something that’s good for the rest of the world. I would definitely come back.”

Yesterday was Chris’s last day in Samoa and he was watching the closing ceremony of the Teuila Festival before he made his way to the airport. 

By Aruna Lolani 09 September 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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