March 23

I was asked how I thought I would be able to overcome the cultural problem of being western and asking for opinions on western culture. The problem that I foresee is that people might not want to offend me and not give me their true opinions on western culture and how it's affecting Tonga. In my proposal I talked about how I want to re assure them that I will not be offended and that I'm only interested in their honest opinions. I'm also going to maintain really good relationships with people so that they are more comfortable in being honest with me. I also plan on telling them that I am Hispanic so that maybe they will be willing to share more information with me since I'm not 100% white. I think the best way to overcome this problem is just to maintain really good relationships and I'm hoping that I'm enough of a people person to do that.