By Mounu Mataele
No snow and no real pine trees. Maybe a balloon, if you''re lucky. This is how some Tongans describe Christmas in Tonga.
'In Tonga for Christmas you had to imagine a lot of things,' Kalolaine Feau, from Fou''i, Tonga said. 'Here in the United States, they look forward to Christmas for the nice gifts they can give. But in Tonga, they don''t give gifts, they share talents.'
Tongan villages and religious organizations meet together and perform for one another.
Singing is a big part of Christmas in Tonga. It begins the first week of December and goes until New Year''s.
'I would describe Christmas in Tonga as very spiritual and singing mostly,' said Tangikimoana Atiga, from Fou''i, Tonga. 'All of the churches get together and sing all day and night.'
In Tonga, the government shuts down from Christmas Day until New Year''s Day. Christmas is celebrated by everyone.
'In Tonga, it''s against the law to break the Sabbath,' said Lu''isa Tupea, from Salt Lake City. 'It''s also a law, practically, to celebrate Christmas, since everything is closed. They government is set up to believe in God and to believe in Christ.'
Christmas decorations in Tonga are nothing like those in the United States.
'If you have a Christmas tree, it''s real,' said Nightengale Sotele, from Liahona, Tonga. 'You always get your tree from the bush (meaning your backyard). And you decorate your tree with balloons and candy.'
Some Tongans say the focus of their Christmas is more on food than on presents. On Christmas Day, Tongans make plates of food to exchange with or give to their neighbors.
'Most of Christmas is (about) food,' said Ngungutau Havili, from Ha''ateiho, Tonga. 'If you have six neighbors, then you make six plates. And you end up with six different foods on Christmas night.'
Others say the highlight of Christmas in Tonga is the tutukupakanava, when coconut husks are lined up on the beach and lit on fire. This is a practice followed not throughout the South Pacific.
'Each island burns their husk on the seashore and they space it out and it looks like Christmas lights,' Feau said. 'But it''s real fires. It''d be so beautiful and so pretty and it actually looked like Christmas lights.'
Overall, Christmas is a simpler holiday in Tonga.
'I wish that my kids could spend one Christmas in Tonga because they would appreciate things more because they expect more too much here,' Feau said.
Tonga, the last remaining monarchy is the South Pacific, is about two thousand miles east of Australia.