On Sunday October 2, I volunteered with VietLead, a Vietnamese community organization in Philly. If you remember from my previous post on Grassroots AAPI Voter Registration, I was trained on how to help people register to vote. My friend I knew from working on an ECAASU Philly bid two years ago reached out to me to get involved. This was my first time doing voter registration, and I think I can say that it is a very rewarding experience I hope to continue.
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Tag Archives: Asian
ASA Culture Show: A Work in Translation
This past Saturday October 1, the Bryn Mawr College Asian Students Association hosted their culture show in Goodhart Hall for a mostly full house audience.
“A Work in Translation” aims to explore issues such as language translation, identity translation, and empowerment in translation. Performers include Afreen, Choom Boom, Hometown Hero, Mayuri, Rhea Manglani, and Tai-One, as well as comedian Subhah Agarwal, spoken word artist Rachel Rostad, and taiko drumming group Kyo Daiko. Free food will be served in the Goodhart Music Room after the show. 
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Grassroots AAPI Voter Registration
This past Saturday, I attended a voter registration workshop hosted by Asian Americans United, APIAVote, Cambodian Associations of Greater Philadelphia, and VietLead. The goal was to increase voter participation among Asian Americans in Chinatown. I had never registered anyone else to vote except myself, so I was curious what the process looked like on the grassroots level.
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“How to Win at Checkers (Every Time)” Film Screening with ASA
Last week on April 25, the Asian Students Association hosted a screening of the film “How to Win at Checkers (Every Time).” The 2015 film by Korean American director Josh Kim is based on Thai American writer Rattawut Lapcharoensap’s acclaimed 2004 short story collection “Sightseeing,” a story about growing up in Thailand as told through the lens of a lower class boy (Oat) observing his older brother (Ek) go through the military draft and work to support the family.
Announcing My Summer 2016 Plans!
I am pleased to announce that I will be spending this summer in Nanjing, Xian, and Hong Kong! I will travel to Nanjing and Xian as part of Haverford College’s Center for Peace and Global Justice (CPGC) partnership with Amity Foundation, a Chinese Christian NGO. The four of us student interns (3 from BMC, 1 from HC) will volunteer at community centers in Nanjing for the elderly and autistic children. We will then travel to rural Xian to assist in teaching English to middle school children. After the program, I plan on visiting family in Hong Kong. I am also very excited because this will be my first time in Asia.
Tamagawa Taiko & Dance Performance
On Tuesday April 5, Tamagawa University Taiko & Dance Troupe performed at Haverford College. They traveled all the way from Tokyo, Japan for their performance tour in the USA. 
Penn Philippine Association Barrio Culture Show
On Sunday, I attended the Penn Philippine Association Culture Show: Balikbayan at the International House in University City. It was my first time attending a Penn student event, so I felt a little out of place. I didn’t know anyone and I was going alone, but I still enjoyed the buffet dinner and the show. 
ASA Culture Show
On Tuesday March 1, the Asian Students Association finally held their annual culture show. The show was originally scheduled for Friday January 22, but surprise Snowstorm Jonas forced it to be postponed. Themed “Lost & Found,” ASA aimed to explore Asian/Asian American issues of race, culture, and reinvented identity through a variety of empowering performances.
Culture Show Committee
“Organize Your Own” Panel at Asian Arts Initiative
There were two great panel discussions at Asian Arts Initiative last Saturday February 13: Falling In with Dan S. Wang and “Organize Your Own?” a panel on the work
of four Asian American Socially-Engaged Artists. Asian Arts Initiative is an arts space for exhibitions, performances, artist residencies, youth workshops, and community gatherings. I’ve gone to quite a few open discussions at AAI and have come to appreciate this small intimate setting. I only caught the tail end of the Falling In discussion which started at 12:30pm because I had attended the ASA brunch. I was able to stay for the full 3-5pm panel though.
Photos by Hazel Photo/Paul Gargagliano
SAS Culture Show
Also on Saturday night was the South Asian Students Culture Show. This year, the theme of the South Asian Students Annual Culture Show was “Dekh Magar Pyar Se” which loosely translates to “Look, but with love.” Students portrayed this through various forms of dances, songs and spoken word poetry.