The bowling game and drinking party

This is Igarashi, one of volunteers.

On May 30th, Sunday, the bowling game and drinking party were held at the Rosa Kaikan, Ikebukuro. Twenty four people of APFS stuffs, volunteers and foreign members and their families got together and it became a day, full of their smiles.

In the bowling game, we were divided depend on the lanes and the foreigners, especially, seemed to be really excited to play the games. It was said that the winners will be recognized and given a gift in the drinking party so that everyone were excited. The higher rank was a fight between the Pilipino and Japanese.

Also, nine teen of them participated in the drinking party and were greatly excited as well as the bowling game.
It was really impressive that APFS stuffs, volunteers and foreigners and their families equally drunk, ate, sang and communicated together well. In the Karaoke, foreign members sang Japanese songs and Japanese sang English songs. Such figures told me that this gathering also meant significant time as a cultural exchange.

In fact, I had been a little bit anxious about foreign members before I went there. It was because I was captured by the imagines that foreigners in Japan must be sad and poor.
However, it was overthrown when I met them at the bowling game. I faced their smile and positive mind, and received so much power from them rather than giving them my power. Then, this time I realized that my task for the future is to have more interests about them and think about them more deeply

I think everyone got closed more than before threw this bowling game and drinking party.
I, also, hope that we can grow together by understanding this meeting as a good opportunity.

It was Fun!

 At APFS, we had our annual Christmas Party!



 This year we had both good times and bad times, but this time of the year we always gather and forget about everything!

 We enjoyed songs, games, present exchange etc. But as every year, R-rated games were the biggest hit. Unfortunately, I cannot write about them here… If your are interested, you just have to come and visit us next year☆

 Participants brought delicious meals from all over the world♪ We felt like in paradise with our stomachs filled.

 Unfortunately, our work at APFS usually has to do something with the dark side of life. At the same, we feel lucky at times like this when we can spend time in borderless fun.

In Korea!

We visited immigrant supporting organizations in Korea.

During our four days and three nights we visited five NGOs and one university. We conducted hearings on each organization’s activities and exchanged information on recent circumstances of immigrants in Korea and Japan.

Korean immigration policies are very similar to Japanese ones, so several times during our discussions we felt similarities and sympathy as supporters in the same situation. For example, in Japan the campaing for decreasing the number of undocumented foreign residents by half in five years started in 2003, while the same five year campaign launched in Korea last year. Under the current Lee Myung-bak administration the cooperative relationship between the government and NGOs which was established during the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration collapsed. In fact, many NGO staff complained that these are difficult times for support organizations. (However, the immigration policies of the new Japanese administration are still unknown.)

Unfortunately, during our stay we had to face with the unusually cold weather. The maximum temperature on one of the four days was only 5oC. Thanks to the warm rice congee and Jjigae, traditional tea and other delicious Korean food, we managed to have a satisfying trip despite these harsh weather conditions.

ASIA FAIR Held on October 30th!

Actiually, this upgrade was quite late. Sorry about that...

APFS held its annual event, the Asia Fair on October 30th (Sun)!

The actual program started at 11:00, but our staff and volunteers gathered and began with the preparations from 9:00. In the rain and chilling cold all of them worked on the tents and their booths. Since only a few visitors came before noon, we were a bit worried, but in the end after the rain stopped in the afternoon we managed to reach the yearly average.

We had food stalls from the Philippines, Myanmar, Bangaldesh, Pakistan, China, Iran, Korea and Hungary (special participation), so we could experience each country’s flavors. In the meantime, on the stage bands and singers from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Iran and Burma were performing and visitors enjoyed themselves dancing and singing.

APFS members from different countries with various backgrounds support the fair every year from behind the scenes. At home they are preparing foods and trying all kinds of tactics to sell it. We are always amazed to see how they work together and make the Asia Fair a success. Hopefully, the Asia Fair will be held with the same multicultural power next year too, so we are waiting for everyone to visit the fair again!