For people interested in learning about and appreciating Asian culture, Brookdale’s Asia Society club is the right club for you. The Asia Society has recently been going through some changes. This club meets at noon on Tuesdays. They had originally been meeting at 11:45 a.m. but have decided to change their start time since people usually showed up around then.
“We’ve been having a little bit of a shift in our dynamics for the club this year. We want to get a little bit more involved, like doing a fundraiser. We’re shifting what our club activities are. Last year was a bit more formulaic, but this year we’re really experimenting,” said 21-year-old Julian Catiis, who found the Asia Society club on Brookdale’s website and has been going to club meetings for about a year now.
At the Asia Society, they do slide show presentations and activities, like playing games such as Go, so that members can learn about various Asian cultures, not just the popular East Asian cultures, but also others. At the meeting on April 11, members learned about Japan’s National Ramen Noodle Day. The Asia Society was originally going to host this day’s theme the week before, on April 4, which is actually National Ramen Noodle Day. However, Brookdale was not open that day, due to no power.
They also have time after presentations and activities for members to socialize. Both Catiis and, president of the Asian Society, Aiden Wiltshire, said that they have made friends at this club. Catiis said that the vibe of the club keeps him coming back.
“Club is in the name of it. Like, we still take what we do seriously and we still care about it, but there’s this energy of this-isn’t-mandatory. It’s like, hey we’re, like, a group, and we get together, and we do things that we all enjoy.”
This club does special trips, as well. Last semester, club members went on a trip to New York City. There, they visited Koreatown and Chinatown. They went to Asian restaurants and a museum where they learned about some Asian history.
“The whole semester we’ve been doing a collaborative effort to have a really good fundraiser for another trip,” Wiltshire said.
