Cultural Integration: A leap into Japan club
Charles Stish, staff writer
Culture clubs are a staple of PVCC’s diversity and cultural growth as students and faculty come together to discuss and partake in activities based around a specific culture. Japan Club is no exception to this.
“This is not a foreign language club; this is a culture club with hopes of spreading Japanese culture. So even if you don’t know Japanese, this can be an awesome club!” said Alec Traaseth, club president of Japan Club. During meetings, Japan club members indulge in the Japanese culture by listening to Japanese music, creating origami, discussing objectives for the club, and hosting special guests to present different aspects of the Japanese culture. Club members also plan outside of school activities. One such venture was a trip to the University of Virginia’s Morven Gardens on Oct. 14, earlier this semester.
Noriko Donahue, Japan Club’s faculty advisor, said this about Japan Club, “It’s wonderful. The Japanese language is just one part of the culture. When I teach the Japanese language, I also teach the Japanese culture with it. By introducing the culture, they (non-Japanese language students) might get interested in the Japanese language one day, but quite a few language students joined because of the culture.”
The members of Japan Club are friendly and open to all newcomers and guests to their meetings. Japan Club meets on Tuesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Room M174 every other week, but are subject to having meetings weekly so be sure to check PVCC’s event calendar for when their next meeting is.
