Life After Manzanar

USC Nikkei isn't dead! We haven't posted anything in a while is all... In fact, we've had so many events that we haven't had time to reflect on them, but that will soon be rectified! Here's a rundown on the highlights of our programing after leaving you hanging with our last post on Manzanar. For a full list of events click here.


Keiro Adopt-A-Grandparent Day

This day was all about spreading a little joy to the residents of this care facility. We helped the residents make crafts and even had a little janken (rock, paper, scissors) competition going on between the volunteers.


A Song For Ourselves

We were really fortunate to be able to attend the world premiere of Tad Nakamura's A Song For Ourselves in Little Tokyo. Tad had screened the second film of his trilogy, Pilgrimage, at our 2008 DOR Week.

A Song For Ourselves was absolutely wonderful. It was insightful of the time period and amazingly funny. I learned so much about the life of Asian American movement troubadour Chris Iijima and the movement itself. After the screening we were treated to music performances by Asian American artists, among them Nobuko Miyamoto and Charlie Chin whom Iijima had worked with. Hearing them perform live today and comparing that to the footage of them in the film, I could almost imagine what it was like all those years ago when they were fighting for the movement. I can't wait to see what Tad has in store for us next time.


Culture Night Retreat

CN Retreat was at the JACCC in Little Tokyo this year to ensure that everyone who was involved with our show had at least some real experience with our skit's setting, an integral part of the theme.

To start the day off right we got to Little Tokyo bright and early for a walking tour full of historical information on the area. Back at the JACCC we played some ice breakers, previewed
sections of the show, tried out a part of the show that we were not currently in (drama, taiko, KBD [hip-hop dance], or SoTrad [sorta traditional dance]), and participated in a discussion workshop on community and what that entails. It definitely served its purpose bringing everyone closer together and teaching us the meaning behind the whole production.


Yaki Night

We had a pretty big turn out for our 2nd annual Yaki Night, a fundraiser during which you get off real inexpensive for ALL YOU CAN EAT barbecue and the satisfaction that comes from helping USC Nikkei. Thanks for the support and hope to see you for the next one!


Officer Auction

Every year board members auction off something to offset a little bit of the cost of producing our Culture Night. On the block this year: baked goods, a bag full of Hawaiian snacks, dinner and grocery shopping in Torrance, the puppets used in the show's skit, a round-trip Southwest airline ticket, and Mario wearing a Pikachu suit to all subsequent Nikkei events. Thanks again for the support!


Culture Night Rehearsals

At the end of March it was time for us to gear up for Culture Night with FIVE rehearsals before the dress rehearsal and opening night. Rehearsals were pretty long even with different groups running around at the same time, but all that hard work and practice paid off as we had a very successful show.


Intramural Soccer Games

April 1st marked USC Nikkei's first Intramural Soccer game. The Gummi Bears played 4 games after which they placed 2nd in the finals. YAY Gummi Bears!




Culture Night

Our 2nd Annual Culture Night on April 11th was another big success. Everyone had fun working together to put on a great show and grew closer as a Nikkei family. At the end of the night everyone was exhausted from being up so late the previous night and waking up so early that morning, but we all had happy grins on our faces because it had been such a rewarding experience.




Officer Elections

Nikkei had several people run for leadership positions this year, and I was glad to see all the dedication and love that our membership has for this organization. All the candidates were wonderful, and it was very difficult to elect just one for each position, but here are the new elected officers for 2009-2010:

President: Sean Miura
Internal Vice President: Austen Hagio
External Vice President: Chantelle Takata
Finance Vice President: Kelly Ishizuka
Day of Remembrance Chair: Mika Lewis
Publicity Chair: Daniel Shimura
Secretary: Emily Kim
Treasurer: Gavin McCarter
Historian/Webmaster: Derrick Solidum
Culture Night: Maya Mueller and Andrea Wong

Congrats!

Westwood Dinner with UCLA NSU

This event was very enjoyable because so many people showed up from both NSUs and we were able to meet and interact with many new faces over sushi and other Japanese foods.



Gyoza Night

During our last General Meeting of the semester, we had a demo on gyoza (dumplings). After being instructed on how to make them, members got to create one of their own and eat it. We also had veggie gyoza pre-made for our vegetarians.


Banquet

Our Events Planning committee hosted banquet at Wokcano this year. We had four huge tables filled largely in part to begging via personal Facebook video wall posts. Members and non-members alike didn't regret coming though! We had a janken coin game, Nikkei trivia questionaire to win the amazing centerpieces based on the JACCC, JANM, Yogurtland, and Marukai to go along with the theme Nikkei's Little Tokyo, LOTS of food, slide show, officer gag gifts, quick officer transitions, and great conversation. All in all a fun night.


Coffee Break

Coffee Break is Nikkei's last event of the semester where everyone meets at Starbucks for an hour or so to take a break from finals studying and refill coffee. This was also the last chance to see everyone before summer officially began.


Chibi-K

Some of us were able to stay a little longer after school let out for Chibi-K, the children's fun run in Little Tokyo hosted by the JACCC. We slept over at Nishi Hongwanji temple so that we could be awake early in the morning for setup. After setup we helped the kids stretch for their run, later running with and cheering for them during the races. The remainder of the day was dedicated to helping out the game and craft booths for Children's Day on the JACCC plaza.


Summer Happenings

We've had two small events this summer: volunteering at Keiro and a bake sale in Hawaii. The Keiro event was similar to the one I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Since it was Hawaiian themed, we helped pass out leis, assisted with crafts, and chatted, but this time we were treated to a hula performance by two of the volunteers. I can't say too much about the bake sale because I wasn't there, but I heard that they sold out both nights, so it must have been very successful. Great job!


It's been great serving you this year. I can't wait to see you and all the new members we'll have this coming semester. See you in a couple weeks!