There would always be a lot of convincing before I join clubs or associations. I did have a couple of clubs at school although I was always the last to join. Now, I find myself being one of the founders of our little Asian corner, Les Amis de l'Asie (friends from Asia). Last saturday, we had the Forum of Associations here in Carry where we had the chance to introduce our association just created early this year. Below: The Forum des Associations at the Carry Port, Place Jean Jaurés. Photo from Carry le Rouet official site.
The association for now has three nationalities: Filipino, Vietnamese & Malgash (Madagascar). During the forum, people would come & talk about their trips to China or to Thailand. Some would even strike up a conversation in Chinese. Only a few would speak about the Philippines, or even first ask our nationality. For the majority, Asia is China for the French & it was our sole reason to have a map of Asia on our table. Wouldn't it be a bit strange for the French to find an Asian association without a Chinese member? Below: At our booth, Malou, Kala & me during our shift, we had adobo & fried rice for lunch.
As of now, the association welcomes new arrivals, offers Asian cooking classes & culture discovery. Chinese courses will follow because it was the most demand. Although a lot of people are not interested with anything Asian in our little town, there are some with so much passion for Asia. A kick off for an association like ours is difficult especially in our area but I believe it'll be a surprise, a little treasure if you will. When I moved here, I was looking for an association exactly like ours.
Oooohhhh. Your wooden sculpture looks like the immunity statue in Koh-Lanta :)
ReplyDeletethat's great, i hope there's something like that here in dijon. nyways, yep, for most french people, asia is but singkits, chopsticks, buddhas and chinese alphabets... i've answered to hundreds of questions about asia, thus the philippines when i was still studying, there was even a night out when we went to an asian restaurant and i intentionally used fork and knife to show them that there's some parts of asia where people eat with the same cutleries as what we have here..
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't make it Makis but I'll make it up next time. PROMISE !!! I love to join your association, it looks exciting and it's time that Europeans learn more about ASIA, especially Philippines !
ReplyDeleteOo nga apol!
ReplyDeleteanalyse: Come to think of it, in the Philippines, we call all the puti joes or americans :)I sure do hope the association will get some development. Our little barrio is a little special.
Just tell me when you want to join, Hazel!
hey sis Maks, pa join rin!!!!
ReplyDeletehey sis, update naman dyan plssss. Ingats, mwah!
ReplyDeletenavisit ko na itong blogpost mo, non, wala pala ako na comment???
ReplyDeleteLola na nga ako , haha
alam ko, masarap lutong asia.
Keep on learnig new trade, malay, mag ka "ONGPIN" sa Marseille! Si Makis ang new enterpreneur, hehe
Hello there. New visitor ako ng blog mo. I'm here in England. Nice to hear na may association kayo dyan where you are. Alam nyo ba, dito sa England, tawag sa'kin ng mga tao dito 'Chinese woman'...hindi nila kilala ang Pilipinas. Tapos pag binanggit na Pilipinas, ang nasa isip nila ang mga tao dun nakabahag at may mga spears, tipo bang gubat at bundok ang mga tirahan natin. But some people are getting educated now. I've attended a multi-culture gathering in Norwich (Norfolk, England). Lots of pinoys there and other nationalities. I can only wish may ma-meet akong mga Filipino women dito like you and your friends. Wala masyado Filipino dito sa lugar ko. Malungkot.
ReplyDeleteHey Nao! I'm sure you're surrounded with a lot of pinoy associations down there ;)
ReplyDeleteNaku, Francesca, malayong-malayo maging ongpin ako dito :)
Welcome Len! Naku, there are still a lot of ignorant people, kakalungkot nga isipin but I hope you'll find fellow pinoys in your area soon! It really helps to have pinoy friends around. Hope to see you back in my blog!
Hello Makis,Len ulit to. Thanks sa pag-welcome. Natutuwa talaga ako kahit sa internet may kausap akong kapwa ko Pinoy. I've met a Filipina here who is also married to an English man like me. She owns an antique shop pero weird kasi I didn't feel welcome at all when we went to see her. First week ko dito nun. Tapos she refused to talk in Tagalog. Pati husband ko nagtataka sa kanya, hindi sya nakikipag-eye to eye contact tapos mas kinakausap nya husband ko kesa sakin. Parang ayaw nya ata may friends na Filipino. For some reasons, she was not so friendly at all. I felt bad, really bad, kasi excited ako nun, kasi wala talaga pinoy dito. Mga friends kong pinoy malayo sa'kin, nasa New Milton, 5 hour-drive from where I live. Nakaka-disappoint pero careful nako who to be friends with dito. Kaya nga I'm so happy na na-discover ko blog mo, ni Rose at ni Geri. I get to read your entries and I feel like I belong in a Filipino community. Thanks so much. You have blessed my life. :-)
ReplyDeleteHello again, Len! I'm happy you're happy being around our blog! I don't have a lot of pinoy friends here in Marseille. I always try to keep a low profile & when I do meet other pinoys & I don't really feel we'd get along, I try to be distant. But I always speak straight up tagalog to all the pinoys I meet :) If you feel you want to talk to somebody, just send me an email ;-)
ReplyDelete