FCC-SoCal

SAVE THE DATE: Walking Tour of Chinatown

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:59:39 +0000

Chinatown - Los Angeles

Saturday, May 26, 2012 - 10:30am - 1:30pm

FCC-SoCal

Join us for a walking tour of Los Angeles' historic Chinatown followed by a delicious dim sum lunch. The Chinese Historical Society of Southern California offers docent guided historical tours of the New Chinatown, and FCC-SoCal is pleased to arrange a group tour for all interested members. Our walking tour of the Chinatown area will be under the guidance of Chinese Historical Society docents. We'll start at 411 Bernard Street and end in the vicinity of Ocean Seafood where we'll have lunch.

WHEN: Saturday, May 26th 2012, 10:30 AM till 1:30 PM
WHERE: Downtown Los Angeles. Begin at 411 Bernard Street. End at 750 North Hill Street.

$5.00 donation per person to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California for the walking tour, and lunch will be paid for by each participant.

If your family is planning on being in town on the Memorial Day weekend, please consider joining us for a delightful morning adventure. More details will follow soon.

Message Board

Latest News from Orange County

Patty — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:27:13 +0000

FCC-SoCal

What's been happening in Orange County for the past six months or so? In October we screened the documentary Talking With the Moon Princess followed by a discussion for girls ages 10+ with the filmmaker Priscilla Hefley. Thank you Priscilla for joining us and to Christine Friend and all the volunteers who helped organize and run this new event. In November we held our annual art workshop with teacher Melanie Vogel, where kids created works of art to turn into holiday gifts. Thanks Susan Tschabrun for organizing and to the group that helped out on site. December was Holiday Party time, with another great turnout for this OC tradition. This event took a village - thank you Jenifer Weigand
for all the advance arrangements and to Michelle Sheehan, Tanya Turro-Vilander, Debbie Kistler, Sandy Draper, Maggie Davenport, Mary Wattenberg, Patty Uy, their families, and everyone else who pitched in on this event. In March we got together for our first Dim Sum Sunday of 2012 and were happy to have several families with babies in attendance. Thanks Christine Friend for organizing.

If you have photos from any of these past events you'd like to share, please send them to ocfccsocal@gmail.com and we'll get them posted.

What's still to come in 2012? A number of OC parents participated in a March planning meeting to outline the calendar for the rest of the year - see attached. Many of the dates and times are still to be determined, so check your email and www.fccsocal.org for updates as the year progresses. Up next is a kickoff gathering for the Blazing Paddles dragonboat team on April 29. Contact Maggie Davenport at
pdavenport10@cox.net for details.

If you have any questions or want to get involved please email ocfccsocal@gmail.com.

OC Regional

Orange County's 15th Annual Moon Festival Banquet Delights All

Patty — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 01:45:24 +0000

FCC-SoCal

Orange County held our 15th Annual Moon Festival Banquet on September 18. Keeping with tradition, the event was held at Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant in Artesia.

The evening started off with an icebreaker activity, the Moon Festival Legends Game. Each participant received a sheet about the legends and were tasked with finding images related to the legends, e.g. 10 suns, Chang-e, Hou-yi etc. Each family was given an envelope of images to hand out and the kids had to run around the room collecting images from other banquet attendees.

As always, everyone enjoyed the delicious menu of egg drop soup, honey walnut shrimp, beef and snow peas, tofu and mushrooms, cashew chicken, house lo mein, yang chow rice, and of course, moon cakes. Dinner was followed by a variety of entertaining and education performances:

Martial Drum: Performer Arthur Chen and instructor Rachael Sysiong
Beijing Opera Master: Kevin Chai
Lion Dance Instruction: Jonathan Wong

All attendees had the opportunity to try out the instruments and costumes and learn some of the routines first hand. The evening ended with prizes for the kids - all went home with an adorable stuffed xiong mao, hou zi, tu zi or other animal.

Many thanks to organizers Susan Tschabrun and Debbie Kistler, and the group of volunteers who helped make this banquet a success! Copy and photos for this post contributed by Patty Uy and Jenifer Weigand.

Member Lounge

China Care Bruins "Buddy" Program 2011-2012

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:02:46 +0000

FCC-SoCal

We are delighted to announce that there are a few additional openings in the China Care Bruins Youth Mentorship "Buddy" Program for the 2011-2012 academic year (October 2011 through June 2012). Founded in 2005, China Care Bruins is a student-run group at UCLA that raises funds to provide medical services for children in China's orphanages and mentors Chinese adoptees and their siblings.

China Care Bruins offers a wonderful enrichment opportunity for FCC children and youth to be part of a nurturing and empowering community of adoptee peers and mentors. The leadership and members of China Care Bruins come from a variety of backgrounds (and have many different majors), but are predominantly Asian American students.

The Buddy Program participants meet in monthly Sunday afternoon get-togethers on the UCLA campus throughout the academic year, enjoying crafts, culture, skits, campus tours, field games and more. Through these ongoing interactive activities, the kids and mentors will build their relationship, solidify friendships and develop camaraderie. The kids also witness the fruits of the teamwork, leadership and dedication of the college students who give of their time and talents to produce the program and to be their mentors.

Click through to full post for more information, FAQs and application.

Message Board

Chinese Cultural Dance Club at UCLA - 2011-2012

admin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:27:06 +0000

SoCal Friends

The Chinese Cultural Dance Club at UCLA (CCDC) is expanding its Junior Dance Program and has a limited number of positions open for new dancers. A flyer is attached, along with a PDF/Word document containing detailed information about the requirements for participation and the application/audition process. Note that the program is open to children/youth (girls & boys) ages 8 to 17 (as of October 1). Interested youth who are age 13 and older may also apply and audition to participate in a dance with the college students. If you have any difficulty opening the attachments, please contact CCDC Junior Dance Parent Coordinator Jeri Floyd jerifloyd@ca.rr.com and she will do her best to provide the information in another format.

Applications are due September 23, 2011.

Several of our children have participated in the program for many years -- read more about the Club, see photos of rehearsals and learn about the history of the Junior Dance Program in the Spring 2011 CCDC Newsletter (page 7), which is available on the CCDC website.

Come see CCDC members perform at the upcoming FCC-SoCal Heritage Day event.

Click through for the full post and attachments.

Message Board

Announcing New Leadership

Ben — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:31:19 +0000

08/03/2011

As we take a pause in the middle of this glorious summer, the board of FCC SoCal would like to announce some changes in our leadership positions.

Maureen Hemler has completed her year term as Chair, and indicated a desire to step down from the position. Therefore two other board members, Albert Olson and Judy Marasco, will step up to fill the position and Co-Chair our organization for the next year. Maureen will remain on the board. We are very grateful for all that she has done this past year to lead our organization, and are excited to work as a team with all of you to make FCC SoCal a meaningful part of your family’s life.

Judy Marasco – Co-Chair is a single mom to 7-year-old Josie (from Qinzhou, Guangxi). Judy is a tenured faculty member teaching English as a Second Language at Santa Monica College. Pre-parenthood, she had lived in China off and on for six years and earned a Masters degree in East Asian Studies with a China focus from UCLA. She brings to this position first-hand China experience and a passion for forging links between our children and the land of their birth.

Albert Olson – Co-Chair is the very proud parent, along with his wife Melainie, of 9-year-old Alaina, adopted in 2002 from Anqing, Anhui. Albert has worked as a film music composer in the movie industry for many years, and is currently also serving as the Chair of the Mar Vista Community Council, part of the Neighborhood Council system of the City of Los Angeles. Albert and Melainie have been active in the FCC since Alaina’s adoption in 2002.

We look forward to serving FCC in the coming year, and to continuing the programs and traditions that we all have come to expect from our organization. But we are also committed to exploring how the FCC might evolve to best support our families and children in the future. To do this we need the active participation of our membership, and would like to encourage more of you to find ways to contribute some of your time and talents to the FCC. We will be sending out notice shortly of our next Board meeting, and ask those of you who might be interested in increasing your involvement, either as a prospective Board member or in a specific area of interest, to join us as we move forward in the coming year.

Judy Marasco
Albert Olson

Co-Chairs, Families with Children from China - Southern California

The Chinese Consul-General Welcomes FCC-SoCal Families

admin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:16:33 +0000

FCC-SoCal

The FCC-SoCal chapter was honored to receive an invitation from the Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China to Los Angeles to attend a luncheon reception to celebrate International Children’s Day. The invitation was sent out to our FCC membership, and over 40 families responded indicating they would like to attend. Due to space limitations the final group consisted of 30 FCC families, staff from the Consulate-General Office and their families, and various additional members of the Chinese-American community in Los Angeles.

The event was held on June 5 in the main meeting hall at the Consulate building, from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. The Consulate staff provided games, entertainment, and gifts for the children, and a highlight of the event was a special video presentation they put together highlighting photos of FCC families along with the families of the Consulate staff. Additionally, the Consul General, Qiu Shaofang, gave a short welcome speech to the group, and then spent the entire two hours getting to know many of the families in attendance. After the games and speeches a delicious Chinese luncheon was shared by all.

It was a delightful afternoon, and the Consul General stated that he would like to make it an annual event. We hope to see many of you at next year’s celebration.

A very special thank you to Albert Olson for organizing the event and contributing this post.

Check out photos from the event.

Member Lounge

Somewhere Between

admin — Sun, 29 May 2011 02:15:32 +0000

SoCal Friends

FCC-SoCal member Linda Goldstein Knowlton's documentary film "Somewhere Between" will be screening in competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June. (Congratulations Linda!)

Click through for full details -- please note Linda advises that this film is NOT RECOMMENDED for children under the age of 14 due to the emotional content.

Tickets go on sale on Monday, May 31st. You're getting an early heads up. Buy Tickets Here

Screening dates:
Sat. Jun 18, 3:10pm, Regal Cinemas/LA LIVE
Tue. Jun 21, 7:30pm, Regal Cinemas/LA LIVE
Wed. Jun 22, 4:30pm, Regal Cinemas/LA LIVE

The Regal Cinemas/LA Live are downtown by the Nokia/Staples Center Complex.

Somewhere Between tells the intimate stories of four teenaged girls. They live in different parts of the US, in different kinds of families and are united by one thing: all four were adopted from China, because all four had birth parents who could not keep them, due to personal circumstances colliding with China's 'One Child Policy'. These strong young women allow us to grasp what it is like to come-of-age in today's America as trans-racial adoptees. At the same time, we see them as typical American teenagers doing what teenagers everywhere do…struggling to make sense of their lives.

Book and Movie Club

2011 Orange County Calendar of Events

Patty — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:49:44 +0000

FCC-SoCal

Your all-volunteer Orange County Planning Committee has assembled an exciting calendar of events for the remainder of 2011. Review the calendar and mark the dates so your family can plan to participate in as many activities as possible. Please note that event information is subject to change - be sure to check back to this site for the latest postings, and look for electronic invitations and updates in your email as the year progresses.

More volunteers are always needed to help with events. Please contact the committee at ocfccsocal@gmail.com. Help build and sustain our nurturing, fun and enriching community that celebrates, empowers and advocates for adoptive families in every stage of the lifelong adoption journey. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed over the years to Families with Children from China!

OC Regional

OC Wraps Up 2010 with Stories, Art and Music

Patty — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:31:49 +0000

FCC-SoCal

The Orange County Regional Group had a busy end to 2010. Here's the wrap-up:

In October the OC Regional Group inaugurated a new event - the China Book and Story Group. This 2-in-1 family event opened with a fun children's session on Chinese folktales taught by Ms. Shawna Lai, instructor at South Coast Chinese Cultural Center. In the second hour, the remaining adults enjoyed a discussion of the book Factory Girls: from Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang. Everyone took part in the conversation and got to know each other better. In the adjoining room, two of our teenage girls took charge of the younger kids and led a "make your own book" craft. Patty Uy organized and numerous volunteers helped with set up and clean up. Thanks everyone! Expect to see this kind of event again in 2011!

Additional events include the annual art workshop and the Holiday Dance Party. Click through to read more.

Member Lounge