Club Spotlight: Asian Pop Culture group defy club, cultural norms

One of the school’s newest clubs, Asian Pop Culture (APC), is looking to bring some of the East Asia’s hottest trends to Lafayette.

Founded by juniors Kaela Lumbantobing and Judy Kim, the APC exposes its members to Korean music and fashion, as well as the music of Japan.

As it stands, most members only really know of Korean pop music, or K-Pop.  However, they look forward to broadening their horizons even more in learning about Japanese culture.

Even though the songs the club members listen to are in a different language, there are huge pockets of fans all over Europe, South America, North America and Asia that love K-Pop and its cultural influences.

“Music is universal. You don’t have to know the lyrics or the language in order to enjoy and appreciate the song,” Cristina Marasigan, science teacher and club sponsor, said.

Most of the members have begun to learn some Korean, even just through translating lyrics. However, all students are invited to join, regardless of their Asian cultural knowledge.

“We want people to know that they don’t have to know anything about Asian culture to come to it and learn about it,” Lumbantobing said.

For this reason, the founders have chosen to not include the word “club” in their name, as they have deemed it makes their group seem too inclusive.

Asian Pop Culture is held every Thursday after school in Marasigan’s room, 236.