VAN NUYS : Locals Attend Asian Festival at Valley College

Dolly and Lou Groswirth learned Monday how far a walk up the street can go toward understanding one’s neighbors.

Hoping to learn more about the growing Asian community in the San Fernando Valley, the couple trekked from their Sherman Oaks home to the Asian Awareness Day festival at Valley College in Van Nuys.

“I think by educating ourselves about other cultures, we become more tolerant,” said 72-year-old Dolly Groswirth, a part-time student at the college with her husband. “I’ve found that some Anglo people are very intolerant of minorities--and one day we’ll be the minority in L. A.”

At the festival, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Indonesian and Pakistani traditions, language and food were shared by about 100 participants, including half a dozen student clubs.

Adaya Maserow-Nissan, a 20-year-old biochemistry student, was amazed at a sushi-making demonstration by Tonny Soesanto’s sushi company.

“This is great,” Adaya said, watching a chef roll seaweed, crab, cucumber and avocado into sushi with a bamboo mat. “It’s almost an art form.”

Some Asian American artists took the event as an opportunity to create awareness of their very existence. A noontime concert featuring jazz, blues, and rock was staged by a group of independent musicians who, for the day, called themselves “The Asian-American Awareness Day Band.”

“There’s a lot of Asian Americans in contemporary music that you just don’t hear about,” said guitarist Linda Lee, 30, of Encino. “We are behind the scenes. I guess what it is is that there’s not enough exposure.”

Yusrika Octavianis, wearing a red and gold Indonesian dress, coordinated the event for the Associated Student Union.

“I wanted to get everybody aware that there are Asian cultures here and that we are willing to participate in American culture,” said Octavianis, the Asian commissioner for the Student Union.

Nearby, demonstrations of the martial arts Shao Lin and Aikido drew the biggest crowds. The demonstrations featured wood-smashing kicks, whizzing sabers, and the famous “preying mantis” stance from “The Karate Kid” movies.

“It’s very interesting,” said art student Alex Martinez, 26. “It’s about exercise, concentration and how the brain works. I need to learn more about it.”