From 1:30 to 3:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, senior citizens from two countries will be celebrating the day with Palauan and Japanese songs and dances.
According to Apolonia Agustin, Acting Chief of Bureau of Aging, the event is done annually as part of the cultural exchange program between Palau and Japan.
“There are about 34 Japanese citizens and more than 50 Palauan senior citizens who will be participating in the event,” Agustin said in an interview. “Both are going to showcase the traditional Palauan and Japanese song and dances.”
There will also be tea ceremony and calligraphy at the party, Agustin said. “The Japanese people will be serving tea for the Palauans.”
In January this year, there was another batch of Japanese guests who visited the Old Age Center, and the Palauan senior citizens also performed for them. “They always come in January, but this year, they decided to visit twice.
But this will be the first time that we are going to celebrate the party on a weekend,” Agustin said.
This time, however, the Palauan elderly cannot perform the dance.
“They want us to perform the dance for 20 minutes,” Agustin explained. “But the Palauan senior citizens are not able to stand for a long time. So we decided that we, the staff, will just do the dances for them.”
There will be six Old Age Center staff who are going to do the performances.
“We have started practicing last Wednesday, right after the Micronesian Games,” Agustin said. She added that the Palauan elderly were busy during the Micro Games, helping provide food and selling crafts at their Booth.
The senior citizens are encouraged to bring their grandchildren to the party.
