October 3, 2004. The first Tournament for the FBIC. It was a handicap tournment. The top bowlers were at 150 points. The other got a handicap to equal 150 points. The ladies were at 119 with handicaps. The top male was Aaron C (38 point handicap) and tbe top female was Kumi H. (31 point handicap)

September 29, 2004. The manager said no. No discount for you, or something like that.

September 26, 2004. Miyuki and I met the manager of Round 1 and explained the FBIC to him and asked for a discount. He said that he would reply in a couple of days.


July 25, 2004. FBIC was formed. Then we bowled. Aaron C was named the president.

On July 25, 2004, 3 people got together and decided to form a bowling club. These 3 people were from Brazil, Canada, and Japan. The name they chose was FUKUOKA BOWLING INTERNATIONAL CLUB or FBIC.

The main goals of the FBIC are
1) to bowl
2) to have fun
3) to meet new people
4) to interact with people from different countries

There are many International Clubs, Language exchanges, and cultural exchange groups or Clubs, but none that focus on a sport that includes everyone.
There seems to be lacking, a form of interaction between Japanese and foreigners that doesn`t include free language exchange or drinking in a bar. "Personally, I was very bored and felt a little isolated.", said club president, Aaron Clark, from Canada. "I did the language exchange and the bar scene but I felt there must be something else."

It is difficult to talk to someone in a dirty, smelly, smoky bar with music so loud that you have to yell at the person beside you so they can hear you. On the other side of the coin, the free language exchanges were uncomfortable as it felt like the Japanese people were there only to extract the English from you.

I felt there surely must be another way to interact with Japanese in a comfortable, fun, friendly, non-threatening, and active way.

LET`S GO BOWLING !!

Almost everyone enjoys bowling and people seem to bowl in every country. Why is bowling so much fun? No one knows. It doesn`t seem that rolling a heavy ball down a lane to repeatedly knock down wooden sticks could be so much fun or addictive.

In less than 2 months the FBIC has grown by 7 fold. The FBIC bowls twice a week to accommodate different schedules for busy people and rotates the bowling meeting to different alleys to
1) accommodate different members who live in different areas
2) to see and experience different bowling alleys in Fukuoka. The club also offers tournaments every month or two. There are plans of starting an international league when there are enough members. Everyone is welcome to "stop by" "join in" if they are interested.

You can contact the FBIC at bowlinginfukuoka@yahoo.com

or

you can check out the FBIC web page at http://fbic2.tripod.com

Click here to return to the Main Page