Language exchange and conversation partner programs in Pittsburgh this fall.

There are a good number of free language classes in Pittsburgh at the Carnegie Libraries: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, English as a Second Language, among others (search events on the CLP webpage for details). If you're looking for one-on-one exchanges, or just want to chat with someone from a different country, many local universities and language institutes run language exchange and conversation partner programs to help their international students share quality time with native English speakers, time that can be surprisingly hard to come by. A new semester means renewed need for conversation partners, and if you're in Pittsburgh you can register now with the University of Pittsburgh English Language Institute or contact Duquesne University's ESL program or Chatham University's English Language Program.

Schools in other areas have these outreach programs, too, so Google around. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, and the University of Pennsylvania come to mind. It's a great way to help someone new to your city and to make a meaningful experience for both of you.

No Name Painting Association at Global Shift Festival, September 20.

The Global Shift Festival, at Point Park University from September 18 through September 21, will show the 2013 Chinese-American documentary No Name Painting Association on September 20. The 23-minute documentary is, says imdb,

about the Wuming (No Name) group of renegade Chinese artists who painted forbidden images during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and pioneered the Contemporary Chinese Art Movement.

The documentary is paired with Finding Mike, and the pair start at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $5 and are available online.

"A Taste of Korea" at Maridon Museum, September 17 - 20.

Butler's Maridon Museum will present "A Taste of Korea" from September 17 through 20, with talks and presentations on Korean people, culture, and customs. Highlights include two talks Dr. Kang-Yup Na of Westminster College and one by the author of Love Beyond Measure: Memoir of a Korean War Bride. Tickets are $3 per day or $6 for a four-day pass.

The Asian art museum is located at 322 North McKean St in downtown Butler (map), roughly 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Japanese film Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い) returning to Pittsburgh in November.

On Wednesday, the Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced it would be showing the Japanese film Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い) from November 13 through 16. A summary, from The Japan Society:

A tribute to old-school yakuza cinema and shoe-string amateur filmmaking based on a screenplay Sion Sono wrote 17 years ago. The Fuck Bombers, a group of film geeks led by Hirata (Hiroki Hasegawa), try to turn brawler Sasaki (Tak Sakaguchi) into their new Bruce Lee but are nowhere near making their action masterpiece. An ambush set up by a yakuza clan comes to a gory end in the home of boss Muto (Jun Kunimura) with only one man, Ikegami (Shinichi Tsutsumi), surviving. When Mitsuko, the Mutos' young daughter, makes an unexpected entrance, Ikegami is instantly smitten. Ten years later, she has become one sultry mean mess of a girl (Fumi Nikaido). Determined to make Mitsuko a star, her father gives Hirata a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make his movie, with the yakuza as film production crew and the Bombers joining the "real" action--the ultimate sword battle between the Muto and Ikegami clans.

The movie was first in Pittsburgh last spring as part of the 2014 Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival.

Northwest Chinese Pop-up Restaurant at Sunny's Tavern, September 13.

Northwest Chinese Pop-up Restaurant will host an event on September 13 at Sonny's Tavern. The person slash group exists to "strive to bring Northwestern Chinese culture to Pittsburgh through its authentic food, arts, music and crafts." From this Saturday's event page:

We are now starting to host popups at Sonny's Tavern. Come out and try our ***Authentic Chinese Green Bean Jello Stir Fry***one of the most popular Chinese muslim dish in Xi’an! ***Beijing-style Cucumber Salad***a common dish that goes with beer for sleepless nights in Beijing. We’ll also serve ***California Rolls*** which can never let you down!

You may remember the first pop-up restaurant in June 2013. The event runs from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm at Sonny's Tavern in Bloomfield (map), and registration can be done online.

Conversational Chinese and Chinese Culture at Mt. Lebanon Public Library, Thursday evenings.

A Conversational Chinese and Chinese Culture group meets at Mt. Lebanon Public Library Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:45 pm.

Join us every Thursday to practice conversational Chinese and explore Chinese culture. All levels welcome.

Participants are asked to donate $30, prorated, to Mt. Lebanon Public Library for each ten-week session. Please check the Event Calendar for potential schedule changes.

The library is located at 16 Castle Shannon Blvd. (map).

Gallery Exhibition: Jewish Refugees in Shanghai (1933-1941) opens September 15 in Squirrel Hill.

The exhibition "Jewish Refugees in Shanghai (1933-1941): An Exhibit of Storyboards and Artifacts" will run in Squirrel Hill for a month from September 15. An excerpt from the Confucius Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, one of the exhibition's sponsors:

The story of Jewish refugees in China during World War II is something that relatively few people understand or know about in the overall history of Jewish immigration and settlement. As many as 16,000 Jews fled Europe during WWII to live and work in Shanghai. This exhibit is in collaboration with the Jewish Refugees Museum of Shanghai and consists of 45 storyboards outlining the process of immigration from Europe to China, the various struggles and cultural adaptions, and the personal stories of survivors and their families. The exhibit offers a unique perspective on the lives and struggles of individuals who lived in China during the war and emphasizes the cross-cultural intersections of both Chinese and the Jewish settlers during a chaotic and significant historic period.

The exhibition runs through October 15 at The Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh (map). Reservations are required for the September 17 opening reception with keynote speaker Dr. Steve Hochstadt of Illinois College.

Camp Konnichiwa at Carnegie Library, Saturdays from September 20.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Main Branch will again host Camp Konnichiwa on Saturdays this fall starting from September 20.

Konnichiwa is a popular greeting in Japanese. Children will learn some words and songs in the Japanese language during this four-week program.

Each free session is thirty minutes long, from 10:30 to 11:00 am. It is presented by Atsuya Yoshida of Taylor Allderdice High School and the library's Bridge to Japan members. The Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).

ARCC presents Late Night: Mid-Autumn Festival, September 6 at CMU.

Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture [ARCC] will present its annual Late Night: Mid-Autumn Festival on September 6 at Carnegie Mellon University. It will run from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am in the Connan Room of the Cohon University Center (campus map). As the flyer says, there will be free mooncakes, games, and more.

Mandarin for Beginners class at Carnegie Library Squirrel Hill, from September 10.

A free Mandarin for Beginners course is starting at Carnegie Library Squirrel Hill from September 10.

Learn Mandarin from a native speaker right at the Library! Class will be held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.

In addition to this new class, there is still a free Chinese Conversation Club and a free Chinese for Beginners course at the Oakland branch of the Carnegie Library.

The starts at 6:30 pm; registration is preferred and can be done online at each class's page. The library is located at 5801 Forbes Ave. (map) on the corner of Forbes and Murray Aves.