Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club--October 26,2007

It rained when I arrived at Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club this evening, the 26th. Toastmaster Masaki Oshiumi gave me a lift from Rihga Royal Hotel to the meeting venue at University of Kitakyushu.

Toastmaster Rio Imamura and his wife Tamiko were waiting in the meeting room when I walked in the huge and bright seminar room. I felt welcome instantly. President Albert Moe and other toastmasters arrived one after another and greeted me warmly by calling my name. I felt like a Toastmaster celebrity from Taiwan because of Toastmasters Imamura and Oshiumi's publicity before my arrival. It felt good to be famous, to be honest.

I was thrilled and obliged when Professor Murata asked me to fill in the slot of tabletopics master for the evening. I asked three questions, about the Moji Harbor, Horoscope, and Taiwan-Japan relations.

President Moe was given an opportunity to evaluate four prepared speakers (two CC manual speeches and two CL speeches) to get ready for the competition at Division E Evaluation Contest in Fukuoka tomorrow afternoon. I couldn't refrain from offering my suggestions as I was sitting right next to him. Of course, I hope with eager he could claim a trophy for Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club.

It was nine when the meeting ended. A group of eleven members went to a nearby steak house for the second party, and the big dinner didn't end till eleven o'clock. Upon my request, Professor Murata even agreed to join the third party adventure to a pub in a noisy red light steet full of night clubs in Kokura. Unfortunately the ideal place was booked out for the entire evening, and we decided to call for it a night.

Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club is unique in a way, it is a balanced club between faithful senior citizens and enthusiastic junior members. There are quite a few University student toastmasters, most of them major in international relations. I am glad that I finally made it to Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club in 2007.