Roll Out the Red Carpet

D67 Spring Convention 2008 is around the corner! It is time we trained the convention ambassadors how to roll out the red carpet to welcome our Toastmasters members and guests from all over the world.

Many thanks go to Beth Shen, Area H2 Governor, for giving me the opportunity to train D67 Spring Convention Ambassadors 2008, to grow and have fun with them. Thanks also go to Michelle Liu, IPP of Legacy Toastmasters, for offering her helping hands to coach the convention ambassadors from several universities at the first training gathering at Taipei Veteran General Hospital this Saturday afternoon, the 29th.

Michelle and I teamed together five year years ago when District 67 PR Steve Chiu decided to launch the roll-out-the-red-carpet campaign to train the convention ambassadors to greet the toastmasters and guests attending the big semi-annual events in Toastmasters. We learned the skills to welcome the first timers toastmasters, we honed the skills to catch up with the old fellow toastmasters.

Michelle and I spent a lovely hour going through the training material over lunch today. We were excited about the coming red-carpet event, D67 Spring Convention 2008, April the 26th and 27th. It is our sincere hope that the convention ambassadors can translate the knowhow tips, wisdom, and knowledge from the trainers into their daily lives in office and at home before and after they graduate from school. D67 Spring Convention lasts for two days, but the pride and memory of convention ambassadors will last much longer, so will the communication and leadership skills of convention ambassadors.

Best Wishes to District 67 Convention Ambassadors 2008!

Maokong Gondola

It is worth the trip. It is worth the waiting in line for hours. The Maokong Gondola doesn't win its fame and popularity for nothing in Taipei. It is the longest rope way that I have ever ridden in my life. I would highly recommend it to my family and friends to feel the long lasting thrills flying in the air.

Golden ladies originally planned to take the Maokong Gondola to enjoy tea and spectacular apricot blossom yesterday afternoon. But Virginia talked us out of doing it, because of the long queue weekends and weekdays alike. Thanks to my college classmate Lily Huang, I had the chance to do it today.

The 20 some minutes ride from the Taipei City Zoo to Maokong was awesome, but it maybe a little frightening to those who have acrophobia, take Lily for example. She just flew back to Taipei from Tokyo yesterday evening. After our visit to the National Palace Museum in the morning, I persuaded her into taking the gondola with me in the afternoon. Her face turned pale, when the gondola started moving along the rope in the air, from one top of mountain to another.

There is a Chinese saying, 十年修得同船渡, meaning, "decade's praying could be rewarded with an occasion to travel on the same boat". Eight passengers at the same gondola became instant friends. We shared the excitements and we helped one another take photos. When the gondola passed over the mountains, we wowed the picturesque sights of the Taipei basin, and praised the smart decision to construct the extraordinary ropeway in Taipei.

Lily and I were fortunately to choose the perfect time to experience gondola ride. At 5PM, salary men in office, tourists gone, the queue was short, and we saw the sunset and we saw moonrise on top of Taipei. Lily was much at ease on her way back, because it became dark. She only saw the moon of 13th night (the 2nd lunar month of the year of the rat) illuminating in the sky in the east and the neonlights of Taipei flickering at far in the west.

Taipei is certainly proud to have more to offer. In addition to Taipei 101, Maokong Gondola is a must for city dwellers as well as foreign visitors. The longest cable car system in Taiwan began operations last summer in Taipei. From the Taipei Zoo Station, proceeding to the Taipei Zoo South Station, and the Chi-nan Temple Station, with the final stop at Maokong Station, the single journey ticket covering three stops only costs NT$50. It is super reasonable, isn't it?

With much energy injected from the exciting Maokong Gondola adventure, I won the in-house speech contest at Grand this evening. Isn't it a perfect end to a fruitful day? I am feeling grateful!

Hanami Rendezvous

In the middle of a week, golden ladies stole a Wednesday afternoon for hanami rendezvous in Mu-cha. It was neither for cherry blossom nor plum blossom, Trini, Lydia, Kate and I drove all the way up to Maokong to take pleasure in apricot blossom in a secluded garden surrounded by small hills in the outskirt of Taipei.

Ask any Chinese about apricot blossom, she or he will give you an answer about the sensual connotation in Chinese literature, the seduction of a matured kept woman who overlooks at the secular world of love and lust.

Chinese love apricots. Women with a pair of sexy Chinese eyes are called apricot eyes beauties. When a man is squinted by a beauty, he becomes an instant slave of her and wants to have a bite of every bit of the apricot sweet. No matter how people condescend apricot eyes, I do wish I had a pair to conquer the men I yearn for.

The Chinese also associate the apricot with education and medicine. A teacher is regarded as a person in the apricot field because Confucius once taught his students in a forum among the wood of apricot. Health care professionals are considered working in an apricot wood. The "Spring in the Apricot Wood" is best to describe the touching stories in the hospitals.

The Apricots are rooted in Chinese culture. Why wait? Go to the Apricot village for a cup of nice tea as soon as possible. While it is not late to appreciate the apricot blossom in Mucha, hurry up by gondola or on foot! You will love it!

Sendai Toastmasters Club

It had been a long day Wednesday, the 12th of March. From a local train ride from Morioka to Odate at dawn, a Shinkansen ride from Morioka to Sendai at noon, and a train ride from Sendai to Matsushima and back to Sendai at dusk, I had traveled from place to place till I reached Pal City 5F where Sendai Toastmasters Club's weekly meeting took place. The quality of the meeting was impressive. The members were warm and friendly. It was a club of professional speakers. I was all ears from the beginning till the end.

I was pleased when Tabletopics master asked me which actor I like the most. Without a second thought, I named "Clint Eastwood". I fell in love with Clint after I saw "Bridges of Madison County" directed by him, with him and Meryl Streep. I adored him in "Million Dollar Baby" in 2004. His duet "Iwo Jima" and "Flags of Our fathers" in 2006 were superb and won a lot of my tears. Clint Eastwood is not only a great actor, but also a magnificent director, a talented musician, if not a politician. I love his demeanor, his smile, his voice, everything about him. I was grateful Toastmaster Takahashi gave me the opportunity to share my admiration of Clint in public.

Three prepared speakers were amazing, from the Ice Breaker Kaoru Sato, to the story telling Mizue Ohno, to Advanced Speaker S. Tokunaga. The evaluators were remarkable in highlighting prepared speakers' strength and providing constructive suggestions for future improvement. I like Mizue Ohno's "the unforgettable picture" the most. Every word she chose was vivid in her story and made it unforgettable to the audience. Oikawa's evaluation touched upon the daughter and father complex, was inspirational and refreshing. The excellent time control by Izawa made the meeting end on time.

Nine toastmasters, including me, attended the second party at Hananomai. Upon the suggestion by Toastmaster Niino (just came back from Viet-nam and prepared a lot of beautiful hand-painted souvenir postcards for members and guests), I was seated in the middle between Toastmasters Abe, Chiba and Izawa. But I chatted most of the time with Marie-Josee sitting right across the table from me. President Marie-Josee won the first place of D76 Evaluation Contest 2007 on Awaji Island and she is fully charged to claim the championship at D76 Speech Contest 2008 in Hiroshima in May. She seemed a little convinced when I took the opportunity to invite her to visit D67 Spring Convention in Taipei to meet her rival at the annual convention of Toastmasters International in August, 2008. Toastmaster Abe, a dual member of Sendai and Kisennuma Toastmasters Club, is eagerly representing Kisennuma to compete with Marie-Josee at the Area Speech Contest. I have confidence in both of them. After the second party, I dropped dead in bed as soon as I arrived at Daiichi Inn Hotel. I was simply exhausted and contented to death.

I am glad I finally made it to Sendai Toastmasters Club, one of the best clubs in District 76. I hope I can meet as many Sendai members at D76 Spring Conference in Hiroshima in May as possible. I also extend my open arms to welcome Sendai members to D67 Spring Convention in Taipei in April.

Live Happily Ever After

Dear Golden Ladies, March 9, 2008

I just sent you a handmade postcard at Hon Hachinohe train station. I am on my way to Hakodate this morning. Hopefully I can make it all the way to Kushiro before the sunset. It's going to be a long way!

Athena and I flew from Taipei to Tokyo Friday morning to attend Maiko Nomura, our mutual friend's wedding party in Hachinohe Saturday. Athena took the opportunity to bring her son Sean along. Sean came to Japan for the first time. He fell in love with Japan at the first sight, and decided to pursue his graduate studies in Japan after university.

Upon Maiko's request, Athena delivered a congratulatory message in Mandarin as the guest of honor from the bride at the wedding party at noon, I translated her message into Japanese. As I wore a Kimono to the party, nobody could tell if I was a foreigner until I opened my mouth and spoke Japanese in front of 350 people. It has been an awesome experience in my life.

Before the wedding party, we attended the wedding ceremony at a shrine in the morning with relatives of the bride and groom. At the end of the holy ceremony, we drank sweet wine on a small disc to wish the happy union of the couple. After the wedding party, we continued the second (Afternoon) party from three till six, third (Karaoke) party from six till nine. It has been the longest wedding day we had ever experienced. It was indeed enjoyable and unforgettable for party animals like Athena and me.

Now I know whey men love to marry Japanese wives. They are invincible to have all the stamina to stay cool and wear smiles all the time at the parties, on top of that, just calculate the cash flow of the banquet (18,000 Yen per person) and party (3,000 Yen per person), it won't be hard to imagine the load of paperwork beforehand.

Maiko is a capable woman. Athena and I made acquaintance with her when she was a teacher at Japanese school in Tien-mu five years ago. Being an energetic and enthusiastic person about life, Maiko studied Mandarin diligently during her stay in Taipei for three years. She learned many dance steps with Athena. That's how we met each other at a Salsa class at Athena's place. How about we ask Athena to coach us a few Latin dance steps, maybe we can perform together at District 67 Spring Convention in April, what do you say?

With love,
Sherry

Establishing Speech

I had no reason to get upset. Golden ladies just completed a fantastic street show in Tien-mu Sunday afternoon. We were so excited that we received recognition from the passers-by and we decided to have a small party to celebrate the success of our first street show and to plan our next performance at D67 Spring Convention in April. We walked across the street arm-in-arm with laughter to McCafe.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. The McCafe was packed with coffee drinkers, young and old alike. It was hard to find a table for five, but I wouldn't give up unless I tried. I approached two ladies sitting at a big table for four next to an empty table for two. I asked one lady if the seats were taken. To my astonishment, she responded me at once in a provocative tone, "there were four of us, but two went to sit outside!" She squinted at Lydia and me without even moving her body as if we were her Ex's new lovers.

Being a toastmaster for more than 20 years, I should have been able to handle the hostile situation more skillfully. I should have apologized for my intrusion to disturb her peaceful and relaxing afternoon. I should have been able to persuade her into giving up her seats to five long-legged sexy golden ladies. Why did I leave them alone in the coffeehouse immediately? I should have taken the opportunity to convert the ladies of hostility into toastmasters.

Chinese value the spirit of humanity by three immortal acts, establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establishing speech. I don't know if I can establish any virtues or merits, but I would certainly like to contribute my humble share to etablishing small speech. I wish I could hone my skills to say touching words to people, I wish I could utter words sweeter than honey from my mouth.

Today is the girls' festival in Japan. It's the day to pray for girls' happiness and health. If I had a daughter, I would wish her a smiling face, a beautiful voice, and a warming heart. No matter what happens, she always keeps in mind to say sweet words to others.

Step Out of the Comfort Zone

Upon Jenny's invitation, golden ladies toastmasters became street artists Sunday afternoon, the 2nd of March. It was the first time golden ladies performed the clogging dance at the open air plaza in front of Mitsukoshi Department in Tien-mu. We were proud that we attracted all passers-by to watch our clogging dance successful, and we were pleased that we won a big round of applause from the audience after our performance of Eyes Like Yours.

It was sunny Sunday afternoon. Lydia gave me a ride to Mitsukoshi Department in Tien-mu. It was the first time I went there. All golden ladies arrived at the meeting point on time with huge hand-carried suitcases full of costumes. We were ushered by a well-clad Mitsukoshi lady to a secret room near the back door to get changed. We were so excited that we were about to perform our first street show in our life.

When the clogging dance music was one, we moved to the huge plaza with colorful chiffon veils covering our faces. Our dazzling and dangling belly dance costumes caught a lot of attention. Every golden lady exerted all her energies to clog, to enjoy, and to perform on a big playground without any space constraint. The curious and supportive shoppers were immediately infected by our enthusiasm and passion, and watched us perform from the beginning till the end. Golden ladies were contented that we had the opportunity to give the citizens in Tien-mu a relaxing and entertaining Sunday afternoon.

From the formal stage in an auditorium to the open air plaza by the streets, it was a big step for golden ladies. The more we dance, the more confidence we have in ourselves. The better we feel at ease dancing, the more joy and energy we convey to the viewers. Who knows where we shall perform our next SHOW? I am looking forward to a bigger challenge in front of an Arabian's king in the future.

We are truly indebted to Virginia Lee, Camera Pro from Legacy Toastmasters Club for shooting many memorable photos of golden ladies clogging toastmasters on a beautiful Sunny afternoon. We are waiting for her to join our clan in the future when she turns golden.

Special thanks go to Jennie Wang, our clogging dance instructor, for her patience and guidance to convert golden ladies into stunning and eye-catching Arabian dancers on the streets. Our collective sweet memory shall last for a long time!