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.